KatRisk appoints Eric Robinson as Vice President of Research and Development. KatRisk, a catastrophe risk modelling company that provides analytics and insights to support the insurance and reinsurance sectors, has appointed Eric Robinson as its new Vice President of Research and Development. Robinson joins KatRisk with extensive experience in statistical modelling, data analytics, atmospheric science and catastrophe risk modelling. His career has focused on developing and improving risk models that help insurers better understand natural catastrophe exposures. In his new role at KatRisk, Robinson will support the company's research and development activities, drawing on more than a decade of experience across catastrophe modelling, insurance analytics and scientific research. Before joining KatRisk, Robinson spent more than five years at Aon, where he held senior positions within Impact Forecasting, Aon's catastrophe modelling business. As Managing Director, he was responsible for the strategic direction of research activities across US catastrophe modelling offerings, including severe convective storm, earthquake, flood, storm surge and tropical cyclone models. Previously, as Director, he led global research teams focused on severe convective storm and wildfire modelling, while contributing to the development of modelling standards and research processes. Prior to Aon, Robinson spent more than eight years at AIR Worldwide, where he held a range of scientific and leadership roles, including Principal Scientist. During his time at AIR Worldwide, he contributed to the development of catastrophe risk models covering severe convective storm and extratropical cyclone risks across multiple regions, including the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. Robinson's background in catastrophe modelling, climate-related risk and research leadership will support the company's continued focus on developing risk analytics solutions for the insurance industry.

KatRisk has launched next-generation wildfire risk capabilities powered by Technosylva's physics-based wildfire modeling platform. The solution combines operational fire science with catastrophe modeling to help insurers and reinsurers better predict wildfire behaviour under evolving conditions. The technology models fire ignition, spread, and intensity at 30-metre resolution across the continental US. It incorporates factors including fuel, terrain, weather, and smoke impacts, alongside advanced urban conflagration modeling validated against recent major events. Technosylva's platform has been developed over 30 years and is used by 40 major utilities and fire agencies including CAL FIRE and the US Forest Service. The system can process event sets exceeding 50,000 years in seconds. The capabilities form part of KatRisk Intelligence, which covers multiple catastrophe risks across more than 190 countries.

KatRisk expands wildfire risk modeling. The expanded capabilities combine catastrophe modeling, fire behavior science and portfolio analytics for insurers and reinsurers. // July 21, 2026 (Image source: KatRisk website.) KatRisk (Berkeley, Calif.) has launched expanded wildfire risk modeling capabilities powered by Technosylva (La Jolla, Calif.) operational fire science. The capabilities combine Technosylva's physics-based wildfire modeling with KatRisk's catastrophe modeling and portfolio analytics to support wildfire underwriting, pricing, portfolio management and climate risk assessment, according to a KatRisk statement. KatRisk says the new capabilities are designed to help insurers and reinsurers move beyond static hazard maps and historical loss assumptions by modeling how fires ignite, spread, intensify and translate into financial loss under changing real-world conditions. "Wildfire risk is no longer stationary," comments Martyn Sutton, General Manager, KatRisk. "The conditions driving catastrophic fire are evolving rapidly, yet many traditional approaches still rely heavily on historical views of risk. By integrating operational fire behavior science directly into catastrophe analytics, we're helping insurers better understand not just where fires have happened, but where catastrophic fire conditions may emerge next." The model considers factors including fuels, terrain, slope, weather, wind, smoke and off-footprint impacts, urban fire spread, and accumulation of wildfire risk across portfolios and regions. Technosylva Fire Science Technosylva's wildfire modeling platform has been developed over more than 30 years, according to KatRisk. The company says the technology is used by utilities, fire agencies and wildfire agencies across more than a dozen countries. "Technosylva's wildfire science has been tested in front-line environments where decisions directly impact lives, infrastructure, and critical services," comments Joaquin Ramirez, CTO and Founder, Technosylva. "Bringing that operational rigor into insurance workflows creates a fundamentally different standard for understanding wildfire risk." Portfolio and Climate Risk Applications KatRisk says the new capabilities include high-resolution wildfire spread modeling at 30-meter resolution across the continental U.S.; dynamic short- and long-term hazard views; climate-change adaptability across scenarios and time horizons; smoke modeling driven by fire physics and Air Quality Index impacts; and property- and neighborhood-level vulnerability modifiers. The capabilities also include urban conflagration modeling developed with CAL FIRE and PG&E and validated against recent wildfire events, including the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to KatRisk. The company says the platform can process event sets exceeding 50,000 years in seconds. The wildfire capabilities are part of KatRisk Intelligence, the company's scientific foundation for catastrophe modeling and hazard analytics across wildfire, flood, severe convective storm, tropical cyclone wind and earthquake.