Dr. Willem F. Vlotman, Australia (2009-2012)

Dr. Willem F. Vlotman (born in 1952) obtained B.Sc. Civil Engineering (1975), M.Sc. Agricultural Engineering (1982), Ph.D Irrigation and Agricultural Engineering (1985), and MBA, Agribusiness (2004)

At present he is working as Assistant Director Environmental Hydrology, Basin Plan Division of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra , ACT, Australia. Dr. Vlotman is the Theme Leader of 'Systems' of ICID, Chairman Working Group on Drainage (WG-DRG), Secretary, Working Group on Modernization of Irrigation Services (WG-MIS) and Observer, Asian Regional Working Group (ASRWG).

He has more than 34 years of experience in channel hydraulics and hydrology; water simulation models, water management; application of chain management; optimizing crop production; computer programming and modern computer software applications; extensive experience in Institutional Strengthening and Organizational Development of research organizations, Human Resources Unit and Marketing and Public relations Unit.

Dr. Vlotman is also associated with various professional societies which includes IAL; AWA, USCID, ASCE, and Toastmasters International. Dr. Vlotman authored and co-authored 2 books, over 70 reports and working papers, more than 50 technical papers.

Dr. Laszlo G. Hayde, Hungary (2009-2012)

Dr. Laszlo G. Hayde, Hungary (b. in 1958) obtained Doctorate in Fluid Mechanics from Technical University of Budapest (1995), M.Sc. in Civil Engineering with Specialization in Hydraulic Engineering (1982).

Presently, Dr. Hayde is working as Senior Lecturer in Irrigation Engineering, UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands. Dr. Hayde has been associated with ICID since 1998. He has been Secretary General of HUCID (2000-2004) and was elected as Vice President of HUCID in 2008. Dr. Hayde is Secretary of European Regional Working Group (ERWG), Member of Working Group on History of Irrigation, Drainage and Flood Control (WG-HIST) and Permanent Finance Committee (PFC). He was chief editor of the ICID Publication Danube Valley, History of Irrigation and Flood Control (2004). He was also an Observer on erstwhile ICID Working Group on Capacity Building, Training and Education (WG-CBTE).

Dr. Hayde has more than 27 years experience in consulting, education and research in water and environmental planning and management, hydraulic engineering, fluid mechanics, EU Water Framework Directive, environmentally sound solutions in Hydraulic engineering, environmental impacts and assessment; 19 years experience in education management, organizations of education programmes, curricula development. He is also associated with various professional societies.

Mr. A.K. Bajaj, India (2009-2012)

Mr. A.K. Bajaj, India (b. in 1951) obtained B.E. Hons. in Mechanical Engineering and M. Tech in Fluids Engineering and Water Resources subjects.

Mr. Bajaj retired as the Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC) and Ex-officio Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources. He is also a member of Permanent Committee for Technical Activities (PCTA), Permanent Finance Committee (PFC) and ICID Staff Committee (SC).

Mr. Bajaj has more than 35 years of experience in Planning, design and conceptualization of Water resources of the country at macro level, appraisal of major and medium multipurpose water resources projects, undertaking flood management activities on an annual basis and advising the Central Government. He holds membership of various professional societies.

Dr. Ragab (born in 1949) obtained BSc. in Soil and Water Sciences (1970), MSc. in Irrigation (1974), and Ph.D, in Rural Engineering, University of Leuven, Belgium (1982).

At present he is the Chairman of the British National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID-UK) and working as Head, Water, Soil and Landscapes Group at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, CEH, (Natural Environment Research Council, NERC) Wallingford, UK. Dr. Ragab is the Chairman, WG-PQW and WG-CROP and Member WG-DROUGHT. He has more than 40 years of experience in irrigation, drainage, catchment’s hydrology, remote sensing application in hydrology, integrated water management, climate change impact on water resources, soil-water-plant- atmosphere relations, rainfall harvesting, use of poor quality water (saline/brackish, treated waste water) for crop production, organic farming and urban hydrology.

Dr. Ragab is also associated with many professional organizations which include: British Society of Soil Science Society (BSSS), American Society of Agronomy  (ASA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), and European Soil Science Society. Dr. Ragab actively participated in several events of ICID including IECs and Congresses. He also Authored and Co-Authored numerous scientific papers and Editor and Co-Editor of several special issues of International Journals as well as Conference Proceedings.

