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Reza Ahmadian

Professor Reza Ahmadian

Professor

School of Engineering

Email
AhmadianR@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 74003
Campuses
Queen's Buildings - South Building, Room S2.42, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I am a Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering and the Director of International at School of Engineering, Cardiff University. I have circa 20 year's experience in developing and refining hydro-environmental computational models to investigate hydrodynamic, flood modelling as well as simulating water quality and sediment transport processes. I also led one of the School's Impact Case Study in REF2021 focused on flood risk management and hydro-epidemiological modelling strategies.

I am the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water Management and the past Chair and member of the leadership team of the International Association for Hydro-environment engineering and Research (IAHR) UK chapter.

My research is mainly focused on hydro-environmental modelling motivated by reducing the risk to humans’ health and sustainable use of water. Three key strands of my research are as follows:

  • Flood modelling with particular focus on modelling flash floods, dynamically 1D-2D linked flood models, implementation of sustainable solutions including, Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), modelling flood risk and hazard and evacuation and access route planning.
  • Water quality and sediment transport modelling particularly nutrients and faecal bacteria modelling including interaction with sediment, dynamic decay rate and monitoring approaches for both bathing water and aquaculture sites.
  • Marine and riverine renewable energy including small hydro-power, tidal stream and tidal range schemes. This includes resource and hydro-environmental impact assessment, optimisation of the schemes, wider benefits such as energy storage systems and developing a resilient turbine for off-grid utilisation.

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

  • Fenrich, E., Ahmadian, R., Bockelmann-Evans, B. N., Marks, W. and Falconer, R. A. 2011. Input-output modelling of tidal renewable energy. Presented at: 34th IAHR World Congress and 33rd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium and 10th Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering, Brisbane, Australia, 26 June - 1 July 2011 Presented at Valentine, E. et al. eds.Proceedings of the 34th IAHR World Congress, 33rd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium and 10th Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering. Barton, ACT, Australia: Engineers Australia pp. 1188-1193.
  • Ahmadian, R., Falconer, R. A. and Bockelmann-Evans, B. 2011. Comparison of hydro-environmental impacts for ebb-only and two-way generation for the Severn Barrage. Presented at: 34th IAHR World Congress 33rd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, 10th Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering:balance and uncertainty - water in a changing world, Brisbane, Australia, 26 June - 1 July 2011 Presented at Valentine, E. M., Apelt, C. J. and Ball, J. eds.Proceedings of the 34th IAHR World Congress 33rd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, 10th Conference on Hydraulics in Water Engineering : balance and uncertainty - water in a changing world. Barton, A.C.T: Engineers Australia pp. 1247-1254.
  • Ahmadian, R., Falconer, R. A. and Bockelmann-Evans, B. N. 2011. Hydro-environmental impact assessment of the significance of the shape of arrays of Tidal Stream Turbines. Presented at: World Renewable Energy Congress - Sweden, Linköping, Sweden, 8-13 May 2011.

2010

2009

2008

2006

2005

Articles

Book sections

Conferences

Monographs

Research

Links to some of the existing projects:

CATALYST - Circular Eutrophication

MEECE

Eeres4Water Project

Contracts

Title People Funder Value Duration

TidAl Range schemes as configurable Grid-scale Energy sTorage facilities (TARGET)

Ahmadian R (Project lead & PI), Qadrda M, Yue Z, Munday M EPSRC

Total: £1.4M

CU: £732k

01/01/2023-31/12/2024

Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence (MEECE)

Ahmadian R, Mason-Jones A., et al. WEFO

£1.15M

1/10/2021-31/05/2023

CATALYST: Transforming resilience across water and food systems

WP3 PIs: Ahmadian R, Harbottle M  HEFCW- GCRF

Total: £870K

WP3: £250K

01/12/2020-01/11/2021

Living with the “Perfect Beast”; establishing a centre of excellence for mixoplankton research in Wales

Mitra A, Hall I, Perkins R, Ahmadian R Welsh Assembly Government Ser Cymru II+ £500,332 01/06/2020- 31/05/2023

Turnover Response System Development

Ahmadian R Royal Academy of Engineering

£19,019

01/04/2020- 28/02/2023

Mersey Tidal Range Assessment (phase I) Ahmadian R Liverpool City Region Confidential

2020-2021

Promoting Energy-water Nexus resource efficiency through Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EERES4WATER)

Ahmadian R EU INTERREG Atlantic Area £282,659

01/04/2019- 30/09/2022

Water Informatics: Science and Engineering (WISE) Centre for Doctoral Training (Since 2018)

Shunqi P, Ahmadian R EPSRC £1,147,795

01/10/2018- 30/09/2022

Studies on disaster-causing
mechanisms and disaster reduction
countermeasures of urban flooding in
China and the UK
Ahmadian R, Falconer RA Royal Academy of Engineering £197,224 01/04/2018- 30/3/2022
Dynamic Assessment and Intelligent
Tracking of Coastal City Flood Risk
Ahmadian R, Falconer RA (Led by Hohai University) Royal Academy of Engineering £70,000

