Ivy Xiong is a licensed professional engineer with 11 years of experience in civil engineering with a specialization in complex integrated 1D/2D hydrologic and hydraulic modeling. Currently based in Dallas, Texas, Ivy is dedicated to technical excellence in all her projects and brings a passion for knowledge growth and mentoring to the water resources group. She serves in multiple leadership roles including ASCE EWRI Dallas Chapter Outreach Chair, ArchTam Dallas office Young Professional Committee Chair, and hiring lead for multiple departments in Surface Water.

Tell us about what inspired you to join the industry. 

My inspiration to become an engineer came from both my family and my education. I grew up in Beijing, at a time when there were many fast-growing cities in China. Both of my grandparents spent decades working as structural engineers on infrastructure projects and they would take me to their design institute where they had a big table filled with hand drawings (AutoCAD did not exist at the time).  

That exposure led me to realize I was interested in both the art of architecture and engineering sciences, and eventually I went to school to study water and wastewater engineering. During my senior year, I participated in an exchange program and was selected as one of the top two students to come to North Dakota State University, where I met a great mentor, and shifted into water resources. Over my studies, I found a passion for water. Water resources felt like a hybrid of art and science to me, and I have enjoyed the collaboration across disciplines that my career path has provided.   

Throughout my career and studies, I have been able to live in many places. From China to North Dakota, to California and now Texas. It has been inspiring to experience these different places and bring ideas and skills from each to new projects and challenges.

What is your favorite ArchTam project that you’ve worked on and why?

I started at ArchTam two years ago as a technical reviewer and was quickly promoted to case manager for FEMA Letters of Map Revision (LOMR) and Conditional Letters of Map Revision (CLOMR) review. I’ve supervised over 100 cases for FEMA Region 6 (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma) in the past two years. Concurrently, I worked as the hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) lead modeler for the TxDOT Southeast Connector Design-Build Project. This project has been one of the most rewarding and intense projects of my career, requiring the completion of H&H analyses and reports with over 500 pages within one year.  Over 14 large bridges and 90 piers, and their accompanying drainage, had to be considered for this report , and I also had to work with the roadway to ensure that the drainage would function properly. 

During the final design phase of the project, I developed a Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) two-dimensional (2D) unsteady flow hydraulic model to evaluate the drainage impact analysis for the proposed project within an extremely tight schedule. I worked very closely with the construction team and other stakeholders and when we shared the model with the client, we were able to provide cost-effective solutions to mitigate challenging flooding issues that could not be appropriately analyzed using the traditional one-dimensional (1D) approach within FEMA floodplain for the project. I was awarded the ArchTam Make A Difference Bravo Award for that work.

Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.

Across our different projects, we’ve had the opportunity to leave positive impacts on the many communities we’ve served. When I am working with communities as a FEMA case manager, I can review a submittal and help inform clients as to what’s needed within a certain timeframe. Not all clients are acquainted with the basics, so I can lay out a plan to help them complete their project needs — and benefit local communities in the process.   

One specific project with a positive impact has been my work with the City of Garland, Texas. I was involved as the drainage reviewer in their program to mitigate storm water flooding. I was able to directly benefit the community by consulting with the city bond program management team to help guide their work and create a design that would best meet the criteria for their submittal.  

We at ArchTam take our quality control seriously, for ourselves and for our clients, and I felt that we really maintained that quality during the design phases of this project.  We did our due diligence and used our knowledge to ensure the inlet and storm water system could mitigate the urban flooding issue, and ensure the drainage infrastructure was designed appropriately by the engineer consultants. If the community experiences flooding, that will lead to residents paying insurance out of their own pockets, but these solutions will help the community be more proactive. 

Share a piece of career advice. 

It is important to be well-rounded as an engineer and continue to build your ‘database’ of skills and experience across disciplines to help advance your career. And don’t be shy about asking questions or seeking out mentors to help you along the way.  

I’ve been very lucky to have a lot of great mentors through my journey from my family, my school, in the industry, or at different companies. They have always been willing to help and provide their unique perspectives to give me something new to consider.   

