Register by January 15 for early bird pricing! Click HERE to register.
John Pitts, Director of Civil and Structural Engineering, and David Keller, Structural Engineer and Natural Hazards Program Manager, both with the Department of State's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), will be presenting at the January 2020 ASCE-NCS Section Dinner Meeting. They will discuss the Department of State's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations' work towards mitigating risk to its facilities from natural hazards, and the direction toward holistically addressing climate resiliency concerns.
WHEN: Tuesday, January 21, 2020, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Registration and networking will be from 6:00-6:45pm, followed by dinner. Program concludes by 8:30pm
WHERE: Hilton Arlington - 950 North Stafford Street, Arlington, Virginia
FEE: Early Registration: $45, Walk-In (pending availability)$55, Life Members $25, Students $10
One (1.0) Professional Development Hour (PDH) will be awarded for attendance.
John D. Pitts, PE, PMP, is the Director of the Civil and Structural Engineering Division at the Department of State's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO). In this position, he directs the civil, geotechnical, structural and blast engineering disciplines along with the Natural Hazards Program in support of the worldwide overseas building program for the Department of State. Mr. Pitts has extensive experience with the federal government. From 2015 to 2019 he served as a Construction Executive in OBO's Construction Management directorate with responsibility for construction projects in Lebanon, Egypt, and Israel. From 2011 to 2015 he served as a Project Manager and Branch Chief for the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers (USACE) Middle East District with responsibility for the Foreign Military Sales programs in Kuwait, Bahrain, U.A.E., and Qatar. From 2007-2011 he served as a Project Manager for the USACE Baltimore District, on the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency's, New Campus East project at Fort Belvoir, VA. From 2005-2007 he served as a Region Manager for the Department of Homeland Security's RESCUE 21 program, responsible for the planning and implementation of the nation's coastal 911 system from New Orleans to Mexico. Prior to his service in the federal government, Mr. Pitts served from 1999-2005 with the Fairfax County Virginia Government as Program Manager for their Park Authority Bond Program, and from 1991-1999 with various private consulting firms including Huitt-Zollars in Dallas, Texas and William H. Gordon Associates in Chantilly, Virginia. Mr. Pitts served in the U.S. Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer and as an Officer in Charge of Construction for the Civil Engineer Corp from 1985 to 1991. Mr. Pitts received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.
David Keller, PE, LEED AP, structural engineer, manages the Natural Hazards Program at the Department of State's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO). In this role, he manages four contracts that, together with in-house OBO subject matter experts, support OBO and posts in identifying and reducing risks to personnel and property from natural-borne hazards such as earthquakes, extreme winds, tsunamis, geohazards, floods, and sea level rise. In addition, Mr. Keller is co-technical lead of the program's seismic component and has structural design responsibilities for numerous posts worldwide. Prior to joining OBO, Mr. Keller worked for seven years as a structural/blast engineer at Weidlinger Associates in Washington, DC conducting vulnerability/feasibility studies, providing blast resistant designs, and offering other structural engineering services for various government agencies. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering with a concentration in structural and earthquake engineering from the University at Buffalo.
