FREESE AND NICHOLS BOLSTERS ITS NORTH TEXAS STORMWATER GROUP, ADDING FOUR EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS

Fort Worth  – Freese and Nichols, Inc., continues to expand its Stormwater Group with the addition of four experienced engineers in North Texas: Holly Ahumada in Fort Worth, Chris Johnson in Denton, and Mark Scheurer and Dawit Zeweldi in Dallas.

The four engineers, all certified floodplain managers, offer a diverse skillset to help address complex flood control and drainage challenges for clients locally, regionally and nationally. Their broad-ranging backgrounds include floodplain mapping, channel design and work with municipalities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

“As Texas looks to the future of flood planning, we’ll be well-positioned to help our clients with the added expertise of these talented colleagues,” said Scott Hubley, Group Manager for Freese and Nichols’ North Texas Stormwater team.

Holly Ahumada, PE, CFM, specializes in advanced 2-D modeling for large-scale water resources projects. Her experience includes preparing in-depth hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and working on multiple watershed studies in Texas and Louisiana. She has hands-on experience using ArcGIS, ICPR3, ICPR4, InfoWorks SD & ICM, Geo-RAS, HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS modeling programs.

In 2018, Ahumada was recognized as the Texas Society of Professional Engineers – Fort Worth Young Engineer of the Year. She received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Texas A&M University.

Chris Johnson, PE, CFM, brings more than 33 years of experience in water resources program management, quality oversight and business administration. A seasoned professional with diverse experience in both public and private sectors, he joins the firm after serving as an engineering manager for the City of Fort Worth. He has overseen projects for FEMA, the USACE, TxDOT, municipalities across the state and the San Antonio River Authority.

He received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University.

Mark Scheurer, PE, CFM, is an established project manager with more than 10 years of experience in water resources engineering. He has experience overseeing hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and stormwater infrastructure design and has expertise in channel design and large-scale land development projects involving residential, commercial and industrial components. Scheurer has handled a broad range of work for municipal clients and understands the challenges presented by infrastructure near major drainage ways.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University. He is registered as a Professional Engineer in Texas as well as Colorado.

Dawit Zeweldi, PhD, PE, CFM, PH, D.WRE, brings more than 20 years of technical and managerial experience in water resources planning, design and implementation projects. He has international experience and has worked on hydraulic and hydrologic modeling projects across the United States and Texas. His experience includes multiple flood analysis projects for FEMA and work for TxDOT and USACE.  Zeweldi is proficient with flood analysis and mapping software, including HEC-RAS and the 2-D Gridded Surface/Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model developed by the USACE, a FEMA-approved tool that can be applied to simulate complex watersheds and subsurface water flow interactions.

He received his doctorate and master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut and his bachelor’s in irrigation engineering from Arba Minch Water Technology Institute in Ethiopia.