News
RESEARCH VISIT TO UNIVERSITY OF PORTO: VIVIEN MAERTENS
Bath Cohort 5 student Vivien Maertens’ research visit destination was Porto in Portugal, where she was hosted by Prof Paulo Rosa Santos and Prof Tiago Ferradosa in the University of Porto’s Faculty of Engineering. Vivien’s PhD is on ‘Optimisation of Deep-Water Offshore Wind Systems’ with a special focus on internal waves (which can occur off the coast […]
PhD Success: Daisy Harley-Nyang
Congratulations to Daisy Harley-Nyang (Cohort 5, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis on 22nd January 2024. Daisy’s PhD thesis is entitled “A Study of Microplastics in Wastewater, Sludge and Biosolids”. Well done, Daisy!
Water Conservation Trust Dissertation Prize 2023: Dr Jessica Penny
Congratulations to Dr Jessica Penny (Cohort 4, Exeter), who was nominated by the Centre for Water Systems for the 2023 Water Conservation Trust Dissertation Prize. The Water Conservation Trust is The Worshipful Company of Water Conservators’ charity. The Trust undertakes valuable work supporting access to water and environmental education, which includes providing student bursaries and prizes. […]
PhD Success: Dan Power
Congratulations to Dan Power (Cohort 5, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 12th December 2023. Dan’s PhD thesis is entitled “Investigating opportunities for global scale soil moisture studies using Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors”. Well done, Dan!
IWA Water Development Congress & Exhibition, Rwanda, 10-14 December 2023
The 2023 International Water Association’s (‘IWA’) Water and Development Congress & Exhibition is taking place from 10th-14th December 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda. The theme is “Water, sanitation, and climate resilience – keys to a water-wise future” and is the seventh in IWA’s Congress series focusing on water and development issues. This event aims to present solutions […]
PhD Success: Nicolas Hanousek
Congratulations to Nicolas Hanousek (Cohort 5, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 8th December 2023. Nick’s PhD thesis is entitled “Numerical Modelling of Tidal Energy Devices and Structures as part of Net Zero”. Well done, Nick!
PhD Success: Laura Devitt
Congratulations to Laura Devitt (Cohort 5, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis on 4th December 2023. Laura’s PhD thesis is entitled “Estimating flood risk under climate change: Exploring the use of different data and methods, and their uncertainties, to estimate extreme flood hazard at various scales”. Well done, Laura!
PhD Success: Debbie Shackleton
Congratulations to Debbie Shackleton (Cohort 4, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis on 17th November 2023. Debbie’s PhD thesis is entitled “Investigating the Relationship between Climate and Cholera”. Well done, Debbie!
PhD Success: Elisa Coraggio
Congratulations to Elisa Coraggio (Cohort 4, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis on 14th November 2023. Elisa’s PhD is entitled “Investigation of high frequency water quality monitoring and prediction”. Well done, Elisa!
WISE CDT Celebration Event: 20-21 April 2023, Bristol
The WISE CDT was proud to organise a two-day Celebration Event in Bristol from 20th-21st April 2023. It was a joy to see all the WISE cohorts reunited and to share this precious time with graduates, students, academics, Advisory Board members and industry partners. WISE is grateful to everyone who took time out to join […]
STAHY Best Paper Award 2023: Dr Wouter Knoben
Congratulations to WISE CDT graduate Dr Wouter Knoben (Cohort 1, Bristol) for being awarded the STAHY Best Paper Award 2023! The STAHY award is made by the International Commission on Statistical Hydrology, a commission of IAHS (International Association for Hydrological Sciences). The award-winning paper was part of Wouter’s PhD, in the EPSRC-funded WISE CDT (Water […]
PhD Success: Bikash Ranabhat
Congratulations to Bikash Ranabhat (Cohort 4, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 4th August 2023. Bikash’s PhD is entitled “Parametric Optimisation of a Vertical Axis Hydrokinetic Turbine with Shallow Water Application”. Well done, Bikash!
PhD Success: Jamie Brown
Congratulations to Jamie Brown (Cohort 4, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 10th August 2023. Jamie’s PhD is entitled “Assessing The Combined Effect Of Carbon-Water Dynamics On Hydrological Processes In Brazil”. Well done, Jamie!
PHD SUCCESS: Ari Cooper-Davis
Congratulations to Ari Cooper-Davis (Cohort 5, Exeter) for successfully defending his thesis on 5th July 2023. Ari’s PhD is entitled “Flow Timeseries Forecasting in Urban Drainage Networks Using Artificial Neural Network Models”. Well done, Ari!
PhD Success: Santiago Martelo López
Congratulations to Santiago Martelo López (Cohort 5, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 16th June 2023. Santi’s PhD is entitled “Large eddy simulations of two-phase flows around complex 3D geometries”. Well done, Santi!
1st Prize 2023 Water Industry Forum Team Challenge: Dr Jessica Penny
Congratulations to WISE CDT graduate Dr Jessica Penny for securing 1st prize in the 2023 Water Industry Forum Team Challenge for Young Water Professionals. This year’s challenge theme was “The importance of nature-based solutions for a sustainable society”. Jess’ teammates were Olivia Rowe, Ben Hazard and Emily McAuliffe and, as Team “Nature Based Futures”, they worked together on creating innovative ideas […]
PhD Success: Georgios Sarailidis
Congratulations to Georgios Sarailidis (Cohort 5, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 19th May 2023. George’s PhD is entitled “Uncertainty quantification and attribution in flood risk modelling”. Well done, George!
Inspirational Teaching Award: Dr Ioanna Stamataki
Congratulations to WISE CDT graduate Dr Ioanna Stamataki, who has been awarded the Inspirational Teaching Award in the University of Greenwich’s Student Led Teaching Awards 2023. Ioanna’s PhD was on “Experimental and numerical investigation of flash floods and their interaction with urban settlements”. She is now a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Greenwich.
PhD Success: Bert Swart
Congratulations to Bert Swart (Cohort 4, Bath) for successfully defending his thesis on 9th May 2023. Bert’s PhD is entitled “Experimental & analytical methods for investigating microbubble-microplastic flotation”. Well done, Bert!
PhD SUCCESS: DAVID BIRT
Congratulations to David Birt (Cohort 4, Bath) for successfully defending his thesis on 3rd May 2023. David’s PhD is entitled “Drinking water reservoir resiliency in a changing climate”. Well done, David!
PhD SUCCESS: JESSICA PENNY
Congratulations to Jessica Penny (Cohort 4, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis on 5th April 2023. Jess’ PhD is entitled “Impact of land-use changes on hydrological regimes”. Well done, Jess!
PHD SUCCESS: CATHERINE LEECH
Congratulations to Catherine Leech (Cohort 4, Cardiff) for successfully defending her thesis on 13th March 2023. Catherine’s PhD is entitled “An experimental study of the hydrodynamic impact of turbine layout and design considerations in tidal range schemes”. Well done, Catherine!
RESEARCH VISIT TO UNIVERSITY OF A CORUÑA: WILLIAM ADDISON-ATKINSON
Exeter Cohort 5 student William Addison-Atkinson’s research visit destination was Galicia in north-west Spain. Will was based at the University of A Coruña from September-November 2022, where he was hosted by Professor José Anta Álvarez in the Centre for Technological Innovations in Construction and Civil Engineering. Will’s PhD research focuses on “quantifying health risks from […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO IIHR – HYDROSCIENCE & ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: ROBERTO QUAGLIA
Bristol Cohort 5 student Roberto Quaglia was based in Iowa from September-December 2022 for his research visit. Roberto was hosted by the University of Iowa within IIHR – Hydroscience & Engineering, a renowned centre on fluids-related research. Here he worked closely with Professor Gabriele Villarini’s team of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Roberto reports that […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO DELTARES: OLIVER FOSS
Bath Cohort 5 student Oliver Foss made the most of his month in the Netherlands during the autumn of 2022. Ollie was hosted by Deltares, an independent institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface. He was based with the Coastal Hazards Team in Delft, where he worked closely with Robert McCall, […]
PHD SUCCESS: BENJAMIN BEYLARD
Congratulations to Benjamin Beylard (Cohort 3, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 7th December 2022. Ben’s PhD is entitled “Morphodynamic modelling of a nourished beach using a mixed sediment approach”. Well done, Ben!
