De Paepe-Willems Award

De Paepe-Willems Award

This yearly prize is being given in honour of Professor Gustave Willems, President of PIANC from 1956 until his death in 1982. As the PIANC President for seventeen years, Robert De Paepe fostered the international spirit and the professional development of PIANC. In 2002, it was decided to merge the ‘Foundation Robert De Paepe’ with the Gustave Willems Award. Since 2003, the former Gustave Willems Award is known as the ‘PIANC De Paepe-Willems Award’. 

Contestants for the prize should not have reached the age of forty and they are required to submit a paper on subjects in the fields of design, construction, improvement, maintenance of operation of inland and maritime waterways (rivers, estuaries, canals, port approaches), of inland and maritime ports and of coastal areas. 

The three winning authors receive an amount of € 4,000.00, € 2,000.00 and € 1,000.00 respectively.

2022 - Second Place

Masaya Hashida & Satoshi Noboru

‘Maintenance Technology of Wave-Dissipating Works Using 3-D Data’ 

2022 - Third Place

Lena Lankenau

‘Seaports in Germany – Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change’

2021 - Second Place

Mr Felix Orlin: 'Reliability based assessment of fender systems'

2021 - Third Place

Mr Willem Van Dommelen: 'Moving load on guide works during a brush collision with a vessel'

2020 - First Place

Benjamin Popovic (New-Zealand): 

'Tsunami Resilience of Pile-Supported Wharves: A First Principles Approach'

2020 - Second Place

Rosanas Agustin Sanches-Arcilla: 'Towards operational coastal decision making. Robust hydro-morphodynamic coupling and data-based error assessment'

2020 - Third Place

Adrian Pearson: 'PIANC WG 153 Mooring Loads: State of Practice and New Design Considerations for Monopile Dolphin'

2019 - Shared Second Place

Mr Yoshinosuke Kurahara (Japan): 'Prediction of shackle motion hanged from a jib top of crane barge by a coupling numerical model of three motions'  

2019 - Shared Second Place

Mr Esandi Javier Murgoitio (UK): 'Assessment of Overtopping Vertical River Walls Due to Vessel-Generated Waves (Vessel Wash)'

2018 - Second Place

Mr J. Schutte (the Netherlands): 'Deepening of an Existing Combi Wall'

2018 - Third Place

Mr S. Freeman (Australia): 'Impacts of X-Ray Screening 100 % of Import Containers within Small to Medium Container Terminals'

Previous winners

2017 - Second Place

Mr Lisham Bonakdar (Germany): ‘Wave forces on slender piles within pile group: laboratory tests and prediction formulae for design practice’

2017 - Third Place

Mr Jeong Hun Ha (Australia): 'Bow and stern sinkage coefficients for cargo ships in shallow open water’

2016 - First Place

Mr Matthew McCarty (USA): ‘Large diameter FRP monopile systems for ferry berths’

2016 - Second Place

Mr Hisham Elsafti (Germany): ‘Analysis of stepwise failure of marine gravity structures and implications for design practice’

2016 - Third Place

Mr Evert Lataire (Belgium): ‘Hydrodynamic interaction between waterway and ship’

2015 - Second Place

Ms Vasiliki Stratigaki (Belgium): “Modelling of wave attenuation induced by multi-purpose floating structures”


2015 - Third Place

Mr Mitsui Jun (Japan): “New design method of armour units covering rubble mound of composite breakwater against tsunami overflow”

Application Form

Before 31 August, the application form and a three-page abstract have to be submitted to the General Secretariat of PIANC. The full paper needs to be sent in before 30 September. No exception to these deadlines will be allowed.

DPWA Winners since 1985

List of Winners since 1985

Application Form

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