Dr. David Rudolph, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Waterloo and Watershed Node leader speaks to Hatch representatives at a sesnor station in Alder Creek
On April 30, the SOWC hosted representatives from Hatch, a North American consulting engineering firm, for a half-day forum on SOWC facilities and engagement opportunities. The day was specifically tailored to the interests of Hatch in hosting its lead water representatives from around the globe.
“We are really interested to explore with companies how their interests, and their clients’ needs, relate to the technologies and innovations that we can advance using SOWC’s facilities and capacity,” said SOWC’s Evelyn Allen, Manager, Industry Partnership Development for the consortium while speaking to 15 company representatives from across the United States, Australia, South Africa and Chile. “And hearing from the lead researchers directly, a company can in turn gain insight into what’s new and interesting.”
Hatch is a Canadian based full service engineering firm that delivers a comprehensive array of technical and strategic services, including consulting, information technology, engineering, process development, and project and construction management to the Mining, Metallurgical, Energy, and Infrastructure sectors. Hatch has served clients for over six decades with corporate roots extending over 100 years and has project experience in more than 150 countries around the world. With over 11,000 people in over 65 offices, the firm has more than $35 billion in projects currently under management.
Discussing the Watershed node and data integration platform
The half-day forum was particularly focused on SOWC’s Watershed Node and data integration platform. Hoping for the rain to hold off, the day began with a field visit to a small section of Alder Creek, a subwatershed in Waterloo Region. Instrumented with seven complete weather stations and 120 sensors that transmit collected data to a central recording location, the capacity at Alder Creek is the backbone of a system to monitor and understand complex watershed dynamics.
Out of the cold and back indoors, the group learned more about the capacity and utilization of SOWC’s data integration platform which enables the gathering of real-time sensor data and analysis of massive amounts of information like never before. Like the other elements of SOWC’s platform, it will also support new products, technologies and research applications.
If you are interested in shaping an industry focused project through one or multiple SOWC facilities and/or partner academic researchers, please contact Brenda Lucas, Executive Director at brenda@sowc.ca.