Simon Waldman started his research career at Heriot-Watt's Orkney campus, in the far north of Scotland. Orkney is an international hub for marine renewable energy development, which allowed him to gain an overview of the industry from engineering to environment, from policy to the marine operations. 

While there he completed a PhD looking at the use of computer modelling to predict both the tidal power available in a given region, and the effects of removing that energy from the flow.

Subsequently Simon worked at the University of Edinburgh, Marine Scotland Science, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the USA. After a period gaining teaching and programme leadership experience at the University of Hull, he returned to Heriot-Watt in 2023.

Simon's research interests centre around the intersection of renewable energy and physical oceanography, but extending in a broad sense to most aspects of energy and energy transition. He aims to support human activities, understand their effects, and use that knowledge in impactful ways to improve planning and policymaking - often through the use of hydrodynamic modelling.

He is also interested in the reproducability of computational research, and training for researchers in software best practice.

Simon is the Programme Director for Heriot-Watt's MSc in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition.

He is a Fellow of the Software Sustainability Institute, and a certified instructor for the Software Carpentry organisation.