Engr. Husnain Ahmad, Pakistan (2010-2013)

Engr. Ahmad obtained his Bachelor and Master Degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Lahore; a Master Degree in Business Administration from Cardiff Business School, University of Wales; Master Degree in Computer Sciences; and Fellowship of Institute of Professional Financial Managers, London. He authored more than eight technical publications and was awarded a gold medal for his contributions. Ever since he came into the fold of PEC in1991, he actively participated in all major events.

He is also associated with various professional societies which include: Member Governing Body of Pakistan Engineering Council, Member Executive Council Institute of Engineers Pakistan, Member, Governing Body Government Engineering Academy, Punjab, Elected Vice President, Britannia Alumni Association of Pakistan (BAAP) and life Member of Old UETians Association. Engr. Ahmad has the honour of also getting elected as President Pakistani Students Society and National Union of Students, UK Engr. Ahmad is the ever youngest President of Pakistan Engineering Congress in its 94 years of history. Presently, he is Director General in Senate of Pakistan.

Mr. Chaiwat Prechawit, Thailand (2010-2013)

Mr. Prechawit  obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Irrigation Engineering (1965), Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering from Colorado State University (1968), and Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (1983).

He has forty five years of experience broadly span from design to land classification surveys and operation and maintenance of irrigation projects. Mr. Prechawit  was also the project managerof three large irrigation improvement projects in Northeast Thailand financed by the World Bank and KfW of the Federal Republic of Germany. He retired as Chief Inspector General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and actively involved as Honorary Advisor to Royal Irrigation Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Mr. Prechawit is also associated with various professional societies which include: The Engineering Institute of Thailand and Thai Hydrologist Association etc. He actively participated in several events of ICID including IECs and Congresses.

Mr. Adama SANGARE, Mali (2011-2014)

Dr. Adama Sangare (born in 1963) obtained his Masters on Water Management for Agriculture in 1991 from School Inter-States of Engineers of the Rural Equipment (Burkina Fasso) and Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne.  Presently, he is the Président of the Association Malienne des Irrigations et du Drainage (AMID) and Co-Directeur de BETICO.  Dr. Sangare also held the position of Chief of brigade for the hydro-agricultural installation (underground drainage) of the perimeter of Bikov (1985-1988); Professor of general hydraulics and hydrogeology with the ECICA (1993-94); Chief of mission study of the collector of Daoudabougou design, calculation, estimate of cost of work (1996). Over the past 26 years he has served in various capacities in his country in World Bank projects as well as other projects funded by other agencies.

Dr. Gerhard R. Backeberg, South Africa (2011-2014)

Dr. Gerhard Backeberg (born 1954) obtained Ph.D. from University of Pretoria (1994). He has more than 30 years of experience in various capacities,of which Department of Agriculture (1977-1995) and Water Research Commission (1995 to Present). Dr. Backeberg is also associated with many professional societies which include: South African Irrigation Institute, International Association of Agricultural Economists, etc.  He has won so many awards like S2A3 Bronze Medal for research excellence award by the South African Association for the Advancement of Science in 1985; Certificate for best M.Sc. dissertation awarded by the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA) in 1984; ICID 2007 Best Paper Award for the article published in Irrigation and Drainage, Vol.55(1); SABI Silver Award 2007 for contribution to irrigation research in South Africa etc.  He has authored/co-authored more than 30 papers and articles published in proceedings and journals. Presently, Dr. Backeberg is serving as the Director: Water Utilisation in Agriculture, Water Research Commission, South Africa.

Mr. Laurie C. Tollefson, Canada (2012-2015)

Mr. Laurie Tollefson obtained his M.Sc. (Soil Physics) from University of Saskatchewan in 1985. At present he is working as National Science Manager, Agricultural Water, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He is the Secretary - Treasurer, Canadian National Committee, ICID (CANCID) and Canadian Executive Member (CANCID Secretariat) since 1992. Mr. Tollefson has served the Canadian Government and the profession of irrigation and drainage in Canada and other countries (Egypt, China, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Chile, Cuba and Iran) for more than 30 years. He is also associated with various professional societies which include, Canadian Water Resources Association; Canadian Committee on Irrigation and Drainage; Agriculture Institute of Canada, Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists, American Society of Agronomy etc. Mr. Tollefson was bestowed the Distinguished Agrologist Award – Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists in 2009. CANCID recognized his outstanding contribution to the sustainability of land resources under irrigation and drainage in 2002. Mr. Tollefson is also associated with various voluntary activities.

In ICID, Mr. Tollefson is the Chairman of the Task Force on Water for Bio-energy and Food (TF-BIOENERGY) since 2010 and Vice Chairman of WG-Poverty, and Member of WG-CROP since 1992. He has also been member of many committees on various occasions for ICID work. Mr. Tollefson has authored / presented more than 20 papers in various publications / fora.

