Failures in Large-Span Roof Structures in Switzerland
Dr René Steiger, Switzerland
Senior Scientist, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa)
René Steiger graduated in civil engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in 1986. After receiving his PhD in Technical Sciences from ETH in 1996 he worked as Civil Engineer in an engineering office being responsible for the structural analysis and design of steel, concrete and timber structures as well as for the assessment of existing structures. Since 1999 he has been working as Senior Scientist and Vice Head at the Wood Laboratory of Empa, and since 2012 in Empa’s Structural Engineering Research Laboratory. Currently he is managing different research projects, expert’s opinions and service contracts in the field of timber engineering. Main research activities he centered on the performance and reliability of timber structures. René has been working in several committees in structural engineering, and authored and co-authored several publications which focused on the assessment of failures and malfunctions of structures, on the general procedure and techniques in assessing timber structures and on the design for robustness.
