CUSTOMER DISCOVERY / ANECDOTAL COMMENTS

MAGNET 4 WATER creates an entirely new channel for research, education, consulting, management, and business delivery - simultaneously benefiting multiple segments of the water communities and communities related to, influenced by, and serving (or served by) the water communities, including corporations, governments, consultants, NGOs, planners, managers, professors, students, researchers, educators, policy and decision makers, stakeholders, and citizens.

·         Universities - Professors, Educators, Researchers

·         Governments - Decision and Policy Makers, Managers, Planners, Regulators

·         Corporations - Executives, Consultants, Professionals

·         Law Firms - Trial Lawyers

·         NGOs

·         Students – Undergraduates, Graduates

Universities: Professors, Educators, Researchers

1.      Upmanu Lall, Alan & Carol Silberstein Professor of Engineering, world renowned environmental engineer, Chair, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Engineering, Director, Columbia University New York City, NY, USA. “This is BRILLIANT! You have outdone yourself. Truly Amazing. Congratulations.”. “Please accept my thanks for your wonderful work and contributions”

2.      YIN, AN., Professor of Geology, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles, USA. “Wow, very cool! I like it a lot!!”. “Awesome stuff and thanks for sharing!!”

3.      Wondwosen (Wondy) Seyoum . Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. Bloomington/Normal, Illinois, USA: “It is amazing and very good stuff! Can't wait to integrate it in research and classroom.”

4.      JuiPin Tsai . Assistant Professor at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan: “It looks so fantastic to a groundwater modeler. I will introduce this platform to my students in my class this semester. Thanks again!”

5.      George Yeh, Former Provost Professor of the University of Central Florida. [world renowned groundwater modeler]. “I witnessed the best software package I have ever come across in my 30-year career in teaching and research in ground water hydrology and water resources.” “None of the available groundwater and contaminant modeling systems, either commercial or federal agency-supported, has the capability of real-time visualization and simulations."  “The uniqueness and innovative design of the software … will greatly enhance engineering education in groundwater hydrology, groundwater modeling, stochastic subsurface hydrology, stochastic modeling, geostatistics, site investigation, groundwater remediation, environmental engineering, water resources engineering, hydrology, and numerical methods. It will also stimulate and advance research in these areas.”

6.      Albert Valocchi, Professor of University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Illinois, USA [World renowned groundwater modeler]: “I have been teaching courses in groundwater hydrology and contaminant transport for over twenty years and I have been waiting for a tool like this…” “There is simply no other software tool out there that can be easily integrated into groundwater curricula.” “Now my students will be able to tackle realistic problems, instead of the academic simplified cases treated in most all text books … and they can focus on higher-level and more significant issues related to conceptual site modeling and engineering design.”  “…. will prove so effective that many educators will totally redesign their courses to take full advantage of this tool.”

7.      Prof. Bill Gray, former Editor in Chief of Water Resources Research and Associate Editor of Computer Applications in Engineering Education [World renowned groundwater hydrologist] “This package is very exciting. It fills the void. It is clearly an educational tool that can be easily learned. However, it is capable of handling complex problems such that students can gain understanding of the influences of heterogeneities on system behavior.”. “The modeling system … is an important advance in employing groundwater modeling tools in education. The system is well documented and easily learned. The code is suitable for use by those beginning groundwater, those with advanced physical knowledge, and those with a range of skills in the details of numerical methods and simulations.”

8.      Peter K Kitanidis. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University. [World renowned groundwater hydrologist] “It looks impressive!”

9.      Wolfgang Kinzelbach, Professor of Hydromechanics at ETH, Zurich, Germany. [World renowned groundwater modeler and researcher] “impressive website!”.

10.  George Pinder, the founding Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Water Resources, and an early pioneer and world-renowned expert in groundwater modeling research. Member of the US National Academy of Engineering, Editor in Chief Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations. “(the) program is unique and an important contribution to engineering education. This user-friendly, graphical-user-interface driven program provided the ability to model complex groundwater systems easily and efficiently. Having taught groundwater flow and transport modeling for 30 years I can appreciate the positive impact this kind of software can have on the ability to teach this material.” “Very comprehensive”. “I started working with the [MAGNET] program and it is very impressive.”. “Attached is an effort to create a manual that can be used by my students to use MAGNET. It is only the beginning.”

11.  Claire Welty, Professor of Drexel University. Pennsylvania, USA. “I was very impressed with the depth and breadth of this developed software… The new teaching tool makes aquifers ‘come alive’ and allows students to simulate ‘seeing into the earth’.  (The) contribution to the field of groundwater hydrology through the development of this software is potentially enormous.”

