What is/was your role in CENTAUR®?
CENTAUR® had many collaborators. Kieran’s role was to raise market awareness and connect with people who could benefit from or apply the technology—problem owners, water companies, policymakers, and academics.
In academic terms, this is called exploitation—communicating and spreading knowledge to the wider market. For example, with water companies, he showed them how it could help solve problems. He showed how it could help meet targets.
Kieran started his career in utilities, working for Thames Water on sewer flooding, surrounded by experts solving similar problems. He brought that experience to CENTAUR®, knowing the key messages which would resonate with different stakeholders.
What key areas of your expertise were relevant to this project?
Kieran’s expertise lies in understanding what it is like to be a problem owner and how difficult it is to adopt and then implement innovation. He acted as a gateway between developers and the business and knew the path from concept to usable product, and the challenges along the way–even for great technologies. His strength was navigating that process and helping to bridge the gap.
What challenges did you help address during the project?
“I understood the landscape and could empathise with multiple stakeholders. A great idea might fail if not positioned or communicated well. I could see it from a water company’s perspective—how they’d receive the message, and what would need to happen to deploy CENTAUR® at scale. While I wasn’t delivering technically, I understood the problem it solved and how it was unique—and helped ensure that value was clear to others.”
What is your most significant achievement or proudest moment from this project?
“What I’m most proud of is how invested people were. It wasn’t just a project—they really owned it. It became a part of them. That level of commitment and personal investment is what stands out most.”
What did you find most rewarding about working on this project?
“I think the process as a whole was incredibly rewarding. I worked with brilliant people, which meant the reward wasn’t just seeing CENTAUR® in action for the first time; The whole process in getting to that point was the adventure.
It was inspiring to be surrounded by such expertise and commitment. Being involved from the start and seeing how dedicated everyone was—that’s what made it so rewarding. We were having meetings and going to different places around the world to gain and share expertise. It was so inspiring to be involved with that level of expertise and the level of commitment to make it happen.”
What do you think this project’s influence will be?
“I think it is transformational as it addresses a major problem in a new way. Rather than continuing with the status quo, CENTAUR® marks a change in how things are done. It’s like moving into the digital age. There’ll be a clear distinction between how things were done before CENTAUR® and how they will be done. CENTAUR® will inspire other technologies. It is a pivotal moment in how infrastructure is managed.”
