ACTON BMW Constructors Inc., Indianapolis, has elected Brian K. Acton to president and chief operating officer in a planned corporate succession action. He had been executive vice president, since returning to the firm in 2009 from a previous role as president of an affiliated company in Seattle. While in that position, he launched the firm’s entry into the semiconductor, biotechnology and aerospace construction sectors. Acton also serves on the advisory board of the construction and engineering dept. at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. Hill International Inc., the Marlton, N.J.-based global project and risk management consultant, has announced several executive appointments
BISSONETTE Leah Bissonette has joined New York City-based global engineer Environmental Resources Management (ERM) in a new position as managing partner for its North America power-sector work. She is based in Irvine, Calif. Bissonette is formerly an energy practice director for Navigant Consulting Inc. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Phil McBride has been named New South Wales divisional manager of U.K.-based design firm Mott MacDonald Group Ltd., following its Aug. 12 acquisition of consultant Hughes Trueman Pty. Ltd., of which he had been managing director. The move is part of Mott MacDonald’s strategy to set up a base in
XU Minda Xu has been named vice president and regional director for business and strategic development in China for AECOM Technology Corp., Los Angeles. She had been vice president for China with New York City-based McGraw-Hill Construction (which also publishes Engineering News-Record). Xu, based in Shanghai, formerly worked for Standard & Poor’s, also a unit of McGraw-Hill Cos. KBR, the Houston-based engineer-contractor, has named Dennis S. Baldwin vice president and chief accounting officer. Prior to joining the company, he served in a similar role at engineer-contractor McDermott International. Granite Construction Inc., Watsonville, Calif., has promoted Terry Eller to vice president,
Black & Veatch, Overland Park, Kan., has elevated Jim Lewis to chief administrative officer and president of the company’s administrative division. He had been executive vice president and director of project support for the company’s energy unit. As CAO, Lewis replaces Howard Withey, who has retired after 22 years at the firm. Lewis will lead firm operations and manage IT, enterprise risk and facilities, among other duties. LEWIS The American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Va., has recognized five individuals with its 2011 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Award for lifetime achievement and impact. The winners are Kris R. Nielsen,
POOLE Flatiron, a Longmont, Colo., transportation and infrastructure contractor has promoted Terry Poole to president of its heavy civil division. He had been that unit’s vice president of operations and is a 13-year company veteran. The firm also named Allan Sylvester vice president and manager of its new Leesburg, Va.-based tunneling group, which it says will pursue large-scale tunneling projects across North America. He previously served as a senior vice president and division manager for Clark Construction. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Samuel Jeyanayagam has joined CH2M Hill Cos., Denver, as a vice president and senior principal technologist in
Lea+Elliott Inc., Grand Prairie, Texas, has appointed Diane Woodend-Jones as chairwoman. With the transit architect-engineer since 1989, Woodend-Jones had been a principal managing Midwest operations as well as a board member. She succeeds Philip Castellana, chairman for the past three years, who will remain with the firm as a principal. WOODEND-JONES Walter E. Geiger and Ted E. Redmond have joined Omaha-based architect-engineer Leo A Daly. Geiger, who will be vice president and design principal in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, was previously a principal and director of design for Morris Architects in Orlando. Redmond, formerly president of BKV Group, is
COVERT Chris E. Covert has been named president and CEO of Houston-based Foster Wheeler USA, a unit of Foster Wheeler AG, Zug, Switzerland. He is a 35-year veteran of Fluor Corp., most recently in Houston, as a senior vice president and project director. He also served Fluor in Saudi Arabia, Holland, Venezuela and Japan. Covert succeeds Robert Flexon, who became the parent firm’s CEO on June 1. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Sean Ragain has joined Geosyntec Consultants, Portland, Ore., as a principal. Formerly a principal at Seattle-based GeoEngineers Inc., he specializes in managing environmental contaminant investigations and remediation
BOSSCHEM The European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations (EFCA), Brussels, Belgium, has elected Jan Bosschem as president-elect. He is CEO of Grontmij Belgium, a unit of Grontmij N.V., an engineering firm in The Netherlands that says it is Europe’s fourth largest. EFCA represents 26 member groups in Europe and Turkey. Bosschem will succeed Panos Panagopoulos in May 2011. EFCA elected José Luis Gonz�lez Vallvé as president of Tecniberia, a Spain-based engineers’ group, and Victor Carneiro as president of APPC, a similar group in Portugal; both will serve three-year terms as board members. EFCA signed on May 27 a cooperation pact
Joseph Shea has been named senior vice president of Woodard & Curran, a Dedham, Mass., engineering firm. A 16-year company veteran, he leads its sanitary wastewater service line. The firm also promoted the following to vice president: project managers Kelley Begin and Rebecca Corbin; Shannon Daigle, technical leader in its Providence, R.I., office; and Tedd Gifford, service line manager for electrical instrumentation and controls. SHEA div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Neil Lucey has joined Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York City, as a senior vice president and area manager in New York. He was a senior vice president for HDR, overseeing
Chester Engineers, a Pittsburgh environmental engineering firm, has hired William Sukenik as senior vice president and national wet-weather practice leader. He had been a vice president at MWH Americas Inc., based in Atlanta. Chester Engineers ranks 268th on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms. SUKENIK Greg Huston has been promoted to president of Slayden Construction Group, Stayton, Ore. An 18-year firm veteran, he was vice president of operations. Slayden also elevated general counsel Chuck Schrader to executive vice president and named vice presidents Scott Austin, Larry Gescher, Jeremy Lawson, Roger Silbernagel and Jeff Wall to the company’s board.