WISE Poster Day 16 November 2022
A fantastic WISE CDT Poster Day took place on 16 November 2022 on the University of Bath campus, hosted by Dr Tom Arnot. The event generated lots of water science and engineering discussion, plus a valuable opportunity for the cohorts to get together again. Grateful thanks to Programme Management Group members, academic supervisors and students […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHOLERA AND ENTERIC DISEASES, KOLKATA: DEBORAH SHACKLETON
Exeter Cohort 4 student Deborah Shackleton has just returned from a two-month research visit to Kolkata in India, where she was hosted by the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) under the supervision of Dr Shanta Dutta. Debbie’s PhD research focuses on “Mathematical modelling for the effects of climate change on cholera in […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC COMMUNITY: JESSICA PENNY
Exeter Cohort 4 student Jessica Penny travelled to both Australia and Fiji for her research visit in the summer of 2022. The Coronavirus pandemic had significantly disrupted Jess’ PhD project, including her case study sites, so key motivations for this visit were to obtain the required data from her eventual case study locations and to […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR MEDIUM-RANGE WEATHER FORECASTS: NEFELI MAKRYGIANNI
Cardiff Cohort 4 student Nefeli Makrygianni based herself at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in Reading, UK for her research visit. Nefeli’s industrial supervisor is Dr Jean Bidlot, Senior Scientist in ECMWF’s Earth System Modelling Section. Nefeli therefore took the opportunity to work closely with Dr Bidlot at ECMWF between October-December 2021, […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: DANIEL POWER
Bristol Cohort 5 student Daniel Power has just returned from an invaluable research visit to Columbia University in New York, USA, where he was hosted by Professor Pierre Gentine in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering. Dan’s PhD is focused on “Increasing our understanding of land-atmosphere interactions using Cosmic-Ray Neutron Soil Moisture Sensors and Machine Learning”. […]
RESEARCH VISIT TO 7 LAKES ALLIANCE AND COLBY COLLEGE, MAINE: JAMES RAND
James Rand (Cohort 5, Bath) has recently returned from a one-month research visit to Maine in the United States of America. Find out all about his experience below: “Hosted by the 7 Lake Alliance (7LA – a watershed organization based in Belgrade Lakes, Maine) and Colby College (a private, undergraduate university in Waterville, Maine) through […]
PhD Success: Laura Ramsamy
Congratulations to Laura Ramsamy (Cohort 3, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis on 27th June 2022. Laura’s PhD is entitled “Flood forecasting in a large catchment with limited data”. Well done, Laura!
MPhil Success: Aidan Barry
Congratulations to Aidan Barry (Cohort 2, Bath), whose MPhil award was confirmed on 22nd June 2022. Aidan’s thesis is entitled “Identification & characterisation of luxury uptake proteins in Chlamydomonas for enhanced wastewater phosphorus removal”, Well done, Aidan!
PhD Success: Mikkel Bue Lykkegaard
Congratulations to Mikkel Bue Lykkegaard (Cohort 5, Exeter) for successfully defending his thesis on 20th May 2022. Mikkel’s PhD is entitled “Multilevel Delayed Acceptance MCMC with Applications to Hydrogeological Inverse Problems”. Well done, Mikkel!
PhD SUCCESS: STEPHANIE MÜLLER
Congratulations to Stephanie Müller (Cohort 4, Cardiff) for successfully defending her thesis on 25th April 2022. Stephanie’s PhD is entitled “Impact of leaky barriers and hydrokinetic turbines on the riverine ecosystem”. Well done, Stephanie!
PHD SUCCESS: NEFELI MAKRYGIANNI
Congratulations to Nefeli Makrygianni (Cohort 4, Cardiff) for successfully defending her thesis on 25th April 2022. Nefeli’s PhD is entitled “Evaluation of the Performance of the Wave Boundary Layer Model with the OpenIFS”. Well done, Nefeli!
PhD Success: Sabrina Draude
Congratulations to Sabrina Draude (Cohort 3, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis on 21st February 2022. Sabrina’s PhD is entitled “Optimised Maintenance Scheduling for Wastewater Systems”. Well done, Sabrina!
PhD Success: Giulia Giani
Congratulations to Giulia Giani (Cohort 4, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis on 1st February 2022. Giulia’s PhD is entitled “On the objective characterization of the rainfall runoff transformation”. Well done, Giulia!
Research visit to Harvard University: Stephanie Müller
This is something we haven’t been able to report for a long time due to COVID-19 ! Stephanie Müller (Cardiff 4, Cardiff) has recently returned from a successful overseas research visit. Stephanie travelled to the USA in October-December 2021 and was hosted by Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she joined Professor Petros Koumoutsakos’ research group […]
PhD SUCCESS: ANDY BARNES
Congratulations to Andy Barnes (Cohort 4, Bath) for successfully defending his thesis on 11th January 2022. Andy’s PhD is entitled “Machine learning methods for the analysis of precipitation patterns”. Well done, Andy!
PHD SUCCESS: SIMBI HATCHARD
Congratulations to Simbi Hatchard (Cohort 3, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 10th November 2021. Simbi’s PhD research focused on Modelling the Viability of Small Hydroelectric Power on the Zambezi Basin. Well done, Simbi!
‘Water Resources Research’ 2020 Editors’ Choice Award: Dr Wouter Knoben
Congratulations to Bristol WISE CDT graduate Dr Wouter Knoben for winning a ‘Water Resources Research’ 2020 Editors’ Choice award. Wouter’s paper, ‘A Brief Analysis of Conceptual Model Structure Uncertainty using 36 Models & 559 Catchments’, was produced as part of his WISE PhD research (https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025975). You can read Wouter’s paper – along with all papers […]
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD: JAMES RAND
Congratulations to James Rand (Cohort 5, Bath) who has been awarded a Student Scholarship by the North American Lake Management Society (‘NALMS’), a non-profit organisation focusing on the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs. James is one of two recipients of the new Kenneth H Reckhow Scholarship, awarded to graduate students to support their […]
University of Bristol Doctoral Dissertation Prize 2021: Dr Sebastian Gnann
We are proud to announce that Bristol WISE CDT graduate Dr Sebastian Gnann has been awarded a 2021 Doctoral Dissertation Prize. The University of Bristol’s Research Degrees Examination Board awards an annual prize for outstanding excellence within each faculty. This year’s six winners were picked from a pool of 510 submissions, with Sebastian winning the Faculty of […]
PhD SUCCESS: CHARLES WEST
Congratulations to Charles West (Cohort 3, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 21st October 2021. Charlie’s PhD is entitled “Investigating Groundwater Recharge And Dynamics At Continental Scales Using Comparative Hydrology”. Well done, Charlie!
PhD SUCCESS: GIOVANNI D MUSOLINO
Congratulations to Giovanni D Musolino (Cohort 3, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 28th June 2021. Giovanni has been researching “Flood Modelling and Hazard Assessment for Extreme Events in Riverine Basins”. Well done, Giovanni!
PhD Success: Lina Stein
Congratulations to Lina Stein (Cohort 3, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis on 28th May 2021. Lina’s PhD is entitled “Using hydrological process knowledge to assess flood generation and changes on a global scale”. Well done, Lina!
WISE CDT journal paper: “Hydroinformatics Education”
WISE has been developing a journal paper about the CDT, our approach to postgraduate training and the lessons we have learned so far. We are delighted to report that this paper is now available in the journal “ Hydrology and Earth System Sciences” (HESS) – see https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2721-2021. WISE would like to thank everyone who has contributed […]
PhD Success: Sebastian Gnann
Congratulations to Sebastian Gnann (Cohort 3, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 14th April 2021. Sebastian’s PhD is entitled “Baseflow generation at the catchment scale – An investigation using comparative hydrology”. Well done, Sebastian!
