Summary Report for the Training Course on Advanced Hydraulic Engineering
Summary Report Watch the recorded lectures
On August 20th, the Training Course on Advanced Hydraulic Engineering (AHE), one of the IAHR Training Courses Series co-hosted by IAHR and China Three Gorges University (CTGU), successfully concluded at CTGU in Yichang, China. This 11-day international academic feast attracted 383 participants from 79 countries and regions attending offline or online . It built an academic exchange platform for global hydraulic students and served as a crucial practice for CTGU to show its academic strengths in hydraulic engineering.
As the host of this course, CTGU provided solid support relying on its world-class strength in hydraulic engineering discipline. The university’s key role in the construction of the Three Gorges Project – the world’s largest hydropower station – was deeply integrated with the regional advantages of Yichang, known as the “World Hydropower Capital”. The university and the local government jointly created a high-standard academic feast integrating theoretical depth and practical value, fully demonstrating the university’s disciplinary accumulation and international influence in the field of water conservancy.
Since its launch on August 11th, the course has been full of highlights. The top-tier faculty lineup sparkled with 7 authoritative experts in global hydraulic engineering from countries and regions including Canada, China, Hong Kong (China), Macau (China), the Netherlands, the UK and the US taking turns to teach.
Professor Bryan Karney, associate editor of IAHR’s Journal of Hydraulic Research and professor at the University of Toronto, delivered a report on the key and sometimes misunderstood role of modelling in hydraulic assessments. He emphasized that models, while abstract, are ultimately decision-making tools with real-world consequences, influencing how hydraulic systems are designed, operated, and managed. His talk highlighted general principles for developing and using models, clarifying distinctions in their many applications across engineering practice.
Professor Mohamed Salah Ghidaoui, IAHR vice president and chair professor at The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, presented on the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy in hydraulics. He introduced the concept of a general control volume, reviewed the extended forms of fundamental conservation laws, and derived the Navier–Stokes equations. His lecture bridged how conservation principles are taught in physics with their application in hydraulics, offering fresh physical insights for fluid mechanics.
Professor Vladimir Nikora, past chair of IAHR’s Technical Committee on Fluid Mechanics and professor at the University of Aberdeen, gave a report on turbulence in open channel flows. He reviewed the unique properties of turbulence in streams and rivers, including the influence of free surfaces, channel boundaries, and flow–biota interactions. He also discussed recent advances such as the discovery of turbulence ‘superstructures’ and considered their implications for sediment transport, hydraulic resistance, and ecohydraulics.
Dr. Martijn J. Booij, Associate Professor at the University of Twente, spoke on hydrological modelling and environmental change impacts. He outlined the steps of hydrological modelling—from problem identification to uncertainty analysis—and demonstrated how models can be applied in diverse contexts. His presentation stressed the role of modelling in water policy and management, particularly in addressing challenges of flood safety and water availability under environmental change.
Dr. Fabian A. Bombardelli, editor of IAHR’s RIBAGUA and professor at the University of California, Davis, presented on numerical methods for computational hydraulics and fluid mechanics. He traced the historical development of numerical approaches and explained methods such as finite differences, finite volumes, and finite elements. The report included demonstrations of solving the advection–diffusion equation and Navier–Stokes velocity–pressure coupling, and discussed turbulence modelling in practical applications, offering valuable guidance for students and practitioners alike.
Dr. HUANG Yan, member of IAHR’s Technical Committee on Water Resources Management and president of China Three Gorges University, reported on Digital Twin River – technology and applications. Using the Yangtze River as an example, she explained how digital twin water technologies combine data, modelling, knowledge platforms, and AI to build advanced decision support systems. Her presentation illustrated applications in flood management, water quality, and basin regulation, while also addressing challenges and research needs in developing next-generation digital twin systems.
Professor Joseph Hun-wei Lee, past president of IAHR and president of the Macau University of Science and Technology, gave a lecture on turbulent jets and plumes and their environmental applications. He introduced fundamental concepts of jets and plumes in natural and engineered contexts and demonstrated modelling approaches ranging from analytical methods to CFD. His presentation highlighted practical applications such as coastal water quality management and provided a tutorial on the VISJET software, underscoring the importance of plume modelling in environmental forecasting and decision-making.
With profound scholarship and cutting-edge perspectives, these experts jointly taught, disassembled abstract theories with vivid cases, and built a systematic knowledge system of hydraulic engineering for the participants.
The practical session allowed participants to immerse themselves in the charm of hydraulic engineering. From August 18th to 19th, participants conducted on-site visits to world-class hydraulic hubs such as the Three Gorges Dam, Gezhouba Dam, and hydropower stations in the Qingjiang River Basin. In the on-site teaching, experts conducted in-depth analysis on engineering construction challenges and innovative solutions, enabling participants to seamlessly connect classroom theories with engineering scenarios, intuitively feel the majestic power and technological charm of hydraulic engineering, and allowing global students to personally witness CTGU’s disciplinary strength in serving national major hydraulic projects.
An international exchange atmosphere permeated the entire course. The curriculum included rich teacher-student interaction and participant collaboration sessions. Students from different countries and regions exchanged ideas in academic discussions and enhanced friendships during engineering visits, building a cross-cultural academic exchange network.
At the opening ceremony on August 11th, Professor HUANG Yan, President of CTGU, and Mohamed Salah Ghidaoui, Vice President of IAHR, delivered speeches respectively, encouraging students to cherish the learning opportunity and promote global cooperation in the field of water conservancy. At the closing ceremony, Engineer Farid Khamriche from JESA Company in Morocco, as the participants’ representative, shared his study experience, stating that the experience of visiting world-class hydraulic engineering on-site made theoretical knowledge ‘take root in practice’. At the graduation ceremony, Professor HUANG Yan, President of CTGU, Professor Joseph Hun-wei Lee, former President of IAHR and President of Macau University of Science and Technology, and Professor Vladimir Ivanovich Nikora, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and from the University of Aberdeen, UK, jointly awarded graduation certificates to participants representatives. In her concluding speech, Professor HUANG Yan emphasized that the successful holding of this summer course is an achievement in internationalization and a vivid practice in the academic construction. By building a high-end international academic platform, CTGU not only demonstrated its disciplinary advantages and scientific research strength in the field of water conservancy but also deepened its cooperation network with top global institutions, laying a solid foundation for cultivating high-quality hydraulic talents with international perspectives and enhancing the international influence of the discipline.
The successful conclusion of this international summer course marks a solid step taken by CTGU in the internationalization development of its hydraulic engineering discipline. In the future, the university will take this event as an opportunity to continuously deepen international cooperation, focusing on the frontier of water conservancy science and technology and national strategic consultancy, continuously enhance the core competitiveness of the discipline, and inject strong momentum into the goal of "Double First-Class" academic construction.