Principals and associates
Dr David Newton
BE(Hons) MEngSt PhD MIEAust CPEng RPEQ
Director / Senior Principal Engineer
David is a highly experienced numerical modeller with specialist expertise in flooding and drainage, stormwater management and water sensitive urban design. He has more than 25 years’ experience providing specialist advice on water quality and quantity management and infrastructure design.
He is skilled in finding collaborative, strategic solutions to complex water and environmental problems.
Greg Roads
BE(Civil)(Hons) MIEAust RPEQ
Director / Senior Principal Engineer
Greg’s extensive knowledge of two-dimensional hydraulic modelling and extreme flood hydrology, together with his background in hydraulics and fluvial geomorphology, give him enormous expertise in floodplain management, designing stream diversions and riverine erosion control techniques.
Greg has played an important role in the flood and environmental flow impact assessment of many of Queensland’s major water infrastructure projects.
He also has vast experience helping local communities to develop flood management strategies.
Michael Batchelor
BE (Hons) MEngSt MIEAust RPEQ
Director / Senior Principal Engineer
Michael’s primary areas of practice include flood protection, stormwater management, mine site water management and water supply planning. His experience in water resources management and environmental impact assessment for major infrastructure projects spans more than 20 years.
He has worked with clients across a diverse range of industries and hydrological conditions to deliver efficient project solutions which fulfil environmental protection requirements.
Sharon Wallace
BE (Hons) NER RPEQ
Chief Operating Officer / Senior Principal Engineer
Sharon was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2021 to lead business operations across our Brisbane and Darwin offices, helping to continue WRM’s mission of delivering the highest quality projects for an expanding network of clients. Prior to her appointment, Sharon was Head of Operations for the Australian arm of BMT, a global engineering firm delivering environmental and infrastructure projects.
A senior principal engineer with over 20 years experience in Australian and UK consultancies, Sharon’s career has included delivery and oversight of water and environment projects for a broad range of clients in local and state government and the development, infrastructure, insurance and mining sectors.
Julian Orth
BE (Hons) MEng (Sc) MIEAust CPEng RPEQ
Associate / Principal Engineer / NT Manager
Julian specialises in providing technical advice in riverine flooding and stormwater management.
He is focused on delivering economical and environmentally sustainable engineering solutions for projects ranging from small sub-division developments to catchment-scale stormwater trunk drainage studies and mine-related environmental impact statements.
Rhys Cullen
BE (Env) (Hons) MIEAust
Associate / Principal Engineer
Rhys has over 15 years’ experience in water and wastewater engineering, developing hydrological and hydraulic models for large-scale catchment studies, urban developments and mining projects. He has delivered surface-water studies for numerous open-cut and underground mining projects, comprising detailed conceptual and operational water balance modelling, sediment and erosion control, and design of diversion and flood protection / mitigation structures.
Matthew Briody
BE (Hons) RPEQ
ASSOCIATE / PRINCIPAL ENGINEER
Matthew has over 17 years’ experience in the water industry, and has applied his skills in hydrology, hydraulic design, water-quality assessment and detailed design on mining, local government and land development projects.
Since joining WRM, Matthew has specialised in surface water assessments for mine-related environmental impact assessments and operational water management studies.
Dr Sharmil Markar
BSc(Eng) (Hons) PhD FIEAust CPEng RPEQ
Senior Principal Engineer
With over 30 years in water resource management, Sharmil has worked on projects across all market sectors in all Australian states and territories, as well as several countries overseas. This includes a number of years in China undertaking major flood management, flood forecasting and water resource allocation and management projects.
He has been commissioned to peer review hydrologic and hydraulic modelling of several major water infrastructure projects in Queensland.
Phill Piper
FIEAust CP Eng
NT Business Development Manager
Long-time Territorian Phill Piper has over 40 years’ experience working as a professional engineer both within the NT Public Service and as a freelance consultant dealing with complex engineering design, construction and environmental issues.
Phill is well regarded by the public and private sector as a civil engineer and project manager with a pragmatic approach.