PhD Success: Elli Mitrou
Congratulations to Elli Mitrou (Cohort 1, Cardiff) for successfully defending her thesis on 1st April 2021. Elli’s PhD is entitled “Large-eddy simulations of multi-phase plumes in crossflow and stratified flow”. Well done, Elli!
PhD Success: Dolores Gonzalez Olias
Congratulations to Dolores Gonzalez Olias (Cohort 3, Bath) for successfully defending her thesis on 2nd March 2021. Lola’s PhD is entitled “Self-powered biosensors for water quality monitoring: sensor development and signal treatment”. Well done, Lola!
PhD SUCCESS: ALEX STUBBS
Congratulations to Alex Stubbs (Cohort 2, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 23rd February 2021. Alex’s PhD is entitled “Large Eddy Simulation of Flow Above Gravel Riverbeds”. Well done, Alex!
Research Presentations
This week has seen a great set of WISE CDT researcher presentations! On 17th February CIWEM’s Welsh Branch hosted a webinar on Research in Fluvial and Coastal Waters, with presentations from Cardiff PhD candidates Nefeli Makrygianni on “Air-wave interaction in wave boundary layer” and Sam Rowley on “Modelling flood dynamics in the middle Severn Catchment”. Bath’s […]
PHD SUCCESS: STEPHEN CLEE
Congratulations to Stephen Clee (Cohort 2, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 28th January 2021. Stephen’s PhD is entitled “3D Hydrodynamic and Morphodynamic Modelling of Offshore Sandbanks”. Well done, Stephen!
PhD SUCCESS: EIRINI NIKOLOUDI
Congratulations to Eirini Nikoloudi (Cohort 3, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis on 11th January 2021. Eirini’s PhD is entitled “Event Management and Event Response Planning for Smart Water Networks”. Well done, Eirini!
PhD SUCCESS: ARTHUR HAJAALI
Congratulations to Arthur Hajaali (Cohort 2, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis on 7th January 2021. Arthur’s PhD is entitled “Flow separation behaviour within different diffusers using Large Eddy Simulation”. Well done, Arthur!
PhD SUCCESS: ANNA LO JACOMO
Congratulations to Anna Lo Jacomo (Cohort 2, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis on 17th December 2020. Anna’s PhD is entitled “Multi-hazard exposure of cities and implications for urban infrastructure”. Well done, Anna!
PhD Success: Cain Moylan
Congratulations to Cain Moylan (Cohort 2, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on 9th December 2020. Cain’s PhD is entitled “Sensitivity, uncertainty and refinement in a global flood model”. Well done, Cain!
GW4 WSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE NOVEMBER 2020: “ONE MINUTE WONDERS”
As part of this year’s revamped GW4 WSA Annual Conference, postgraduate research students from the WISE and FRESH CDTs had the opportunity to share their current research in the form of “one-minute wonder” single-slide flash presentations. Whilst not a competition, students were challenged to present their work clearly and quickly and capture the attention of delegates. WISE CDT […]
BRISTOL “EQUALITY IN ENGINEERING” WORKSHOP, NOVEMBER 2020
With the help of several Bristol WISE CDT students, an engaging online workshop on the theme of “Equality in Engineering” was hosted by the University of Bristol’s Faculty of Engineering on 18th November 2020. Run by Advance HE, the event sought to improve knowledge and understanding of race and racism in higher education, with a particular focus […]
WISE at the Global Science Show, 28th November 2020
The Global Science Show combined with FUTURES2020 (#FUTURES2020) offered an (unexpectedly) excellent opportunity for WISE and University of Bath researchers to share their research and interact with a truly world-wide audience. In “normal” times FUTURES2020 would involve science busking in Bath city centre, travelling by train between Bristol and Bath performing science tricks, conducting guided […]
PhD Success: Rosanna Lane
Congratulations to Rosanna Lane (Cohort 2, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis on “National-scale hydrological modelling of high flows across Great Britain”. Well done, Rosie!
WISE CDT “Alumni Panel”
On 26th November 2020, the WISE CDT trialled a virtual “Alumni Panel”. It was fantastic to catch up with so many of our graduates from their current bases in the UK, mainland Europe and Canada. Grateful thanks to our alumni and current students (and their cats and offspring!), who were able to join this event […]
PhD Success: Stamatis Batelis
Congratulations to Stamatis Batelis (Cohort 2, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis on “The impact of groundwater representation in land surface models under current and future scenarios in the UK”. Well done, Stamatis!
GO-Science Policy Internship: Catherine Leech
The WISE CDT had two successful applications to UKRI‘s Policy Internships Scheme. Catherine Leech (Cohort 4, Cardiff) has been hosted by GO-Science (The Government Office for Science) and writes about her experience here. The Policy Internships Scheme offers the chance for doctoral students funded by UKRI funding councils to work for three months in a highly influential policy organisation. […]
WISE CDT Journal Article in HESS – Open for Discussion
The WISE CDT journal preprint is now open for discussion in the HESS journal: “Hydroinformatics education – The Water Informatics in Science and Engineering (WISE) Centre for Doctoral Training“. We invite you to read it here. A big thank you to Professor Thorsten Wagener for bringing this to fruition – and grateful thanks to all our […]
GW4 WSA PhD Con2020
A team of PhD students from across the GW4 led an exciting new conference – the ‘GW4 WSA PhD Con2020: Knowledge Flow – Building Bridges between Science & Community’ – from 28-30th September 2020. Working with the WSA and The Flow Partnership, their event brought together practitioners working with communities across the world, and researchers, […]
PhD Success: Paul Bayle
Congratulations to Paul Bayle (Cohort 2, Bath) for successfully defending his thesis subject to minor corrections. Paul’s thesis is entitled ‘Coastal protection and nearshore evolution under sea level rise’. Well done Paul!
NERC COVID-19 Digital Sprint Hackathon Success
Students from the WISE and SAMBa CDTs, under the awesome banner of ‘Team Coronasaurus’, entered the 2nd week-long NERC COVID 19 Digital Sprint Hackathon. Ari Cooper-Davis, Cristina Corti and Mikkel Lykkegaard (all Exeter), and James Rand and Piotr Morawiecki (SAMBa CDT) were tasked with using NERC and other publicly available databases to understand the impact of […]
Exeter International Women in Engineering Celebrations: Cristina Corti 4th prize
Exeter’s College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences held its fourth International Women in Engineering Day celebration on 19th June 2020. This event aims to encourage, support and promote early-career female researchers, including postgraduates, PhD students, research assistants, postdocs, research fellows and newly-appointed lecturers across the College’s Science and Engineering disciplines. This year’s event took […]
#IWAPOSTER BEST INTERACTION AWARD: CATHERINE LEECH
The 21st International Water Association Young Water Professionals (‘IWA YWP’) Conference was postponed due to COVID-19. Instead, the IWA ran an online poster competition, held entirely over Twitter, with the aim of bringing together members of the IWA YWP research community to share their research, network and engage in scientific debate. The award for ‘best interaction’ – the poster that stimulates the greatest online audience participation – was awarded to Catherine Leech (Cohort […]
2020 Godfrey and Sue Hall Postgraduate Research Student Prize: Olivia Bailey
Further to her recent viva success, Olivia Bailey (Cohort 2, Bath) has just been awarded the 2020 Godfrey and Sue Hall Postgraduate Research Student Prize. Olivia’s research ‘Sewer Systems of the Future: Developing a stochastic sewer model to support design of sustainable wastewater systems’ focuses on bringing sustainability into our urban water cycle through using water […]
PhD Success: Olivia Bailey
Congratulations to Olivia Bailey (Cohort 2, Bath) for undergoing our first virtual viva and successfully defending her thesis subject to minor corrections. Olivia’s thesis is entitled ‘Sewer Systems of the Future’. Well done Olivia!
“#Tweet your Thesis” 1st Prize: Ari Cooper-Davis
Ari Cooper-Davis (Cohort 5, Exeter) has been awarded 1st prize in the University of Exeter’s 2020 “#Tweet Your Thesis” competition. This annual competition challenges postdoctoral researchers to communicate their research to a public audience – in 280 characters!
