Pauline MacKinnon

Pauline Mackinnon is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering.  A Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, her early career was in engineering consultancy, specialising in the use of numerical models in river and coastal engineering projects.  During nine years with English-based consultants Binnie Black & Veatch, she managed technical investigations for proposed engineering works in UK, the Middle East and the Far East.  Many of these projects involved the use of computational models as predictive tools and the acquisition of field data for model verification.

Since joining QUB in 1996, Pauline's main areas of research focus have been the hydraulics of marine outfalls, saline mixing in estuarine environments, reaeration of rivers and, most recently on the extraction of tidal stream power.

During this time, she has continued to engage with the engineering community, contributing expertise on projects relating to outfall siting, flood mitigation, environmental impact monitoring.  She has also conducted independent investigative work on a potable water contamination incident and acted as an expert witness in a case relating to riverine pollution.

River and coastal engineering, with a focus on numerical modelling and lab/field data collection for model validation.  Past research has centred around the prediction of pollution from marine outfalls, riverine & coastal water quality, fluvial flood prediction etc.  Other research interests have included the internal hydraulics of marine outfalls & the impact of saline intrusion on marine outfall performance.  Further interests have included wave energy conversion, tidal energy and, currently, tidal stream power generation.

Delivery of undergraduate/postgraduate modules on Water & Wastewater Treatment, Environmental Engineering and undergraduate teaching of Engineering Design.

Supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate project work on projects relating to hydraulic structures, rainwater harvesting, water & wastewater treatment, pollution modelling for river, coastal & estuarine environments etc.

Participation in Engineering Disasters & Hazards Exercise for undergraduate students at QUB.  Previous organiser of this award-winning exercise in innovative teaching.

Member of the editorial board for the Institution of Civil Engineers' Water Management journal 2007-2010

Winner (with QUB colleague, Dr T Elliot) of Water & Environment Journal's Outstanding Paper Award 2007

External examiner at the University of Liverpool (2006-2010) for the MSc in Maritime Engineering and the MRes in Modelling & Integrated Management of Water in the Natural Environment.