Mohammad Vahdatmanesh one of three finalists invited to CNAM 2023 Conference
CEE PhD student Mohammad Vahdatmanesh has been selected as one of the top three finalists for the student research symposium award at the upcoming Canadian Network of Asset Managers Conference (CNAM 2023) in Fredericton, NB, taking place from May 1 to May 4, 2023, to present his research. His research is supervised by Dr. Yeowon Kim.
His research work titled, Decision-Making Under Deep Uncertainty for Safe-to-Fail Stormwater Infrastructure Investment, looks at how the adverse impacts of non-stationary climate change, urbanization, and population growth that are contributing to the increasing complexity of the global hydrological system, can be addressed through more robust decision-making for resilient-based stormwater management strategies. These factors have resulted in increasingly severe and unpredictable urban floods in recent years, causing devastating consequences for societies.
In response to the more frequent and severe urban flooding, stormwater management strategies are shifting towards safe-to-fail systems that can manage the catastrophic consequences of floods, instead of trying to create an infrastructure that is entirely failure-proof. However, implementing infrastructures that can fail with minimal and manageable catastrophic consequences requires a significant investment and its decision-making involves complex interactions between economic, environmental, and social drivers. This leads to deep uncertainties that pose significant risks to the effectiveness of investment decisions. To address this challenge, his research aims to develop an investment decision-making under deep uncertainty framework that considers safe-to-fail stormwater infrastructure strategy.
The introduced framework not only incorporates pure financial decision-making but also considers the preferences and decision-making uncertainty of stakeholders and their complex interaction with the environment providing a systematic and structured approach to investment decision-making. Overall, this research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by creating an investment framework that enhances the investment decision-making environment for safe-to-fail stormwater infrastructure. By enabling decision-makers to make informed decisions that consider the complexity and uncertainties of the investment environment, this framework reduces the risks associated with investment decisions.
Best of luck to Mohammad at the CNAM conference and congratulations in being among the three finalists!