Defra Policy Internship: James Rand
The WISE CDT had two successful applications to UKRI‘s Policy Internships Scheme. James Rand (Cohort 5, Bath) has been hosted by Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) and writes about his experience here.
ANDREW BARNES ONLINE TALK 16th April 2020 – RIVERS IN THE SKY: THE JOURNEY OF A STORM
Andrew Barnes (Cohort 4) delivered a fascinating online talk as part of the University of Bath Facebook Live seminar series, aimed at public engagement. “Rivers in the Sky” took viewers on the journey of a storm, explaining how storms are created, travel across the oceans and result in rainfall. Access Andrew’s talk here and find […]
PUBLICATION SELECTED AS EDITOR’S CHOICE IN WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Model maps out future sewer system scenarios In March this year the editors of Water Science and Technology journal selected an article by colleagues from the Water Innovation & Research Centre at the University of Bath, in collaboration with KWR and TU Delft in the Netherlands, as the Editor’s Choice, on account of its scientific […]
Research Visit to San Diego State University: Sebastian Gnann
Bristol Cohort 3 student Sebastian Gnann was based in San Diego, California, as the global Coronavirus outbreak spread and intensified. Sebastian had to curtail his research visit a month earlier than planned, but fortunately is back in the UK. Read about Sebastian’s experience and reflections below. “I just returned to the UK – one […]
2019-20 Industry Day
The 2019-20 EPSRC WISE CDT Industry Day took place on Wednesday 12th February at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel – we were very lucky to be able to run the event before the impact of the coronavirus became serious. For the first time the Industry Day was organised as a dual event with the Wet […]
SWINDON SCIENCE FESTIVAL 2020
On Friday 21st February, members of the University of Bath’s new Centre for Infrastructure, Geotechnics and Water Engineering (IGWE) took part in ‘TOMORROW’, Swindon’s first Science Festival held at STEAM, the Museum of the Great Western Railway. Earlier in the year, Ioanna Stamataki (Research Associate and former WISE CDT Cohort 1 student) and James Rand […]
PhD Success: Olivia Milton-Thompson
Congratulations to Olivia Milton-Thompson (Cohort 2, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis subject to minor corrections. Olivia’s thesis is entitled ‘Developing a risk assessment model using fuzzy logic to assess groundwater contamination from unconventional gas development in the UK’. Well done, Olivia!
PhD Success: Olivia Cooke
Congratulations to Olivia Cooke (Cohort 1, Bath) for successfully defending her thesis subject to minor corrections. Olivia’s thesis is entitled ‘Assessment and mitigation of stormwater runoff in an informal settlement’. Well done, Olivia!
PRIMaRE Summer School 2019: Santiago M Lopez
The Partnership for Research in Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) is a consortium of marine renewable energy experts across higher education, research and industry which have joined together to establish a ‘network of excellence’ centred in the south of the UK. Read on to hear Santiago M Lopez‘s experience of the 2019 PRIMaRE Summer School.
PHD SUCCESS: IOANNA STAMATAKI
Congratulations to Ioanna Stamataki (Cohort 1, Bath) for successfully defending her thesis subject to minor corrections. Ioanna’s thesis is entitled ‘Experimental and numerical investigation of flash floods and their interaction with urban settlements’. Well done, Ioanna!
UKRI POLICY INTERNSHIP SUCCESS: CATHERINE LEECH
We are proud to announce a second successful application to UKRI‘s Policy Internships Scheme. Catherine Leech (Cohort 4, Cardiff) will be hosted by the Government Office for Science and begins her internship in early 2020. The Policy Internships Scheme offers the chance for doctoral students funded by UKRI funding councils to work for three months in […]
PHD SUCCESS: LUDOVICA BELTRAME
Congratulations to Ludovica Beltrame (Cohort 1, Bristol) for successfully defending her thesis subject to minor corrections. Ludo’s thesis is entitled ‘Simulating the risk of liver fluke infection in the UK through mechanistic hydro-epidemiological modelling’. Well done Ludo!
UKRI Policy Internship success: James Rand
We are proud to announce that James Rand (Cohort 5, Bath) has been successful in his application to UKRI‘s Policy Internships Scheme. James will be hosted by Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) and starts in January 2020. The Policy Internships Scheme offers the chance for doctoral students funded by UKRI funding councils to […]
PHD SUCCESS: MARIA XENOCHRISTOU
Congratulations to Maria Xenochristou (Cohort 2, Exeter) for successfully defending her thesis subject to minor corrections. Maria’s thesis is entitled ‘Water Demand Forecasting Using Machine Learning on Weather and Smart Metering Data’. Her work was supported by Dr Chris Hutton from Wessex Water. Well done Maria!
EPSRC WATER ENGINEERING AT NEW SCIENTIST LIVE 2019
The WISE and STREAM CDTs joined forces for a public engagement event at New Scientist Live 2019 which took place at ExCeL in London from 10-13th October 2019. Students from both CDTs managed an exhibition stand – under the umbrella of “EPSRC Water Engineering” – to share their research with the public via a wealth of […]
GW4 Water Security Alliance Annual Conference 2019
Congratulations to James Rand (Cohort 5, Bath), for winning best flash presentation at the GW4 Water Security Alliance annual conference in June 2019. James is researching underwater micro gliders for autonomous lake inspection.
3rd IWA Resource Recovery Conference
This September, Olivia Bailey (Cohort 2, Bath) attended the 3rd IWA Resource Recovery (IWARR) Conference in Venice, Italy to present work resulting from a collaboration with her colleagues at TU Delft, Netherlands. The conference plenary sessions were given by some of the most influential people in the world in areas such as resource recovery and […]
9th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks
Olivia Bailey (Cohort 2, Bath) attended the 9th International Conference on Sewer Processes and Networks (SPN9) in Aalborg, Denmark to present her paper ‘Predicting Impacts of Water Conservation with a Stochastic Sewer Model’. This paper showed the resulting impacts on wastewater flow and quality amounting from water conservation scenarios as predicted using a stochastic sewer […]
SUMMER SCHOOL 2019
It was Exeter’s turn to organise this year’s Summer School, which took place from 17th-21st June 2019. The event had the theme of extreme weather resilience, with our base at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay providing an ideal location overlooking Tor Bay, the focus of the week’s site visits and student “challenge”.
PHD SUCCESS: NEJC COZ
Congratulations to Nejc Coz (Cohort 1, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis subject to minor corrections. Nejc’s thesis is entitled ‘Numerical and experimental modelling of tidal range structures with focus on conservation of momentum through hydraulic structures’. Well done Nejc!
Gordon Research Conference and Seminar 2019
Cohort 3 students Lina Stein and Sebastian Gnann (Bristol) recently attended the 2019 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar at New Hampshire, USA. Keep reading to hear about their experience. ‘A few days after the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on catchment science, we were sitting in a coffee shop on the MIT Campus reflecting on all […]
6th Primare Conference Best Poster Prize: Bikash Ranabhat
Congratulations to Bikash Ranabhat (Cohort 4, Cardiff) who was recently awarded the ‘Best Poster Prize’ at the 6th PRIMaRE Conference. The aim of the event was to cover a wide range of topics in marine renewable energy, including: technology, policy, environment, hydrodynamics, resource characterisation, materials, operation and management, etc. Over 100 people attended, including industrial developers, […]
PhD Success: Jonathan King
Congratulations to Jonathan King (Cohort 1, Cardiff) for successfully defending his thesis subject to minor corrections. Jonathan’s thesis is entitled ‘Investigation and prediction of pollution in coastal and estuarine waters, using experimental and numerical methods’. Well done Jonathan!
PhD Success: Wouter Knoben
Congratulations to Wouter Knoben (Cohort 1, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis subject to minor corrections. Wouter’s thesis is entitled ‘Investigating conceptual model structure uncertainty: Progress in large-sample comparative hydrology’. Well done Wouter!