12.  Hongbin Zhan, Ph.D., P.G. Professor of Water Management and Hydrological Science Holder of Endowed Dudley J. Hughes Chair in Geology and Geophysics. “Thank you so much for doing these 2 guest lectures which allow us to learn MAGNET in some very useful details. We will keep exploring this software package and certainly incorporated into our teaching of undergraduate and graduate courses.”

13.  Amin Khalil. Associate Professor at Helwan University Cairo. Greater Cairo, Cairo, Egypt. “Thanks … for giving me such opportunity to collaborate in such leading edge technology group.”

14.  Chu-Lin Cheng, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Water Resources and Groundwater Hydrology/Remediation, School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences.  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. USA. “Thank you so much for sharing such a great platform for teaching/research in hydrogeology/hydrology. I will sure try to explore and include those in my class (and developing projects).”

15.  Dr. Thomas Boving. Professor - Environmental Hydrology, Director – University of Rhode Island. “I am currently in Taiwan and had some time trying out your platform. My first impression is very good. I created a "model" of an area I am working on back home and got results that appear meaningful given the small amount of time I spent creating the model. I will explore if/how I can possibly make use of your work in my class. Great work!”

16.  Reza Soltanian, assistant professor, University of Cincinnati, Ohio. USA. “My colleague Dr. Buchberger shared with me your exciting platform - Magnet. I very much enjoyed looking at the website.”

17.  Mengfang Chen. Professor in Hydrogeology and Site Remediation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beijing, China. “this is a really fantastic platform that can be tailored to China situation. I am generally working on groundwater remediation in China and trying to develop a risk control and management system with more capabilities on risk assessment and evaluation of remedial and control options in addition to groundwater modelling. Perhaps this is something we can collaborate in the future?”.

18.  Eileen Poeter, the former Director of International Groundwater Modeling Center, Golden, Colorado. [World renowned groundwater modeler]: “I am impressed by the tools …”

19.  Nanjing U, China, Dr. Shaoxing Mo - this is the first time I know of the existence of the MAGNET4WATER platform – I am very, very stimulated and excited!

20.  Anner Paldor. Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Delaware, Hydrogeology lab. Wilmington, Delaware, United States. “thanks for the invite. This looks like a very cool initiative!”

21.  Aspasia Kalomoiri, PhD, SSGB . Project Manager at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Greater New York City Area: “This platform looks amazing. Such great work. Thank you”

22.  Mojtab a Sadegh, Associate Professor, Water Resources Engineering, Boise State University, Idaho. “This is such a fantastic and powerful platform. I am looking forward to studying it further and getting involved.”

23.  Prof. Hongyi Li, Civil Engineering, University of Houston. “Many thanks for sharing. It is a great model you guys put together! I really hope there will be future opportunities to collaborate with you on these exciting fronts.” 

24.  Dr. Dapeng Feng, Postdoctoral Researcher, Standford University. Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Thank you very much for sharing this platform with me! This looks very exciting. I am checking it out for the detailed information”

25.  Jaime Gomez-Hernandez, Professor at Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Valencia, Valencia, Spain. [world renowned groundwater modeler and researcher]. “Thanks for the info. I use routinely your previous work [desktop version of MAGNET] in my classes. I will look at this new initiative of yours.”

 

Governments – Decision and Policy Makers, Managers, Planners, Regulators

26.  James K. Cleland, the former chief of DEQ’s Water Bureau: “…a 21st Century approach to problem solving and the ‘break through the barriers’ research will revolutionize how the DEQ evaluates groundwater in the years to come”.

27.  Elgar Brown, a registered professional engineer and the chief of drinking water and environmental health for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Scott Ross, the chief of the state’s source water protection unit.  “… one of the most exciting technological projects we have worked on in our combined 72 years with the DEQ, truly a “break through the barriers” kind of research”. “…has led to a technological leap forward in Michigan’s Wellhead Protection efforts.” “This methodology delineates scientifically valid wellhead protection areas without the need for extensive and expensive hydrogeological investigations on each site. The cost savings are significant …”

28.  Rick Mandle, Former MDEQ’s GW Modeling Program Manager. “What developed from this collaborative effort is an innovative approach that makes use of many State of Michigan and Federal databases to complete the WHPA delineations for all remaining community groundwater supply systems, resulting in a savings to tax-payers of approximately $30,000,000.”

