Professor Enrique Romero Morales receives the ISSMGE Outstanding Technical Committee Award

The award formally recognizes the outstanding work of Professor Enrique Romero Morales as Chair of the Technical Committee TC106 - Unsaturated Soils of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The prize was presented directly by the president of the international society during a high-level institutional ceremony. Conferred every four years since 2013, this award recognizes high-impact activities in the scientific and applied promotion of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering worldwide.

With this distinction, the Barcelona School of Civil Engineering (Escola de Camins) professor not only reaffirms his commitment to cutting-edge research in geotechnics, but also highlights the institution's capacity to lead international bodies that define the future of an essential profession in the face of territory and infrastructure sustainability challenges.

The ISSMGE Technical Committee TC106 is the global benchmark body for the dissemination of knowledge and engineering practices in unsaturated soil mechanics. Under the strategic leadership of Professor Romero, TC106 has experienced a period of great dynamism and global prominence, leading and sponsoring major academic milestones such as the 8th Asia-Pacific UNSAT 2024 (Melbourne), the 4th Pan-American UNSAT 2025 (Ottawa), the 5th European UNSAT 2025 (Lisbon), and recently the 4th Unsaturated Soil and Environmental Engineering Symposium 2026, hosted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest.

Beyond coordinating these world congresses, the body chaired by the Escola de Camins professor has promoted key recognitions for both emerging and senior talent in the discipline, such as the Bright Spark Lectures, the Distinguished Lectures on Unsaturated Soils, and the renowned ISSMGE Blight Lecture.

This award projects internationally the School's strength in continuous research and innovation—one of our core identity values—and guarantees the highest standards of quality that students can find in the classrooms and laboratories of our institution.

Links of interest:

- Outstanding Technical Committee Award ISSMGE

- 21st International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE 2026)