Dr. Hüseyin GŰNDOĞDU, Turkey (2012-2015)

Dr. Hüseyin GŰNDOĞDU (born in 1965) obtained his M.Sc. (Agricultural) from Thrace University, Department of Agriculture Structure and Irrigation in 1988 and Ph.D (Agricultural) from Aegean University, Dept. of Agriculture Structure and Irrigation in 2002.

At present, Dr. GŰNDOĞDU is working as Planning Engineer, Planning Department in DSI (General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works), Regional Directorate, Turkey. He has 25 years of work experience in the area of irrigation and drainage during his employment at DSI, General Directorate of Rural Services and as a private consultant.

He was the Thematic Coordinator at World Water Forum 5 in Istanbul. He was actively involved in publishing ‘Turkey Witer Report – 2009’ for WWF-5. His specializations include: Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation and Drainage Systems (with specialization in preparing O&M manual for Water User Association, Irrigation groups and Water Suppliers) and preparing water delivery plan for the main system based on crop water requirements using computer programmes. He worked as a consultant for a World Bank project in Azerbajan during 2003-08.

Dr. GŰNDOĞDU is also a Member of Chamber of Agricultural Engineers and has authored / presented numerous papers in various publications / fora.

Mr. François Brelle, France (2012-2015)

Mr. François Brelle (born in 1951) obtained his Postgraduate degree from Centre des Hautes Etudes de la Construction, 1974. Presently, Mr. Brelle is Director, Engineering Division, Société du Canal de Provence, France. This division is in charge of the design in the fields of hydraulic developments, the environment and rural development. Mr. Brelle is the Vice Chairman of the TF-WWF6 and Member of WG-MIS, PCTA, and PFC. He is president of the French National Committee of ICID (AFEID) since 2008.

He has more than 37 years’ of professional experience, essentially in projects related to water storage, conveyance, pumping and distribution: irrigation, pumping stations, canals, feeder pipe line, reservoirs, treatment plants, urban drainage.

Mr. François Brelle worked on numerous irrigation and multipurpose hydraulic projects to be rehabilitated with a view to evaluating and improving the Operation & Maintenance conditions and associated training requirements in Morocco, Haiti, France, Mauritania and Sri Lanka. He also has expertise in management of water, operation and maintenance of infrastructure and the hydraulic networks.

Dr. Ir. Basuki Hadimoeljono, Indonesia (2013-2016)

Dr. Basuki Hadimoeljono (born in 1954), obtained his Doctor of Philosophy and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University, USA. He had contributed and participated in ICID activities in various capacities such as Vice Chairman of the Indonesian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (INACID); Member of Council of the National Organizing Committee of the 61st IEC and 6th Asian Regional Conference held at Yogyakarta, October 2010.  He was also a member of the Working Group on Technology and Research Uptake and Exchange. He has presented and published more than 20 scientific papers, both in Indonesia and other international publications. He has been awarded the Presidential Award for National Development Contribution-2003; Presidential Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement-December 1995; Presidential Award for 10 years outstanding services to the Government of Indonesia-August 2001; Minister of Public Works - Republic of Indonesia Award for 20 years outstanding services at the Ministry in 2003 etc.  Presently, he is the Director General for Spatial Planning and Development, Ministry of Public Works in Indonesia. He may be contacted at e-mail : <basuki_pu@yahoo.com>

Mr. Kadhim Mohsin Ahmed, Iraq (2013-2016)

Mr. Kadhim Mohsin Ahmed (born in 1956), obtained his Bachelor degree in Irrigation and Drainage Engineering from Baghdad University in 1978. He has been acknowledged by the Iraqi National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (IRQCID) for his role in the scope of regional and country development programmes for water resources; executing the irrigation and drainage projects; assistance in raising the matters of the international water issues and participation in solving the water disputes; and studying the challenges of food and water security. He has over 35 years of experience in executing various water resources projects. Currently, he is the Director of Iraqi Wet Lands and Marshes Refreshing Centre in Iraq. He may be contacted at e-mail : waterresmin@yahoo.co.uk;crimbag2004@yahoo.com, khadimahmed932@yahoo.com

Er. A.B. Pandya, India (2013-2016)

