ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Feb. 14, 2024) -- The Institute for Water Resources (IWR), a part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, plays a pivotal role in providing forward-looking analysis, cutting-edge methodologies, and innovative tools to aid USACE’s Civil Works program. To honor outstanding contributions and accomplishments of its employees, IWR recognized and celebrated the exceptional performance, leadership, innovation, and teamwork during their annual awards ceremony.
Joe Manous, IWR Director, expressed his congratulations on the accomplishments of the award winners. “The dedication, innovation, and unwavering commitment to excellence displayed by the recipients of these awards exemplify the innovative spirit of IWR. These individuals set the bar high for their peers while making significant contributions in support of the USACE Civil Works mission. Their achievements are inspiring. Congratulations to each award recipient, your contributions provide practical benefits to those supported by Civil Works projects and activities. Well done to all,” said Manous.
The IWR Honorary Awardees are as follows:
1. Employee of the Year: Michael Bartles, displayed exceptional leadership across multiple teams and highly visible activities within USACE and other Federal agencies, innovation that is responsible for improved software tools and technical guidance which raises the bar for how the nation performs hydrologic and statistical analysis, and mentoring and training activities that continue to improve USACE staff knowledge and skills.
2. Team of the Year: Jason Needham, David Margo, Woodrow Fields, David Schaaf, and Tim O'Leary, for their Levee Screening Tool (LST) 2.0. This tool marks a considerable leap forward in engineering risk analysis and portfolio management. It employs a robust probabilistic framework to quickly develop quantitative risk estimates by factoring in the flood loading, levee performance across multiple failure modes, and consequences due to levee breach or levee overtopping. Notably, it calculates consequences by automatically combining 2D hydrodynamic flood routings via HEC-River Analysis System (RAS) with the agent-based consequences estimation software, LifeSim.
3. Product of the Year: Allen Avance, Mikaela Mahoney, Haden Smith, and John England, are recognized for their development achievement of the Rainfall Runoff Frequency Tool (RRFT), which is a pioneering cloud-based system designed to expedite flood hazard curve development for dam and levee risk assessments through stochastic sampling of HEC-HMS models. This innovative tool offers three simulation options, empowering seamless integration of results into various complementary frameworks like BestFit, RFA, and TotalRisk. The RRFT has already demonstrated considerable success and is actively contributing to all ongoing dam safety studies.
4. Scientific/Technical Award of Excellence: Michelle Mattson. Mattson is celebrated for her technical excellence, notably in improving the RIBITS platform, leading to national recognition and agency interest. She's a recognized expert in compensatory mitigation, fostering efficiency in regulatory practices, and as the lead ecologist for the Sustainable Rivers Program, she integrates ecology into river management, gaining recognition for herself and IWR through her innovative and sound practices.
5. Business, Administrative/Technical Support Award of Excellence: Darren Nezamfar. Nezamfar, an outstanding IT Specialist, excels in desktop productivity, audio/visual support, and DevOps. His impact extends organization-wide, as he consistently solves IT issues correctly, shares knowledge, and demonstrates commitment to excellence. Nezamfar's exceptional efforts in addressing the Atlassian Zero Day Vulnerability crisis safeguarded HEC's operations and earned trust with DoD cyber security. HEC wholeheartedly recommends him for the 2023 IWR Business, Administrative/Technical Support Award of Excellence for his unwavering dedication and expertise in IT support.
6. Leadership and Mentoring Award of Excellence: Virginia (Autumn) Johnson. In 2023, Johnson showed outstanding leadership by successfully modernizing the Civil Works Business Intelligence (CWBI) program, improving data management and communication with stakeholders. Her adaptable leadership style and personalized customer service approach resulted in rapid improvements, earning trust from senior leaders and other Civil Works business areas. As the CWBI-OPS COR, she effectively oversaw three critical contracts, displaying exceptional leadership and professionalism throughout. Johnson's exceptional leadership in 2023 greatly benefits USACE and IWR.
7. Special Act of the Year: Maria Lantz. Lantz spearheaded the development and roll-out of the "Guide for Preparing District Environmental Justice Strategic Plan." While short-staffed and with already overflowing responsibilities, she stepped up to produce the guide and companion resources of exceedingly high value to the organization in an extremely compressed timeframe. It enabled District implementation of the EJ memo and Justice40 reporting. HQ Planning leadership gave resounding praise for the guide and its roll-out.
The IWR Honorary Awards Program is designed to recognize and celebrate excellence among their employees. According to program leads, by fostering efficiency, innovation, leadership, and teamwork, this program not only honors outstanding contributions but also encourages a culture of continuous improvement and service excellence within IWR.
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