Mr Peter Melville-Shreeve

Associate Professor Peter Melville-Shreeve supports technology innovators within the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy and is the Co-Director of the Centre for Water Systems.

His current roles also encompass:

• Engineering Director of Business Engagement & Innovation;
• Centre for Resilience Environment Water and Waste (CREWW) Engineering Research Lead;
• Programme Lead Engineering Entrepreneurship.

Pete has worked in consultancy, startups and academic roles and has experience in product development and mentoring technology start-ups. He teaches courses on product development, entrepreneurship skills and co-leads Exeter's Technology Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. He works closely with the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management's (CIWEM's) policy team to support sustainable water management systems and chair's CIWEM's SuDS and Water Reuse Task & Finishing Group.

Much of Peter's early research focusses on technology development for rainwater management systems and the need for dual purpose designs - which can mitigate droughts and floods. His thesis highlighted the opportunities for Internet of Things technologies to be harnessed to reduce water demand AND manage stormwater flood risk. He consequently founded and exited a technology business which developed analytics and control systems to enable such technologies to be implemented at a range of scales.

Background
Peter obtained a 1st class honours for a BSc in Environmental Geoscience at Cardiff University (2003-2007). During this time he worked for a branch of DEFRA as a part time employee of the rural payment agency. He spent five years at Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers and developed into a  'Lead Engineer', managing the flood management team. He completed an MSc in Urban Water Systems from Exeter's Centre for Water Systems, and developed an interest in optimisation approaches whilst working on decision support tools for city water systems.

Between 2012-2017, he worked under Severn Trent Water's Innovation Team and completed an Engineering Doctorate supervised by Professor David Butler and Dr Sarah Ward. His research roles since 2016 have seen him visit & collaborate with Sheffield University, University of Michigan, Dublin, Austin, MIT, Berkeley and Bath University partners.

Peter is currently focussed on development of entrepreneurial strategy; innovation management approaches; startup support services; incubator platforms and technology ventures. He is open to PhD student applications who have an interest in technology entrepreneurship, intelligent stormwater systems (SuDS), water reuse, rainwater harvesting, water 4.0/5.0 applications and utility sector innovation challenges.