Gerald Zenz, civil engineer and PhD in numerical analysis for tunnelling, has extensive experience in dam and hydropower design with firms like Tauernplan and Pöyry. He has authored over 250 publications and focused research on high-head hydropower, large dams, hydraulic losses, surge tanks, and flood mitigation. From 2007–2024, he directed the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering at Graz University of Technology and served as Dean (2014–2019). He is President of the Austrian Committee on Large Dams, ICOLD Vice President (2017–2021), and active in several technical boards and working groups on dam safety, geomechanics, and water management.