People Spotlight: Meet Ivy Xiong
Our People Spotlight series gives you an inside look at our technical experts around the world. This week, we are highlighting a senior water resources engineer from our water resources group supporting the U.S. West region and providing an insight into their inspiration and work.
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, AECOM 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.
Both of my grandparents spent decades working as structural engineers on infrastructure projects. 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. 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.”
What is your favorite AECOM project that you’ve worked on and why?
I started at AECOM 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 AECOM Make A Difference Bravo Award for that work.
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.”
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 AECOM 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.
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.”
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’.