Tina Bay Mathiesen is our YWPDK profile for August 2017. Tina is an environmental engineer at the utility company HOFOR A/S. She is working in the field of water supply, more specifically, water distribution network modelling and planning, and has been an active member of the YWPDK for the latest years.
What is your current work title and what is your background/degree?
I am working as a planner at the Plan Water section of HOFOR, the Greater Copenhagen Utility, where I work with drinking water distribution. I work with planning renovation of the pipe network, planning water supply for new city developments, modelling flow in case of contamination and setting up/maintaining our hydraulic models.
I graduated with a master of science in environmental engineering from DTU in 2016. I did not follow a specific study line, as I spend one year at University of Cape Town and one year at the Technische Universität München, but my focus was water resource management and urban water management. I did my master thesis at HOFOR, analyzing the optimal locations for water sampling in water distribution network based on hydraulic modelling.
What is your motivation for working with water?
I chose to work with water because I am interested in developing work. Water is a necessity for live, and I find the challenges in water distribution very interesting. This was especially something I saw firsthand when I lived in Cape Town and did projects around the informal settlements there.
What are your main interests within this field?
I am very interested in the planning of water distribution, water works, and the pipe network. There is a lot of work coordinating the projects we do with numerous other stakeholders, including the municipality, climate change adaptation projects, subway construction, other utilities and God knows what. It can be quite a challenge, but it is also fun. Although I work with water supply, I am also interested in development work within sanitation and hygiene awareness. I did a study project with sanitary awareness in West Bengal through the NGO UBU when I was at university, and I hope to get the chance to do some similar projects abroad in the future.
What was your motivation for becoming a member of YWPDK and how did you hear about the network?
I heard about YWPDK when I was studying at DTU, and joined already then. I found that the group was a nice way to network with young water engineers, and I find it fun to do activities within our field of interest.
What are your thoughts on the challenges that we, as young water professionals, face in the coming years?
Due to the climate changes, which are slowly starting to occur, there will be an increase in urban flooding in some regions and shortage of water in many regions, just to mention some of the negative impacts. Therefore, there will be an increased need for new innovative solutions, across borders and counties. I think the young generation of water professionals will play a big part in preparing us for these future changes.
