CIICA - Director

Oliver Saavedra Valeriano

Studies

PhD in Civil Engineering (University of Tokyo)
Master of Science in Hydrogeology (University of Tübingen - Eberhard Karl, Germany)
Bachelor in Civil Engineering (Universidad Privada Boliviana)

Expertise and interests

Applied hydrology and integrated water resources management.
Exploitation of remote sensing products combined with surface meteorological measurements to better understand the water cycle.
Numerical simulation with distributed hydrological models to support decision making in order to reduce social climate change effects. For example, optimization of dam operation to reduce flood peaks, droughts, hydropower generation, and water supply.

Professional activity

Japan
Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Eng department. Tokyo Institute of Technology, Teaching lectures related to GIS for Hydrology and Water Resources Management. Supervision of undergraduate and graduate students. Research interests but not limited to hydrological processes, structural and non-structural flood management, sediment transport, decision support systems, remote sensing applications in hydrology, international cooperation, trans-boundary issues. He has been coordinator of international research projects in Asia, Africa and Japan financed by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Researcher, University of Tokyo. Fields of research in applied hydrology and water resources management. Instructing seminars in hydrological modeling and applications at graduate and undergraduate students. Developing tools and material to set-up and usage of models/algorithms. Co-supervision of undergraduate and graduate research, contribution to the Asian Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI), and cooperation with 18 countries in Asia under GEOSS to overcome water related issues.

Egypt
Adjunct Professor, Environmental Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of science and technology. Teaching lectures related to applied hydrology, GIS and remote sensing for hydrology, Groundwater management, Water Resources Management. Transfer of research experience in Japan to come-up with a hybrid system. Co-supervision of Egyptian graduate students about water, land and agriculture issues in Egypt such as sustainability of Nile delta. Research interests in Egypt but not limited to semi-arid, hydrology, sediment transport, re-use of agriculture water, proper allocation of water, effects of climate change, efficient water management at National, basin and community levels.

Bolivia
Consultant. Coordinator of projects in hydrology, water resources, water supply and sanitation for rural communities including sewage and irrigation systems. It was paid special attention to the sustainability from the systems in future in-charged by locals. Both socio-economic and environmental assessments were added to technical feasible options.
Director of the hydraulic installations in water supply systems at special buildings, Hidrotec. It was accomplished construction projects on schedule with optimization of both human and supply resources. The quality of installation was checked with hydraulic tests and following ASTM standards. Tests were supervised by external consulting company. Teaching undergraduate and graduate courses related to Hydrology, water resources, hydrogeology and Environmental Impact Assessment. Supervisor of graduation theses.