Hillery Venturini

Management

• Led staff development, resource retention and career growth for group of 12 Civil/Structural Engineers with various experience levels from Technical Specialist to entry-level.
• Addressed resource demand by hiring 6 new employees, promoting 4 existing employees, and fostering 2 engineering students through Technical Service Center internship program within the Waterways and Concrete Dams Group 1.
• Performed bi-weekly group meetings to information staff of activities/information sharing within Technical Service Center, and workload transparency among staff regarding completed, ongoing, or initiation of new projects.
• Participated on 6 interview hiring panels for various vacant positions with the Technical Service Center Divisions and Client offices.

Mentorship

• Assigned mentorship between senior- and entry-level staff, and encouraged annual participation of at least 3 senior- and journeyman-level staff in Bureau of Reclamation’s Great Connections Mentoring Program to support organization understanding and foster technical networking across Technical Service Center Divisions.
• Served as experienced supervisor among Waterways and Concrete Dams Group 1, 2, and 3 through the transition of 2 new supervisors.

Workload

• Developed and implemented 6-month projective workload for each group member with consideration for both group capability development and career goals for individual employees.
• Conducted bi-weekly coordination and planning meetings with Waterways and Concrete Dam Groups 1, 2 and 3 to ensure consistent resource assignments, workload management, and development of monthly, in-house training through utilization of senior- and journeyman- level experience for optimal knowledge transfer to entry- and journeyman-level staff.
• Established and conducted monthly coordination with Geotechnical Engineering and Seismology and Geomorphology Groups to ensure delivery of seismic loads to support numerical analyses under both 8102 and 8300 Divisions in the Technical Service Center.
• Participated in annual 5-year workload planning efforts between Technical Service Center and Dam Safety Office to ensure resource allocation to priority projects.
• Participated in 2022 Dam Safety Annual Workload meeting comprised of 5 Regional Dam Safety Coordinators, 5 Dam Safety Program Managers and Chief of Dam Safety Office, to communicate efforts to address workload and priority projects for existing fiscal year, moving forward and beyond.
• Coordinated review assignments for Dam Safety Advisory Team to ensure adequate reviewers for civil-focused evaluations on both Reclamation and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Innovation

• Initiated efforts to evaluate existing 8 computing server infrastructure used to perform complex numerical structural analyses within Waterways and Concrete Dams Group 1 and developed plan for replacement to support future growth and increased efficiency through expanded virtual machine platform. Coordinated with members of Information Resources Office and Enterprise System Administration to ensure that long-term Group needs are met, and alignment with Reclamation’s efforts for virtualization.
• Initiated efforts to develop internal database for Alkali Silica Reaction in collaboration with University of Colorado at Boulder and utilize information in evaluating concrete dams with ASR to benefit continued use by Technical Service Center.

Outreach

• Served as technical representative for multi-agency group for development, implementation and use optimization of LS-DYNA. The team, comprised of 4 key agencies including USACE, BC Hydro, Électricité de France (EDF) and the Bureau of Reclamation, meet on bi-annual recurrence.

Facilitation

Headgate Rock Dam – Risk Analysis - March 2022, February 2023

• Led Risk Analysis Workshop comprised of 10 participants from both Technical Service Center, and Bureau of Indian Affairs for Comprehensive Review.
• Facilitated 2 separate, 4-day meetings, to evaluate 6 potential failures related to both internal erosion and scour of embankment dam, as well as operational and overtopping and structural failures related to spillway and canal headworks.
• Offered discussion and guidance to Bureau of Indian Affairs to inform the development and implementation of inspections and exercising of the canal headworks gates to ensure risk reduction at facility as a key outcome of risk analysis process.

Keswick Dam – Risk Analysis - February 2022

• Led combined Comprehensive Review- and Issue Evaluation-level risk analysis comprised of 8 participants from both Technical Service Center, Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region and Northern California Area Office.
• Facilitated 4-day meeting to evaluate 2 potential failures related to structural behavior of spillway superstructure and gates under increased seismic loads using updated finite element numerical analysis.

