Industry Partnerships
Several WISE CDT PhD projects have been co-developed in association with industry or practitioner partners. This has ensured a route to impact and some real-world relevance to the project when delivered. As a result of events such as CDT Industry Days WISE has seen a growth in collaborative project development and - increasingly - internships and co-funding of projects.
WISE secured a number of industry co-funded studentships with UK water companies (Bristol Water, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, South West Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water) and with UKWIR, which involved an industrial partner joining the PhD supervisory team. Other collaborative projects have encompassed the British Geological Survey, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Isle Utilities and JBA Consulting in the UK and Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Kruger A/S and Deltares in mainland Europe.
Additionally, valuable in-kind contributions from industry have been ongoing throughout the CDT’s existence and across multiple PhD projects, covering staff time and advice, invited seminars, site visits, access to data, opportunities for in-company or on-site trials, and access to facilities and infrastructure.
WISE CDT students have also benefited from other opportunities to collaborate with industry during their studentships. For example, Dr Nicolas Hanousek (Cardiff, Cohort 5) was approached by the Liverpool City Region (LCR) to conduct a modelling assessment of several proposed tidal range energy schemes for the Mersey area. The aim of the project was to provide validation of prior modelling undertaken by engineering consultancies and to introduce a technically developed approach to gain deeper insight into the behaviour of the proposed schemes. Nick developed a close working relationship with LCR, presenting on progress and findings at monthly meetings. He achieved a highly detailed result and delivered some thought-provoking insights into the effects of the proposed schemes.
The CDT’s impact is evident through graduates’ involvement in initiatives such as Innovate UK KTPs, which are ‘collaborative, transformative, three-way partnerships creating positive impact and driving innovation’.
- In October 2022 Dr Joshua Myrans (Exeter, Cohort 1) was nominated for an Annual Innovate UK KTP Award and won the Technical Excellence Award category for his collaboration between South West Water and the University of Exeter. Josh’s pioneering critical work uses AI to detect and code faults in sewer networks, to avoid blockages and pollutions, ultimately contributing to a cleaner and greener world. This KTP project arose from Josh’s PhD research on ‘Automated Analysis of Sewer CCTV Surveys’. Josh went on to be a Future Leaders Fellow at South West Water.
- Dr David Birt (Bath, Cohort 4) was appointed as a KTP Associate at Lancaster University, working with Thames Water as a Freshwater Reservoir Floating Solar Impact Modeller. David’s PhD thesis was on ‘Drinking Water Reservoir Resiliency in a Changing Climate’ and his KTP role was a natural progression of his PhD research, developing a model to assess the impacts of floating solar arrays on water quality.
- Dr Georgios Sarailidis (Bristol, Cohort 5) continued the links made with JBA Consulting during his PhD research on ‘Uncertainty Quantification and Attribution in Flood Risk Modelling’ through becoming a Catastrophe Modelling KTP Associate at JBA Risk Management. His KTP role focused on uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of flood catastrophe models. George co-authored a 2023 JBA White Paper on ‘How Catastrophe Models Can Help Reduce The Protection Gap At Scale’, written in collaboration with Gallagher Re and the University of Bristol. George also returned to the University to speak to PhD and Master’s students about his transition from flood risk modelling research to innovation in the insurance industry.
In December 2024, as the WISE CDT training grant ended, around 90% of WISE CDT graduates were working in the water, environmental and energy sectors.