Coastal engineer Dano Roelvink retires after 40 years
After more than four decades at the forefront of coastal science and engineering, Dano Roelvink will retire in May as an expert in coastal morphology at Deltares and as Professor of Coastal Engineering and Port Development at the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
Delft3D FM Suite 2D3DdTo mark this milestone, Roelvink is organising two special events. Today, Deltares is hosting an international symposium titled “International Symposium on the Future of Coastal Modelling”, focusing on the future of coastal modelling. This will be followed on 8 May by his farewell lecture, “A Living Edge?”, at IHE Delft. His farewell lecture at IHE can be followed live from 15:30 on Friday (click on the link).
Pioneering contributions
Roelvink’s career spans 41 years of groundbreaking contributions to coastal engineering and research, particularly in the areas of wave-driven currents and coastal morphology. He obtained his PhD in 1993 from Delft University of Technology with a thesis on the influence of waves on coastal profiles. He began his career at WL | Delft Hydraulics (a predecessor of Deltares), where he worked on early expert systems and coastal profile models, before moving on to advanced two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamic modelling. He also played a key role in the development of Delft3D, a globally leading integrated software suite from Deltares used for 2D and 3D simulations of water environments—applied to study flow, sediment transport, morphology, water quality and ecology in rivers, estuaries and coastal areas.
Giovanni Coco, researcher university of Auckland: "What I particularly admire is the balance that Dano brings: he is an exceptional and visionary numerical modeller, yet never loses sight of the human side of research. Whether through mentorship or even through his jazz performances at conference dinners, he creates an environment where science feels both rigorous and collaborative. That combination of scientific excellence and humanity is what makes Dano truly unique in the coastal research community."
Dano is an exceptional and visionary numerical modeller, yet never loses sight of the human side of research.
Giovanni Coco, researcher university of Auckland
Internationally recognised
Roelvink is an internationally recognised and highly cited scientist, with more than 150 publications on coastal hydraulics and morphodynamics. From 1990 to 2005, he also held a part-time position as associate professor at Delft University of Technology, where he still holds an honorary professorship.
Since 2005, Roelvink has led the chair group Coastal Systems & Engineering and Port Development at IHE Delft. A strong advocate of international collaboration, he has built partnerships with leading organisations including the US Geological Survey, the US Office of Naval Research and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as institutions across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.
Sean Vitousek, researcher United States Geological Survey: "Dano is brilliant; that much is clear to anyone who's read his papers or his book. And the models he developed are used by practically every coastal engineer in the world working on flooding and erosion issues. But Dano's true superpower is his keen interest, excitement, and fascination with the magic of coastal processes and the infectious enthusiasm that he has injected into all of us who've had the privilege to know him."
Dano's true superpower is his keen interest, excitement, and fascination with the magic of coastal processes.
Sean Vitousek, researcher USGS
Development of XBeach
One of his most influential contributions is XBeach, an open-source Deltares model for simulating the impact of storms on beaches, dunes and barrier coasts. XBeach has become a global standard for predicting dune erosion and coastal breaching. In 2011, he published the widely used Guide to Modeling Coastal Morphology. His impact on the field was further recognised in 2022 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS).
Ap van Dongeren, researcher Deltares: “Dano has the can-do spirit. That is how we developed XBeach. He is not hesitant to share and have people test the model. In these tests we learned and made it better. It is now the world standard in dune erosion modelling."
Vietnam, Bangladesh and West Africa
In recent years, Roelvink’s work has increasingly focused on coastal erosion challenges in regions such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and West Africa. This has led to the development of innovative, sustainable modelling approaches for coastal management, such as the ShorelineS model.
Living coasts
Roelvink’s lasting legacy is the further development of the concept of “living coasts,” an approach that prioritises the protection and resilience of dynamic, natural coastal systems. His work continues to shape how scientists and policymakers worldwide understand and manage the ever-changing boundary between land and sea.
Watch here for the messages for Dano from all around the world.
Speakers and presentations |
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09:30 |
Opening the Black Box: AI & Coastal Modelling
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Giovanni Coco, Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC |
09:50 |
Maarten van Ormondt, Deltares |
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10:30 |
Fernando Mendez, |
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10:50 |
Gerben de Boer, |
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11:10 |
Model-data integration: models + satellite data = the future |
Sean Vitousek, USGS |
13:30 |
Oula Amrouni, University of Carthage |
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13:50 |
Per Sørensen, COWI |
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14:10 |
Floortje Roelvink, Deltares/University of Plymouth |
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