Folsom Dam Raise - Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) - July, September, November 2021

• Led multi-phases quantitative risk analysis comprised of 10 participants from both Technical Service Center, Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
• Facilitated 3 separate weeklong meetings, evaluated 14 potential failures capturing structural behavior of main dam for both existing and raised conditions.
• Conducted multiple technical briefings to the United States Army Corps of Engineers Leadership to ensure consistent understanding of discussions to support continuation of Main Dam Raise (MDR) project and collaboration between Reclamation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Education and Research

American Concrete Institute (ACI) 318-19 – Shear Equation Revisions - Present

• Participated as Technical Advisor in the Technical Service Center ACI Working Group to develop an initial testing program in coordination with the Technical Service Center Concrete and Structural Laboratory, and Professors with Texas A&M University and University of Notre Dame, to evaluate the revised shear capacity equations presented in the new ACI-318-19 Building Code, and had a direct impact on scope and cost of design and construction for Technical Service Center Civil Engineering Services Division 1 and 2 for existing and new construction.

USSD Conference Technical Workshop - April 2024

• Participated on a team comprised of 6-7 members of numerical analysis community to development a workshop with intent of educating on the concept of validation, verification, and uncertainties, application in complex numerical analysis for concrete dams and appurtenant structures, and understanding the inherent boundaries of using to address structural behavoir. Workshop was attended by over 100 participants, including representatives from academic, dam ownership, and engineering sectors.

Best Practices for Dam Safety - September 2022

• Facilitated 2, 4-hour workshops as part of Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers Best Practices training to educate team of 6-7 engineers of various disciplines (civil, structural, geology, geotechnical, hydrology, and dam safety) on risk analysis methodology and process to develop and evaluate potential failure modes.

International Best Practices in Risk Analysis - April 2022

• Presented workshop session on Loading Conditions and Load Probabilities during International Best Practices in Risk Analysis training attended by 26 participants from 11 countries.

Advanced Analysis of Dams - Validation and Verification - April, May 2021

• Facilitated 4-session technical lecture series on validation and verification methods and processes in numerical analysis of concrete dams through coordination with both University of California Davis and Technical Specialist for the Waterways and Concrete Dams Group 1.
• Offered training to 60 Technical Service Center employees from both 8102 and 8300 Divisions which provided detailed education on importance of using highly complex and technical tools such as finite element modeling and structural analysis.

Technical Structural Analyst/Project Management

Vallecito Dam - Appraisal Design -September 2021

• Led multi-disciplinary team of 5 engineers for appraisal level design to identify root cause of structural displacement in upstream inlet channel walls, concrete damage and radial gate binding for spillway gate structure and provide repair options to client.
• Development and implementation of Field Exploration Request, laboratory material testing, and coordination with other design teams and cost estimators to identify design options to address multiple existing issues.

Shasta Dam - Issue Evaluation - June 2020

• Led a team of 6 structural analysts for linear and nonlinear numerical analysis to evaluate structural stability of existing concrete gravity arch dam under increased seismic loadings and estimate of high-stress locations and displacements.
• Monitored execution of developed scope, communication multiple engineering groups, and management of budget, schedule and deliverables.

Management

• Managed and supported 5 technical groups and 3 permanent Supervisors, and 2 acting Supervisors during 45-day period (GS-15) in technical areas of engineering and design, cost estimating, construction and specifications.
• Assisted on challenging and unique issues related to workload management, staffing and client coordination.
• Performed weekly Division meetings to information staff of activities/information sharing within Technical Service Center and Leadership Team level.
• Fostered workload transparency among Supervisors, and maintained administrative tasks such as hiring management, client communication and division workload advocacy.

• Provided timely communication to Technical Service Center Director on project inquiries, and identified necessary resources to ensure delivery of accurate information.
• Utilized organizational knowledge to assess appropriate resource allocation for new and existing projects in coordination with Division Supervisors.
• Utilized coordination with 5 Division Chief within Technical Service Center Leadership Team to assist on multi-division issues, workload management and resource support.

Facilitation

Technical Response Team (TRT)

• Led and participated in multiple Technical Response Team meetings comprised of 10 multi-disciplinary team members, tasked with assessing current condition of dam and appurtenant structures, and identify critical issues and/or changes prior to both more in-depth Periodic Facility Review and Comprehensive Review.

Risk Analysis - Dam Safety

• Led multiple risk analysis meetings comprised of 7 to 10 multi-disciplinary team members, tasked with organizing and facilitating through risk estimation for potential dam safety deficiencies, and Reclamation Consequence Estimating Methodology process, and communicating findings to Dam Safety Office with recommendations for continued facility operations and/or additional studies.

Innovation/Leadership

Reclamation Risk Cadre -Ongoing

• Led development team to prepare draft risk evaluation guidelines for gate reliability intended to provide case history data and evaluation criteria for estimating probability of spillway gate failure during risk analysis.