Research Visit: Anna Lo Jacomo
Bristol Cohort 2 student Anna Lo Jacomo has just returned from a rewarding research visit to Nanjing, China. Anna spent two months at Hohai University in the School of Business Management and one month at Nanjing Normal University in the Department of Geography. The aim of the research visit was to better understand existing challenges […]
Quality through equality – tackling gender issues in hydrology
On 19th February 2019, a workshop entitled ‘Quality through equality – tackling gender issues in hydrology’ was organised by a group of WISE CDT students and other researchers from the University of Bristol’s Water Engineering Group, including Lina Stein, Sebastian Gnann and Elisa Coraggio. A summary of the workshop, written by Cohort 3 student Lina […]
PhD Success: Laurence Hawker
Congratulations to Laurence Hawker (Cohort 1, Bristol) for successfully defending his thesis subject to corrections. Laurence’s thesis is entitled ‘Regional Flood Models and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Uncertainty’. Well done Laurence!
PhD Success: Barney Dobson
Congratulations to Barney Dobson (Cohort 1, Bristol) for successfully defending his PhD thesis with no corrections. Barney’s thesis is entitled ‘Uncertainty in Modelling and Optimising Operations of Reservoir Systems’. Well done Barney!
Research Visit: Olivia Bailey
Olivia Bailey (Cohort 2, Bath) recently conducted a research visit at TU Delft in the Netherlands between January-April 2019. Olivia joined the New Urban Water Transport Systems (NUWTS) project which has huge support from water companies, consultancies and local governments working within the Dutch water sector. This collaboration with Prof. Jan Peter van der Hoek and Dr. […]
PHD SUCCESS: MARIANO MARINARI
Congratulations to Mariano Marinari (Cohort 1, Bath) for successfully defending his PhD thesis subject to minor corrections. Mariano’s thesis is entitled ‘Quantification and valorisation of agricultural bioresource residues in England’. Well done Mariano!
CIWEM ‘The Environment’ – Water Security Games
Dr Michaela Bray, WISE CDT supervisor at Cardiff University, has an article in CIWEM’s March 2019 ‘The Environment’ magazine. The article, entitled ‘Games Without Frontiers’, focuses on the student “Challenge” from Cardiff’s Summer School and the developments that have taken place since then. For this particular “Challenge”, students were asked to design an educational board […]
Field Experiment: Paul Bayle
WISE PhD student Paul Bayle (Cohort 2) has recently returned from Washington, USA where he undertook a week-long field experiment investigating a recently constructed dynamic revetment structure. To read more about his trip, please click here.
IWA Efficient 2019
WIRC PhD student, Olivia Bailey recently attended the 10th IWA Conference on Efficient Urban Water Management (13th-16th January 2019) in Manila, Philippenes. Olivia delivered a talk to conference delegates entitled ‘Developing a stochastic sewer input model to support sewer design under water conservation measures’. This presented a sewer flow model that she has developed and […]
Research Visit: Olivia Milton-Thompson
WISE CDT student Olivia Milton-Thompson (Cohort 2) recently spent 3 months researching at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver working in collaboration with experts in industry and academia on conventional and unconventional energy development and their risks to groundwater and fugitive gas migration. A spontaneous trip to EGU in Vienna in April 2018, plus […]
WISE CDT FIRST PHD SUCCESSES: JAMES WEBBER & JOSH MYRANS
We are proud and delighted to announce our first PhD successes. James Webber and Josh Myrans (both Cohort 1, Exeter) have successfully defended their theses, subject to minor corrections. James’ thesis is entitled “Reliable and Resilient Surface Water Management through Rapid Scenario Screening”. Josh’s thesis is entitled “Automated analysis of sewer CCTV surveys”. Well done James and Josh!
13th BHS National Symposium Best Presentation Prize: Olivia Cooke
In September 2018, Olivia Cooke (Cohort 1) attended the 13th British Hydrological Society National Symposium at the University of Westminster in London. The BHS conference was a two day conference and was entitled ‘Hydrology: Advances in theory and practice’ and focused on the major themes of ‘Hydrology and sediment systems’, ‘Hydrology and ecosystem services’ and […]
FUTURES: Walking with Scientists
On Friday 28th September, WISE student Ioanna Stamataki took part in an event called “Walking with Scientists”. It was part of FUTURES, a series of free events taking place across Bristol and Bath to celebrate European Researchers’ Night. This night is funded by the EU Commission and aims to engage the European public in celebrating […]
Student Blog: Research Visit – Ioanna Stamataki
After attending the 2018 UK-China Workshop on Water Wise Cities and Smart Water Systems, WISE CDT student Ioanna Stamataki visited Tsinghua University and the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR) in Beijing. The purpose of this visit was to learn about ongoing hydraulic research both from an academic and a government institute approach […]
2018 UK-China Workshop on Water-Wise Cities and Smart Water Systems
WISE CDT student Ioanna Stamataki was selected as an Early Career Researcher (ECR) to attend the 2018 UK-China Workshop on Water-Wise Cities and Smart Water Systems in Xi’an, China. The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Centre for Water Systems, University of Exeter, UK and the Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China, and […]
9th International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics – River Flow 2018
WISE CDT students, Elli Mitrou (Cardiff University) and Ioanna Stamataki (University of Bath) attended the 9th International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, River Flow 2018 in Lyon, France. River Flow was a 3-day (5-8 September) international conference focusing on river engineering and fluvial hydraulics with four parallel sessions running every day. This year’s theme was “extreme […]
CIWEM Accreditation
We are pleased and proud to receive CIWEM accreditation for the WISE CDT programme. This is CIWEM’s first accreditation of a PhD course and covers all our intakes from 2014-15 to 2018-19 inclusive. Areas of good practice highlighted by the accreditation panel include the relationships with and between student cohorts, our industry links and […]
Student Blog: HIC 2018 – Zara Visanji
Congratulations to Cohort 4 student Zara Visanji, who received the HIC 2018 Best Student Paper Award for the theme: hydraulic and hydrological modelling. Her paper was entitled ‘Emerging pollutants in developing countries: optimising sustainable treatment solutions.’ Keep reading to hear about Zara’s experience of HIC 2018: “The HIC conference was the largest I had been […]
Summer School 2018
The fourth annual WISE CDT Summer School took place at the Orchardleigh Estate, just outside Bath from 18th-22nd June. For the first time, students from all four cohorts were present, with the week consisting of student presentations, a water themed “Challenge”, site visits, as well as numerous talks from leading academic and industrial partners. For this year’s “Challenge”, […]
Festival of Nature 2018
On Saturday June 2nd, Ioanna Stamataki and Olivia Cooke joined the WEIR (Water Environment and Infrastructure Resilience) research group of the Water Innovation Research Centre (WIRC) at the Festival of Nature in Bath. The Festival of Nature is celebrating it’s 15th anniversary, and this year it gave the opportunity for local families to explore hands-on […]
26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Two of our WISE CDT PhD students, Ioannis Markidis and Mariano Marinari (both Bath), attended the 26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE) in Copenhagen, Denmark from 14th to 17th May 2018. The Conference brought together researchers, engineers, technologists, organisations, policy and decision makers and financing institutions. EUBCE combines one of the largest biomass science […]
Professor Jörg Imberger Lecture 16th May 2018
On Wednesday 16th May 2018, we were fortunate enough to welcome Professor Jörg Imberger to the University of Exeter during his packed trip to the UK. Jörg delivered a lecture to our WISE CDT students and Centre for Water Systems students, researchers and academics, providing a though-provoking and inspiring talk as well as an […]
