Team

Leadership Team

Alireza Abbassi Monjezi

Founder and CEO

Alireza Abbassi Monjezi

Founder and CEO

Waterwhelm Founder, technology inventor, and multiple award-winner, including Scottish EDGE and a Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship. A PhD in desalination, 3 years post-doctoral experience with over 7 years of business and technology development.

Mark Volanthen

Chairman

Mark Volanthen

Chairman

Serial entrepreneur with international career in private equity and VC backed businesses, with extensive business development, technology scaling and board level experience.

Akta Raja

Investment Director

Akta Raja

Investment Director

Serial entrepreneur, qualified solicitor and former investment banker with experience in successfully leading and scaling multiple businesses.

Engineering and Operations Team

Lisa Thomson

Head of HR

Lisa Thomson

Head of HR

Significant experience in building and leading international HR/People functions and working with leadership teams to build future proof, scalable global people strategies aligned to business growth plans and needs.

Even Hestnes

Head Of Operations

Even Hestnes

Head Of Operations

A Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) with 30 years of experience in project and engineering management. Managing and delivering projects in the oil and gas industry, and now applying this experience to overseeing engineering operations, plant development, project development and equipment installation.

Dr Jamshid Zarkesh

Head of Engineering

Dr Jamshid Zarkesh

Head of Engineering

Significant experience in process engineering and engineering design, specialising in modelling, simulation, prototyping and commercialising thermal separation processes. Previously involved in industrial energy efficiency optimisation projects across a 35-year engineering career in the energy sector.

Fiona Collins

Head of Finance

Fiona Collins

Head of Finance

A chartered accountant since 2007 with over 15 years of experience in supporting management teams at fast-growing companies with a focus on financial management to meet organisational priorities.

Iman Shams

Senior Process Engineer

Iman Shams

Senior Process Engineer

More than 13 years' experience in process engineering across water, wastewater, utilities, commissioning and HAZOP, with strong heat/material-balance and equipment-design capability.

Leonardo Marcelo

Project Engineer

Leonardo Marcelo

Project Engineer

Imperial College MSc Design Engineering graduate with more than six years' experience in mechanical, piping and EPC delivery, including coordination of a US$60 million desalination project in Peru.

Ben Parkinson

Process Engineer

Ben Parkinson

Process Engineer

MEng chemical engineer with previous experience at INEOS and Mitsubishi Chemical. Background in pilot plant development/operation, process safety and scale-up, including technical responsibility for projects up to £2 million.

Hannah Turner

Business Development Engineer

Hannah Turner

Business Development Engineer

MSc with Distinction in Global Sustainability Engineering and BSc in Physics with Energy Science and Technology, with experience preparing renewable-energy and green-hydrogen business cases.

Charles Hine

Business Development Officer

Charles Hine

Business Development Officer

With an MSc in International Development at the University of St. Andrews - focussed on transboundary water cooperation. Followed by 4 years business communications and development experience.

Leila Zarbafnejad

Control System Engineer

Intern Mechanical Engineer

Ali Sadeghi

Intern Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical engineering student at the University of Edinburgh supporting plant build and operation activities.

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Team

Leadership Team

Alireza Abbassi Monjezi

Mark Volanthen

Akta Raja

Engineering and Operations Team

Lisa Thomson

Even Hestnes

Dr Jamshid Zarkesh

Fiona Collins

Iman Shams

Leonardo Marcelo

Ben Parkinson

Hannah Turner

Charles Hine

Leila Zarbafnejad

Farshid Tarzdar

Mathew Nwafor

Shahzad Ahmad

Zaw Htet

Connor Fairgrieve

Andrew Stothart

John Donaldson

Samuel Docherty

Iona Thomson

Ali Sadeghi

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