About Ruben Dahm

Mr. Ruben Dahm is an expert consultant at Deltares. His interests are integrated (urban) flood risk management, emerging technologies, and climate-related security risks.

The topics of his work and publications include developing integrated flood risk management and resilience strategies for Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Paramaribo (Surinam) and urban flood hazard and mitigation assessments for Yilan and Tainan (Taiwan), Singapore, Bandung (Indonesia) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). Pressing global issues with local impact like climate change, land subsidence, and urbanization were part of almost all studies. He has (co-) lectured courses on a variety of topics ranging from flood risk policy analysis to hydrodynamic and hydrological modelling in Mexico, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Netherlands.

Since 2020, Mr. Dahm has coordinated the research program called 'Enabling Technologies.' This forward-thinking initiative primarily revolves around exploring and harnessing the potential of cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, automation, and the convergence of artificial intelligence and numerical modelling, often referred to as hybrid approaches.

Mr. Dahm is also actively engaged in the Water, Peace, and Security partnership. This collaborative effort is dedicated to spearheading the creation of tools and participatory approaches that identify and address water-related security risks. Recognizing the partnership's contributions, it was honoured with the Luxembourg Peace Prize in 2020.

In addition to his research and consultancy activities, Mr. Dahm was a liaison officer to the alliance between the National University of Singapore and Deltares in the period 2014 to 2016 (www.nusdeltares.org). This alliance focuses on bridging science and society and collaborates with governments, businesses, and universities to address some of the most important water issues in urbanizing deltas and Asian mega-cities. The alliance was awarded the Winsemius Water Award in 2015.

Mr. Dahm obtained his master’s degree from Wageningen University, the Netherlands in 2003. It emphasized on quantitative water management. Prior to joining Deltares, he worked for ARCADIS, an international consultancy firm. From 2011-2014 he served as the deputy head of the Catchment Hydrology department at Deltares. From 2018-2019, he worked for Deltares USA, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.