The Vitae of Dr. Radwan Al-Weshah (2-2006) page 1 of 12
Radwan A. Al-Weshah, Ph.D.
Regional Hydrologist, UNESCO Cairo Regional Office, United Nations
Office Address (in Cairo) / Home Address (in Jordan)UNESCO Cairo Office, 8 Abdel Rahman Fahmi Street / P.O. Box 588 Salt
Garden City, Cairo 11541 EGYPT / Salt, Jordan 191.10
Phone: +20-10-1777 800, Fax: +20-2-7945296 / Phone: +962(5) 3551037, +962777407020
E-mail: or
PERSONAL DATA:
Nationality: Jordanian, USA Permanent Resident.
Place and date of birth: Salt-Jordan, November 6, 1957.
Marital Status: Married with 4 children
KEY QUALIFICATIONS:
Dr. Radwan A. Al-Weshah is a regional hydrologist and water advisor for UNESCO (United Nation Educational Science and Cultural Organization) based in Cairo, Egypt. He is responsible for planning, executing and implementing the UNESCO International Hydrologic Program (IHP) in the Arab Region. He is the Project Director for the UNESCO-Flanders FRIEND/NILE Project and CapacityBuilding in Water Sector in Palestine Project. His duties include planning projects, writing proposals for external funding, preparing work plans, reviewing the execution and implementation of IHP activities, and coordinating the IHP activities with local, regional and international parties. IHP activities cover training, workshops and conferences, studies and research in the area of water resources, surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology, sediment transport, water resources management and policy, strategic water planning, ecohydrology.
He is also an associate professor of hydrology and water resources at the Department of Civil Engineering (on leave since 2000), and was an assistant director and researcher at the Water and Environment Research and Study Center (WERSC), the University of Jordan. He was the head of the hydraulic and water resources section at the Civil Engineering Department. Dr. Al-Weshah is a technical advisor to some governmental agencies, research institutions, and a technical consultant to local and international consulting firms in Jordan and abroad in the area of water resources, hydraulics and hydrology. His work covers areas of water management, surface hydrology, hydrologic modeling, flood and drought studies, design of water networks and conveyance system, design of hydraulic structures, wadi hydrology, artificial groundwater recharge and water harvesting projects. Dr. Al-Weshah gained a wide international experience in the area of water resources management and planning, surface and flood hydrology, hydraulic analysis and design, water negotiations and conflict resolution in the Middle East. He was the co-chairman and the main coordinator for the International Symposium on Water Resources in the Middle East held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. He is the co-editor the symposium proceedings. Dr. Al-Weshah has been elected and appointed by the National Research Council of the U.S. Academy of Sciences as a member of the committee on "Sustainable Water Supply in the Middle East". He is a principle author of the international book Water for Future published by the United State National Academy Press in 1999. Dr. Al-Weshah is supervising the Arab Network on Wadi Hydrology and the Arab Network on Groundwater Protection, and a co-editor and a contributor to several UNESCO-IHP technical documents on Hydrology of Wadi Systems, Groundwater Protections, and Integrated Water Resources Management.
Dr. Al-Weshah developed a national and international reputation in his area, he participated in more than 60 international technical meetings in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. He published more than 36 publications in refereed journals, conference proceedings and technical reports. Dr. Al-Weshah is a reviewer for the of the Water International Journal of theInternational Water Resources Association (IWRA), Water Resources Bulletin of American Water Resources Association (AWRA) and Journal of the Hydraulics Division of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and many other specialized journals in the Middle East region. He is an invited author for the Encyclopaedia of Life Support System (EOLSS) sponsored by UNESCO and edited by a team at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He is an advisory board member of the Rosenberg Water Forum on Water Policy and the International Task Force on Water formed by the UNESCO HELP program.
Dr. Al-Weshah consulting work includes major water resources and hydrology projects in Jordan and abroad. This include the water resources and hydrologic studies for the Dead Sea Tourism Project, the Disi-Amman Conveyance System, the Petra Flood Analysis and Mitigation, the Azraq Wetland Surface Water Modeling, the Jordan Desert Surface Water Models, the Taba-Red Sea Development in Egypt, Drainage works for some major roads in Saudi Arabia, and training of practicing engineers in the area of hydrologic/hydraulic analysis and design. Dr Al-Weshah also worked as a senior hydrologist for a well known consulting firm in Chicago. He gained a valuable experience in the area of hydrology, hydraulics, water resources, and environmental impact assessment. He was a visiting researcher at the Illinois State Water Survey and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before he joins the University of Jordan. Dr. Al-Weshah holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering - Water Resources and Hydrology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. Civil Engineering - Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 1993, (GPA= 5.00 out of 5.00).
