Mr Jo-fai Chow
Postgraduate - STREAM project
Academic Background
Jo obtained his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from University of Bristol. He went on to complete a master's degree course in environmental management in Sheffield. He was keen to work on an industrial-based project for the MSc dissertation and Prof. Adrian Saul kindly introduced him to SEAMS (Skipworth Engelhardt Asset Management Strategists Ltd). For the three-month dissertation period, Jo worked at SEAMS office in Sheffield and went through their software training. The idea was to get Jo up to speed with SEAMS' software - WiLCO (a decision support tool specifically designed for asset management) and then develop new functions for the software to cope with environmental issues.
The project was co-supervisored by Adrian and Dr Mark Engelhardt (founder and science director of SEAMS). Jo had to develop a conceptual model which captures performance indicators (e.g. water quality and quantity etc) and human interventions (e.g. water abstraction, irrigation etc) within a catchment area. The net impact on environment (e.g. water availability, ecological value etc) was then related and compared to the requirements set out by water framework directive. The research discussed the feasibility of using WiLCO to illustrate the relationships between different components and the potential to optimise investment strategies for environmental improvements.
Work Experience
Jo got a job offer from SEAMS after the dissertation project and he started working there as a data analyst/modeller from Oct 2005.
During the early stage of his career at SEAMS, he collected data and developed water distribution network models mainly for UK water companies (Severn Trent Water and Northumbrian Water). These models include pipe bursts, supply/demand, customer interruptions and complaints. One of the key challenges was to simplify / translate models from different sources (e.g. existing models from clients or ones from new researches) into a common modelling platform. Jo worked closely with Prof. Joby Boxall (University of Sheffield) and transformed a hydraulic-based discolouration model into a statistical-based model (which can be optimised within a reasonable timescale). This new discolouration model was later adapted by Severn Trent Water and SUEZ (France) for their strategic investment plan.
In 2007, Jo moved onto a different job role and began to pay more attention on optimisation. During that period, Jo was guided by Dr Mark Engelhardt (science director at SEAMS) and he was continuously exposed to papers and case studies regarding both theories and practical applications of genetic algorithm. Most of the knowledge is originated from University of Exeter (i.e. from the work Mark did with Prof. Dragan Savic and other academics from Exeter). Apart from his modelling duty, he started testing and fine-tuning optimisation settings for different modelling projects as well as improving overall optimisation performance with parallel computing.
From 2008, Jo got more involved in projects outside the water sector. He was part of the team which delivered a decision support tool to Highway Agency (HA) in preparation for the budget review. The high-profile, multi-stage project involved the development of deterioration models for pavement, structures, drainage and geotechnical assets from scratch, intensive data collection and cleansing, optimisation, hardware installation/testing as well as software training. The project highlighted the impact of different budget scenarios on network performance and enabled HA to carry out in-house modelling and optimisation in the long run.
Teaching
Jo is grateful for the advice from Adrian and the introduction to SEAMS, which eventually landed Jo a job and opened his eyes to modelling and optimisation. Jo helps Adrian to deliver the "Whole Life Costing" module (as part of the MSc environmental management in University of Sheffield) every year since 2006.
STREAM EngD Project
The STREAM project, "Machine Intelligence Methods for Optimised Design of Urban Drainage Systems", came up from a random Google search Jo did back in June 2010. He was looking for latest optimisation techniques but instead he found this interesting research project. It was the perfect opportunity for him to further explore the world of optimisation (and to develop his own engine). The next thing he knew, he was driving to Exeter University for an interview.
Useful Links
STREAM Project Details: http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/cws/projects/stream/research-areas/293
STREAM IDC: http://www.stream-idc.net/
Micro Drainage - Website: http://www.microdrainage.co.uk/
Micro Drainage - Blog: http://pipedup.wordpress.com/
