Sophia Buchanan, ANZ Regional Product Lead for Flood Products at Jacobs
Introduction
Last month, the Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium (HWRS), combined with the Hydraulics in Water Engineering (HIWE) conference, brought over 400 water experts to the City of Melbourne for 4 days of information sharing and social fun.
Being only 3 weeks into a new job with a new company, I felt privileged to be in attendance, reconnecting with peers, meeting new faces and of course sharing my excitement for Jacobs’ latest flood risk management technology – Flood Platform. The industry has consistently highlighted the need for a single, unified flood modelling solution and so it was great for me to engage in discussions around Flood Platform and its ability to accelerate project delivery.
Key takeaways
Although HWRS is an event well known for drawing more academic papers and audiences, I was still amazed at the level of maths being presented – by engineers. Like many in the water industry, I started out with a Civil Engineering degree, but it is no wonder that water is a speciality, considering all the skills required from us.
Looking to the future
With the release of Flood Platform on the horizon for early 2025, it’s clear from my time at HWRS in Melbourne, just how much value will be absorbed from being able to store and manage TUFLOW, HEC-RAS, Flood Modeller and SWMM model data in one location.
And with much of the hard work done in terms of methodology for understanding flood risk, it’s now time to shift our focus toward improving how we communicate these risks, and how we can upskill others in the industry to address the growing skills shortage.
I'm excited to be part of a team that is revolutionising engineering software tools - tools that are designed to enhance communication between technical and non-technical teams, while also enabling the next generation to quickly get up to speed and focus on solving water-related challenges.
Sophia Buchanan
Sophia is the ANZ Product Lead for Flood Products at Jacobs. Growing up surrounded by waterways on Australia’s coastline, Sophia is passionate about supporting peers in ANZ with technology that solves water problems.