Elena Vagnoni is Director of the EPFL Technology Platform for Hydraulic Machines, where she leads research on multiphase flows and fluid–structure interactions in hydraulic machinery. Her work combines experimental methods and predictive modelling to improve the design and sustainability of hydropower technologies under evolving operational and climate conditions. 

She holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano and a PhD in Mechanics from EPFL. During her career, she has been a Research Assistant Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL, and an SNSF-funded visiting scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. 
In 2026, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant for SHIELD – “Multiscale Sediment-laden flow HydrodynamIcs and Erosive wear for sustainabLe hydropower”, which investigates the fundamental mechanisms governing sediment-laden flows and erosion in hydraulic machines.