Autumn
2006 Newsletter: Partner Interview with
John
Tauxe of Neptune and Company
John
Tauxe, a Senior Environmental Engineer at Neptune
and Company, is one of the most experienced GoldSim modelers
around. Neptune is an environmental consulting company that
specializes in environmental statistics and decision analysis,
probabilistic modelling, environmental fate and transport
modelling, and human health and ecological risk assessment.
Neptune engineers and scientists have been applying GoldSim
to help solve complex environmental problems for over six
years.
John is particularly well known within the GoldSim
user community for producing very well-documented and easy
to understand models, and he regularly demonstrates these
models and shares his expertise at our user conferences. John
has an M.S. and Ph.D in Civil Engineering from the University
of Texas, and a B.S. in Earth Sciences from Wesleyan University.
John took some time to chat with us about GoldSim, modeling
and consulting.
What is a common mistake that you see new modelers make?
A problem typical of novices, and not just in GoldSim, is
neglecting to document their work. Come to think of it, this
is not just a problem for novices, either. When it comes to
slapping elements together to build a model, there is an appropriate
time for experimentation without the encumbrance of writing
it all up, but the organization and writing, while seemingly
tedious, pays off in the long run. Not only can other modelers
understand what has been done, and often improve on it (which
is a good thing), you yourself can understand it in a years'
time.
What has been one of your firm's most technically challenging
projects?
A current project that has been technically challenging is
the design of a model of a radioactive waste disposal site
at the Nevada Test Site. After years in the making, the current
model is quite mature, and has some rather sophisticated GoldSim
tricks in it. The biggest challenge has been to design a single
model that will address several disparate regulatory compliance
issues at once. Our biggest upcoming challenge is to add in
cost/benefit analyses to optimize waste disposal operations.
How does your firm leverage word-of-mouth or satisfied customers
for additional business?
Working in a niche field like environmental decision making,
we rely heavily on word-of-mouth to get our name out there.
In the Federal arena, this works fairly well, and we find
ourselves working for various agencies and persons who know
each other and talk about us. In consulting for private clients,
word-of-mouth is not so effective, since private firms seem
not to talk to each other so much.
How does your firm deal with the boom/bust nature of consulting
work?
We just ride the waves, and it is sometimes harrowing. Especially
with Government work, we find ourselves in a bind to get all
the work done by the end of the Fiscal Year, followed by sometimes
months of waiting for the funding to fall into place. October
is a good time for vacations!
What was one was one of your initial challenges when you
first started creating models with GoldSim, and how did you
overcome?
Many models have similar containers, constructed in parallel,
and with elements inside that share the same names. This became
terribly confusing: "WHICH element called Soil Concentration
are we talking about, here?" This gets all cleared up
by extensive use of output aliases for localized Containers,
which are underrated. With aliases, the ambiguity about which
element is being referred to is gone.
What is a debugging technique you use when building new
models?
I rely heavily on the linking that is provided by the "element
affects..." and "element function of.." functions.
I also will temporarily turn on all the time histories in
a given container, just to help track influences down. And,
when it comes down to it, there are times when a good old
manual calculation on a calculator can provide comforting
verification.
Is there a particular common misunderstanding when talking
to prospects that you often find yourself correcting, such
as unrealistic expectations of some sort?
I am not a miracle worker. I can't make your site pass the
regs if you've dumped too much material in there. Well, I
could (and you could easily find someone who will), but not
while sticking to my code of ethics. :)
If you were talking at a high school career day, what branch
of engineering would you recommend aspiring students pursue?
I would have the same recommendation to those who would pursue
engineering or other fields: Follow your muse. If engineering
appeals to you, which is to say if you like problem solving,
understanding how things work, and playing with Legos, then
there is probably some branch of engineering that would appeal
to you. Think broadly -- the field ranges from environmental
protection to the design of medical prostheses to roller coasters
to spacecraft to deep ocean instrumentation to habitats in
Antarctica. Dream it, and make it happen!
Heard any good jokes lately?
OK. One of my favorites:
Wife: "Honey, I've got great news: I won the lottery!
Go pack your bags."
Husband: "Oh, great! Where should I pack for? The islands?
The mountains? Where are we going?"
Wife: "I don't care where you go. Just pack your bags
and get out of here!"
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