Leydi Velez (Industrial and Systems Engineering)

Leydi Velez (Industrial and Systems Engineering)

About DOE Fellow:
Leydi Velez graduated from Florida Internation University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Industrial Engineering and in the Fall of 2010, she obtained a Master’s degree in Engineering Management. After graduation, Ms. Velez left the DOE Fellows program to work full-time as a Business Analyst for PriceSmart, a wholesale club, in their Latin America logistics operations.

Accomplishments as a DOE Fellow:
Leydi was in the DOE Fellows program since its inception in 2007. Leydi received the 2009 DOE Fellow of the Year award in recognition for her outstanding performance and exceptional accomplishments while working under the DOE-FIU Science and Technology Workforce Development Program.

In an effort to capture the Lessons Learned (LL) and Best Practices (BP) acquired in most DOE sites, FIU will work with EFCOG to establish a formal data collection process where Technical Point of Contacts (TPC) from various sites will be able to share their best practices and lessons learned with the rest of the D&D community using the KM-IT system. Leydi was involved in this project by facilitating the process of collecting the BP/LS information through interviews with TPCs, and transcribing the interviews in documents which are later approved by the TPC for publication.

Leydi was involved in the development of the D&D Knowledge Management Information Tool (KM-IT) which is a web-based tool custom-made for the D&D community to aid in identifying potential solutions to their problem areas by using the vast resources and knowledge base tools available through the web (www.dndkm.org). She worked on the D&D Hotline module which is serves as a web-based repository available for the D&D community to search or post questions/problems related to a specific area of interest related to decontamination and decommissioning (D&D). Leydi was involved in quality assessment as well as data mining to help populate the system. In addition, she supported the development of the Technology Module of this website by conducting a series of 5 research studies and data mining activities which include: Large Area Dry Decontamination, Review of Previous D&D Work (D&D Focus Area), Improved PPE for D&D Activities, Review of Explosive Demolition, and Non-intrusive Tools for Utilities Identification in Soil and Concrete. As a result she documented over 184 applicable technologies.

Leydi participated two summer internships while in this program. Her first internship was in 2008 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). During her internship, Ms. Velez worked at the Nuclear Operations Directorate under the supervision of Mr. Thomas Conley. She conducted research on a Decision Support Tool (DST) which can be applied to help Federal Project Directors and their Contractors to prioritize Surveillance and Maintenance investment. She presented the DST project at the 2009 Waste Management (WM) Symposia in Phoenix and obtained the 1st place for best professional poster presentation of the conference.

Leydi also had the opportunity to intern at DOE’s Head Quarters in Washington DC. During her internship she worked in the EM-20 Safety and Security Program. She was actively involved in the implementation plan for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) recommendation 2009-1, Risk Assessment Methodologies at Defense Nuclear Facilities. Her role was to assist EM (Environmental Management Office) and HSS (Health Safety and Security Office) by contributing to a literature review of current best practices in Risk Management in other non DOE agencies. She also assisted in planning a workshop for DOE on the topic of safety decision making under uncertainty with the participation of various federal agencies and industries. Following the completion of her internship, she was invited to return to Washington DC. to assist the staff the day of the workshop.

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