WaterSprint is an independent knowledge company active where water, climate and agriculture domains meet IT innovations. Our experts aim to work without boundaries and provide fast-track delivery of their services and products to their partners and clients worldwide to achieve joint mandate of safeguarding the finite [natural] resources of the world. It has been created by a group of seasoned hydrologists, geohydrologists, geologists, river morphologists, project / water managers and practitioners belonging to different geographical boundaries and having diversified experience on their profiles — they are motivated to work worldwide!

In addition to carrying out research and providing advice on request to clients we frequently research, publish and promote our results on the topics and upcoming challenges relevant to the International development sector. This aim also motivates and leads us to become frontline [implementing] partner of the development-sector organisations and NGOs to achieve our / their common goals to reduce poverty from the developing countries by introducing feasible, economical and sustainable solutions related to water and natural ecosystems.

Although we are not ‘not-for-profits’ yet we do believe on reasonable margins to run our offices and provide decent jobs to the fresh graduates belonging to the developing countries (30% of our associates) and prepare them in accordance with the international standards to help them to help their countries for resilient economic growth.

Value proposition

We collaborate with our clients as a partner to safeguard our finite natural resources. We build on what have already been developed by others and try to attain sustainability.

Mission

Transform world worth for living through smart water management.

Vision

A world free from thirst and hunger.

Core Values

We do believe on ethical practices and do have standard policies, procedures and practices to assure quality in our services.

Our Presence

WaterSprint has setup its offices in Lahore (Pakistan) and London (UK). We aim to establish our offices in geographically important and least-developed countries of Africa and Asia to bring European and Australian best water and agricultural practices into African and Asian countries to help them to grow more food and ensure sustainable development for their resilient economic growth. In this regard, we would like to combine the best international scientific knowledge and practices with the local knowledge and know-how to achieve the optimum results.

UK Office

Glebelands Close, High Road Finchley,  London, United Kingdom

Pakistan Office (Lahore)

60-H Block, Gulberg III, Lahore, Pakistan

Pakistan office (Islamabad)

National Science and Technology Park (NSTP)
NUST, Sector H-12

WATERSPRINT LTD is a registered company in England and Wales with Company Number 12030827 and Pakistan with Company Number 0134841.

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board provides guidance, advice and support to the WaterSprint to achieve its strategic objectives.

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Prof Dr Theo Olsthoorn

Member — Advisory Board

He is an expert in hydrology, groundwater exploration and modelling. He supervised many PhDs and projects on the topics of sustainable irrigation, aquifer storage and recharge, aquifer thermal energy storage, shale gas and associated risks for groundwater, mediation on water-related disputes, etc. He remained as Professor (Groundwater Hydrology) at TU Delft and Senior Hydrologist / Advisor at Waternet (Amsterdam Water Supply) and recently retired as Professor Emeritus. He is a former MSc and PhD graduate of Delft University of Technology and has working experience in a number of renowned Dutch hydrological institutions. He also supervised many projects on the topics of hydrology and groundwater outside Europe — Surinam, Egypt, Morocco, USA, China, etc. He has recently produced a Video together with Jos Peters on 7 decades of Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Netherlands (refer to video icon below). He has joined us as an Advisor and is supporting us in shaping the firm's approach to design and implement the projects.

Muhammad Abid

Member — Advisory Board

BSc, MSc civil engineer and M. Phil in Water Resources Engineering from UET Lahore (Pakistan) and MBA from Punjab University (Pakistan) with more than 30 years of experience as a technical and management lead. He delivers lectures as a visiting faculty in many universities in Pakistan. He has already worked on many projects of integrated water resources management and smart agriculture in the World Bank, ADB and FAO, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, Government of Sudan and Pakistan, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and Punjab Irrigation Department. He is supporting us as a member of our advisory board on the topics of water and agriculture. His diversified experience on water and agriculture management and governance in federated and provincial systems help us to take informed decisions for our projects.

