Professor receives recognition for contribution to Hydro-Environmental Engineering

The School of Engineering’s Professor Roger Falconer, Professor of Water Management and Founding Director of the Hydro-environmental Research Centre (1997-2014), has been conferred an Honorary Member of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) at the 37th IAHR World Congress, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August 2017.

This is the level of recognition awarded by IAHR to up to 3 members every two years and was awarded to Professor Falconer, by the IAHR President Professor Peter Goodwin, in “recognition of his outstanding contribution in promoting the development of computational modelling in hydro-environment engineering and research and for his devoted service to IAHR in various capacities and, especially, as President of the Association during the period 2011 and 2015.

At the World Congress Professor Falconer gave one of the 6 keynote addresses to an audience of over 1200 delegates on 'Flood Modelling and Hazard Assessment for Extreme Events in Riverine Basins'. He also delivered part of a short course immediately before the opening of the Congress on 'Hydroinformatics and the Water Environment.

Professor Falconer, as Vice President, also participated in the launch of a new association, namely the International Association for Coastal Reservoir Research (IACRR). The association was launched in Kuala Lumpur in August, in the presence of Dr B Shetty, Head of the UAE Exchange, with a vision “to be the world’s leading organisation, dedicated to advancing all aspects of coastal reservoirs and promoting the sustainable development and management of surface water otherwise lost to the sea”.

The IACRR will assist coastal cities to meet their water challenges using coastal reservoirs by optimising their design, successful construction and management, maximising their output and minimising the negative impacts on the environment and society.