Birmingham academic named in global prize for innovation in water research

Dr Xilin Xia, Assistant Professor in Resilience Engineering at the University of Birmingham and Turing Fellow is a member of the team awarded the 2024 PSIPW Surface Water Prize. Professor Qiuhua Liang of Loughborough University led the team, which includes researchers from institutions in the UK, China and Singapore, recognised for "developing pioneering, open-source, multi-GPU hydrodynamic models to support real-time flood forecasting at fine temporal resolutions." The award-winning HiPIMS model step-changed flood modelling and forecasting practice by enabling real-time prediction of flood processes from rainfall source to flood inundation over a large catchment or city with unprecedented metre-level resolution for the first time.

Dr Xia works on computational modelling of natural hazards, such as floods, landslides and debris/mud flows, and their impacts. He has developed numerical methods and open-source code that have been widely used in research organisations, government agencies and industry worldwide. He currently leads the development of a highly scalable and performance-portable flood modelling code to be ready for new-generation exascale supercomputers arriving in the UK, paving the way for a next-generation probabilistic flood forecasting system. Dr Xia is also leading projects to develop national-scale risk assessment and forecasting tools for extreme weather impacts in the UK and India.

Now in its 22nd year, the PSIPW presents five prizes every two years to recognise groundbreaking solutions covering the entire water research landscape. It is judged by leading scientists from around the world. Previous PSIPW winners have included Nobel Prize laureates, members of national science academies, and presidents of leading learned societies, among a group of outstanding researchers.

Professor Karl Dearn, Head of School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, said: "We are incredibly proud of Xilin and colleagues for winning the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water. Their pioneering work developing open-source models for real-time flood forecasting is crucial for future cities and climate research. This achievement underscores the University's and the School's commitment to building a resilient future. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition."

The awards were officially announced under the Space and Water Agenda of the 68th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS), and the award ceremony is set to take place in late 2024.