Dr Qian Zhang receives the Innovyze Excellence in Computational Hydraulics/Hydrology Award from Howard B LaFever, past board president of the AAEES. Photo credit: AAEES
Innovyze, one of the global leading innovators of business analytics software and technologies for smart wet infrastructure recently announced that Dr Qian Zhang, Research Scientist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Chesapeake Bay Programme, has been selected to receive the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) 2017 Innovyze Excellence in Computational Hydraulics/Hydrology Award. This prestigious yearly award recognises and acknowledges a student whose research contributes to the knowledge pool in Computational Hydraulics & Hydrology. Factors for selection are based on original, innovative research of publishable quality, among others. Students from the ranks of both Master’s and Ph.D. programmes are eligible.
Administered by AAEES and co-sponsored by Innovyze, the award is composed of cash honoraria of US$1,500 for the student and US$500 for the major faculty advisor. A further US$500 is allotted for the student recipient to travel to, and attend, the Awards Luncheon. The award selection is jointly administered by a jury that is equally made up of members of AAEES and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP).
Dr Zhang earned his Master of Science in environmental engineering, a Master of Science in statistics, and a Ph.D. in geography and environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University. His doctoral research concentrated on the source, fate, and export of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from the Chesapeake bay watershed. The areas of research he holds an interest in include analysis of patterns of watershed constituent export and controlling factors; evaluation of long-term river water-quality trends associated uncertainties; as well as improvement of statistical methods for riverine flux estimation and trend analysis, among others.
During the AAEES Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Annual Awards Luncheon and Conference on the 13th of April at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., United States (U.S.), Dr Zhang was presented with the award.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award recognising my work on analysis, modelling and synthesis of large-scale data sets for rivers and watersheds,” Dr Zhang said. “This award encourages me to continue my research in this mission-critical field, and reminds me that what I do matters.”
“The Innovyze Excellence in Computational Hydraulics/Hydrology Award is the premier award recognising exceptional research work in the vital field of computational hydraulics and hydrology,” Michael W. Seina, Past President of AAEES, said. “Dr Zhang has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, exemplary leadership, and a significant commitment to the community at large. We are very pleased to award him this outstanding national recognition, an honour he highly deserves. His research work is very promising and will have a positive impact on our profession.”
“Innovyze is pleased to present this signal award to Dr Zhang and congratulate him on his impressive work,” Chief Executive Officer of Innovyze, Paul F Boulos, said. “We are proud to further his future in this critical field and play a small part in his efforts to make the world a better place through his work.”
Source: Innovyze
