gabriel díaz
Biography
Gabriel Díaz Hernández is an Associate Professor at the School of Civil Engineering of the University of Cantabria (Spain) and a Senior Researcher at IHCantabria within the Ports and Coastal Infrastructures Group. He holds a Civil Engineering degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, 1999), an MSc in Hydraulic Engineering (UNAM, 2001), an MSc in Integrated Coastal and Port Management (University of Cantabria, 2002), and a PhD in Coastal and Port Engineering (UC, 2006).
With more than two decades of international academic and professional experience, his work bridges fundamental research, operational engineering and real-world port applications. He has developed and led advanced numerical and operational frameworks for harbour agitation, infragravity wave dynamics, moored ship response (6DoF), and metocean-driven operational downtime. His expertise integrates Boussinesq and NSWE modelling, CFD applications, data assimilation, and AI-based inference systems for port decision support.
He has participated in over 130 research and technology-transfer projects, acting as Principal Investigator in more than 40, including competitive national projects funded by the Spanish State Research Agency and large-scale operational systems for Puertos del Estado, international port authorities, and strategic institutional clients. He has led the development of operational ocean forecasting and early warning systems supporting harbour construction and maritime operations in Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil and other international contexts.
His scientific production includes more than 20 indexed journal articles (Q1 journals such as Coastal Engineering and Ocean Engineering) and close to 100 conference contributions at national and international venues. He has been invited as an international expert in long-period wave mitigation and port resonance, and serves as Chairman of PIANC MarCom Working Group 232 on metocean-related risk during marine construction. He has supervised more than 50 graduate and postgraduate theses and co-supervised doctoral research within internationally recognised programmes, including Erasmus Mundus.
His profile combines scientific leadership, large-scale project management, international collaboration and strong technology transfer capacity to the port and maritime sector.
RESEARCH LINES
- Advanced numerical modelling of ocean wave propagation (NSWE, Boussinesq, CFD)
- Harbour agitation, resonance and infragravity wave dynamics
- Moored ship response analysis (6DoF) and operational downtime assessment
- Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems (OOFS)
- AI-driven inference systems for port decision-making
- Design, diagnosis and resilience assessment of harbour infrastructures
- Directional spectral analysis and advanced wave data assimilation
PUBLICATIONS
