Robert Ettema has been awarded the 2025 Bernard Michel Award in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contributions to the advancement of river ice science and engineering. This prestigious international honor was presented by the Committee on River Ice Processes and the Environment (CRIPE) at the 23rd Workshop on the Hydraulics of Ice Covered Rivers in June. The award is named in memory of Dr. Bernard Michel, a pioneering figure in river ice research.
Over the course of his more than four-decade career, Ettema has made significant contributions to the fields of river mechanics, sediment transport, and ice-structure interactions. His work in cold regions hydraulics has shaped the way researchers and practitioners understand the role of ice in river systems and how it affects hydraulic structures, sediment dynamics, river hydraulics. Ettema joined the CSU faculty in 2015 and retired as professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2024, where he continues his work as a Senior Research Scientist.
Although Ettema began his career without a specific focus on river ice, he was drawn into the field during a postdoctoral position at the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, when he was asked to complete a frazil ice study in a cold-room laboratory. What began as a temporary assignment soon developed into a career-defining focus. His first publication in the CRIPE Workshop proceedings appeared in 1982, and since then, he has authored or co-authored 18 CRIPE papers and more than 140 publications on ice processes.
Ettema’s research has addressed a wide range of critical topics in river ice engineering. These include frazil ice formation and blockage, ice jams, aufeis, flow resistance in ice-covered channels, sediment transport under ice, anchor ice formation, and ice impacts on hydraulic structures such as dams, bridges, and intakes. His work has spanned physical model experiments, numerical simulations, and field-based investigations, with a consistent emphasis on translating science into practical engineering solutions.
In addition to his research accomplishments, Ettema has provided decades of leadership to the broader hydraulic engineering community. He has served as Dean of Engineering at the University of Wyoming, an editor for the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, associate editor for ASCE’s Cold Regions Engineering Journal, and an active member of several IAHR technical committees, including those on Ice Research and Hydraulic Structures. His service and scholarship have previously been recognized with ASCE’s Hans Albert Einstein Award (2015) and Harold R. Peyton Award for Cold Regions Engineering (2019).
Rob Ettema exemplifies the spirit of the Bernard Michel Award, which honors individuals who have made transformative and lasting contributions to river ice science and engineering. His legacy is evident not only in his extensive body of scholarly work, but also in the many students, colleagues, and professionals he has mentored throughout his career.
We congratulate Dr. Ettema on this well-deserved honor and thank him for his continued contributions to the CSU Hydraulics Laboratory and the broader civil and environmental engineering community.