THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO IS THE RIGHT SCHOOL TO PROVIDE THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED.
ROBERT CHLUMSKY (BASc ’15, MASc ’18 )
THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO IS THE RIGHT SCHOOL TO PROVIDE THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED.
ROBERT CHLUMSKY (BASc ’15, MASc ’18 )
MAPPING THE FUTURE OF FLOOD RESPONSE
In the early stages of his doctoral degree, Robert Chlumsky (BASc ’15, MASc ’18 ) had doubts about whether he had made the right choice to return to school.
There were days Robert wondered why he had left a full-time job as a water resources consulting engineer, particularly when he wasn’t successful in applying for a couple of entrepreneurial awards related to his hydrologic modelling research.
But now as a recent recipient of the Jain Family Award for Entrepreneurship, he is no longer questioning coming back to the University of Waterloo for his third environmental engineering degree.
For Robert, the award made possible by a gift from the Vijay Anand Foundation to encourage student entrepreneurship at Waterloo is providing financial assistance and, perhaps more important, confirmation that his research has significant potential.
“Before I received the award, I definitely had some moments of self-doubt,” he said. “Part of receiving the award was validation that I had made the right decision to pursue a PhD.”
It was during his time as a municipal engineering consultant that Robert discovered the need for new floodplain mapping technology.
“I had seen how things are done and practised and I had some ideas about how the technology could be improved,” he said. “Floodplain mapping is becoming an increasingly important issue with climate change where more intense flooding is expected, not less.”
Together with civil and environmental engineering professors James Craig and Bryan Tolson, Robert is developing Blackbird, a more effective method for floodplain mapping.
Unlike flood maps used today, Blackbird’s will be both real-time and two-dimensional and could substantially impact flood mitigation and emergency response, potentially leading to lower costs and risk to life.
Shortly after he began his PhD in 2020, Robert launched Heron Hydrologic, a company that provides training and other services related to hydrologic modelling, calibration and data analysis. Craig, Robert’s MASc supervisor, and Tolson, his doctoral supervisor, are also part of Heron Hydrologic.
The father of three under three has a fourth-degree black belt and both practises and teaches karate at Legacy Martial Arts and Fitness in Kitchener, where he has been a member for over 24 years.
In addition to impressive time management skills, Robert credits the support of his wife and awards such as the Jain Family Award for Entrepreneurship for allowing him to work on his PhD and keep up with all the other professional and personal parts of his busy life.
He expects to complete his doctorate in spring 2024 and then work full time on Blackbird and Heron Hydrologic.
“The University of Waterloo is the right school to provide the best opportunities to succeed,” Robert said. “I’m looking forward to what the future will bring.”
There were days Robert wondered why he had left a full-time job as a water resources consulting engineer, particularly when he wasn’t successful in applying for a couple of entrepreneurial awards related to his hydrologic modelling research.
But now as a recent recipient of the Jain Family Award for Entrepreneurship, he is no longer questioning coming back to the University of Waterloo for his third environmental engineering degree.
For Robert, the award made possible by a gift from the Vijay Anand Foundation to encourage student entrepreneurship at Waterloo is providing financial assistance and, perhaps more important, confirmation that his research has significant potential.
“Before I received the award, I definitely had some moments of self-doubt,” he said. “Part of receiving the award was validation that I had made the right decision to pursue a PhD.”
It was during his time as a municipal engineering consultant that Robert discovered the need for new floodplain mapping technology.
“I had seen how things are done and practised and I had some ideas about how the technology could be improved,” he said. “Floodplain mapping is becoming an increasingly important issue with climate change where more intense flooding is expected, not less.”
Together with civil and environmental engineering professors James Craig and Bryan Tolson, Robert is developing Blackbird, a more effective method for floodplain mapping.
Unlike flood maps used today, Blackbird’s will be both real-time and two-dimensional and could substantially impact flood mitigation and emergency response, potentially leading to lower costs and risk to life.
Shortly after he began his PhD in 2020, Robert launched Heron Hydrologic, a company that provides training and other services related to hydrologic modelling, calibration and data analysis. Craig, Robert’s MASc supervisor, and Tolson, his doctoral supervisor, are also part of Heron Hydrologic.
The father of three under three has a fourth-degree black belt and both practises and teaches karate at Legacy Martial Arts and Fitness in Kitchener, where he has been a member for over 24 years.
In addition to impressive time management skills, Robert credits the support of his wife and awards such as the Jain Family Award for Entrepreneurship for allowing him to work on his PhD and keep up with all the other professional and personal parts of his busy life.
He expects to complete his doctorate in spring 2024 and then work full-time on Blackbird and Heron Hydrologic.
“The University of Waterloo is the right school to provide the best opportunities to succeed,” Robert said. “I’m looking forward to what the future will bring.”
