4 minute read
Hydraulic Engineer Learns Key Element in Water Infrastructure Projects
from America's Engineers: The People, Programs, and Projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers '24-'25
From intern to full-time USACE employee, a young engineer leads the next generation of coastal engineering and collaboration across the globe.
BY CARLOS GOMEZ
SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION Galveston District
Hydraulic engineers specialize in the movement of water. However, a young U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) hydraulic engineer’s approach focuses on another – and most important – element tied to their projects, the human element.
Taira Baldauf began her career at USACE’s Galveston District (SWG) about two years ago as an intern, through the Department of the Army’s Fellows Program.
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As a hydraulic engineer, Baldauf does engineering calculations and modeling. This involves using three- or two-dimensional renderings of the water in a project area. By plugging in different project parameters (i.e., wave height and wind speed), Baldauf and her colleagues hypothesize how water will interact with a particular structure.
However, Baldauf said there is some human input that goes into that as well. This concept echoed in her experiences in the Netherlands.
As it turns out, conflicts in her supervisor’s schedule led to her participation in the International Network for Storm Surge Barriers, or I-STORM.
“They’re basically a knowledge-sharing network of countries and entities that manage storm surge barriers,” Baldauf said.
Himangshu Das, Ph.D., SWG’s coastal section chief and Baldauf’s supervisor, passed the opportunity to take part in I-STORM meetings and activities to Baldauf.
“With her education and project experiences, I believe Taira was a good fit for I-STORM,” Das said.
Das sent Baldauf on a five-week assignment in the Netherlands, where Baldauf learned how the Dutch do storm surge barrier design, operation, maintenance, and management.
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“Every day was different,” Baldauf recalled. “I just hopped from different storm surge barriers and different offices around the country each day and would experience what they were doing or what they’ve worked on previously.”
While she learned a lot about the Netherlands’ history with flooding and storm surge management, Baldauf had one big takeaway from her time there.
“They built these operational rooms that were really just made for computers and then realized, ‘Oh, we need people to run them,’” Baldauf said. The storm surge barriers eventually had to be retrofitted for people to be able to work in the mechanical operating spaces of the structures, she added.
Dutch storm surge barrier managers realized humans are able to make more critical decisions than a machine, Baldauf said. “There are variables humans can take into account that a machine simply can’t.”
I-STORM was such a good fit for Baldauf she ended up joining Next Generation, their working group aimed at the newest generation of engineers.
Baldauf and Next Generation are looking forward to creating things that are sustainable, she said.
“It’s not just [building] a structure,” she said. “We want to look at it holistically. How is this going to improve our community? How is this going to impact the surrounding area? What are our projects doing for the community?”
In time, Baldauf remains hopeful that the philosophy behind engineering projects will never lose focus on that one critical factor.
“It’s not so much about the project, but the human impact … and what it can do for people,” Baldauf said. AE
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