Education and Research

Best Practices for Dam Safety - June 2018, 2019

• Participated in Reclamation’s Best Practices and risk analysis training with United States Corps of Engineers offered to multi-agencies and 40-50 attendees.
• Assisted Reclamation’s Risk Cadre on revisions/updates to training material for both arch and buttress concrete dams to ensure accurate state-of-the-practice methods and structural considerations.

USSD Conference Technical Workshops - April 2017, 2018, 2019

• Led formulation teams of 6-7 members of numerical analysis community to development workshops with intent of educating and discussing methodology and use of complex numerical analysis for concrete dams and appurtanent structures. Workshops were attended by over 100 participants, including representatives from academic, dam ownership, and engineering sectors.

Dam Safety Training - March 2015, 2018

• Presented incident case history studies for Big Sandy Spillway (Wyoming), El Guapo Dam Spillway (Venezuela), and Ricobayo Dam (Spain) at Department of the Interior Dam Safety Training.
• Presented Failure Mode and Risk Analysis for Spillways and Spillway Gate Reliability.

Technical Structural Analyst/Project Management

Glen Elder Dam - Final Design - December 2019

• Led multi-disciplinary team of 6 engineers to evaluate repair options for downstream spillway chute due to freeze-thaw deterioration
• Managed multiple project phases including Value Planning study, coordination and implementation for Field Exploration Request and Technical Service Center laboratory material testing.
• Mentored co-team lead through final design process to develop project management skills and oversaw project management transfer for later phases.

Shasta Dam - Final Design - April 2019

• Co-led a team of 7 structural analysts for linear and nonlinear numerical analysis to evaluate capability of raising concrete gravity arch dam 18.5 feet and incorporating multiple steel post-tensioned anchors to withstand increased seismic loadings.
• Planned, directed, and participated in analysis requiring extensive and frequent coordination with multiple design teams, clear communication, and interpretation of analysis results to management.

Thief Valley Dam - Issue Evaluation - June 2017

• Managed small team (2-3) of structural analysts to conduct linear and nonlinear numerical analyses, to evaluate structural stability of existing concrete slab and buttress dam under seismic loadings, the proposed addition of an Obermeyer spillway gate to existing non-overflow spillway, and results indicating potential cracking in concrete buttresses and shear exceedance of upstream slab support corbels.

Green Mountain Dam - Issue Evaluation - February 2017

• Completed linear and nonlinear soil structure interaction numerical analysis to evaluate stability of existing reinforced concrete spillway gate structure and embankment dam under seismic loadings and consideration for strength loss in glacial till within spillway foundation.
• Presented findings and results to Consultant Review Board for independent review, which indicated potential damage to spillway piers and overall movement of spillway gate structure.

Technical Structural Analyst/Project Management

Pit River Bridge - Feasibility Design - March 2015

• Performed linear numerical analysis of double deck, deck truss, road and rail bridge to assess steel truss member capacity, capacity of concrete piers and overall structural deformation under seismic loading, and evaluation of design modification to pier based on proposed increase in reservoir storage of Shasta Lake.

Technical Structural Analyst/Designer

Glendo Dam - Final Design - July 2009 – September 2014

• Participated on final design team for Glendo Dam spillway and auxiliary spillway design and construction. Develop initial design options to modify existing spillway to both control and increase downstream hydraulic outflows.
• Designed, evaluated and analyzed spillway headwall and approach channel wall expansions constructed in May 2013.
• Received and responded to multiple Requests for Information (RFI) and Required Submittal Numbers (RSN) for topics including, but not limited to metal work, waterstop selection, formwork, concrete placement and concrete repair. Successful design and construction justified used in similar Reclamation structures such as Stampede Dam.
• Participated in discussions associated with a Request for Additional Payment as technical representative.

Technical Structural Analyst/Project Management

Grand Coulee Dam - Special Assessment - July 2012

• Performed numerical static stress analysis of turbine spiral case to identify potential effects of concrete removal associated with turbine uprate design.
• Evaluated structural effect of increased loads and reduction of concrete within spiral case, including identification of critical and potential for concrete cracking.

Bradbury Dam - Issue Evaluation - January 2012

• Completed linear and nonlinear soil structure interaction numerical analysis on embankment dam and concrete spillway gate structure to evaluate existing structural and previous seismic retrofit under revised seismic loadings.
• Presented results indicating damage to concrete due to large accelerations, and confirmed behavior of existing concrete spillway struts to brace walls.