Press release
Inaugural lecture by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andrés Alfonso Peña Olarte
On the occasion of his appointment as Professor of Foundation Engineering and Soil Mechanics at the Civil Engineering Department, Prof Dr Andrés Alfonso Peña Olarte will give his inaugural lecture entitled "Perspectives of digital twins in geotechnics".
Global challenges such as climate change, a conservative construction industry and the growing investment backlog at national level are putting (public) infrastructure under severe pressure. Digital twins have the potential to enable a more efficient, participatory and resource-conserving design of infrastructure projects throughout their entire life cycle.
This inaugural lecture will discuss the concepts, challenges, opportunities and prospects of digital twins and present them using an example of probabilistic 3D ground modelling.
About the person
With over 20 years of international experience in research, teaching and the construction, oil and gas industries, Prof. Dr.-.Andrés Alfonso Peña Olarte's expertise lies in the field of soil and rock mechanics, numerical analysis, geotechnical information modelling and laboratory investigations. He has worked on projects, training and business development in America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia and has gained extensive expertise in consulting and developing geotechnical solutions.
His academic qualifications include a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (2000), a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de los Andes (2004) and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Stuttgart (2008).
From December 2007 to July 2012, Andrés was Geotechnical Project Engineer at Bilfinger Berger GmbH in Wiesbaden. He then moved to Schlumberger, where he worked from 2012 to 2016, first in reservoir geomechanics in the UK and later as Senior Geomechanics Engineer in Mexico. From 2017 to 2019, he was Senior Associate Professor and Graduate Programme Coordinator at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico. He then worked at the Technical University of Munich, where he became head of the Artificial Intelligence and Geotechnical Information Modelling Group in 2021. He has been Professor of Foundation Engineering and Soil Mechanics at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences since October 2024.
Inaugural lecture
When: 02.12.2024, 18:00
Where: House D / 011
Online: Zoom link to the inaugural lecture
The inaugural lecture is open to the public, will take place in presence and will be broadcast live in parallel. Interested parties are welcome to attend. After the lecture, there will be a small reception at the "Coffee Nerds" in the main building.
