In July 2021, the 8th IAHR International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures (IJREWHS) was hosted online by the National University of Ireland, Galway. Due to international travel restrictions resulting from Covid-19, the event (postponed from 2020) was held virtually using the Remo online events platform with uniquely customised workshop interface.

With hydraulic structures engineering being one of the most important fields in water engineering, the IJREWHS brings together young scientists and engineers to discuss new hydraulic structures research, designs, and practical solutions. Previous workshops were held in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal (2006), Pisa, Italy (2008), Edinburgh, Scotland (2010), Logan, Utah, USA (2012), Spa, Belgium (2014), Lübeck, Germany (2016) and Denver, Colorado, USA (2019).

This 8th IJREWHS workshop was a great success, seeing 33 abstracts received from 26 countries around the world reflecting the ever-growing and diverse junior interest in the hydraulic structures engineering field.  Throughout the workshop, five invited keynote presentations were made by Professor Roger Falconer (Cardiff University), Assistant Professor Brian Crookston (Utah State University), Dr Ronan Royston (Ward and Burke Construction), Dr Giovanni De Cesare (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and Professor Daniel Bung (Aachen University of Applied Sciences). 36 junior and senior participants joined the platform over the three days with fun engagement sessions including a quiz and a roundtable debate. This year also saw the introduction of a unique scholarship to support workshop attendance for four international Low-to-Middle Income Countries participants.

Papers are currently being reviewed by the International Scientific Committee, chaired by Professor Sébastien Erpicum, and successful papers will be published at Utah State University together with keynote presentation videos from the event.

The IAHR Technical Committee on Hydraulic Structures is already beginning to plan the next junior workshop and will be announcing a call for applicants to organise the event in due course. Applicants with early interest in hosting this event can send their enquiries to Brian Crookston.

The IJREWHS 2021 local organising committee would like to express a special thanks to this year’s event sponsors which included Utah State University, ESIPP, Ward and Burke Construction and VorTech Water Solutions.