Our Team

Dr Naveed Alam

CEO and Founder

He is experienced in:(1) designing, managing and evaluating the regional and global programmes, (2) developing countries and framework strategies for different programmes and ensured their effective implementation, and (3) developing, advising, managing and facilitating the strategic multi-stakeholders partnerships and their budgetary management in close collaboration and interaction with peers, partners and key stakeholders following the collaborative and consultative processes. He has a strong track record of acquisition from donors and of leveraging the resources of private sector.
He has been proactively supported the acquisition and portfolio development for many GIZ programmes (IWaSP, NatuReS, GIZ International Services, etc). He recruited country teams and promoted a culture of professional development for staff members. He took full interest to develop strategic thematic areas and foster synergies in regard to cross-cutting thematic areas with different GIZ programmes, international and national organisations. He led and coordinated an interdisciplinary team of national and international experts and actively promoted the visibility of results and the work of GIZ in Pakistan and abroad. He is well-connected to development sector, academia and other international (partner) organisations in Europe, Australia, Africa and Asian countries. He remained the permanent member of GIZ Country Management Team (CMT) and played his active role in GIZ annual planning and other decision-making processes.
He possesses PhD in water management from Delft University of Technology of the Netherlands (TU Delft) and has more than 20 years of work experience as project manager, consultant, researcher, facilitator and advisor in the public and private sectors, international development cooperation and academia. Currently, he is leading a new research and consultancy-based initiative — WaterSprint and providing his services mainly to the international development sector.
Before joining WaterSprint, he was working with German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and successfully concluded the global programme worth €26.4m — International Water Stewardship Programme (IWaSP) — as a Country Coordinator / Project Manager. This programme was co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Specialties:
Fund acquisition and portfolio development
Budgetary management — Expenditure monitoring, financial and contractual due diligence, etc.
Mitigation of shared water, natural and environmental risks
Stewardship-based water management and disaster resilience
Stewardship-based solutions for economic growth
Sustainable solutions to safeguard the finite natural resources
Water security through vertically-integrated value chain management
Turning technology into business and advisory support to startups and businesses
Advisory support for stakeholder engagement processes and policy formulation and implementation
Coordination and mediation between stakeholders

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Abdul Hakeem Khan

Key Expert and Partner

Have been working as a Water Resources Specialist and Team Leader with international donors and agencies on irrigation project development, contract administration and management, verification of interim payment certificates (IPCs), environmental and social safeguards protection during irrigation infrastructure development, rehabilitation and modernization. Water conservation technologies like laser land leveling, high efficiency irrigation, and conjunctive water management have been important areas of work. Project planning and preparation, implementation and management, reporting, capacity and institutional development are also a strength. Have always been working in multinational and multi-disciplinary projects for introducing and implementing innovative ideas like flexible operational schedules in Chashma Right Bank Canal and Pehur High Level Canal, formation of Farmer Organization (FO) and Water User Organization (WUA) at the upper and tertiary levels of irrigation systems. Have worked with FAO/World Bank, ADB, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colorado State University, Fort Collins (CSU, USA), and MM Pakistan (MMP), Aga Khan Foundation, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Pacific Rim Innovation and Management Exponent, Inc (PRIMEX) of Philippines. Have consistently and successfully worked at all levels of irrigation system in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Afghanistan for improving productivity and increasing rural income. Strong team player with proven record of developing strong links with stakeholders including government departments and the community.
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Dr Hans Beekman

