Anton van der Esch is a doctoral candidate in the Unit of Structural Engineering and Design in the Department of the Built Environment of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research focuses on the accuracy of formulas that correctly predicts the crack formation in new concrete structures and that can explain crack patterns in existing structures due to external loads and restrained deformations, using data analysis.

"When we understand the fundamentals of crack behaviour in reinforced and prestressed concrete, we can use the potential of artificial intelligence to get a detailed understanding."

Anton van der Esch obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering in 2015 at Avans University of Applied Sciences. After working for a year at a contractor, he obtained his MSc in Civil Engineering in 2020, with specialisation Structural Engineering and the annotation Dynamics of Structures. His MSc focused on the modelling of the steady-state response of a soil column with nonlinear hysteretic damping under periodic excitation using a Harmonic Balance Method. He also wrote the required software to predict these responses.