Er. Ashwin B. Pandya (born in 1955), did his M.Tech (Structural Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1983. He has a professional experience of 34 years in the field of water resources planning and  design; project operation and management; software application and development; numerical modelling and simulation of structural behaviour of dams and appurtenance works. He specialises in the dam design and related activities. He is also associated with various professional societies such as Indian Society of Rock Mechanics and Tunnelling Technology; Indian Society of Earthquake Technology; Indian Society of Hydraulics etc. He has over twenty technical publications in his credit. Presently, he is Chairman, Central Water Commission (an apex body under Government of India) in New Delhi, India. He may be contacted at e-mail :<abpandya@gmail.com>

Dr. Mohamed Abd-El-Moneim Wahba, Egypt (2014-2017)

Dr. Mohamed Wahba (born in 1960), obtained his Doctorate of Philosophy in Drainage Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt. He had contributed and participated in ICID activities in various capacities as the Secretary of the Egyptian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ENCID). Dr. Wahba is a Member of the Arab Water Council (AWC) and Egyptian Water Partnership, and he has attended many international conferences and workshops for ICID and WWF and published more than 17 scientific papers.

Dr. Mohamed Wahba is the Coordinator of the Cooperation of Ministry of Water Resources of Egypt (MWRI) with other countries in the field of water resources (China and Iraq) and representative of MWRI in Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Committee on Water Resources (2011 till present).

Presently, he is the General Director of Minister’s technical office, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt. He may be contacted at e-mail :<mswahba@hotmail.com, mswahba@gmail.com>

Dr. Ding Kunlun, China (2014-2017)

Dr. Ding Kunlun (born in 1963), obtained Ph.D. from Silsoe College of Cranfield University, UK, with specialisation in soil and water management in 1998. Presently he is the Professor and Chief-engineer, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, IWHR and Vice Secretary General of Chinese National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (CNCID).

Dr. Ding has actively participated in ICID activities and serving as member since 2012 of the ICID Working Group on Poor Water Quality Irrigation (WG-PWQ), serving as Core Member of scoping document preparation for new WG on irrigation management transfer of ICID (2014), and attended many IECs and Congresses.

He may be contacted at e-mail :<klding@iwhr.com, Klding2005@aliyun.com>

Mr. Bong Hoon Lee, Korea (2014-2017)

Mr. Bong Hoon Lee (born in 1955), obtained MS from Seoul National University with specialisation in Agricultural Engineering. He has been contributing to the ICID activities since 1988 and attended various IEC, Congresses and Conferences. He has been conferred two times with Presidential citation by President Kim, Young Sam in 1994 and President Kim, Dae Joong in 2002. He has 30 years working experience in agricultural sector and has worked in the field of planning, policy making and research for rural development. As the Head of Four Major Rivers and Saemanguem Development Division of Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, he has made great contribution to drawing the compromised decision from the critical dispute for Saemangeum Project, which is the largest farmland and water resources development project in tidal area in Korea. Presently he is the Vice President of Korea Rural Community Corporation.He may be contacted at e-mail :<bhlee00@gmail.com>

Prof. Dr. Charlotte de Fraiture, The Netherlands (2015-2018)

Prof. Dr. Charlotte de Fraiture (born 1962) obtained her Ph.D in Civil Engineering with specialisation in Water Resources Management from University of Colorado, USA. Besides she also holds two master degrees, one in Economics from University of Colorado and the other in Tropical Land and Water Management (Irrigation Engineering) from Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands. Presently, she is Professor in Hydraulic Engineering for Land and Water Development, Department of Water Science Engineering, UNESCO -IHE Delft, The Netherlands.

Prof. Charlotte has more than 25 years of experience in research in agricultural water management, global water supply and demand, water economics, water pricing, irrigation management, irrigation performance, project leader of research projects, design, quality control and supervision of construction and rehabilitation works of village irrigation schemes etc. She has peer reviewed more than 100 publications of which some are for Google Scholar and journal papers. At present, Prof. Charlotte is involved in the ICID Vision 2030 process.

Mr. Ian William Makin, United Kingdom (2015-2018)

Ian Makin (born 1954) obtained his M.Sc. (Agricultural Engineering) from National College of Agricultural Engineering (now Cranfield University), United Kingdom. Presently, he is Theme Leader (Revitalizing Irrigation) at International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka, where he is responsible for leading research on large scale irrigation system operations. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Makin was the Principal Water Resources Specialist in the Regional Sustainable Development Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he was responsible for provision of leadership to ADB project teams on water-related investments in resources management, river basin development and agricultural water management.

Mr. Makin has more than four decades of experience in water resources management and has widened his management skills from specialized research project management to a competency in multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural management and organizational development through a series of challenging appointments and personal training. He has authored and co-authored over 60 journals which includes articles, reports and book chapters etc.

