Thomas Monahan

Community Bursary Award Holder

DPhil in Engineering Science (2024)

I am a third-year DPhil candidate in Engineering Science, a Schmidt AI in Science Fellow, and the founder of Tidal Prophet. My research sits at the intersection of oceanography, engineering, and scientific machine learning (SciML), with my work in operational tide and storm surge prediction already used globally by scientists, governments, and corporations to enhance safety, reduce costs, and mitigate climate risks. One of my key accomplishments is the development of RTide, an open-source Python package that has significantly improved tidal resource assessment. This technology has reduced forecast error by over 70% and is being implemented operationally at the Thames Barrier, protecting £321 billion in assets and millions of people, as well as at Dutch surge barriers. My research has also advanced oceanic current forecasting, a critical factor in improving shipping efficiency and reducing CO₂ emissions from the maritime industry. Beyond academia, I founded Tidal Prophet to bring these innovations to the maritime sector. My models are now being implemented in Colombia, providing critical water level predictions in regions where they were previously non-existent. Winning this bursary is instrumental in bridging the gap between academic research and commercial deployment. It provides vital support for computing infrastructure and enables me to attend key industry conferences, where I can engage stakeholders and accelerate real-world adoption. With this support, I can take a significant step toward revolutionizing oceanic forecasting for both environmental and industrial benefits.