People: Southwest
Amit Upadhye has joined the Phoenix office of Gensler as a senior project architect. He has more than two decades of experience, most recently at Morphosis in Los Angeles. Upadhye also teaches at Arizona State University. His portfolio includes high-rise office towers, performing arts centers, transportation hubs and institutional developments.
Kimberly Trueba was hired by Forté Specialty Contractors of Las Vegas as a member of the firm’s senior leadership team. Trueba brings experience in design, development and construction for the hospitality, restaurant, theme park and residential real estate industries. For the previous 17 years, she served as managing principal for TAL Studio, also in Las Vegas. In the 1990s, Trueba was a design and development manager for Walt Disney Imagineering in Florida.
Jorge Arellano has been promoted to vice president of finance and accounting for Kitchell. Arellano has been with the firm for more than 20 years. The native Arizonan was raised in Yuma and has a master’s degree from the Keller Graduate School. Over the past four years, he served as corporate controller for the firm.
Nancy Kelley has been elevated to corporate controller for Kitchell. Kelley was director of finance for one of the firm’s companies, Kitchell Contractors Inc. She began her career with Kitchell as a staff accountant for FDI Planning Inc., another of the firm’s holdings. Kelley graduated from Arizona State University.
Michael Baker International has appointed Don Sepulveda as vice president and rail and transit practice lead for the firm’s West region, which includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Sepulveda will be based in Los Angeles. He also will serve as senior project manager on select projects. For the last five years, he served as executive officer of regional rail for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, developing a $2.5-billion rail program. Sepulveda is a member of American Railroad Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association committees on commuter/intercity and high-speed rail.
Jody Walker Belsick, founder of Walker Engineering, and her entire staff have joined Kimley-Horn in an undisclosed acquisition. Founded in 2003, Walker Engineering was a three-time NAIOP Southern Nevada Engineering Firm of the Year specializing in commercial, industrial, retail and military projects. Walker Belsick has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and was named the 2012 Alumna of the Year by the school’s Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering.
Kevin Eades has been promoted to executive vice president at Molzen Corbin. He leads the civil engineering group and serves as technical services manager for the majority of the firm’s on-call municipal clients. He is responsible for coordinating all future projects, master plans and construction. Eades joined the firm in 1994. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from New Mexico State University.
Ninyo & Moore Geotechnical & Environmental Sciences Consultants has hired Scott C. Nichols as a senior project manager, focusing on southern Arizona.
On the Move
Sheina Hughes is leaving Stantec’s Phoenix office to become leader of the firm’s Northwest regional office.