29.  Craig Czarnecki, Director of Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Region, US Fish and Wildlife Service. “This will be a game changer for the protection of groundwater dependent ecosystems.”

30.  Tom Kunetz, Environmental Engineer, Chair Allegan County, MI Groundwater Task Force. “351 sites of groundwater concern were investigated for the potential for contaminants to migrate “off-site … in under 1 year… Often modeling just one groundwater site can take one year or longer and can be much more expensive”

31.  Paul Sachs, Director of Strategic Impact, Ottawa County, Michigan. The study using the new technology “validated the experienced decline in the County’s bedrock aquifer system, ultimately providing a good starting point to understanding existing conditions and future projections of groundwater conditions. With that initial validation, local decision-makers were in a much better position to deploy a more robust real-time monitoring network in key locations through which they could also obtain more accurate geologic data via locally deployed core sampling.” . “Utilizing the groundwater study data, County leadership and a diverse group of scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders launched the Groundwater Sustainability Initiative to ensure our residents and businesses have permanent and sustainable access to fresh water now and into the future.”

32.  Lund, Kevin, Environment, Great Lakes, Energy. Michigan. RE: MAGNET4WATER - a global groundwater modeling platform – on LinkedIn. Dr. Li, When You have 10 minutes, please call me. I have a modelling project coming up and I would like to talk to you more about it and possibly engaging MSU to assist.

33.  Sajjad Hussain Balghari. Engineering Geology Specialist, Seismic Hazard Assessment Specialist and Senior Geotechnical Engineer. Addl. Director (Geology) at WAPDA, Pakistan. “Excited to see the excellent work. It is highly commendable”. “Great work”.

Corporations, Consultants, and Professionals

34.  Luis Camilo Suescun Casallas, president of International Association of Hydrogeologists - Colombian, Hydrogeologist, FEELOW consultant. “Amazing job!”.

35.  Steve Wesly, Environmental remediation expert, URS Corporation. Portland, Oregon. USA. “There are many groundwater models that consulting hydrogeologists and engineers use to model and interpret groundwater flow, chemical fate and transport, capture zone analysis, particle tracking, mass balance, and extraction well design and optimization, to name a few. The [MAGNET] team has produced a “next generation” approach in multi-scale hierarchical modeling. [MAGNET] IGW is truly in a class of its own for making real-time simulations of complex hydrogeological problems.”

36.  John Pantano, Ph.D., Internal and External Technical Advisor for BP, ARCO, and ARAMCO: “[MAGNET 4 WATER] and IGW approach facilitates both comprehensive and collaboration to solve the toughest remediation challenges of large Superfund sites. The use of big data in fast, interactive methods is far superior to the batch application approach to the current “best practices” of consultants and regulators….”

37.  Wang, Jack, Groundwater Modeler at Arcadis, U.S. “I’ve spoken to several of my colleagues in Arcadis about MAGNET, and we are very interested in talking with you about an opportunity we have to apply and potentially integrate your tool with something that we’ve developed.”

38.  Joseph A Quinnan. Hydrogeologist and Senior Vice President. Arcadis, U.S. “Thanks again for taking the time to walk us through the MAGNET platform. We are excited by the prospects of how the tool can be used today to address some immediate needs, but also about the vision you have for future evolution of the tools.”. “This innovation is exactly what is needed to address today’s “Forever Chemicals“ PFAS Crisis facing the world, the US EPA, and the US Department of Defense .. Too many sites threatening drinking water and ecosystems … The status quo is too slow and prohibitively expensive. We urgently need an accelerated national strategy.

39.  Dan Kelleher, midwestgeo.com, PG, CIPM, hydrogeologist and project manager. Midwest GeoSciences Group. US: “Congratulations on your online visual models - they are a hit in terms in of LinkedIn Likes and positive comments. If you have a moment, I would like to call you with a proposal. The proposal is a collaboration where your model depicts a common geologic framework, not just variations in K. I believe it would be fruitful in a spectrum of ways. Thanks for your kind consideration.”

40.  Ying Zhang. Hydrogeologist at CDM Smith. Brisbane, Australia: “… eventually there will be a global groundwater modelling database. I know somebody will make my dream come true. Great work! Hope more people/institutes/countries will get involved!”

41.  Rick Illian, communication specialist at AT&T, Hydrogeologist. Anchorage, Alaska, USA” “Hurray! It is very well done and lays the principles needed for all groundwater management. Thanks for sharing.”

