California People: Construction business updates for November 2015
Tom Donohue
Viktor Bullain
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk
Roger Sherman
Amie Edstrom
Turner Construction has promoted Tom Donohue to vice president of its Southern California special projects division, where he will focus on tenant fit-out and renovation projects. Donohue, who has worked at Turner for more than 20 years, previously served as division manager of the region’s special projects division. Prior to that, he worked for Turner’s parent company, Hochtief, in Dusseldorf, Germany, in business development. He received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Southern California. Turner has also promoted Viktor Bullain to regional lean manager in the Southwest division, which includes Southern California and Arizona. Previously, he served as the firm’s BIM/VDC manager. He brings more than 17 years of experience in the construction industry to his new role, including five years with Turner. Bullain received a master’s degree in architecture from the Budapest University of Technology.
Professional Service Industries Inc. (PSI) has added Namasivayam Sathialingam as chief geotechnical engineer in its Cypress office. He has more than 30 years of geotechnical and earthquake engineering experience and earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of California.
Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) has named Tunua Thrash-Ntuk as its new executive director. She will lead the agency’s efforts to revitalize distressed neighborhoods across Los Angeles by supporting affordable housing and viable commercial corridors. Thrash-Ntuk was most recently executive director of West Angeles Community Development Corp. She previously led a 25-member team to promote transit-oriented communities in the Crenshaw Corridor. She received her master’s degree in city planning from MIT.
Gensler has added Roger Sherman as senior project director of planning and urban design in the firm’s Los Angeles office. A graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Sherman has taught and lectured extensively at Yale, Rice and Princeton and is currently senior fellow at University of Toronto’s Global Cities Institute. Prior to joining Gensler, Sherman was the principal and founder of Roger Sherman Architecture and Urban Design and co-director of cityLAB, an urban design think tank at UCLA, where he will continue to teach as an adjunct professor.
Amie Edstrom has joined Cavignac & Associates, a San Diego-based risk management and commercial insurance brokerage firm, as an account administrator within the agency’s surety department. She previously served as the Small Business Administration commercial real estate administrator within the SBA division of US Bank in Scripps Ranch.
Geocomp Corp. has hired Mazen E. Adib as regional office manager for the geo-engineering firm’s Los Angeles office. Adib will oversee projects including the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project. Adib has more than 27 years of professional experience and holds a Ph.D. in civil and geotechnical engineering. He most recently developed and led the geotechnical engineering department in Abu Dhabi City after a 22-year career as a vice president with AECOM in Saudi Arabia.
Stantec has hired Frank Furger as a principal in its transportation practice in the firm’s Walnut Creek office. He brings more than 30 years of experience managing a wide variety of transportation capital improvement projects. Furger will specialize in high-occupancy vehicle to high-occupancy toll/express lane conversion projects nationwide. He previously served as a chief staff member for the two-county Joint Powers Authority in Alameda and Santa Clara counties.
On the Move
Tim Smirnoff has joined HDR’s Pasadena office as the firm’s tunneling practice lead. With 44 years of industry experience, he has designed more than 250 miles of tunnels all over the world.
