Chris Goodell, P.E., D.WRE

Principal Consultant, Hydrology and Hydraulics, Kleinschmidt

With more than 25 years of experience in water resource hydraulic engineering, Chris is considered an expert in the field. His expertise includes hydraulic modeling, dam break studies, sediment transport, bridge, and culvert design, inundation mapping, and software development/design.

Chris is an internationally known leader in HEC-RAS modeling with a particular interest in risk-based solutions for hydraulic modeling. He has taught over 100 professional education courses on HEC-RAS around the United States and on 5 continents. Chris is the developer and primary author of “The RAS Solution”, an HEC-RAS blog, and the author of the book “Breaking the HEC-RAS Code.” He also developed McBreach, a software program that runs HEC-RAS dam breach models in a probabilistic framework. McBreach was released to the public in 2019 and is currently being used across the globe. He has been extensively published and presented technical articles at numerous industry conferences. He was also a contributing author for the HEC-RAS Hydraulic Reference Manual and the HEC-RAS User’s Manual for version 3.1. He is an instructor in the Kleinschmidt HEC-RAS Webinar series, and he is the co-creator of Full Momentum- an HEC-RAS Vodcast.

Chris holds an M.Eng. in Hydraulic Engineering from IHE-Delft in The Netherlands, as well as a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University. He is an active member of the United States Society on Dams (USSD), the Association of Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers (AAWRE). 

Ben Cary, P.E., CFM

Hydraulic Engineer, Kleinschmidt

Ben specializes in 1D and 2D hydraulic modeling, hydrological engineering, dam breach analysis, and river restoration.  He builds hydraulic models to simulate open channel flow through rivers to evaluate areas of inundation caused by potential flooding of dam breaches; conducts hydraulic calculations through pipes and over dams or other structures to develop stage-discharge rating curves and gate capacities, and creates energy models to determine historical and potential generation based on potential facility upgrades or improvements.

Ben routinely uses HEC-RAS 1D Steady/Unsteady, HEC-RAS 2D, XP SWMM 2D, FLO 2D, and Arc GIS for modeling and to provide spatial reference and analysis. Some of his most recent assignments with Kleinschmidt include working on Hydraulic Modeling, Dam Decommissioning Analysis, and CLOMR Application; Hydrological Analysis; Flood Modeling; Hydraulic Analysis and Modeling of Proposed Changes to Reservoir Operations.

Ben has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Gonzaga University and is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and River Restoration Northwest (RRNW). He is an instructor in the Kleinschmidt HEC-RAS Webinar series, and he is the co-creator of Full Momentum- an HEC-RAS Vodcast. Ben is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Oregon and a Certified Floodplain Manager.

David Williams PhD, PE, CFM, PH, CPESC, D.WRE, F.ASCE

President - DTW and Associates

David T. Williams and Associates (DTW) is a certified MBE, SBE, DBE, and Service Disabled Veteran-owned small business specializing in water resources. Led by President Dr. David Williams, who has over 40 years of industry experience and expertise in sedimentation engineering, the company is proficient in various computer programs such as HEC-1, HEC-HMS, HEC-2, HEC-RAS, HEC-6, STORM, and WQRRS. Dr. Williams has held several leadership positions in organizations like IECA and ASCE and has authored over 100 technical papers. As a short course instructor, he has provided training in HEC-2, HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, and HEC-6, as well as streambank protection design, sediment transport, bridge scour, and fluvial geomorphology.

Simon Draijer, P.E., P.Eng., CFM

 Senior Hydraulic Engineer at Kiewit

Simon got his master’s degree from Twente University and is an experienced hydrotechnical engineer, having worked on a broad variety of water resources projects. He has developed hydrological and hydraulic models for the design of flood protection, flood control, flood mitigation, water supply, flood forecasting, pollution control, and risk assessment applications. Simon has developed 1D and 2D HEC-RAS models throughout the world, including for parts of the Nile and Tennessee Rivers. He has integrated HEC-RAS into real-time systems using the RAS Controller and provided HEC-RAS training to beginners as well as expert users.  Working for Kiewit, Simon is part of a collaborative team composed of design engineers and builders who work together to design, value engineer, and minimize project risk for design-build projects. In his spare time, Simon likes to design pumping plants and review guidance documents for errors and omissions.

Tony Wahl

Hydraulic Engineer, US Bureau of Reclamation

Tony Wahl has worked for 33 years at the Bureau of Reclamation Hydraulics Laboratory (Denver, Colorado, USA) on a variety of hydraulic structure topics, including flow measurement, fish screening, spillways, embankment dam breach, and soil erodibility measurements. Most recently, he has been focusing on spillway issues, including water surface profile calculation, hydraulic jacking, and stepped spillways. He was the 2019 recipient of the ASCE Hydraulic Structures Medal.