Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis

David Margo currently serves as a Lead Civil Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Risk Management Center. He provides technical leadership, oversight, and guidance in support of the dam and levee safety programs. The Risk Management Center is responsible for supporting the Corps of Engineers portfolio of more than 700 dams and more than 14,000 miles of levees.  The Risk Management Center provides technical services and advice both nationally and internationally.  

Mr. Margo spent the first part of his career working as a staff engineer for the Huntington District office of the Corps of Engineers performing dam break analysis, designing lock filling and emptying systems, and developing numerical models to estimate dam and levee risks. He then moved back to his hometown to work for the Pittsburgh District as a staff engineer for the District, a regional engineer for the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, a national specialist for the Risk and Reliability Directorate, and finally as a dam and levee safety specialist for the Risk Management Center. He feels blessed to have worked on many interesting and challenging projects which include developing concept designs for the Panama Canal lock expansion, performing the first screening risk assessments for the Corps dam portfolio, and developing the Corps Levee Screening Tool.  

His primary interests include hydrology, hydraulics, risk assessment, and risk management. He holds Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.

Keil Neff is a principal engineer at Stantec supporting dam and levee risk assessments by 
(i) quantifying risk and uncertainty;
(ii) developing and reviewing flood hazard information;
(iii) providing H&H subject matter expertise and co-facilitation support in risk assessments; and
(iv) leading downstream consequences studies to evaluate potential loss of life and economic damages that may result from dam/levee breaches. 

Keil's professional experience includes working at the Bureau of Reclamation where he led several Issue Evaluation, Corrective Action Studies, and Final Design projects and served on the Dam Safety Advisory Team. Keil served in a similar capacity at TVA, and initiated TVA’s downstream consequences and probabilistic flood hazard assessment programs.

Haden Smith is a senior technical specialist with the USACE Risk Management Center with more that 15 years of experience in hydraulic and hydrologic engineering and risk management. His experience in this position has included developing and advancing risk methodology, performing flood hazard assessments for high priority dams and levees, and developing flood hazard and risk analysis software, such as RMC-BestFit, -RFA, -RRFT, and -TotalRisk. Mr. Smith obtained a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Memphis, an M.S. in Risk Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University, and is currently finishing an M.S. in Economics from Colorado School of Mines.