Postgraduate Research Showcase Week
Three of our Exeter students; James Webber (Cohort 1), Maria Xenochristou (Cohort 2) and Paul Wills (Cohort 3) are taking part in the Doctoral College’s Postgraduate Research Showcase week at the University of Exeter. The Showcase provides an opportunity to promote new talent, as well giving our postgraduate researchers the opportunity to develop their […]
19th UK-IWA Young Water Professionals Conference
Four of our WISE CDT students recently attended the UK-IWA YWP Conference at Cranfield University from 16-18th April 2018. This year’s theme was ‘Towards a Resilient Water Future’ and allows young professionals working in water to network and share ideas with their peers. The three day event featured keynote talks by Anglian Water, Wood […]
37th IAHR World Congress
In August 2017, a group of WISE CDT students from Cardiff University attended the 37th IAHR World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where they each presented their work and expanded their network; with over 1,200 experts from more than 60 countries present. The theme “Managing Water for Sustainable Development – Learning from the Past for […]
14th Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference
WISE CDT students Paul Bayle, Gwyn Hennessey, Benjamin Beylard and Richard Rees attended the 14th Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference which took place at the University of Hull, from the 19th to the 21st of March 2018. This event gathers early career PhD students, academics and professionals from around UK and Europe and […]
Emerging Contaminants Summit, Denver
In March 2018, cohort 4 student Zara Visanji travelled to Denver, Colorado with a 7 foot by 3 foot poster where she presented the initial stages of her research in the Emerging Contaminants Summit. The Summit focused on the latest developments in the detection, fate, transport, risk assessment, treatment and regulation of emerging contaminants. […]
Amsterdam International Water Week 2017
At the end of October 2017, Olivia Bailey offered guided tours of the Aquatech Exhibition at Amsterdam International Water Week. Volunteering as part of the Young Water Professionals, she offered delegates a tour to showcase the most innovative technologies operating within the water industry today. Exhibition visitors were guided through nominees and winners of […]
Student Blog: Volunteering in Thailand – Jess Penny
Throughout April 2018, cohort 4 student Jess Penny volunteered in Thailand where she undertook some renovation work. Read below to hear more about Jess’ experience: ‘Travelling this year took me to Thailand where I partly volunteered in a local village as part of a bigger project to renovate the area. After a day of trekking […]
Maria Xenochristou: Secondment to KWR
In April 2018, Maria spent 2.5 weeks in Utrecht, Netherlands, working at KWR. During her visit, she applied the methodology she developed at the University of Exeter on data from 9 locations in the Netherlands, in order to identify relationships between several weather variables and water consumption for different types of households and customer […]
Research Visit: Stephen Clee
Stephen Clee, cohort 2 student, is current completing a 3 month research visit at Hohai University in Nanjing, China with the College of Harbor, Offshore and Coastal Engineering. This trip has been jointly funded by the WISE CDT, British Council Newton Fund and a Hohai University scholarship. The purpose of the visit is […]
Research Visit: Paul Bayle
Paul Bayle has been the leader in the field for a major EU-funded prototype-scale laboratory experiment. The tests took place at the GWK large scale laboratory flume in Hannover, Germany, over August and September 2017. While senior academics were present at the laboratory for around 50% of the time, during all other times Paul […]
2017-2018 Industry Event
Our annual Industry Event is organised by the University of Bath. This event explores ways in which organisations can engage with the WISE CDT to tackle the challenges they face. The aim is to stimulate new partnerships, leverage for collaboration on research and routes to impact and implementation for current and future research. Our 2017-18 […]
Dwr Cymru-Welsh Water Innovation Event 2018
Cohort 1 students Mariano Marinari (Bath) and Josh Myrans (Exeter) represented the WISE CDT at the 2018 Dwr Cymru-Welsh Water Innovation Event held on 19th April. This all-day event at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama focused on the theme of ‘Innovation to deliver our 2050 Vision’ and showcased the latest advances […]
World Water Day 2018
World Water Day recently took place on March 22nd. Every year, this day is a great opportunity to focus on the importance of water. So this year, five WISE CDT students from the University of Bath; Jack Waterstone, Levke Ortlieb, Ioanna Stamataki, Olivia Cooke and Olivia Bailey had their own stand at their university’s […]
Bath Taps into Science 2018
On Saturday 17th March, five WISE CDT students from the University of Bath took to the ‘Bath Taps into Science’ Festival armed with their favourite watery games to engage with the people of Bath. A specially designed flood management box taught children the important role that natural landscaping plays in flood prevention. The low-budget water […]
Ioanna Stamataki: UCL CEGE Research Report
In May 2017, Ioanna Stamataki spent six weeks at University College London (UCL) in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (CEGE) where she undertook her experimental work. Subsequently, her work was mentioned in the UCL CEGE Research Report 2017. The article written by Dr Eugeny Buldakov, describes the collaborative experiment between CEGE and […]
Research Visit: Nejc Coz and Jonathan King
Nejc and Jonathan have recently returned from a three and a half month research visit at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The visit was sponsored by the WISE CDT programme and Jonathan was fortunate enough to be awarded an additional placement grant from the British Council Newton Fund which supported him during the visit. For […]
Research Visit: Barney Dobson
From May through to August 2017, WISE CDT student Barney Dobson undertook a research visit with Professor Patrick Reed’s Decision Analytics for Complex Systems research group at Cornell University, New York, USA. This visit has led to the paper (currently under preparation) titled “How should model structural uncertainty in modelling water resources management problems shape […]
Young Process Engineer Prize Runner-Up: Olivia Bailey
Olivia Bailey was recently named runner-up in the IChemE Water Special Interest Group 30th Anniversary Young Process Engineer Prize. This prize was created with the aim of engaging and drawing together the young minds of our community. It required the submission of a video presentation, as an individual or a team, on a project or […]
Research Visit: James Webber
James has recently returned from a three month research placement in Melbourne, Australia, funded as a part of his WISE CDT studentship. Whilst in Australia, James worked as a Visiting Researcher for the University of Melbourne as part of the Waterway Ecosystem Research Group (WERG), where he undertook a project researching flood management in Melbourne […]
Cohort 4 Christmas Lunch 2017
To round off a busy and productive first term, Cohort 4 students enjoyed a Christmas lunch – made special by the amazing food contributions, typical of students’ home countries. Festive jumpers and hats abounded, while Christmas crackers proved a new experience for many. The Secret Santa was also a great success. A massive “thank you” […]
Institute of Water Student Enrichment Event
On 4th December 2017 WISE CDT students joined up with MSc Water Engineering students to participate in an Enrichment Event at the University of Exeter. Hosted by the Institute of Water and Exeter’s Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor, Ruth Allen, the event gave students an insight into the many challenges and opportunities within the […]
Professor Ian Barker seminar 13th October 2017: “the myth of water scarcity”
Professor Ian Barker, Managing Director of Water Policy International, delivered an engaging seminar to Cohort 4 students on “the myth of water scarcity“.
