Amir Safi

About Amir Safi

With 15 years of experience in groundwater modeling, I have led and executed multiple successful projects that improved groundwater quality in arid and semi-arid regions. Much of my experience also involves management roles in groundwater modeling programs as part of multidisciplinary projects for clients located in the USA, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Iran, and Lebanon. As a technical lead and project manager, I was responsible for planning and implementing engineering projects within quality/budget/schedule expectations. Working on various multidisciplinary projects has given me valuable experience in linking engineering and management in order to develop and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of each project. Key experienceo Provided engineering and environmental consulting services to the mining, consumer energy, and public sector clients in the USA and Canadao Consulting major research centers and agencies such as the United States Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, International Development Research Center of Canada, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit of Germany, Ministry of Energy and Water in Lebanon, & Water Resources Organization in Irano Extensive experience in numerical modeling of groundwater flow and solute transport, model inversion, uncertainty analysis, and (local/global) sensitivity analysis using:• MODFLOW 6, Flopy, FEFELOW, FEMWATER, MODFLOW-NWT, MODFLOW-USG, MODFLOW-LGR, SEAWAT, MT3D, RT3D, MODPATH, ZONEBUDGET• Groundwater Vistas, Visual MODFLOW, GMS• PEST, PEST++, PESTPP-IES, PESTPP-SWP, Bayesian Evidential Learning• Programming and Data analysis: ArcGIS, MS Office Suite, Python, MATLAB, RStudio o Data mining and Machine Learning o Proven excellence at managing the coordination and delivery of contractorso Proven leadership & technical team leading skillsKey achievements:o Guided authorities towards sustainable groundwater management in Beirut, Lebanon through a 10-years national water plano Designed a policy planning tool to improve the quality of water supplies in Beirut (Lebanon) by 35% in 20 yearso Identified a deep freshwater aquifer as an alternative source of drinking water for 170 years of 1M inhabitants in Beirut o Designed a hydrogeological monitoring network in Lebanon that cut costs by about 40%o Guided decision-makers in reducing nitrate emissions in more than 250 nitrate-contaminated fields in Denmarko Developed various tools and novel methods for groundwater modeling and uncertainty analysis

Experience

1. Senior Water Resources Engineer Groundwater Modeler

   Barr Engineering Co.

   Jul 2020 — Present · Salt Lake City, UT, US

   o Providing engineering and environmental consulting services to the mining, consumer energy, and public sector clientso Serving as technical lead in developing groundwater flow and transport models and uncertainty analysis frameworks to assist clients in the mining, power, and public sectors o Contributing to business development - Created over $500K business opportunities for groundwater modeling projects in < 2 yearso Developing variable-density groundwater flow and transport models to assist mine planning and development for several mines in the USA (MN, MI, NM, WY) and Canada (Sask)o Applying groundwater models to optimize construction costs of mine development– Reduced expansion cost of two tailing management areas in Canada by %35-45 o Designing and calibrating groundwater models to investigate PFAS-impacted groundwater, remediation of contaminated sites, and aquifer storage and recovery o Mentoring junior staff in groundwater modeling and data acquisitiono Providing technical report writing and presentations to clients and stakeholders

Education

• K. N. Toosi University of Technology

  Master’s Degree, Water Resources Engineering

  2008 — 2011

• Semnan University, Iran

  Bachelor's degree, Civil Engineering

  2001 — 2006

• American University of Beirut

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Environmental and Water Resource Engineering

  2012 — 2019