​Dr.-Ing. Klaus Piroth

Klaus Piroth is an engineer with more than 25 years' profes­sional experience and he heads the water and municipal infra­struc­ture division at CDM Smith in Germany. His special­i­ties include flood risk management, hydro­ge­ol­ogy and groundwater, and flow and solute transport modelling, as well as envi­ron­men­tal, infra­struc­ture and water planning, project management and control, approval processes and public relations. The list of projects he has worked on include Schönefeld airport in Germany's capital, Berlin, and the railway and urban development project known as "Stuttgart 21" in the city of Stuttgart. Dr. Klaus Piroth is the chairman of the technical committee on flood prevention at the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) and member of the coor­di­na­tion groups on impact of climate change on water management as well as flooding. He has been awarded the medal of honour by the DWA.

Why CDM Smith? Because here I have the opportunity to put my ideas into action with the greatest possible degree of self-deter­mi­na­tion.

What was the nicest compliment you received from a client? Your project team works so well that you don't even notice that you are a workgroup.

Which project do you partic­u­larly like to remember and why? The heavy rain analysis for the German city of Dortmund in 2008. This was a new field for me, and we worked with a great project team and had good client contact. Listening at citizens’ meetings played a major part in this project.

Why did you want to become a hydraulic engineer? I wanted to find out what was needed to plan and construct the buildings you see every day. I found hydraulic engineering to be the most interesting field of study.