The Flood Risk Management Changemaker

Ashwini Kashelikar, assistant vice president for the Nashville water resources engineering team, has established herself as a valuable asset in the field of water resources engineering. Following her Master’s degree in environmental engineering at Michigan Technological University, Ashwini joined WSP's water resources sector and has steadily grown her career. Currently leading a team of more than 30 water resources engineers, she focuses on developing innovative solutions to protect communities across the U.S. from the dangers of flooding.

We are trying to simulate the natural environment. Our job is to duplicate the natural environment with the models that we build and, once we build them, we actually get to take them to communities and show the results of our analysis and it helps communities with their planning purposes. It helps them prepare for any future development.

It feels like this work is more tangible. I'm able to directly see the effect of all the work that I'm putting in. I get to interact with communities and get their feedback. So, there is a very direct impact on the communities with the work that we do.

How did you end up as a water resources engineer at WSP?

We were in the middle of the great recession, so there wasn't much going on in terms of hiring, but I was fortunate that in the water world things were a little bit different.

I would say, the best opportunity was when I was asked to come down to Nashville and interview with the water team at WSP. I just knew when I met them that the work they do was very much relevant to what I saw myself doing, and they were just a superb group. It was like a close-knit family almost. So, it felt like this is where I wanted to be.