WISE CDT welcomes new students
A very warm welcome to our fourth cohort of students, who have just completed a busy induction week and are settling into life on the University of Exeter campus. WISE CDT Director Professor Dragan Savic gave an introduction to the WISE CDT programme, while Professor Zoran Kapelan, Centre Manager, outlined the structure of the Postgraduate School. […]
STUDENT BLOG: Experimental work in University College London – Ioanna Stamataki, Bath
WISE CDT student Ioanna Stamataki from Bath University spent six weeks in University College London undertaking her experimental work. Here is an update on the work she did there: The last six weeks have been a bit of a blur – so intense and full of new experiences and knowledge that sometimes I am wondering […]
International Conference in Athens
In June 2017, WISE CDT student Ioannis Markidis attended the 5th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Athens. The Conference brought together scientists and professionals from government departments, industries and educational institutions. With co-authors Dr Marta Coma and Dr Tom Arnot, Ioannis presented a paper on his PhD research entitled “Anaerobic digestion of […]
WISE Summer School 2017 and Awards
The third WISE CDT Summer School was held in June 2017. Staff and students enjoyed a week-long stay at the Vale Resort Hotel, a 650 acre estate in South Glamorgan, near Cardiff. Students from the four universities and two year groups worked together, had fun on social activities and listened to significant speakers from the […]
WISE Annual Report now available
Each year we produced a WISE Annual Report, containing highlights from the last year. The 2016-17 has just been published. It contains information on engagement, the student experience and student case studies. There’s also a list of all the student projects. It is available for download here: WISE CDT 2016-2017 Annual Report
Viennese Trip for WISE Students
The European Geosciences Union General Assembly is held every spring in Vienna. Almost 15,000 researchers from over 100 countries attended to present their latest breakthroughs, learn what’s new in their field, and meet potential new research partners. Eight WISE CDT students and their supervisors attended in April 2017. Each student presented a poster outlining recent […]
YPN Conference in Cardiff
It was a huge pleasure working with WISE students. They presented clearly and concisely, and plainly understand how to make their research relevant to industry Tracey Dunford – CIWEM In May 2017 a team of WISE CDT students from Cardiff University helped organise a conference as part of an established project – the Cardiff Young […]
The Future of UK Coastal Research – 13th UK Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference
In April 2017 WISE CDT students Paul Bayle, Stephen Clee, Jonathan King and Laurence Hawker attended the 13th UK Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference (YCSEC), which was also hosted by WIRC@Bath. The event provided a remarkable opportunity for the students to present their work to other leading scientists and engineers. Building on the success […]
Student Case Study: Damian Staszek
Damian Staszek has an industry-sponsored place on the WISE CDT with Bristol Water having previously worked as an engineer. As a consequence, he spends time working onsite with Bristol Water. In his second year, Damian’s project is on ‘Optimisation of Supply Demand Balance Model under Uncertainty’. Damian explained his work “My work is involved with […]
Student Case Study: Maria Xenochristou
Maria Xenochristou, supervised by Professors Kapelan and Keedwell, is working closely with Dr Chris Hutton from Wessex Water to develop improved demand forecasting methodology. Maria has used demand based data provided by the Wessex Water from smart meters collected at half-hourly intervals for the period of several years from over 5,000 properties across the South […]
The Young Water Professionals Conference Bath
The water sector recognised some years ago that it was ageing and that it needed fresh talent if it was going to solve future important challenges. With this in mind, the International Water Association (IWA), the largest international network of water professionals with members in 130 countries, began to actively push for higher visibility and […]
Wetskills Water Challenge
In March 2017 WISE CDT students took part in the first UK Wetskills Water Challenge organised by the University of Bath’s Water Innovation & Research Centre (WIRC@Bath), in collaboration with the Wetskills Foundation. The event was like a boiler room for students and early-career professionals with a passion for water. It aims to promote collaboration […]
National Science and Engineering Week – Bath Taps in to Science
On 17 March 2017 as part of National Science and Engineering week, Ioanna Stamataki and Olivia Cooke played a key role in the Bath Taps into Science event on the University of Bath campus, where they are based. It is a local science festival for Bath and the surrounding area. Groups of children from local […]
National Science and Engineering Week – What lives in a drop of water?
Students Olivia Cooke and Ioanna Stamataki represented the WISE CDT as part of National Science and Engineering Week in March 2017, which cultivates the awareness of science in the UK. Academics within universities are continually encouraged to think about the potential impact of their research. Sometimes this includes public engagement. Their event was all about […]
European Water Innovation Lab (WIL)
In April 2017 Olivia Bailey attended the European Water Innovation Lab (WIL) on the coast of the Netherlands. This inspirational workshop brought together 40 young professionals from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. They were trained to think holistically, design innovatively, and communicate effectively across cultures – with the ambition to develop future water leaders. […]
British Water: Off-mains Sewerage Workshop
In March 2017, Olivia Bailey and Ioannis Markidis attended a workshop run by British Water to find out more about challenges for off-mains sewerage in the UK. There were thoughtful discussions with many in the water industry. The Environment Agency gave a useful overview of legislation regarding wastewater discharge in rural communities, and the approaches […]
Smart Water Conference
Professor Zoran Kapelan will give an invited talk at the SMi’s 6th Annual Smart Water Systems conference held in the Copthorne Tara Hotel in London on 24-25 April 2017. The conference is packed with high quality speakers from the water industry. They will be addressing a wide range of topics related to smart water systems. […]
Transferable Skills Event
In April 2017 WISE students are joining up with another Centre for Doctoral Training, STREAM, for a special three day event at the University of Exeter. A number of key speakers from the University aims to give students of both programmes a lively balance of transferable and leadership skills. The workshops and talks will help […]
Industry Day Huge Success
On 17 March, WISE held a successful event that brought together its PhD students with major organisations from the water industry and hydraulic engineering. WISE students met key figures from over a dozen national and international organisations, such as Arup, Natural England and Thames Water. The event was hosted by HR Wallingford, an independent engineering organisation […]
WISE student works with Wessex Water
WISE PhD student Joshua Myrans has been working with Wessex Water on a project to identify faults in wastewater networks. In a recent visit to its headquarters Joshua demonstrated his work, presenting his refined fault detection methodology, which was developed with footage provided by their sewer rehabilitation team. This opportunity was a chance to […]
Upcoming WISE Industry Day – Friday 17 March 2017
This networking event aims to explore the ways in which organisations can engage with WISE CDT research students to tackle the challenges they face. The aim is to stimulate new partnerships and identify research project areas with industrial collaborators. WISE CDT students and academics will be available for discussions on potential new partnerships. Entry […]
Exeter visit from Jan Vreeburg
Next month on 10 February Jan Vreeburg is visiting WISE students in Exeter for a special seminar. Jan is Associate Professor at Wageningen University. Jan Vreeburg is an expert in the field of distribution of potable water, water quality in the networks, asset management and new concepts for design and operation of networks. Dr Vreeburg […]
David Fortune visits WISE Researchers
On 3 February David Fortune will present a talk to CDT students on Informatics in the Water Industry at the University of Exeter. He will look at the scope of the water industry and consider some of the key problems that the industry needs to solve. David will also consider where IT is used for […]
YPN-WISE Micro-Presentation Event
The first collaborative event between the IAHR-YPN Cardiff and the WISE programme took place in November 2016. Held at Cardiff University there were presentations from students of both groups. As with previous YPN events, presentations were given in the 5-minute ‘elevator pitch’ format. Three main research areas were covered: numerical modelling using the TELEMAC suite, experimental […]
Olivia Bailey Student Blog: My Simple Summer
This summer I was able to take the time to organise and run a 6-week camp for 24 young people from across Europe and North America. The camp took place on the outskirts of Exeter and centres around philosophies of simple living and building sustainable communities. Whilst I was based in Exeter for the first […]
Students attend annual CIWEM Dinner
WISE CDT students recently attended the CIWEM South Western Branch Annual Dinner held at the Marriot Hotel in Bristol City Centre, providing a brilliant opportunity for networking with stakeholders in the water industry. The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is ‘the only Royal Chartered professional body dedicated to the water and environment sector. We […]
Cardiff Students on IAHR Young Professionals committee
See the IAHR Young Professionals Webpages for further information. See the latest IAHR Cardiff Young Professionals Network Newsletter August 2016
WISE CDT Student Josie Ashe’s Blog: It’s not all office work!
University of Exeter Student Josie Ashe writes: Real-time monitoring of hydrology and water quality across a river catchment can be challenging: there’s no power, no mobile signal; everything’s frozen; there’s water in the wiring; and the wind is blowing everything away… or maybe the cows have walked away with it. But the solutions are […]
Japan Conference for WISE CDT Student
WISE CDT Student Laurence Hawker of the University of Bristol presented his work at the Japan Geoscience Union Conference (JpGU) in Makuhari Messe, Japan. This five-day event was packed full of intriguing topics ranging from astrobiology to the devastating recent earthquake in Kumamoto. This year saw a number of sessions jointly organised with the American Geophysical Union (AGU). […]
Presentation of WISE CDT Student Research at HIC2016 in South Korea
WISE CDT student Joshua Myrans recently attended the 12th International Conference on Hydroinformatics (HIC) 2016 in Songdo, South Korea where he presented a year’s worth of his research to leading international experts. HIC focusses on the application of modern computing techniques to problems faced in the water industry. Over the course of the 4 day conference many academics and representatives from industry […]
WISE CDT Student attends Novatech Conference, Lyon
WISE CDT student, James Webber recently attended the 9th International Novatech 2016 Conference in Lyon, France. Novatech is an international conference focused on sharing knowledge on the sustainable management of water in cities. The conference consisted of three days with four parallel sessions exploring state of the art research into strategic planning, stormwater flood management, […]
Prize Winners at British Hydrological Society Peter Wolf Symposium
WISE CDT Students Wouter Knoben and Ludovica Beltrame were awarded prizes for best poster presentation and best oral presentation respectively at the British Hydrological Society Peter Wolf Symposium 2016, held at the University of Bristol on the 26th – 27th May 2016. Participants discussed their recent work on hydrology, hydrogeology and water resources at the […]
Fieldwork in South Africa for WISE CDT Student
WISE CDT Bath student Olivia Cooke is currently in Stellenbosch, South Africa at the start of her fieldwork and three month research trip. Here is an update on what she has been doing since she arrived: I landed in Stellenbosch, three weeks ago and since arriving everything has been a bit non-stop. Stellenbosch University and […]
Student visits Bangalore Research Institutes
WISE CDT student James Webber has recently returned from a visit to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore on a two week research exchange. This visit is the latest in a series of exchanges between the IISc and University of Exeter and demonstrates the growing collaboration between the two institutions. Whilst in […]
Students participate in EGU Conference 2016
WISE Students Ludovica Beltrame, Barney Dobson and Wouter Knoben attended the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2016, in Vienna, Austria.
