Ian Guymer graduated in 1981 from Loughborough University of Technology in Civil Engineering. He studied for a PhD at the University of Birmingham, UK, graduating in 1985, on “Aspects of solute mixing processes in well-mixed estuaries”. His first academic appointment was at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, followed in 1990, by an appointment to the lecturing staff in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK. Here he helped to set up the Water Research Group. In January 2005, Ian was appointed Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Warwick. He returned to his home city, and the University of Sheffield in 2018, to commence an EPSRC funded Established Career Fellowship on “Modelling Mixing Mechanisms”.

Ian's research interests centre on the mixing and transport of contaminants in coastal and estuarine areas, rivers, urban drainage and most recently, pipe distribution systems. His work aims to identify and quantify the transport and mixing processes within areas of civil engineering hydraulics and the natural environment. This is achieved by conducting detailed laboratory and field studies, from which to validate simplified modelling procedures for engineering applications.

His research projects have investigated the mixing processes in urban drainage systems, looking at specific components, such as manholes and combined sewer overflow structures, wetlands and ponds, river systems, quantifying dispersion effects due to topographic variations, estuarine studies and coastal mixing processes. These topics are particularly important for modelling water quality processes. In recent years, fundamental research has been supported by EPSRC, NERC, and the EU, with applied research funded by Unilever, Water utilities, the Environment Agency and Highways England.

Ian is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. In 2017-19, Ian was the first Academic-in-Residence for the Institution of Civil Engineers' Shaping-the-World initiative, which uses the knowledge and experience of civil engineers to help find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems, as detailed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Brief

Ian's research interests centre on the mixing and transport of contaminants in coastal, rivers, urban drainage and pipe distribution systems. His work aims to identify and quantify processes within areas of civil engineering hydraulics and the natural environment. This is achieved by conducting detailed laboratory and field studies, from which to validate simplified modelling procedures for engineering applications. Ian is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. In 2017-19, Ian was the first Academic-in-Residence for the Institution of Civil Engineers' Shaping-the-World initiative.