Dr Manfred Schütze, Deputy Head of the Water & Energy department, has been awarded the Aquafin Prize for parameter estimation of sewer network models at the Urban Drainage Modelling Conference in Innsbruck for his practical methodology for generating highly performant simulation models for sewer networks. The simulation models are based on detailed hydrodynamic sewer network models. Aquafin is the operator of sewer networks and 328 wastewater treatment plants in Flanders (Belgium).
The method developed at ifak makes it possible to create sewer network models that are highly efficient and ideal for use in digital twins and for model-predictive sewer network control. Central to this is the SIMBA# simulator developed by ifak, which combines hydrological and detailed hydrodynamic modeling approaches in a single model, thus making optimal use of the advantages of both approaches.
The method has already been successfully applied to several sewer networks in Germany and other countries. In an oral presentation at the UDM Conference, a digital twin of the sewer network of the state capital of Hanover was presented to the expert public as an application example.
We congratulate Dr Schütze on this award and look forward to further developments that this innovative simulation technology will lead to.
22 September 2025
