Gene F. Sirca, Jr., PhD, PE, SE is the Chief Dam Safety Engineer for American Electric Power’s fifteen hydroelectric facilities located in Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Virginia. He obtained his PhD from The Ohio State University in 2019 while working full time for AEP for nine years, and prior to that, for a structural engineering consulting firm, Schaefer/Entertainment Structures Group. Dr. Sirca is a registered professional engineer and structural engineer and has experience with designing dams and dam structures, bridges, buildings and industrial structures, and hydroelectric dam safety. He has published seven articles in international journals including ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering and ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering.