Elena Vagnoni graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan in 2013, and she obtained her PhD in Mechanics at EPFL in 2018. Since 2022 she is the head of research projects group at the EPFL Technology Platform for Hydraulic Machines. Before her current position, she was a research assistant fellow at Johns Hopkins University and a SNSF-fellow guest scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She is the Swiss expert for the Annex IX of the International Energy Agency
 Hydropower Technology Cooperation Programme and Vice-Coordinator of the European Energy Research Association joint program Hydropower.
Her research interest focuses on the experimental investigation and predictive modelling of flow phenomena and fluid-structure interactions in hydraulic machines. This research has several applications, namely in improving hydraulic machinery design and operation, and strengthening hydropower technology competitiveness to support the power system decarbonization amid climate change challanges.