Prof. Dr. Abdelhafid DEBBARH, Morocco (2015-2018)

Prof. Dr. Abdelhafid DEBBARH (born 1951) obtained his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with specialisation in Groundwater Management from University of Minnesota, USA and a Doctorate in Agronomics from Agronomy and Veterinary Institute (IAV), Rabat, Morocco. Presently, he is Professor of Higher Education, Institute Agronomique et Vétinaire Hassan II, Rabat. He has professionally involved in the scientific expertise in groundwater management, irrigation, drainage, environmental impact evaluation of large scale irrigated schemes. Prof. Debbarh also participated in a number of technical studies and also acted as panel of expert in various domains, viz. water and natural resources management; environmental issues in large scale irrigated areas; environmental impact evaluation in large scale irrigated schemes in Morocco. He also coordinated bilateral and multilateral scientific and academic cooperation programmes related higher education, science and technology and research in countries like European Union, Canada, USA, China, and Francophone African countries. Prof. Debbarh has contributed a number of scientific papers, articles and technical reports on water management, irrigation, drainage, sustainable management of large scale irrigated schemes. He has contributed a number of scientific papers, articles and technical reports and is also a founding member of Amicale des Ingénieurs du Génie rural du Maroc (AIGR) in 1980.

Dr. (Mrs.) Irena G. Bondarik, Russia (2016-2019)

Born 1960, Dr Bondarik obtained her Doctorate in Geology-mineralogy in the year 1988.  With more than 35 years of professional experience, she has been participating in various ICID events since 1997. Dr. Bondarik was the force behind the organisation of the 55th IEC meeting in Moscow in 2004; 12th International Drainage Workshop in St Petersburg, Russia in 2014. Dr. Bondarik was instrumental in bringing out the ICID Multilingual Technical Dictionary on Irrigation and Drainage in Russian language, which was released during the 55th IEC meeting at Moscow, 2004. She has immensely contributed in various capacities to ICID Working Groups, such as Working Group on Technology and Research Uptake; Work Team on Drainage; European Regional Working Group; WG on Sustainable Drainage and Permanent Finance Committee.

Dr. Bondarik has contributed more than 150 scientific papers, articles and technical reports on land reclamation; reclaimed agro landscapes etc. in Russian language with more than 15 in English. She has been conferred with Honorary Employee of the Agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation and Commemorative Medal for 50 years on The Large Scale Programme for Land Reclamation in Russia in 2016.

Currently Dr. Bondarik is a Leading Researcher of the Department on Ecosystem Water Management and Economy of the All-Russian Scientific Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation and Secretary General of the National Committee of the Russian Federation on Irrigation and Drainage (RUCID) (since 1998).

Mr. Waseem Nazir, Pakistan (2016-2019)

With a degree of M.Sc. (Irrigation Engineering) from University of Southampton, United Kingdom, Mr Nazir has more than 35 years corporate experience with Government and Multinational Companies in the diversified field of planning, development and management of multidisciplinary projects and also in institutional and human resources development.  Mr. Nazir played a vital role in water resources conservation and their utilization, up-lift / modernization of irrigation system etc.  He had contributed and participated in ICID events in various capacities such as Member Steering / Management Committee; and Convener Promotion & Coordination Committee in organising the 59th IEC and 20th Congress of ICID in Lahore, 2008. He also contributed as member of Asian Regional Working Group (ASRWG), Task Forces and various Committees. 

Presently, Mr. Nazir is the Country Manager (Pakistan) and Regional Director (South Asia) of the Mott MacDonald Group and is responsible for overall business development and management of Group’s affairs in Pakistan and policies within the region.  Mr. Nazir is also the Managing Director, MM Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., a local multidisciplinary company providing consultancy services to client in the field of engineering, management and community participation projects.

Er. Madhav Belbase, Nepal (2016-2019)

Mr. Madhav Belbase, born in 1963, obtained his M. Engg. (Water Resources Management) from Lueneburg University, Germany in the year 1996.  Mr. Belbase has been conferred with DAAD Prize for his outstanding performance in the thesis submitted as the partial fulfilment of the M.Engg in 1996. He has over 28 years of working experience in various levels in the Government of Nepal.  He has represented his country in several bilateral meetings on water resources with India.

Mr. Belbase has contributed many articles in irrigation journals of Nepal. He is a member of the Working Group on Institutional and Organizational Aspects of Irrigation / Drainage System Management (WG-IOA).

Presently, Mr. Belbase is the Joint Secretary in Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, Nepal and President, Nepal National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (NENCID).