Dr. Sebastien Erpicum, Chair of IAHR Technical Committee on Hydraulic Structures, has been awarded the Hydraulic Structures Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for "his significant contributions to the hydraulic engineering community in the areas of piano key weir spillway design and for organizing international Labyrinth and Piano Key Weir workshops that advanced the science."

Dr. Sebastien Erpicum

The Hydraulic Structures Medal was instituted in 1983 by Fred W. Blaisdell, F.ASCE, to honor the contributions of Melvin M. Culp, M.ASCE, and William O. Ree, F.ASCE, for their conception and development of generalized procedures for the design and application of hydraulic structures, and for their exemplary ethical and professional standards. It is given to an individual for significant contributions to the advancement of the art and science of hydraulic engineering as applied to hydraulic structures.

Dr. Erpicum is Associate Professor at Liege University in Belgium, in charge of the Engineering Hydraulics Laboratory (HECE), where he develops activities related to hydraulics and hydraulic structures engineering.

Piano Key Weir (PKW), firstly described by F. Lemperiere and A. Ouamane in 2003, is a labyrinth weir whose footprint is limited thanks to the use of inclined aprons with cantilevered apexes, making it possible to be placed on the crest of dams. Its important discharge capacity, versatility and structural advantages make it an interesting solution for dams upgrade as well as new projects in a context of climate change and safety requirements evolution.