Robin K. McGuire
President
S.B. (Civil Engineering) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S. (Structural Engineering) University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. (Structural Engineering) Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. McGuire formed Risk Engineering, Inc. in 1984 to provide high-quality consulting services to clients faced with engineering risk problems. He first developed and published many of the methods taken today as requirements for advanced probabilistic seismic risk analysis, including: probabilistic analysis at multiple frequencies to calculate a uniform hazard spectrum, development of epistemic uncertainties in parameters such as maximum magnitude, treatment and mapping of epistemic uncertainties, derivation of a random-vibration model to predict earthquake ground shaking, deaggregation of seismic hazard to identify major contributors to hazard, and concepts of seismic risk to a lifeline system, rather than to an aggregate set of sites. He continues to develop new applications of seismic hazard and risk methods, and designs software to analyze the challenging problems facing our clients.

Gabriel R. Toro
Vice President
B.S. (Civil Engineering) Universidad National de Colombia
S.M. (Civil Engineering) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D. (Civil Engineering) Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Toro's area of expertise is the application of probabilistic and statistical methods, combined with models based on engineering and on the physics of natural phenomena, to the analysis of natural hazards and their effects on structures.

Dr. Toro has 20 years of experience in probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, in the estimation of earthquake ground motions, and in other aspects of earthquake engineering. He has developed a methodology for the estimation of strong earthquake ground motions using seismological models of the radiated energy and random-vibration theory and he is the first author of one of the attenuation equations currently in use for the central and eastern U.S. He has also refined the methodology and software for the efficient treatment of uncertainty in seismic hazard evaluation. Dr. Toro has been the technical lead in numerous seismic hazard studies, including six studies in the New Madrid region of the central United States. He is in charge of the seismic-hazard calculations for the proposed Yucca Mountain (Nevada) nuclear waste repository. This is the most thorough seismic hazard study performed to date.

Dr. Toro is also leading several research studies for the development of probabilistic models of severe tropical and extra-tropical storms, to be used for setting design values for offshore structures. He has also performed reliability studies for deep-water structures and their risers, for aging shallow-water structures, and for well tubing and casing systems.

John A. Vlasity
Senior Scientist
B.S. (Geophysics) Western Michigan University
M.S. (Geophysics) Memphis State University

John started working for Risk Engineering in 1989 after working for Amerada Hess Oil Company as a geophysicist, writing software to assist in their oil exploration effort. At Risk Engineering John is responsible for developing and implementing the most current seismicity interpretations into our software, including fault sources, area sources, and local site conditions. He also maintains and improves our software programs, including adding GIS capabilities, to provide improved tools for our clients.

Richard L. Dobbs II
Principal Software Engineer
Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering) University of Colorado

Rich Dobbs came to Risk Engineering in 2002 after working in the chemical industry as a software engineer. His career has include both engineering and general business software development. Rich supports and improves ST-RISK and EZ-FRISK