42.  Michael Foster. Vice President and Senior Fellow at Kleinfelder. Greater San Diego Area. “I clicked play on this a dozen times now. I like that each of these models demonstrate different, but equally important concepts in Hydrogeology. Sure, the last one looks like the most “realistic” one, but the other versions beautifully present how key variables influence groundwater flow”.

43.  Donies Mulumbwa Sectional Geologist Production - Nchanga Open Pit Mine at Konkola Copper Mines plc. Zambia. “It is unbelievable gift especially for me who has been looking for the software.” 

44.  Deogratias Amos Paul. Graduate Hydrogeologist | Geologist | Environmental Consultant | Cartographer. Paris Area, France: “Coming across this work has propelled my desire of learning and developing my skills in modeling.”

45.  Emmanuelle Millet, M. Sc. Project Manager in Hydrogeology at SNC-Lavalin. Quebec, Quebec, Canada. “Very cool!! Better than lava lamp!”

46.  Pedro Chambel Leitão PhD. Developing and applying tools on water resources and agriculture. Lisbon Area, Portugal. “Very interesting GW simulation from Magnet Project! Would like to connect for future partnerships in modeling water in porous media.”

47.  Tedros Tesfay, Ph. D. Hydrogeochemistry-Hydrogeology. Senior Hydrogeologist at SLR Consulting. Denver, Colorado. “…It will facilitate interaction among many interested partners and benefit global groundwater modeling groups who may have limited access to such a platform. It is a commendable work.”

48.  Mónica Fuenzalida Díaz. Hidrogeóloga Senior/Jefe de Proyectos Hidrología & Tecnología en Flow Hydro Consulting. Chile. “Thanks for the invitation, … it looks like a powerful tool.”

49.  David Caloza. Groundwater Management Consultant. NCR - National Capital Region, Philippines. “This is wonderful”.

50.  Zhaowei (Jack) Wang. Geologist - Groundwater Modeler at Arcadis, Denver, Colorado. “Congratulations. This is a big step to include modflow users community. Encourage folks to sign up and try it out!”.

51.  Jonathan Schuite. Chercheur et consultant indépendant Hydrologie, Environnement & Climat. Terrasson-Lavilledieu, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France . “Thank you very much. I already got ahead of it since I am part of the LinkedIn group and already quickly tested the platform. It is indeed really nice, easy to use and powerful. When I find some time, I will try to dig further into the features of magnet4water. If you need help finding data or information about French hydrogeology etc. please do not hesitate to contact me.”

52.  Gabriel Cárdenas Belleza. M.Sc. Groundwater and Global Change. Utrecht Area, Netherlands. “It actually looks like a pretty interesting enterprise.”

53.  Mohammad Bizhanimanzar. Hydrologic and Groundwater modeling | Climate change impact analyst and adaptation strategies. Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. “Thank you … This seems a very interesting platform, especially for large scale modelling.”

54.  Thomas Reimann . Dr.-Ing. Institute of Groundwater Management, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Project Lead and Specialist for numerical simulation of water resources: “Wow, … That looks very promising … thank you again for sharing this great stuff!

55.  Alexandre Guittard, M.S. - Geologist. San Diego, California, United States: “Thanks. Sounds super interesting!”

56.  Sushant Mehan, Ph.D. We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one-Jacques Yves Cousteau. Columbus, Ohio, United States. “It seems to drive future … looking forward to use it and be part of it …  Thank you …”

57.  Mike B., Cave and Karst Sciences, United Kingdom: “Brilliant, thanks for sharing”

58.  Lurong Yang. Groundwater and Transport Modeler | Environmental Engineer, Ph.D., Medford, Massachusetts. USA. “This seems to be a great project!”

59.  Tolga Kuscuoglu. Water Resources Engineer | Hydrogeologist at Danone Waters. Istanbul, Turkey. “Thank you very much for informing me about this interesting and practical tool. I will definitely go into detail on this.”

60.  Tamas Bacso. Environmental Remediation Expert at Adept Enviro Ltd. Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. “Thanks for your link. It is very interest[ing], especially contaminant transport modeling in heterogeneous strata. Exciting animations.”

61.  Monica Marina Rojo, senior engineer – Hydrogeologist en Mott Macdonald. United Kingdom. “Great tool!”

62.  Paolo Roberto Di Palma. Environmental engineer presso West Systems S.r.l. Rome Area, Italy. “Great visualization! It clearly explains the impact of heterogeneities for contaminant transport…” 

63.  Steve Oberle. Agro-Environmental Consultant and Fishing Guide. Mountain, Wisconsin. USA. “This is awesome …. Thanks for sharing!”