WISE Students on IAHR Committee
WISE CDT Students Jonathan King, Nejc Coz and Elli Mitrou became members of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) Cardiff Young Professionals Network committee.
Industry Awareness Event
WISE CDT held an event for industrial partners aiming to promote the research it carries out and how this could assist in solving water challenges. Around fifty people attending the event held in Atkins offices, Bristol, including representatives from Wessex Water, Arup, Welsh Water, RSKW and Atkins.
WISE CDT Student participates in Taiwanese collaboration
Student James Webber undertook a 10 day exchange visit to a number of institutions in Taiwan, along with other University of Exeter Centre for Water Systems researchers. The visit was the latest in a number of exchanges between institutions in Taiwan and the University of Exeter and demonstrates the growing connections between the Centre and […]
WISE CDT Welcomes new Students
In September 2015 WISE CDT welcomed 18 new students, forming the second cohort of WISE CDT students. Freshers Week events at the University of Exeter allowed new students to meet the first cohort of students, together with WISE CDT Management and academics from the four partner Universities whom teach Postgraduate School modules. Students also […]
WISE CDT Students at STREAM TSEL Sessions
WISE CDT students recently joined students undertaking the STREAM Industrial EngD programme to participate in three days of Transferable Skills and Engineering Leadership (TSEL) sessions at the University of Exeter. The group of twenty-five in total learnt about Intellectual Property and Patenting, Commercialisation, Multimedia Science Communication, Setting up International Partnerships and Supervision Skills.
Summer school 2015
The first annual WISE CDT Summer School took place in June 2015; students and staff spent the week at the Springfield Hotel, Dorset in order to enjoy a practical approach to learning about water informatics. Students participated in a Hackathon over the course of the week, in which they were tasked with developing a platform […]
News: Research proposals
After finishing their exams in May, the students have been hard at work on their research proposals. The proposals will be presented during the upcoming Summer School to a panel of supervisors, Programme Management Group members and Advisory Board members. They will give feedback on the proposed research projects, allowing the students to use the […]
News: STREAM TSEL module
Monday to Wednesday, 20th to 22nd of April, the WISE and STREAM programmes were combined for a series of modules on personal skills. The three-day event was opened by professor Dragan Savic on the University of Exeter campus. The modules dealt with a wide range of skills, going from a discussion about supervision skills, to […]
News: SEAMS Ltd guest lecture
Dr. Mark Engelhardt of SEAMS Ltd kindly agreed to spend an afternoon lecturing the WISE students on the topic of asset management. “SEAMS Ltd started as a university enterprise spin-out company from the universities of Sheffield & Exeter, UK. Retaining our roots in Sheffield and with close links to the University and other academic institutions […]
News: Centre for Water Systems lunch February
Every month the Centre for Water Systems (link) organizes a lunch event for all staff members. These lunches are intended as a moment of informal contact between all centre members. Today, WISE students Josh and Josie introduced themselves to the CWS members. People presenting are strongly advised to not talk about their research to much, […]
News: collaboration with artists – II
Since the first workshop in December, artists and students have formed groups to work on a variety of concepts. Works are progressing steadily towards the exhibition on Wednesday the 25th of March. These images give an impression of the activities involved in this collaboration.
Student blog: Olivia’s Birthday!
Happy birthday Olivia! Yay! We had a couple more birthday parties, but there are fortunately no pictures of those. Anyhow, Olivia suggested dinner to celebrate her birthday and food-lovers and socially active people that we are, we gladly accepted. Unfortunately not everyone was able to attend but we had a fun night nonetheless!
Student blog: lectures
For aspiring applicants; yeah, we have lectures too. This particular one is on Computational Hydraulics given by lecturers from Cardiff University. A normal week has lectures from Tuesday to Thursday, slightly different depending on your personal choice of optional modules. Wednesdays however are reserved for lectures that focus on a specific strong point from each […]
Student blog: Expedition Dartmoor
Undaunted by the Exmouth experience, we planned another trip to some of Exeter’s scenic surroundings. Destination this time: Dartmoor! Located some miles west of Exeter, Dartmoor is one of the big National Parks. It covers nearly a thousand square kilometers and contains such things as prehistoric menhirs (also know as standing stones), hut circles, ancient […]
Student blog: Expedition Exmouth
Just after the January exams some of us (those with bikes basically) went on a trip to Exmouth and the seaside. Somewhat typical for a coastal area in winter, the day was pretty windy and overcast. Not great conditions maybe, but still a nice change from sitting at home and being warm. We took our […]
News: Centre for Water Systems lunch January
Every month the Centre for Water Systems (http://emps.exeter.ac.uk/engineering/research/cws/) organizes a lunch event for all staff members. These lunches are intended as a moment of informal contact between all centre members. Today, WISE student James and CWS student Miguel Headly introduced themselves to the CWS members. People presenting are strongly advised to not talk about their research […]
Student Blog: Christmas Lunch
Christmas time is approaching and with many people leaving for the Christmas holidays, we decided it was a good idea to have some thing to conclude our first term together. We settled for a Christmas lunch, where everyone should bring a dish of some sorts. We invited some of the CWS staff as well who […]
News: WISE Centre for Doctoral Training Launched
The EPSRC-funded Water Informatics: Science and Engineering (WISE) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) was officially inaugurated on 16th September 2014 at the University of Exeter Innovation Centre. The CDT is directed by Professor Dragan Savic, University of Exeter, Centre for Water Systems and co-directed by leading academics in water-related subjects from the Universities of Exeter, Bath, […]
Student Blog: Christmas Market
Because you can’t be working all the time, and Exeter has a nice Christmas market.
News: Collaboration with Artists – I
Monday the 24th of November marked the beginning of a collaborative process, during which WISE CDT students interact with various local artists. The collaboration allows both groups to learn from each other and benefit from each other’s strengths, and hopefully result in several strong art pieces that deal with the flooding issue in the Somerset […]
Student Blog: GW4 Alliance Launch Cardiff
Tuesday the 25th of November, a second GW4 Alliance launch event was held in Cardiff. As WISE students we were invited to send another delegation of people and attend. Due to lectures and assignment deadlines no random drawing of people was required this time and we set off with just 5 people. As could be […]
Student blog: tar barrels of Ottery St Mary
England, land of health and safety regulations. Where in the name of health and safety knives get banned from kitchens. Where courses exist that teach people the proper way of lifting a box of printing paper. Where street parties can be banned because a fire truck might get stuck in low hanging bunting. Keeping the […]
Student blog: Halloween!
“Halloween or Hallowe’en (/ˌhæləˈwiːn, –oʊˈiːn, ˌhɑːl–/; a contraction of “All Hallows‘ Evening“), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It initiates the triduum of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows),martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers. Within Allhallowtide, the traditional focus of All Hallows’ Eve revolves […]
Student blog: GW4 Alliance launch London
This 29th of October, the GW4 Alliance was formally launched, with a reception in the House of Commons, London. As WISE students we were allowed (invited even) to attend with a number of people. A random draw picked the 8 lucky ones who could take a trip to London, spend the early evening networking in […]