Lukas Schmocker

Lukas Schmocker is in his element when it comes to water. After graduating as a civil engineer from ETH Zurich, the hydraulic engineering specialist worked for twelve years at the Laboratory for Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology and Glaciology at ETH Zurich, where he also completed his doctorate in 2011 on the subject of the hydraulics of dike breaches. Lukas Schmocker started working for Basler & Hofmann in 2013 and was appointed protective hydraulic engineering officer at the beginning of 2022. From 2013 to 2019, he concurrently worked as project manager at the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research and as a lecturer at ETH Zurich on a part-time basis. His areas of expertise include flood protection, river engineering and the retention of bed load and driftwood. As a project manager, he has already modelled and optimised large bedload and alluvial wood retention systems, planned erodible dams and ensured flood protection on small and large rivers. From 2024, Lukas Schmocker is Technical Director Hydraulic engineering at Basler & Hofmann.

What fascinates you about your work?

No two hydraulic engineering projects are the same. As hydraulic engineers, we are often confronted with unpredictable conditions and are therefore required to develop both robust and flexible solutions. To develop such innovative measures together in an interdisciplinary team is always a fascinating process.

What do you find makes a project particularly enjoyable?

I particularly enjoy the idea generation phase at the beginning of a new project. I enjoy questioning tried and tested methods and thinking up new solutions.