64.  Jeffrey Warmkessel. Warmkessel Geo-Environmental, Inc., Reading, Pennsylvania. United States. “Great potential here! Thanks”. 

65.  Hongze Gao. Senior Hydrogeologist/Lead Groundwater Modeller/Environmental Engineer at GHD. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. “Impressive!”, “Well done.” 

66.  Flavio Alejandro Bonilla. Sales Manager US West at Nanosurf. Carpinteria, California. “Amazing tool”  

67.  John Fedorowich. Principal Structural Geologist at John Fedorowich Structural Geology Consulting. Ontario, Canada. “Great simulation”

68.  Adrianne Pearson. Owner, environmental, occupational health and safety scientist. United States. “The power of technology” 

69.  Elie S. Gaëtan Sauret, PhD. Design engineer geologist, Hydrogéologue et environnementaliste. Burkina Faso. “I have just visualized the MAGNET website it seems to me a real opportunity for fast modeling adapted to complex local contexts. Only the whole site is in English, think about transcribing it in French for French-speaking users. It will be of interest to West African modelers in particular.’

70.  Brendan Merk. Geologist and environmental expert. New Albany, Indiana. USA: “This looks amazing. Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely be checking this out”.

71.  John Gobins, GroundLogs | Founder, USA. “If only such tools had been available 30+ years ago, when I did my thesis at MSU …”.

Law Firms

72.  Doug Donnell, Attorney, Mika Meyers PLC, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Chairman Management Committee.  “precisely what I needed … generate very quickly visual aids in the form of exhibits and animations so that I could make complex hydrogeological concepts understandable to a judge or jury ... primary reason my client was very successful in the outcome of this litigation.”

NGOs

73.  Laurra Olmsted, MSc, P.Geol. Executive Director,  UniWater Education Limited, Board of Directors. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. “This looks very interesting and valuable tool for my partners in Africa to use to demonstrate situations and train their students to use … I've come across some professors who are afraid of changing the paradigm of how learning is conducted, and they feel threatened by web-based free knowledge, like MOOCs, but it is the way of the future (and now!).”

74.  Rabin Valluri. Water Steward with a focus in environmental justice and multi-stakeholder collaborative partnerships. Brooklyn, New York, United States. “Looks like a great program, can’t wait to try it out!”

75.  Mohammad Bizhanimanzar. Hydrologic and Groundwater modeling | Climate change impact analyst and adaptation strategies. Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. “Thank you … This seems a very interesting platform, especially for large scale modelling.”

76.  Thomas Reimann . Dr.-Ing. for Groundwater Management. Project Lead. Specialist for numerical simulation of water resources. Germany: “Wow, … That looks very promising … thank you again for sharing this great stuff!

77.  Alexandre Guittard, M.S. - Geologist. San Diego, California, United States: “Thanks. Sounds super interesting!”

78.  Sushant Mehan, Ph.D. We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one-Jacques Yves Cousteau. Columbus, Ohio, United States. “It seems to drive future … looking forward to use it and be part of it …  Thank you …”

79.  Mike B., Cave and Karst Sciences, United Kingdom: “Brilliant, thanks for sharing”

Universities – Anonymous Students (Undergraduate and Graduate)

80. “For me as a student, researcher, and previously an engineer in the industry: Magnet4Water's accessibility, data preprocessing, and very quick availability of results is a dream come true.

81. “a groundbreaking tool for learning and addressing complex groundwater challenges, even individuals with basic knowledge can get started with ease”.

82. “able to learn in a very hands-on way!”.

83. “you could test your ideas quickly”;

84. “really put what we learned in class into a real-life perspective”.

85. “extremely valuable to solving real-world problems”.

86. “The projects were without a doubt the most effective part of the class”.

87. “this platform could be a game changer in how we analyze the complex hydrology-based problems”. “The two-way passive coupling between the SW-GW models, and the bulk data amount which we can use via this platform has the possibility to turn years of work to weeks of work.”.

88. “the biggest difference lies in scalability and collaboration”. “MAGNET's cloud-based architecture enables seamless sharing and collaboration through its model network, creating opportunities for collective problem-solving, and building on other shared projects”

89.   “Having worked extensively with both SWAT+ and MAGNET, I can provide a comparison of these modeling platforms from a user perspective. SWAT+ requires significant upfront investment in data preparation, with users needing to collect, format, and quality-check numerous input datasets before any modeling can begin, MAGNET's pre-processed global datasets and cloud-based architecture allow users to begin modeling immediately, with the ability to progressively add detail as needed”.