At Forefront of Permafrost Engineering
Since coming to Canada as Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, Laval University, 1962, Prof. Branko Ladanyi has carried out research on frozen soils and ice that has improved the design of engineering structures in the permafrost regions of Canada, United States, Scandinavia, Russia and China. Born, Zagreb, Croatia, 1922, the son of a Hungarian father, he was a civil engineering graduate, University of Zagreb, 1947, and taught there 11 years before earning a Ph.D., Geotechnical Engineering, University, Louvain, Belgium, 1959. As a research engineer, Belgian Geotech Institute, Ghent, 1959-62, Professor Ladanyi received an invitation from Laval University which brought him to Canada, 1962. In 1967, he was made Professor, Mining Engineering, École Polytechnique, Montreal, and, 1977, Professor of Civil Engineering until his retirement, and appointment as Professor Emeritus, 1994. As the Co-founder of the Northern Engineering Centre, École Polytechnique, 1972, he continues to conduct research in his particular field of permafrost engineering, rock mechanics and tunnelling, his work resulting in the co-authorship of An Introduction to Frozen Ground Engineering, 1994, and major contributions to three other volumes and to more than 160 other scientific papers dealing with geotechnical engineering in cold regions, permafrost engineering and rock engineering. Pictured here on the west coast of Newfoundland where he and students were testing the strength of sea ice, 1990, Dr. Ladanyi, Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, has received awards, among others, from the Province of Quebec, the Canadian Geotechnical Society, the E.E. De Beer Award, Belgian Geotechnical Society, the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the Canadian Northern Science Award, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. [Photo, courtesy Professor Branko Ladanyi]