Dr Steven Pells is the Director of Pells Consulting and brings over 25 years of specialist experience in hydraulics, hydrology, hydrogeology and numerical modelling to dam safety, infrastructure and water resource projects across Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and a Master of Engineering Science from UNSW and completed his PhD at UNSW in 2016. His doctoral research, titled Erosion of Rock in Spillways, addressed the design of unlined rock spillways under extreme flood conditions, developing the eGSI method for rock mass erodibility assessment, now applied in dam safety practice internationally.

Steven joined Pells Consulting in 2012 and has led the firm since 2021, expanding its practice into hydraulics, dam safety, hydrogeology and groundwater engineering alongside its established strengths in geomechanics.

Steven’s experience spans in undertaking design, analysis and expert review at over 80 large dams across Australia and various major urban infrastructure projects. He served as Lead Hydrogeologist for the Rozelle Interchange – one of Sydney’s most complex road tunnel projects – where he personally directed site investigations, long-term monitoring and detailed three-dimensional numerical groundwater modelling.

He has also undertaken groundwater modelling for Sydney Metro West and the WestConnex 3B tunnel, and has managed long-term groundwater quality monitoring programs for compliance reporting to the NSW EPA. He has a particular strength in practical numerical modelling for infrastructure dewatering and dam foundation seepage. He also provides expert witness services on water-related matters.

In parallel with his consulting practice, Steven is the Lead Partner on a CRC-P research grant “Smart Technology for Safer Dams” in collaboration with UNSW and Sunwater, developing coupled CFD and rock mass software for spillway erosion simulation.