Innovative flood risk work wins prestigious award
An augmented reality flood risk model, developed by our research manager Dr Ian Walkington, with academics at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), has been recognised by leading experts for its exciting potential.
The application has won an Excellence in Innovation award at this year’s Flood Expo, Europe’s leading flood management event that took place at the Birmingham NEC. It was one of just four projects selected for the prestigious award.
Dr Walkington has been working with Dr Sarah Percival, senior lecturer in geography (coastal resilience) within the university’s School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, studying the potential benefits of interactive 3D visualisations in communication of flood risk to a range of audiences.
For the past year, they have worked on flood visualisation, trialling and evaluating the effectiveness of GeoSmart’s flood risk visualisation techniques and approaches.
This work has now been recognised by flood management experts for its innovation and for the positive impact it will have in the flood risk sector.
“To have been recognised and awarded by Flood Expo demonstrates the potential this application could have on communicating flood information and increasing understanding of risk,” said Ian, a former senior lecturer at LJMU.
“Working with LMJU on projects such as these is hugely beneficial for us as we can expand our research funding reach by working with the university and also help shape its research direction, while the university benefits from having industry links for its research applications together with our expertise in flood data.
“We are planning to continue our collaboration and are applying for external research funding to enable us to further the work we have already completed.
“The work will involve undergraduate and postgraduate students, to help develop their understanding of flood risk and resilience in the community and how visualisation can help in this process.”
After demonstrating the application at Flood Expo, which attracts more than 2000 professionals from across civil engineering, local authorities, insurance and flood innovation sectors, Drs Walkington and Percival will use feedback from delegates to determine future updates within the project and to inform further scientific developments.
