Lyesse Laloui

Lyesse Laloui, is a Swiss civil engineer and full Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL where he holds the Chair in Soil Mechanics, Geotechnical-Engineering and Storage. He is the Director of the at EPFL and a globally recognized expert in geomechanics, geo-energy, and sustainability.

WWW people.epfl.ch/lyesse.lal...𝕏 LyesseLaloui

Research and Impact

Prof. Laloui is a pioneer in sustainable geotechnical engineering. His work has advanced several fields, including:Energy geostructures: coupling structural foundations with renewable geothermal systemsBio-cementation: soil strengthening via bio-geochemical processesCO₂ sequestration: geological carbon storageNuclear waste disposal: long-term behavior of geological barriersShale mechanics: behavior of low-permeability materials
He has authored over 400 peer-reviewed journal publications, 13 books, and holds five patents. His h-index exceeds 70, with more than 20,000 citations. He is founder and Honorary Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment.

Career

Laloui received a Master's in Civil Engineering from the Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics in Algiers, an Advanced Master's in Soil and Structural Mechanics, and a PhD with honors from Ecole Centrale Paris, where he also served as a Research Fellow. He joined EPFL in 1994 and became a Full Professor in 2006.
At EPFL, he has held numerous leadership roles:

Director of LMS
Director of the Civil Engineering Section
Member of the ENAC School Board
Director of the Doctoral Program in Mechanics
President of the EPFL Assembly and ETH Board representative

He has also served as Adjunct Professor at Duke University, Visiting Professor at Northwestern University, and held positions at Hohai University, University of Minnesota, Padova, and Montpellier.
Laloui has collaborated or supervised numerous researchers including:

Prof. Alessandro Rotta Loria, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Northwestern University,
Dr. Mathieu Nuth, Associate Professor at University of Sherbrooke,
Dr. Bertrand François, Assistant Professor at Université Libre de Bruxelles,
Dr. Alice Di Donna, Assistant Professor at University Grenoble-Alpes,
Dr. Yafei Qiao, Associate Professor at Tongji University,
Dr Roman Makhnenko, Assistant Professor University of Illinois,
Dr. Anne-Catherine Dieudonné, Assistant Professor of Engineering Geology at Delft University of Technology
Dr. Melis Sutman, Senior Lecturer Senior Lecturer The University of Edinburgh.

Leadership and Institutional Contributions

In addition to his academic career, Laloui is a leading voice in international geotechnical policy and innovation. As ISSMGE Vice President for Europe, he has led initiatives focused on sustainability, youth engagement, and knowledge transfer. He chaired the Advisory Committee of the 2024 ECSMGE and is a member of the International Advisory Board for the upcoming 21st International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering to be held in Vienna in June 2026.
He has also contributed to numerous international expert groups including, the International Energy Agency, and the .

Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer

Laloui is a founder or co-founder of several startups:' – geothermal panels for underground infrastructure

' – energy geostructures for buildings' – bio-based soil stabilization
' – clean energy solutions

His companies have won awards including the Swiss Top 100 Startups, Venture Kick, and AMAG Sustainability Challenge.
He also developed the commercial design software , used globally in energy pile design.

Awards and honors

Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Lectureship Award, InterPore 2026
John Mitchell Lecturer, Deep Foundations Institute, European Federation of Foundation Contractors, 2025
Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Lectureship Award, Interpore, 2026
31st Prague Geotechnical Lecture, 2025
Doctorat Honouris Causa in Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 2022
Doctorat Honouris Causa in Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, 2022
ERC Proof of Concept Grant, Construction & Environmental Biocementation in Real World Applications, 2020
ERC Advanced Grant, Biogeos, 2018
30th Roberval Award in for the book "Mécanique des sols et Roches"
RM Quigley Award from the Canadian Geotechnical Society, 2016
"Excellent Contributions Award" of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, 2008

Honorary lectures

Széchy Lecture, 2024
Eshbach Lecture, 2022.
Vienna Terzaghi Lecture, 2021
Kersten Lecture at the American Society of Civil Engineering, Geo-congress, 2020
12th G.A. Leonards Lecture from the University of Purdue, 2014
Vardoulakis Lecture from the University of Minnesota, 2012

Selected works

Selected keynote lectures

. ENAC Research Day, EPFL
. 5th International Conference of Environmental Geotechnology, Recycled Waste Materials and Sustainable Engineering, Warsaw
, 5th Madrid Subterra, Madrid.
, Doctorate Honoris Causa, Cluj-Napoca University, Romania
, Kirsten lecture, Minneapolis