The Moles, a New York City-based group of national heavy construction professionals, has named Gary A. Almeraris and James C. “Jim” Maxwell to receive its 2024 Outstanding Achievement Awards, which will be presented at the New York Hilton Hotel Midtown on Feb. 8. Almeraris, vice president of operations for Skanska USA Civil in New York City, who the group says has had a 50-year career in tunneling management, is named to receive the Moles member award. He is a past Moles national president and a former ENR newsmaker. Maxwell, who will receive its non-member award, is chairman of Hub Foundation Co. Inc., a Chelmsford, Mass., company known for tackling some of the most geotechnically challenging drilling projects in New England, says the Moles.

HNTB 'Corp. has elevated Phil Brake to the role of design-build president, based in Chelmsford, Mass., to direct firmwide work in design-build and alternative delivery markets. He succeeds Keith Hinkebein, who will retire from the firm at year end. Brake, who joined HNTB in 2002, had been northeast division president and previously, New England district leaders.

Professional services firm WSP has elevated Ian McNamara, senior vice president, to district leader in its Northeast region, which covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. He most recently served as East region development director.

Steven Davis, Will Paxson, Carl Krebs and Christopher Grabé, former partners of New York City-based architecture firm Davis Brody Bond have joined architect-engineer Page to boost its city market share following an acquisition, the firms said Nov. 2. They now are principals of Washington, D.C.-based Page. Transaction terms were not disclosed. Also joining the firm as a principal is Mark Wagner, former associate partner at Davis Brody Bond. A total of 35 employees are joining Page. According to Page, Davis Brody Bond designed complex Manhattan projects that include the National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum and the new Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center site. Page, which has 1,400 employees in 21 offices in the U.S. and abroad, recently finished a major renovation plan for Rutgers University's 650,000-sq-ft Medical Sciences Building in Newark, N.J., and is now doing restoration of Ellis Island for the National Park Service.

Consigli Construction Co. Inc. has elevated Jennifer Rand to director of operations for the New York Capital Region, based in Albany, N.Y. Formerly project executive, she now will oversee business development, strategic growth and day-to-day operations. Rand rejoined Consigli in 2013 to support building its regional group, the firm said. Among project she led was the University at Albany, SUNY Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex.

Matthew Lunemann has joined STV as vice president and engineering director in its tunneling and geotechnical group, focused on civil infrastructure and renewable energy projects in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was geotechnical leader at WSP, supporting transportation and utility projects and is current New Jersey delegate for the National Society of Professional Engineers. Rob Troup has also joined the firm as senior vice president and senior program manager. Most recently, he was program executive for New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Construction & Development and president of Grand Central Madison Operating Co., formerly East Side Access. He was also owner’s representative as the deputy general manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Silver Line Expansion Phase I in metropolitan Washington, D.C. STV also named Nathan Howell as vice president and market sector leader for health and well-being in its national buildings group. In this role, he will oversee a variety of healthcare projects while also serving as a subject matter expert for mental and behavioral health. Prior to joining STV, Howell founded and led the mental and behavioral health practice at HKS Inc. The firm also named Robert Orlin as vice president and assistant general counsel. He joins from Mott MacDonald, where he was North America region general counsel.  Orlin also is a 30-year veteran of AECOM, culminating with his role as chief counsel for its east region. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has appointed Christine Guhl-Sadovy president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), succeeding Joseph Fiordaliso, who died in September. She was a commissioner of the energy regulatory agency and its former chief of staff. Stephanie Lagos was named to replace Guhl-Sadovy as commissioner.

Vineyard Wind has named Jennifer Cullen director of labor, workforce and local content for all offshore wind energy projects, including three in lease areas it has on the East and West coasts.

Cambridge, Mass.-based design-build firm CDM Smith has named Rasha Maal-Bared,  an internationally recognized microbiologist, as a principal environmental scientist. Based in Burnaby, British Columbia, she specializes in environmental microbiology, and water and wastewater monitoring and treatment and will expand microbiological testing and research capabilities at the Bellevue Research & Testing Laboratory. Maal-Bared is formerly senior microbiologist and water-wastewater expert at EPCOR Water Canada, a municipally-owned corporation in Edmonton, Alberta. She played a pivotal role in synthesizing and simplifying COVID-19 information for the water community, aiding utility decisionmaking, the firm said.

Axis Construction Corp., a Hauppauge, N.Y., specialist in Northeast region conventional and off-site modular commercial construction, has elevated John Buongiorno to vice president of its modular division. Currently vice president of the Modular Building Institute, he has been nominated to be president, with ratification expected at the 2024 World of Modular tradeshow and conference set for March 18-21, said Axis.

Leslie Carrio, president of DePaoli Mosaic in Canton, Mass., was elected president of the Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts for 2023-2025. She has served on its board of directors and executive committee for six years. Becoming president-elect is Steven Amanti of E. Amanti & Sons Inc. in Salem. The group represents more than 300 subcontracting firms.

Rochester-N.Y. based LaBella Associates has elevated Greg Senecal to senior vice president and executive director of climate and environment and Jennifer Gillen to director of environmental.

Symetri, a Nashua, N.H., construction and manufacturing sector technology consultant, named Amy Marks to the newly created position of executive vice president of global strategy. She was most recently vice president, enterprise transformation practice at Autodesk and also was CEO of XSite Modular, a prefabrication consultant.

Neil Cahalane has been promoted to president of Ellenzweig, a Cambridge, Mass.-based architecture and laboratory planning firm specializing in teaching and research facilities, effective on Jan. 1. A long-time firm principal and design and management leader, he succeeds Michael Lauber, who served in the role for 15 years and will remain a principal and continue his project work. Cahalane, who joined Ellenzweig in 1985, has completed some of its largest and most complex projects and has been a board member, the firm said. He also is a former chair of The Architects’ Group, an issue-focused roundtable of senior leaders from Boston-area architecture firms, and was recently named a Fellow in The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Ellenzweig has completed projects for more than U.S. 100 colleges and universities,

American Global, a Jericho, N.Y., commercial insurance broker in construction, has named Marc Drumm senior vice president for North America, based in Oakville, Ontario. He had been senior vice president and account executive for Aon’s construction and infrastructure practice. Named as a senior vice president and senior professional liability broker for North America is Ante Petricevic. Based in Calgary, he was an Aon managing director. Ann Donald also joins the firm in Oakville as account executive. She was a vice president at BFL Canada Insurance and Risk Services Inc. Joann Zhou is newly hired as an account manager. She was account manager at BrokerLink Inc. Commercial. Kent Peters was previously named president of American Global of Canada ULC. He joins from a former role as Aon national director of surety and performance security. American Global says the firm is the first U.S.-Canadian cross-border construction-focused brokerage.

OBITUARY

Architect Beverly Willis, 95, who embraced 21st-century approaches to building design since the late 1950s as a design firm founder and CEO—and who started a New York City-based foundation to champion women in architecture and related fields—died on Oct. 1 in Branford, Conn. She was selected in 2019 to receive the ENR New York Legacy Award.