Andy McCoy, Ph.D., P.E.

As the computational fluid dynamics practice lead, Andy is enthusiastic about solving problems with numerical models. He helps clients with challenges that can be answered with a well-conceived model, ranging from water supply or hydroelectric problems at dams, to cities trying to understand their vulnerabilities related to floods and catastrophic levee breaches, to transportation clients navigating challenging stream crossings, and finally to hydraulic structure design. He is vice-chair of our surface water hydraulics and hydrology team as well as the computational hydraulics team.

Andy is driven by a simple desire to solve the world’s water problems, where possible, through numerical modeling. As a lifelong observer and evaluator of hydraulic and hydrologic phenomena, Andy believes there is no better result than to aptly represent a complex problem or interaction through a computational model. As the challenges are not getting easier, he feels it is his duty to continually push the boundaries.

He has taken great satisfaction from performing evaluations for clients that serve as a basis for making great economic decisions. Examples include helping the federal government (U.S. Army of Corps Engineers) and cities prioritize flood risk reduction projects, working with railroads and highway clients to balance the need for increased level of service with minimizing flood impacts, and assisting cities with planning for emergency flood fighting and evacuation operations.

Andy has authored 5 peer-reviewed journal publications, as well as presentations at 35 local, regional, and national water resources and hydraulics conferences. He currently sits on the United States Society on Dams Hydraulics committee and the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute computational hydraulics committee. He has been a member of the ASCE Iowa Section Water Resources Technical Committee for over 10 years.