Read more: 鈥�Graduate Special 2013鈥�
When a storm starts to brew, it鈥檚 not just meteorologists that begin making forecasts. Karel Voj谩k also pulls out his computer, but rather than tracking the storm, he aims to find out just how damaging it could be.
As a catastrophe modeller, Karel鈥檚 job is to help insurance companies predict the financial cost of future storms and hurricanes. 鈥淲ind storms in Europe cause the biggest damage to buildings,鈥� he says. Karel and his colleagues put a price tag on that potential damage.
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Insurance companies need to know the risks they are exposed to for the coming year 鈥� essentially, how much they might have to pay out. So they turn to reinsurance companies, who insure the insurers. Last year, Karel took an indefinite break from a PhD in wind-speed modelling to join , an international reinsurance company.
The job is a perfect fit for Karel, who enjoys applying his scientific knowledge to the financial world. 鈥淭here are not many jobs where you can play a big role with an interest in wind,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ind is my life.鈥�
Each member of Karel鈥檚 team has expertise in different natural disasters. 鈥淲hat I do for wind, my colleagues do for flooding and for earthquakes,鈥� he says.
During the summer months, the team uses a mix of human expertise and software to produce annual reports for insurance companies. The rest of the year is spent improving the models ready for the compilation of next year鈥檚 reports.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the most interesting part of the job,鈥� says Karel. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not just like monkeys typing numbers on computers.鈥� Instead, Karel might call up the Danish Meteorological Institute and ask for their latest wind-speed data, for example. He will then plug this information into his computer model and compare the results with his own calculations. 鈥淯ntil the last moment you have no idea what you will see,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is very exciting.鈥�
聯There could be around 拢2 billion resting on the outcome, so you can鈥檛 get away with doing anything stupid聰
There鈥檚 a lot of pressure to get the numbers right. 鈥淭here could be around 拢2 billion resting on the outcome,鈥� Karel says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get away with doing anything stupid.鈥� But he enjoys the adrenaline rush of working with high stakes. 鈥淚t pushes you to work hard and you know immediately if what you鈥檙e doing is useful or useless,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not as if you stay in your office for two weeks and then open a door and say: 鈥業鈥檝e got it!'鈥