Education
- M.S. in Civil Engineering (Environmental and Water Resources), Virginia Tech, USA (Fulbright Scholar), Expected 2025
- B.E. in Civil Engineering, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan, 2019
Research Interests
- Water Systems Modeling and Analysis
- Machine Learning for Water Resources
- Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems
- Climate Change and Water Sustainability
Biography
Musab Waqar is a Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech, specializing in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. His research focuses on developing understanding and solutions for sustainable water resources management through data analytics, modeling, and analysis of integrated socio-hydrologic systems. He is particularly interested in investigating the complex ways society depends on and manages water through infrastructure, trade, and policy.
As part of the Marston Research Group at Virginia Tech, Musab worked on building predictive models to classify irrigation water sources and developing a unified geodatabase of water rights and irrigated land parcels. This work advanced understanding of irrigation water source selection at the farm field scale, supporting sustainable agriculture and water stewardship by providing demand-side insights into the primary drivers of water withdrawals and consumption among different water users.
Previously, Musab served as a Senior Analyst Engineer at Tekcellent Pvt. Ltd., where he led projects on climate resilience, energy security, and environmental risk assessment for industries in Pakistan. He also provided project management support for initiatives backed by the World Bank and other international development agencies.
Musab’s academic portfolio spans climate impact assessments, hydrological modeling, flood risk analysis, and deep learning applications in hydrology. He has co-authored a peer-reviewed publication in *Scientific Data* (Nature) on the U.S. groundwater wells database and has presented applied research at international conferences.
Selected Publications
- Lin, C.Y., Miller, A., Waqar, M. et al. (2024). A database of groundwater wells in the United States. Scientific Data, 11, 335. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03186-3
- Waqar, M., Khalid, H., & Ahmed, I. (2020). Integration of Low Head Turbine with Wastewater for Power Generation: A Case Study. Proceedings of the 11th International Civil Engineering Conference (ICEC 2020), pp. 196–205.
Technical Skills
- Programming: Python, R, Google Earth Engine
- Modeling & Analysis: MODFLOW, HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS, SWAT
- Data Science: Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Geospatial Data Analytics
- Frameworks: AWS Water Stewardship, TCFD, IFC Performance Standards