M.S. Civil Engineering-Water and Irrigation Engineering, January 1989, University of Jordan, Amman, JORDAN, (Scholastic Evaluation: Excellent).
B.S. Civil Engineering, June 1981, University of Jordan, Amman, JORDAN, (Scholastic Evaluation: Excellent).
THESES:
Ph.D. Thesis: "Reliability of Integrated Municipal Water Systems: Implications of Drought," University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992.
Master Thesis: "A Contribution to the Total Sediment Load Transportation," The University of Jordan, Amman, 1989.
WORK HISTORY PERTINENT TO THIS RESUME:
INTERNATIONAL UNESCO EXPERIENCE
Regional Hydrologist/ Program Specialist, UNESCO Cairo Regional Office, Egypt, June 2000 to present . Duties: responsible in planning, executing and implementing the UNESCO International Hydrologic Program (IHP) in the Arab Region. He duties include planning projects, writing proposals for external funding, preparing work plans, supervising, monitoring, and reviewing the execution and implementation of IHP activities and extrabudgetary projects in the Arab Region. He also responsible for coordinating the IHP activities with local, regional and international parties. The IHP activities include training, workshops and conferences, studies and research in the area of water resources, surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology, sediment transport, water resources management and policy, strategic water planning, eco-hydrology. He is the Project Director for the UNESCO-Flanders FRIEND/NILE Project for promoting research and networking between experts in the Nile Basin Countries and CapacityBuilding in Water Sector in Palestine Project.
ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Visiting Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept. BrighamYoungUniversity (BYU), Utah, USA (Summer Semester 2003 and Summer 2005). Duties: teaching hydrology course, organizing international workshops and public seminars, examining graduate students theses and projects as well as helping in the development of the water resources applications using the software developed by BYU like WMS, GMS and SMS.
Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, University of Jordan, at Amman, JORDAN(on open leave since June 2000). Duties: teaching Engineering Hydrology, Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics, and other Civil Engineering courses for undergraduate students, and teaching advanced courses in Surface Hydrology, Groundwater Hydrology, Flood Hydrology, and Water Resources for graduate students in the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Agriculture. Dr. Al-Weshah has been supervising the hydraulics and fluid mechanics labs. Research and consultancy areas cover hydrology of desert and arid areas, shared water resources management, optimization of water systems, flood and drainage studies, groundwater recharge and water harvesting studies, design of water networks, design of small dams, stormwater drainage system, and hydraulic structures. He serves in several national and international academic, technical and administrative committees and councils. Recent results of my effectiveness in teaching at the University of Jordan, based on external confidential student evaluation forms, showed a grade of 96.1% for the Fall, and 97.4% for the Spring of 1999 while the department averages were around 80%.
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Department, University of Jordan, at Amman, JORDAN, September 1994 to March 2000 (duties, same as above).
Head of the Hydraulic and Water Section, Civil Engineering Department, University of Jordan, at Amman, JORDAN, September 1996 to June 2000. Duties: supervising and coordinating the work of the fluid mechanics, hydraulic and water section in the Department of Civil Engineering including all administrative, academic and teaching activities for the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as supervising and managing the Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Lab.
Assistant Director and Researcher, the Water and Environment Research and StudyCenter (WERSC), the University of Jordan, January 1995 to June 2000. Duties: Formulation and implementation of research projects in the area of hydrology and water resources and providing specialized consulting services through the University of Jordan and WERSC. Examples of the ongoing research projects: the Azraq Oasis water resources studies and surface water modeling, the arid land JAZPP hydrology study, the Jordan Desert hydrology modeling, artificial recharge of groundwater aquifers, the rainfall forecasting, the water harvesting in the Upper Yarmouk basin, the international course on wadi hydrology, and many technical training materials and workshops in water resources and hydrology.
