Interview with ITA President Z. Eisenstein

Abstract

Dr. Zdenek (Dan) Eisenstein has been involved in tunnelling for nearly thirty years. He received his undergraduate and doctoral degrees in civil engineering and geo-technical engineering, respectively, from Czech Technical University, Prague. Since 1969, he has been a professor of civil engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. His research has been oriented toward design and analysis of undeground structures; deep excavations; soil structure interaction problems; and application of numerical methods in geotechnical engineering. He has develop graduate and professional courses in solid mechanics, foundation engineering, tunnelling, light rail transit, and numerical modelling. Prof. Eisenstein has served as a consultant on several hundred projects throughout the world involving dams, foundations, deep excavations, and tunnels. For the Channel Tunnel project, he was engaged to evaluate the compatibility of the tunnel systems with the ground. A member of the Canadian Geotechnical Society and the advisory board of the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Geomechanics, Prof. Eisenstein served as Editor of Canadian Tunnelling from 1985 to 1989. He has lectured extensively on a wide range of topics related to tunnelling, and has published more than 100 papers in journals and conference proceedings. Prof. Eisenstein has served on the Executive Council of the International Tunnelling Association since 1987; he was elected ITA First Vice-President in 1989 and President in 1991. Midway through his presidency, Prof. Eisenstein talked with Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology about the ITA's accomplishments over the past year-and-a half, and his goals for the remainder of his term of office.