Scott RouxScott Roux has joined Michael Baker International as senior vice president and national bridge practice lead. Based in Seattle, Roux will implement Michael Baker’s strategic direction for the bridge practice while working in collaboration with regional bridge and management teams.

He brings more than 20 years of experience in the design, construction and inspection of bridges. He previously served as vice president of U.S. Operations for COWI North America. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in structural engineering from the University of British Columbia. He also has a master’s in business degree from the University of Iowa.


Brian Vance is the new manager of the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Office of River Protection for the Hanford, Wash., nuclear cleanup site. Vance previously served as director of the 300-296 Remote Soil Excavation Project for Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. Vance has more than 30 years of leadership experience with Westinghouse and AREVA and as a career submarine officer in Dept. of Defense acquisition programs and the Navy nuclear propulsion program. Vance has a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of North Carolina.


Kristen Johnson has been promoted to senior associate at Seattle-based Runberg Architecture Group. A veteran architect, Johnson currently serves as project design manager of Little Saigon Family Housing, a low-income housing development. Johnson was previously project architect for design and construction of The Marion West, a low-income housing development and food bank. She received a master’s degree from Yale and a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth. She also serves as a member of Seattle’s Landmark Preservation Board.


Tim Grier, Kim Nielsen and Bill Preston have been named to the board of directors of employee-owned R&M Consultants Inc.

Grier is R&M’s group manager of surface transportation and has 27 years of civil engineering experience managing and designing highway and transportation projects. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Nielson is a senior waterfront engineer with more than 24 years of waterfront and environmental engineering experience in Alaska. She holds a bachelor’s degree in ocean engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Preston is R&M’s vice president of the geomatics department, with over 17 years of experience in land surveying and mapping in Alaska. He graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a bachelor’s degree in geomatics.


Joshua YacknowitzJoshua Yacknowitz has been promoted to Seattle Group leader by Arup, replacing U.K.-bound Cormac Deavy. Past experience for Yacknowitz includes work in the proneutrino detector experiment for Fermilab/CERN in South Dakota and at manufacturing facilities for Procter & Gamble in the Americas and East Asia. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from City College of New York.


Chris RayasamChris Rayasam has been named president and chief executive officer of Murraysmith. Rayasam was hired as chief financial officer for the firm in 2016. Troy Bowers, the former president, is now executive vice president and will focus on project delivery. Rayasam formerly served as CFO for OTAK and as a manager with AECOM.


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