2025

28 November 2025: Hybrid Seminar in Argentina

The event was co-organized by the National Groups of Argentina, Chile, Switzerland, and Uruguay. 

Speakers were Kristian Schellenberg (Chair, Swiss NG, in photo below), Jose Luis Seguel Ramirez, Maria Grazia Bruschi (Chair, US NG), Martín Ihlenfeld, Guzmán Castiglioni Brovetto, and Martín Eduardo Polimeni (Chair, Argentinian NG). IABSE’s President Harshavardhan Subbarao gave a motivating introduction to the association to the participants and congratulated all participating National Groups during his speech. During the seminar, various topics related to the structural engineering of bridges were addressed, such as the design of large-span bridges, BIM, asset management, construction methodologies, large numbers in pre-sizing, seismic actions, diagnosis and retrofitting, Fracture Mechanics, etc.

The sponsors for the event were Aquila (Gianni Moor), TIS Technological Isolation Systems (Camila Coria), and Itekube (Julien Ulrich), and the institutional supporters were Consejo Profesional de Ingeniería Civil and AIE - Asociación de Ingenieros Estructurales and on behalf of its president, Emma Albrieu, the AAC. Read further here.

21 November 2025, 14.00 hrs CET

Live-streaming of Webinar by OPAN concept SA in Neuchâtel

PUSHING BOUNDARIES: A PROBABLE WORLD FIRST - LAUNCHING A 103 M NETWORK ARCH BRIDGE USING A ROPEWAY CABLE CRANE (INDIA)

30 October 2025

General Assembly and election of a new Chair Kristian Schellenberg and Secretary Ronny O. Solano

  

   

On 30 October 2025, the General Assembly of the Swiss National Group took place, accompanied by a technical visit to the Tilia Tower in Prilly-Malley, designed by LMP (Lüchinger Meyer Partner AG). The 90-metre tower has achieved ambitious sustainability goals through its hybrid timber–concrete composite structure.

During the Assembly, five new board members were elected, strengthening the National Group as it prepares for the 100th anniversary of IABSE, to be held in Zürich in 2029.

Dr. Kristian Schellenberg was elected as the new Chair, while the outgoing Chair, Prof. Dr. Andreas Taras, will remain on the board to maintain a strong link to academia. The Group also expressed its gratitude to Dr. Patrick Fehlmann for his 13 years of dedicated service on the board.

5th Swiss UHPC Conference:

On 23 October 2025, the 5th Swiss UHPC Conference, which was co-sponsored by IABSE Swiss National Group, presented UHPC projects from recent years (2023-2025). The evennt aimed to exchange experiences regarding design, dimensioning, and construction. In particular, the conference highlighted the growing application and development potential of UHPC technology. Highlights were the following:

- Collaboration between engineers and architects – interdisciplinarity in UHFB projects.      

 - Quality assurance in the project and execution phases                        

-  Assessment of the sustainability of the projects implemented

In addition to selected specialist lectures, further contributions and discussions are on the program. More details: Click Here. The next event will take place in 2027 and IABSE members are welcome to participate.

2024

11th Young Engineers' Symposium (YES) on 3 October, 2024

Full Programme: Click Here.

Venue: Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, concluding with a seminar on the topic of circular economy.

Why the YES2024 Lucerne, what can you expect?

 - Opportunity to present your own project or thesis.

 - Podium for young civil engineers.

 - Forum for the exchange of experiences between young and old.

- Contact platform for building and expanding your professional network.

- Seminars to discuss current engineering topics.

- Keynote from construction practice, by Eugen Brühwiler and Rainer Hohermuth.

How can I participate in the YES?

Interested parties from all disciplines are welcome to attend the symposium.

Young civil engineers from the field (max. 35 years) can present their first projects.

Graduates have the unique opportunity to present their thesis to a broad professional audience.

You can find more information here: Click Here.  Download the Brochure (German).

 

2023

   

On 26 October 2023, the Swiss National Group held its Annual General Meeting in Bern, which was chaired by the NG Chair, Andreas Taras.  The event started with a technical visit to the construction site of the Bern RBS train station expansion, and was attended by over 20 participants, including Chep Uytiepo, IABSE Executive Director; and Kris Schellenberg, IABSE Awards Jury member and former IABSE Auditor.

During the meeting, participants were glad to discussed directly with Chep on how to rejuvenate the Swiss National Group's activities internationally in collaboration with IABSE in the future. Members were encouraged by Andreas to actively join future IABSE events.  They were also encouraged to submit papers for the SEI journal and submit nominations for next year's IABSE Awards. 