01/04/2018- 30/3/2020

Impacts of high spring tides on saltmarsh land in north Gower and subsequent impact on shellfish beds in the Burry inlet Ahmadian R Food Standards Agency £20,000 01/06/2014 - 31/05/2015
Flood hazard indices and flood inundation extent for extreme flood events Falconer RA, Ahmadian R EPSRC - Impact Acceleration Account £35,906 01/03/2016 - 30/11/2016
Jamaica Bay Wetland Creations - Assistance with DIVAST Modelling Falconer RA, Ahmadian R Buro Happold £5,000 01/12/13 - 30/11/14
Multiscale hydro-environmental modelling of marine renewable energy devices Falconer RA, Ahmadian R HPC Wales - Fuijitsu £57,583 01/10/2012 - 30/09/2015
Input and auditing UU regional costal modelling Falconer RA, Ahmadian R United Utilities Group £5,000 21/03/2014 - 30/09/2014
QUOTIENT, quantification, optimisation and environmental impacts of marine renewable energy Odoherty D, Odoherty T, Mason-Jones A, Pan S, Stoesser T, Bockelmann-Evans B, Ahmadian A, Grosvenor R, Prickett P, Byrne C Ser Cymru Bangor LCEE £61,000 01/01/2015 - 30/06/2018
MAREN 2 Bockelmann-Evans B, Falconer RA, Ahmadian R EU INTERREG Atlantic Area £184,888 01/03/2013 - 31/08/2014

Supervised Students

Title Student Status Degree
The role of wastewater treatment works as a source of poly- and perfluoroalkylated substances to coastal marine systems Rafael Georgiou Current PhD
Assessment of performance of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in improving water quality Nailah Altuwairgi Current PhD
Investigating transport of petroleum hydrocarbon in groundwater; Nigerian case study Davidson Faleye Current PhD
Improved hydro-environmental modelling of renewable energy schemes Nicolas Hanousek Current PhD
Hydro-environmental Modelling of Wake Dynamics of Turbines and Sluices in Tidal Range Schemes Catherine Leech Submitted PhD
Numerical and experimental design of novel vertical axis turbine Bikash Ranabhat Current PhD
Optimisation of tidal range schemes Jingjing Xue Graduated PhD
Flood modelling and hazard assessment during extreme events Giovanni Musolino Graduated PhD
Hydro-environmental modelling of tidal lagoons Bin Guo Graduated PhD
Water quality modelling in estuaries Amyrhul Bin Abu Bakar Graduated PhD
Development of 1D shock capturing flood modelling tool Joseph David Shuttleworth Current PhD

Modelling flood inundation extent, hazard mapping and pathpogens using high performance computing

Jonathan Auryn King Graduated PhD
Turbulence of flow through bridge openings Ken Vui Chua Graduated PhD
Modelling hydrodynamic, solute and sediment transport processes for marine renewable energy tidal range structures Nejc Coz Graduated PhD
Multiscale Hydro-environmental Modelling of Marine Renewable Energy Devices, with Particular Application to the Severn Barrage Samuel Bray Graduated PhD
     

Teaching

Module Leader (ML) for Application of Numerical Analysis in Engineering, year 4, Cardiff University (2013- present).

Teaching Environmental and Computational Hydraulics. WISE CDT graduate school. Exeter University (2018).

ML for Environmental Fluid and Geomechanics, year 1, Cardiff University (2015-present).

ML for Field Studies of the Natural and Built Environment (week-long residential field course) and delivering Coastal Zone Engineering and Water Engineering during the field trip, year 2, Cardiff University (2015-2018).

ML for First Year laboratories in civil engineering and delivering mechanical testing laboratory, year 1, Cardiff University (2013-2015).

Surgeries for First and Second Years Engineering Analysis, Cardiff University (2013-2014).

Biography

Career Overview:

  • Reader at School of Engineering, Cardiff University (August 2019- present)
  • Senior Lecturer at School of Engineering, Cardiff University (August 2017- July 2019)
  • Lecturer at School of Engineering, Cardiff University (September 2013- July 2017)
  • Research Associate in Hydro-environmental Modelling, Cardiff University (February 2010 – September 2013)
  • Research Associate in Hydro-environmental Modelling, Cardiff University (April 2007- September 2008)
  • Beton Shargh Co., Iran (June 1998- August 2005)

Education:

  • PhD., Cardiff University (Full time; October 2005 –February 2010)

Thesis: Modelling Hydrodynamic and Bacterial Processes through Linked River, Floodplain and Coastal Systems: with Particular Application to Marine Turbines, Barrages and Embankment Breaches.

  • MSc Water Engineering (Full time; September 2002- February 2005) Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.

Thesis: Estimation of Sediment Load in Rivers Using Artificial Neural Networks

  • BSc in Civil Engineering (Full time; September1996 –September 2001)

Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.

Biography:

I graduated from Amirkabir University of Technology - Tehran Polytechnic (Iran), with a BSc in Civil Engineering in 2001 and an MSc in Water Engineering in 2005. I also worked as a civil engineering at different levels, before I started my PhD including during my under graduate and masters studies.

My PhD research was focused on improving various 1D and 2D hydro-environmental numerical models through enhancement of boundary conditions, increasing model efficiency, linking model applications compliance with OpenMI standard, development of a user-friendly graphical user interface and incorporating numerical models into a GIS software beside refinements of models using laboratory data. Through a Halcrow (now Jacobs) studentship, I was also in development of ISIS 2D and linking of the model to ISIS 1D (both are components of Flood Modeller Pro now).

I worked as research associate at Cardiff University from Feb 2010 to Sep 2013, working on two different projects simultaneously. One of the projects involved developing hydro-environmental models to predict water quality at a pilot site, namely Swansea Bay, and providing a better understanding of pollution sources, to assist with maintaining UK’s Blue Flag beaches by meeting the new EU Bathing Water Directive. The other project involved developing hydro-environmental models to simulate the hydro-environmental impacts of various marine renewable energy schemes, including tidal stream turbines and tidal range schemes, such as tidal lagoons and barrages.

Supervisions

Current supervision

Nick Hanousek

Nick Hanousek

Research student

Bikash Ranabhat

Bikash Ranabhat

Research student

Catherine Leech

Catherine Leech

Research student