Key Expert — Water Management and Hydrogeologist

Dr Beekman has a PhD degree in Hydrogeology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam of the Netherlands. He has worked for the past 20+ years in the water sector in many countries of Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East and South Asia. Since 2003 he is a Consultant working on a wide range of water (resource) management related issues. From 2002 until 2003 he was employed as a Senior Hydrogeologist at the CSIR in South Africa focusing on vulnerability of water resources to environmental change and on groundwater recharge. From 1998 to 2001 he was employed as a Technical Advisor by the German Technical Cooperation (now GIZ) and was involved in the reform of the water sector in Zimbabwe. From 1992 to 1997 he worked for the Centre for Development Cooperation Services (CDCS-Vrije Univ. Amsterdam) as a Project Coordinator in Botswana of a groundwater recharge project in collaboration with the University of Botswana and the Botswana Department of Geological Survey. As a Junior Scientist he worked from 1986 to 1991 for the Institute of Earth Sciences – Vrije Univ. Amsterdam on the hydrochemistry of fresh- and seawater intrusions which resulted in a PhD in 1991. From 1985 to 1986 he was employed by the Institute for Public Health and Environmental Protection in The Netherlands and was involved in hydrogeological studies related to waste disposal in the underground. In 1984 he worked for DHV Consultants as Assistant Well Drillings in Saudi Arabia.
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Dr Muhammad Kaleem Ullah

Water and Climate Advisor

A qualified and resourceful Civil Engineer who has worked for about 21 years on various water resources management and planning projects in research and consulting environment. These projects were related to surface and groundwater interaction modeling, spatial hydrological modeling, performance assessment of irrigation system, installation and management of scientific instruments and associated data analysis, hydraulic modelling and training of lined agency staff. He has also expertise in flood management and forecasting studies and hydrological studies. He did his PhD in Applied Hydrology from Charles Sturt University of Australia during 2011.

He has excellent communication skills with ability to relate to people at all levels and prepare reports — strong analytical and problem-solving skills coupled with demonstrated teamwork skills, as well as aptitude to work effectively on own initiative and able to adapt to variety of workplace cultures. He has extensively worked in Australia, Canada and Pakistan on various assignments in the context of water, environment and climate-related topics. He regularly delivers lectures in the University of Lahore as a visiting professor and provides strategic advice, technical guidance and support to us as our associated member and co-worker.

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Muhammad Arshad Mian

Director and Co-founder

He is internationally recognized project and program management professional. He has managed various world class international projects from concept through to the completion. He has hands on experience in project engineering, project control, global virtual project execution managing multi-project locations around the world, risk management, management of change, team management, procurement and supply chain management, cost management, business process management etc.
His over 20 years of professional experience covers large, medium and small scale programs and projects in different countries — Europe, Asia, Middle East and Far East, Japan, UK, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Abu Dhabi. The sectors of experience include water, oil & gas onshore & off-shore, upstream & downstream segments of value chains, subsea production systems & pipelines, drilling & facilities engineering, petrochemical and Civil Engineering. He has worked for notable clients such as Saudi Aramco, BP, AIOC, SABIC, Saudi Royal Commission, NIOC, ADCO, BANAGAS, Agip Gas B.V., OMV, Burullus Gas Company, KOC, ACIC. Arshad has recently served as Capital Projects Delivery Lead at National Grid, UK.
He completed his MSc in Major Programme Management from University of Oxford, Said Business School, UK in 2012. His obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan in 1998. His ongoing professional development covers wide range of subjects including leadership, health and safety, communication, IT, regulations, contracts, finance and commerciality, risk management and quality management etc. Arshad’s performance has been recognized by various organizations where he has served including the latest ‘appreciate silver award’ by National Grid.
He has been the Director of London-based consultancy firm SISA International for over five years. SISA provides project and program management consultancy, and also qualified man power solutions to various international companies including Wood, Mustang, Fluor, Kin-Tec, TRS Staffing, KBR, TSR etc. He is co-founder and Director of WaterSprint.
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Abdul Shakoor

GIS and Remote Sensing Expert

He holds Master’s degree in the field of GIS and Remote Sensing from the Department of RS/GIS of the Wageningen University of the Netherlands. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of water resources planning and management, acquisition of remotely-sensed data and its processing, hydrological modelling, research and development, etc. He is expert in data collection and its analysis, feasibility studies, water balance studies, satellite data and information, hydrological modelling and forecasting. He has worked on applications of remote sensing and GIS for the hydrological resource planning and management in the Indus Basin. He has managed large teams under different inter-cultural settings in different organisations in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and possesses excellent leadership skills. He has been working in the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for many years and has many projects on his profile funded by different donor organisations. He has joined WaterSprint as an Expert in the field of GIS and remote sensing.

