César Adolfo Alvarado Ancieta of Peru wins 2023 IHE Delft Alumni Award

César Adolfo Alvarado Ancieta, a hydraulic engineering expert from Peru, is the winner of the 2023 IHE Delft Alumni Award. The jury’s selection recognizes the global impact of Alvarado Ancieta’s work on rivers worldwide. Alvarado Ancieta graduated from IHE Delft – then known as UNESCO-IHE – in 2004 with an MSc in Hydraulic Engineering with specialisations in River Engineering and River Basin Development. As part of the award, he will visit IHE Delft in November to be honoured during the Opening Academic Year & Alumni Award Ceremony.

In a career spanning more than three decades, Alvarado Ancieta has worked as a researcher, expert and team leader, making an impact in places including his home country, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, China, the Philippines, Turkey, Gabon, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Azerbaijan, Russia, Albania, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway and many other countries.

His specialities include river engineering, fluvial geomorphodynamics, hydrodynamics, sedimentology, flood control and flood risk management, integrated river basin and coastal zone management, hydraulic engineering and much more. He also has worked on numerous projects on dam engineering and tunnelling, hydropower development, irrigation, storm-water urban drainage and various hydraulic aspects. He is particularly interested in nature-based engineering for river restoration and whenever possible, he combines an environmental outlook with a social perspective.

César Adolfo Alvarado Ancieta of Peru wins 2023 IHE Delft Alumni Award — César Alvarado Ancieta leading an Asian Development Bank (ADB) mission with Pakistan WAPDA authority in the river Indus for hydro development considering fluvial geomorphological conditions and flood dampening effect of the upper river basin of the Indus for flood risk vulnerability reduction in the lower river basin up to the coastal zone after the 2022 floods. Copyright: Cesar Adolfo Alvarado Ancieta

In his home country, he is recognized for leadership in addressing and raising awareness about flood control in the city and region of Piura and recent work in cities such as Trujillo and Lima. Research led by Alvarado Ancieta led a flood control master plan that after intense efforts over 20 years was accepted by authorities, stakeholders and citizens in Piura.

The IHE Delft Alumni Award recognizes individuals who have made a particularly remarkable impact in a water-related field and who are role models for water professionals. The annual award was launched in 2013 and since then, it has been awarded annually aside from a pandemic-related hiatus in 2021 and 2020.

Alvarado Ancieta will present the Alumni award winner's lunch seminar on 2 November.

m.sorrentino@un-ihe.org