Dr Peter Melville-Shreeve supports technology innovators within the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy and is the Engineering Director of Business Engagement & Innovation. He has worked in consultancy, startups and academic roles and has experience in product development and mentoring technology start-ups. He teaches product development, entrepreneurship skills and runs our Technology Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. He works closely with the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management's (CIWEM's) policy team to support sustainable water management systems and chair's CIWEM's SuDS and Water Reuse Task & Finishing Group.

Much of Peter's early research focusses on technology development for rainwater management systems and the need for dual purpose designs - which can mitigate droughts and floods. His thesis highlighted the opportunities for Internet of Things technologies to be harnessed to reduce water demand AND manage stormwater flood risk. He consequently founded and exited a technology business which developed analytics and control systems to enable such technologies to be implemented at a range of scales.

Background

Peter obtained a 1st class honours for a BSc in Environmental Geoscience at Cardiff University (2003-2007). During this time he worked for DEFRA, developing mapping tools for the rural payment agency. He spent five years at Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers and developed into the Lead Engineer, managing the flood management team. He completed an MSc in Urban Water Systems from Exeter's Centre for Water Systems, and developed an interest in software applications, whilst working on decision support tools for city water systems.

Between 20012-2017, he worked with Severn Trent Water's Innovation Team and completed an Engineering Doctorate supervised by Professor David Butler and Dr Sarah Ward. His research fellow roles since 2016 have seen him collaborate with Sheffield University, University of Michigan, Dublin, Austin, MIT, Berkeley and Bath University staff in recent years.

Peter is currently working on development of entrepreneurial strategy; innovation management approaches; startup support services; incubator platforms and technology ventures. He is open to PhD student applications who have an interest in technology entrepreneurship, smarter stormwater systems (SuDS), intelligent water systems, water reuse, rainwater harvesting, water 4.0 applications and utility sector innovation approaches.