Associate Researcher, Illinois State Water Survey, Office of Sediment & Wetland Studies and Water Resources Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, December 1992 to June 1993. Research areas include hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of wetlands, stormwater management and flood control, and hydrologic response to changes in climate; land use; shared water resources management; and Middle East water resources.
Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, Civil Engineering Department-Hydrosystems, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, July 1990 to December 1992. Duties: research and teaching in water resources planning and management, design of storm sewers and water distribution networks, water systems performance and rehabilitation and drought-risk analysis.
Graduate Research Assistant, Illinois State Water Survey-Hydrology Division, Office of Sediment and Wetland Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, August 1989 to December 1992. Duties: research in modeling of hydrologic systems, watershed analysis, wetland hydrology, climate change effect on hydrology, and sediment transport studies.
Lecturer, Civil Engineering Department, University of Jordan, at Amman, JORDAN, February 1984 to August 1989. Duties: teaching Hydrology, Hydraulics, Surveying, and Fluid Mechanics for undergraduate Civil Engineering students, as well as supervising and maintaining the Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics Lab.
Part-time Lecturer, Civil Engineering Department, University of Jordan at Amman, JORDAN. September 1981 to June 1982. Duties: Lecturer in Land Surveying, Hydrology, Fluid Mechanics, and Hydraulics.
CONSULTING AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Technical Advisor, for governmental and public agencies, like the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Ministry of Water and Irrigation serving as a member of two key advisory committees to the Minister of Water and Irrigation in Jordan, and the Higher Council for Science and Technology in the field of hydrology and surface drainage. Major activities: reviewing, evaluating and providing technical expertise in areas of hydrologic/hydraulic analysis, modeling, design for major water projects in Jordan, water quality issues, water policy, planning and management.
Technical Consultant, for some national and international firms in Jordan and abroad since September 1994. Duties: providing specialized consulting for the various projects that deals with water resources planning and management, hydrologic/hydraulic analysis and design, flood control and mitigation studies, watershed management, and environmental impact assessment. A partial list of these projects includes: The Tourism Development Project of the East Coast of the Dead Sea, the Water Conservation and Quality Improvement Project, the Disi-Amman Conveyer System, the Jordan Rift Valley Development Projects--the Water Sector, technical training workshops and short-courses in the area of water resources and hydrology, the Petra Priority Action Plan Study: Flood Control and Mitigation, the Riyadh Ring Road Hydrologic and Hydraulic Design in Saudi Arabia, the Tourism Development Project of Taba Heights on the Red Sea in Egypt, the Drainage works design for Madinah-Yanbu Expressway in Saudi Arabia, Stormwater Drainage in Mina holly area in Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Rehabilitation of Major Bridges in Lebanon, Design of Mujib Weir and Conveyance System, Rehabilitation of Greater Amman Water Networks, and many other specialized projects. He works for major consulting firms like: Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) in Amman, Cairo, Beirut, and London, Hazen and Sawyer, New York, Lois Berger and Associates, WashingtonD.C., Haraz Group, Chicago, Alexander Gibbs, UK, the SBA, Amman, Sigma Consulting Engineers, Amman, and the ACE, Amman.
Senior Hydrologist, Wetland Research Inc., and Hey and Associates, Inc., Libertyville and Chicago, Illinois, May 1993 to August 1994. Major activities: hydrologic and hydraulic planning, analysis, and design of engineering projects; wetland mitigation and restoration, site planning and environmental impact studies; design of hydraulic structures, stormwater management and flood control; and formulation and implementation of research projects in wetland hydrology and water resources.
Technical Director, Municipality of Salt, Salt JORDAN, June 1981 to February 1984. Duties: Supervision of all municipality projects and staff with emphasis on planning, management and operation of water systems.
MAJOR PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS AND PRESENTATIONS:
International Meetings and Conferences
The Third International Conference on Wadi Hydrology, Co-Chairman, Yemen, December 12-14, 2005.
The 7th Gulf Water Conference, Kuwait, November 19-23, 2005.
The International Conference on Friend/Nile, Co-Chairman, Egypt, November12-14, 2005.
The 9th International Water Technology Conference, Egypt, March 16-20, 2005
The 16th Intergovernmental Council of IHP, Paris, September 15-22, 2004.
The International Conference on Water Demand management, Dead Sea, Jordan 31 May 5- June 2004.
