Biography
Dr. Ahmed Elkut is a coastal hazards modeler and physical oceanographer specializing in the numerical simulation of hurricanes, extreme waves, storm surge, total water levels, and coastal and compound flooding. His research uses physics-based models, including Delft3D Flexible Mesh, SWAN, and FUNWAVE-TVD, to improve coastal hazard prediction and resilience planning for vulnerable communities, critical infrastructure, and military installations. Before joining Florida International University (FIU), he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher and later Research Scientist at the University of Delaware (UD), where he was the lead numerical modeler for the ESTCP Comparative Assessment of Total Water Levels project. His work involved high-resolution modeling of storm surge, waves, atmospheric forcing, flooding, and total water levels at Naval Station Norfolk, Tyndall Air Force Base, and Roi-Namur Island in Kwajalein Atoll. Earlier, he led the development of a regional-to-local hydrodynamic and wave modeling framework for the Egyptian Mediterranean coast through the Egypt–Netherlands JCAR-Safe Coasts project. He earned his Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography in 2021.
Dr. Elkut is currently a Senior Research Scientist with the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at FIU’s Extreme Events Institute (EEI), where he leads the numerical modeling effort for COAST-X, a five-year initiative developing a semi-operational coastal modeling system for high-resolution prediction of storm surge, waves, and compound flooding. His work focuses on developing and integrating high-resolution hydrodynamic and wave modeling frameworks that combine tides, atmospheric forcing, rainfall, river discharge, and coastal processes to support operational hazard assessment and data-driven decision-making by emergency managers, planners, and military personnel. His research experience also includes high-fidelity modeling of wave-driven flooding in shallow fringing-reef and atoll environments characterized by pronounced reef crests and steep fore reefs, with particular emphasis on wave transformation, setup, infragravity waves, runup, and inundation and direct application to Roi-Namur Island.