  

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In a documentary (click here to watch) made by the Swiss leading newspaper NZZ, IABSE member, Prof. Dr. Andrea Frangi, from the ETH, who has chaired the Swiss Young Engineers program for several years, and has also been in the SEI Editorial Board in the past, talked about the relevance of tall timber buildings. 

Germany's tallest wooden skyscraper is currently being built in Hamburg, 19 floors and 65 meters high. In Switzerland, too, an 80-meter-high residential tower made of wood is to be built in the near future. It is a new territory for architects and building authorities, but it is a trend that is picking up speed. Because the traditional material (timber) offers great advantages: It guarantees maximum load-bearing capacity, is comparatively light and provides excellent insulation. Wood grows back and stores carbon dioxide. In view of the climate crisis, wood could become the building material of the future. Concrete, on the other hand, is one of the biggest drivers of climate change.

At universities such as Cambridge or the ETH in Zurich, intensive research is being carried out into wood as a building material in order to make it even more stable and resilient. Technically processed wood, so-called engineering wood, is to be increasingly used in the global construction sector. The scientists' vision: In the future, houses could be built from wood in a climate-friendly manner and at the same time become huge CO2 stores. But that can only work if we manage our forests differently. "We save the forests, and the forests save us," says Marc Palahi of the European Forest Institute.

"NZZ Format" about wood as a high-tech building material and the future of construction.

2022

Young Engineers Colloquium 2022

The Swiss National Group organised the Young Engineers Symposium (YES) on 6 October 2022, which was the 10th anniversary of the YES at the Hochschule Luzern. The event attracted many young engineers to participate, and interact with reknowned engineers from the region and network with their colleagues. View photos here.

2021

General Meeting on 27 October 2021

The meeting welcomed all Swiss members, for the on-site meeting, which was chaired by Philippe Menetrey. The elections, budget and activities from 2020-21 were reviewed, there was a discussion about forthcoming new IABSE Awards, and 2022 activities planning. During the election, Stefan Köppel got re-elected, Andreas Taras got newly elected and for internal auditing, Marco Galli, and Dimitrios Papastergiou got elected by the Swiss Group of IABSE. This was followed by a site visit to the new curved footbridge in Zug, designed by Conzett and Bronzini (photo above).

Generalversammlung iabse.ch vom Mittwoch, 27.10.2021 mit Baustellenbesichtigungen auf dem Areal der Tech Cluster Zug AG in Zug

Der Vorstand der IABSE lädt Sie hiermit herzlich zur Generalversammlung 2021 in Zug ein. Wir freuen uns, mit Ihnen anlässlich des Rahmenprogramms Baustellen und Neubauten auf dem Areal der Tech Cluster Zug zu besichtigen. Für den Baustellenrundgang sind geschlossenes, festes Schuhwerk sowie lange Hosen erforderlich. Helme und Warnwesten stehen zur Verfügung.

Für die Teilnahme am Anlass ist ein COVID – Zertifikat erforderlich.

Anmeldung: Für die Baustellenbesichtigung und den Apéro Riche bitten wir Sie um Anmeldung per E-Mail an c.hunziker@bp-ing.ch bis zum Montag, 11. Oktober 2021. Programm (click here for details).

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2020

Board Meeting: On 30th January, 2020, representatives of the Swiss Group of IABSE, under the Chairmanship of Philippe Menétrey met in Bern, with participating members Andrea Bassetti, Gianfranco Bronzini, Patrick Fehlmann, Richard Thürler and Matthias Wielatt. Their meeting’s agenda included discussing membership, future activities, 2019 activities, 2020 IABSE congresses and others.

Postponed

Excursion: From 19-22 June, 2020, the Swiss Group is planning for an excursion this year to northern Italy. Plans include visiting Milan on Friday—including the Pirelli skyscraper by Gio Ponti and Pier Luigi Nergi, the Porta Volta by Herzog & de Meuron and the Via Röntgen building by the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi by Grafton Architects. On Saturday, they plan to visit a building by Pier Luigi Nervi, an exhibition hall by Riccardo Morandi and others. On Sunday, visits shall include to the Mole Antonelliana by Alessandro Antonelli and the new Metro buildings. On return journey, one can visit the bridge over the Toce by Riccardo Morandi in Domodossola. This excursion which shall be carried out in association with the Gessellschaft für Ingenieurbaukunst is planned to start from Bellinzona by bus.

YES2020: On 1 October, 2020, the YES 2020 event will be organised by the Swiss Group at the HSLU in Luzern. Interesting programs are being organised for young engineers.