Abubakar Shafiq

Business Development Coordinator

Abubakar Shafiq holds degree of BBA and MBA (Finance) from Bahria University, Islamabad. He has more than 10 year working experience on multiple projects with different organizations i.e. GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) , NDMA and World Bank. He has joined us as Business Development Coordinator.

Dr Saim Muhammad

Chief Technological Officer

He possesses MSc in Geo-Information Science from Wageningen University and PhD in GIS and remote sensing from Utrecht University of the Netherlands. He is the Chief Technological Officer of WaterSprint. He has vast experience of 21 years in the field of application of GIS and RS ranging from land and water resources planning and management to designing and implementing of spatially and temporally dynamic decision support systems. He has not only hands on experience with spatial database design and implementation, image processing, (3D) spatial analysis, accessibility analysis, web-based GIS viewers design and implementation, but has also led many projects in this domain and trained the professionals. He has worked with different organizations i.e. IWMI, NESPAK, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands, Nedgraphics (one of the leading GIS developing software company in the Netherland), Atos, Research Institute for Knowledge Systems (RIKS), Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
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Wisal Khan

General Manager (Administration)

He supports us in administration related matter.
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Waqar Hussain

General Manager (Projects)

He is a civil engineer and has served the Punjab Irrigation Department (PID) for 35 years in different portfolios. He also served as a Chief Engineer (Research) and retired from the department in 2018. He is currently working with us as Chief Engineer Projects.

Noor ul Hassan (IT/Full-Stake Developer).

IT/Full-Stake Developer

MSc Computer Science from Uppsala University (Sweden) with more than 15 years of experience as a software developer, software engineer, MIS specialist on multiple projects related to water and agriculture. He worked as MIS specialist with Mott Macdonald and Dasu Hydropower Consultants. He has developed Decision Support Systems for agriculture and irrigation management; developed web-based applications / dashboards and integrated them with the models and resources; designed and developed web portals, content and information management systems. He helps us to develop and integrate the digital technological solutions for a satellite-based integrated crop and water management system.
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Ayesha Mehboob

Economist and Policy Advisor

She is an economist. She is graduated from GC University Lahore and did her Master in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University of the Netherlands. Her interests are: economics of development, review of policies, advice on policy matters, etc. She has a diversified experience of approximately 6 years in both public sector and private sector. She has joined our team as Economist and Policy Advisor.
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Dr Umair Rabbani

Expert — Earth Observation and Disaster Management

He holds PhD in Remote Sensing and Applied Hydrology from Charles Sturt University (Australia) and possesses over 8 years of cross-disciplinary experience in GIS, remote sensing, hydrology, application of spatial technologies, risk reduction and disaster management. He has extensively worked on disaster management and space-based applications to safeguard the vulnerable communities and people from natural disasters on the projects implemented by the Pakistani Government and the UN agency. He has also worked on several hydrological and environmental projects located in Murray-Darling Basin (Australia) and utilised his skills and experience of GIS and remote sensing. He also supervised projects related to climate-related disasters and trained the relevant authorities. He has recently joined our team as an expert and would help us to streamline the upcoming projects related to disaster management.

Haroon Khan

Chief Engineer (Implementation)

He is a graduate of civil engineering from UET Lahore. He had been working in the Punjab Irrigation Department (PID) of Pakistan since 1985. During his tenure with PID, he remained posted at many different divisions of canal irrigation systems as an Executive Engineer and was responsible for their design, regulation, rehabilitation and upgradation. He has also served as Project Director at Small Dams Organization and supervised the design and construction of 53 dams and associated control systems. He has recently retired as a Chief Engineer (Research) from PID and joined us as General Manager — Project Implementation.

Haseeb Zafar

Hydrologist/GIS expert

A young civil engineer with Master degree in Water Resources Engineering and Management from NUST Islamabad. His interests and skills include climate change related studies and hydrological models application. Haseeb used to be a research assistant at NUST and instructor at CTTI (FWO). He has recently joined us as Junior Hydrologist.