Mirko Musa

Mirko Musa

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Hydraulic Engineering

EPFL — STREEM Lab

About

Mirko Musa is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at EPFL and director of the STREEM Lab. His research combines laboratory experiments, data analysis, and analytical modeling to advance sustainable water-based energy technologies while protecting riverine ecosystems. His work spans river hydraulics and mechanics, sediment transport and morphodynamics, hydropower, and hydrokinetic energy.
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Research interests

Hydraulic engineering River mechanics and morphodynamics Sediment transport Hydropower Hydrokinetic energy Experimental research
Research

Mirko’s work brings together physical experiments, data analysis, and analytical modeling to understand how water infrastructure and river processes can evolve together sustainably.

Fluvial hydrokinetic energy

Advancing turbines that generate renewable power directly from river and canal currents, while accounting for wake interactions, sediment dynamics, and environmental performance.

River engineering and morphodynamics

Investigating how flow, mobile sediment, bedforms, and engineered interventions shape river channels across scales.

Hydropower expansion and sustainability

Developing pathways to improve existing water-power infrastructure, including low-head hydropower, tailrace applications, and reservoir sediment management.

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Recent publications

Peer-reviewed journal papers. Conference proceedings, abstracts, reports, and datasets are excluded.

Chien-Yung Tseng, Kenneth D. Ham, Colin Sasthav, Shih-Chieh Kao, Mirko Musa
Corresponding author and/or project PI
(2026). Full-scale validation gaps and opportunities for low-head hydropower: a review and perspective. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 93, 105218.
DOI
Jiyong Lee, Mirko Musa, Soumendra Bhanja, Antonia Chu, Carly Hansen, Debjani Singh, John Zhu, Shih-Chieh Kao (2026). Sedimentation and Nonlinear Trapping in Texas Reservoirs Identified Using Remote Sensing and Bathymetric Survey Records. Water Resources Research, 62(7), e2025WR042643.
DOI
Chien-Yung Tseng, Mirko Musa
Corresponding author and/or project PI
(2025). Hydrokinetic energy applications within hydropower tailrace channels: Implications, siting, and U.S. potential. Renewable Energy, 238, 121916.
DOI
Chien-Yung Tseng, Jiyong Lee, Michele Guala, Mirko Musa
Corresponding author and/or project PI
(2024). Experimental Tests of Lateral Bedload Transport Induced by a Yawed Submerged Vane Array in Open-Channel Flows. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 150(6), 04024045.
DOI
Ryan Hanna, Eugenie Dugoua, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Destenie Nock, Stephanie Arcusa, Sergio Castellanos, Michael R. Davidson, Morgan R. Edwards, Clara Galeazzi, Xue Gao, Michelle Graff, Kathleen M. Kennedy, Eleftheria Kontou, Priyank Lathwal, Mirko Musa, Eric O’Rear, S. Sivaranjani, Jingjing Zhang, Qianru Zhu (2022). Net zero needs investment in people too. Science, 378(6625), 1181.
DOI
Carly Hansen, Mirko Musa, Colin Sasthav, Scott DeNeale (2021). Hydropower development potential at non-powered dams: Data needs and research gaps. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 145, 111058.
DOI
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Teaching

CIVIL-410 — Fluvial Hydraulics and River Engineering

River restoration and flood protection through sediment transport, hydro-morphodynamics, flood-hazard assessment, and river-engineering structures.

CIVIL-312 — Hydraulic Analysis and Design

Fundamentals of hydraulic analysis and the design of infrastructure for water supply, renewable energy, and protection from water-related hazards.

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Contact

EPFL ENAC IIC STREEM
GC G1 517, Bâtiment GC
Station 18, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

mirko.musa@epfl.ch · +41 21 693 60 27 · Office map