As an example, when I was a student, a mentor shared that even though you are an engineer you need to be skilled in business: it’s essential to explain your designs and business plan to others and provide a convincing case as to why you provide the better service. That planted a seed in my head and led me to pursue my MBA at the same time I received my master’s degree in engineering. I entered my career with a unique perspective and was able to better understand the full picture of the company’s functions including organizational behavior, economics and marketing.  

I think of all my skills as a framework for my career ‘database’, and I continue to find pieces to fill in the puzzle over time. I’m currently expanding my skillset with ongoing education in legal studies and construction management from the University of California, Berkeley, and I encourage the interns that I mentor to ask questions and be thoughtful about their own opportunities to expand their own ‘databases’.  

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Katie Pearson is the technical head of modelling for our Water business in the UK and Ireland. She leads a community of modellers who deliver a wide range of hydrological and hydraulic modelling for public and private sector clients. Her role covers quality, training and development, innovation and improvement. She also manages modelling frameworks for the UK’s Environment Agency and Anglian Water, a UK water company that serves the east of England. Katie is passionate about delivering social value through her work and is committed to growing skills in our industry.

What inspired you to join the industry? 

My educational background in Environmental Science was a great start to applying science to solve real world problems. Through the range of modules I studied at university, I realised that it was the water environment that interested me most. Working in the industry also made me realise that my passion lies in developing sustainable solutions to solve complex problems. 

I love the numerical element of water modelling, for example, the statistical analysis that allows us to estimate the probability of flood flows based on extrapolation from recorded river flow data. We can combine that with climate change science to predict how flood probability might change in the future so that is accounted for in our projects.  

We build our models as tools that can be used to identify areas at risk and then test potential interventions to reduce that risk. As modellers, our challenge is to analyse and present our results to communities and stakeholders and I enjoy working with our teams around how to do that. 

What is your favourite ArchTam project that you’ve worked on and why?

I’m really enjoying being the lead verifier for our modelling investigations in the Tame and Trent catchment for the Affinity Water Minworth and Grand Union Canal linked to potential new Strategic Resource Options (SROs). These investigations are needed to demonstrate to the regulators and stakeholders that the baseline conditions in the catchment are understood by the project team and that any potential impacts of the SROS have been thoroughly assessed. Regulators need to be assured of this before important projects such as this can pass to the next phase of planning and design.   

We’re undertaking a range of hydrological and hydraulic modelling. This will inform the evidence base that’s needed to understand the environmental impacts of any change in the rivers’ normal flow regime because of the SROs, for example whether there are longer or shorter periods of low flow conditions and the impacts this might have on life in the river. The modelling can then be used to consider how the projects can be designed to mitigate those impacts. There are several different aspects to our modelling strategy including hydrological modelling, 1D and 2D hydraulic modelling and water quality modelling, and as lead verifier, I am responsible for ensuring the quality of our modelling work and making sure we follow an appropriate technical approach that will meet the requirements of our client and the regulators. It’s great to see the interactions between different elements of the modelling and to see our modelling teams applying their skills and experience in ways they haven’t before.  

We have been asked by the regulator to undertake 2D water quality modelling for one reach of the river to assess whether the potential change in flow regime will impact the availability of dissolved oxygen which could affect the aquatic ecology. This is a new kind of modelling not regularly undertaken in the UK and we’re engaging with water quality experts and software developers in Australia to develop and implement an appropriate methodology for this. 

Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.

I manage our delivery of projects on the Environment Agency Mapping & Modelling Framework. Under this framework, we’ve been delivering several packages of flood risk modelling and mapping which positively impact local communities through sustainable flood risk management. We’ve recently completed the development and calibration of a new flood forecasting model for a town in Cornwall, England. The new model developed by our team provides increased confidence to Environment Agency Flood Warning duty officers during future flood events which will significantly improve real time flood forecasts for the local community, enabling them to take action to reduce risk and impacts.

Share a piece of career advice.

If the opportunity isn’t there, create it! Several times in my career, I’ve spotted the potential for a new opportunity for me or for the business that doesn’t quite exist or hasn’t yet been fully framed. When I’ve seen this, I’ve worked with colleagues and leaders to develop the opportunity further and then jumped on it. 

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