Prof. em. Dr. Edoardo Anderheggen

Edoardo Anderheggen was Full Professor of Computational Methods in Engineering since 1976, first at the Institute of Computer Science and after 1992 at the Institute of Structural Engineering. He retired on 30 September 2004.

Born in 1939 in Turin, Italy, he studied civil engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich from 1957-1961. He then became an assistant and doctoral student at the Institute of Structural Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Bruno Thürlimann, where he was active in the field of computer programming. He completed his doctoral dissertation in the summer of 1967, after which he spent two years as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of California in Berkeley.

His main research area is software development for linear and nonlinear structural mechanics applications using the finite element method (FEM). He specialized in the area of numerical analysis for solving structural mechanics problems. A number of computer programs, some of them widely used in engineering practice, were developed within his research group. Later he extended his interests to other fields where the FEM can be applied, such as metal forming processes or the simulation of micro-mechanical sensor components. He teaches civil engineering students the basics of computer science, also advanced lectures on the theory and application of FEM at the departments of civil and mechanical engineering.