The 8th International Water Technology Conference, Egypt, March 15-19, 2004
The 2nd Regional Conference on Water Demand Management, Egypt, December 16-18, 2003.
The Second International Conference on Wadi Hydrology, Jordan, July 1-7, 2003.
The 6th Gulf Water Conference, Saudi Arabia, March 7-10, 2003.
First International Conference On “Perspectives of Arab Water Cooperation: Challenges, Constraints and Opportunities”, Cairo, October 12-14, 2002.
The International Workshop on Water in the MediterraneanBasin (WATMED 2002): Resources and Sustainable Development, Tunis, October 8-12, 2002.
The Launching of the Fourth Thematic Programme Network (TPN 4) “Water Resources Management for Agriculture in Arid, Semi-Arid and Sub-humid Lands.” Damascus, Syria, July 1-5, 2002.
The 15th Intergovernmental Council of IHP, Paris, FranceJune 13-20, 2002.
The International Conference Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries, Sharim Sheikh, Egypt, May 1-6, 2002.
International Conference on Water Resources Management in Arid Regions, Kuwait, March 20-25, 2002.
8th International Symposium on River Sedimentation: Cairo, Egypt, November, 3–5, 2001.
First International Conference on Saltwater Intrusion and Coastal Aquifers—Monitoring, Modeling, and Management, Morocco, April 23-25, 2001.
The IAEA Advisory Meeting on Isotopes Hydrology, Vienna, Austria, December 10-14, 2000.
The First International Conference on Wadi Hydrology, Egypt, November 20-23, 2000.
The Water and Environment Seminar at the SanaaUniversity, Yemen, October 28-31, 2000.
The IX Engineering Foundation Conference on Risk Based Decision-making in Water Resource, Santa Barbara, USA October, 17-22, 2000.
The Fourth FRIEND/NILE Steering Committee, CairoEgypt, August 20-23, 2000.
The Integrated Management, Protection and Sustainable Use of Groundwater and Soil Resources in the Arab Countries, jointly organized by ACSAD and the German BGR, Damascus, July 2000.
The 14th IHP Intergovernmental Council, Paris, France, June 4-10, 2000
The UNESCO Taskforce on Water through the Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) program, Tucson, Arizona, November 20-28, 1999
The Rosenberg International Water Forum on Water Policy, Barcelona, Spain, October 2-6, 1999 (participant by invitation only).
The 26th International Water Resources Planning and Management Conference, ASCE conference held in Tempe, Arizona, June 3-7, 1999.
The 4th Gulf Water Conference, Manama, Bahrain, February 13-18, 1999.
The 8thStockholm Water Symposium, Sweden, August 9-13, 1998.
The 1998 International Water Resources Engineering Conference, ASCE conference held in Memphis, Tennessee, August 3-7, 1998.
Capabilities of Watershed Modeling System(WMS) Package: technical exchange visit, BrighamYoungUniversity,. Provo, Utah, January 1998.
Water Supplies in the Middle East: Venues for Cooperation, ICCO meetings in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 1997.
The Sustainable Water Supplies in the Middle East committee meetings in WashingtonDC in Feb. 1996, Amman in June 1996, WashingtonDC in April 1997, and Ramallah in March 1999, National Research Council, US National Academy of Sciences.
The Post-Graduate International Course in Sediment Transport Technology, Ankara, Turkey, June, 1995.
Co-Chairman of the International Symposium on Water Resources in the Middle East, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 25-28, 1993.
The Engineering Foundation Conference on Management of Water Resources in North America III: Anticipating the 21st Century, Tucson, Arizona, September 4-8, 1993.
The NATO Advanced Study Institute on Risk and Reliability of Water Resources Under Changing Physical Conditions, Deauville, France, May 24-June 3, 1993.
The Second International Symposium on Uncertainty Modeling & Analysis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, April 25-28, 1993.
The Middle East Water Crisis: Creative Perspectives and Solutions, Waterloo, Canada, May 7-9, 1992.
The Engineering Foundation Fifth Conference on Risk Based Decision Making in Water Resources, Santa Barbara, California, November 3-8, 1991.
The NATO Advanced Study Institute on Risk and Reliability of Water Resources & Environmental Engineering, Porto Carras, Greece, May 18-28, 1991.