Luis Gerardo Castillo Elsitdié

Luis Gerardo Castillo Elsitdié is an Associate Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), Spain, within the Department of Civil Engineering of the Higher Technical School of Civil Engineering. He has served at UPCT since 2002 as Head of the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory and Principal Researcher of the Hydr@m Group.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (1990)
• Master in Science, Technology and Society from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1996)
• Graduate in Civil Engineering (Hydraulics Specialization) from the Central University of Ecuador (1985)

Professor Castillo's research focuses on critical hydraulic engineering challenges, specializing in flood management, spillway design, dam break analysis for conventional and mining waste structures, and hyperconcentrated flows. His work addresses hydrological characterization in semi-arid regions and intake systems for ephemeral rivers, with formulations adopted by U.S. agencies like FEMA and the Bureau of Reclamation in their technical manuals.

Through over thirty-five years of professional practice, he has directed more than one hundred hydrology, water resources, and fluvial engineering projects for major Spanish engineering firms and served as International Advisor for Ecuador's Electricity Corporation (CELEC EP) from 2013-2017.

He leads the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory and the Hydr@m Research Group, which advances experimental and numerical modeling in hydraulic, maritime, and environmental engineering while maintaining active roles in the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering (IAHR) since 1990.