Heim Named President of Clark’s Western Region

Richard Heim has been named president of the western region for the Clark Construction Group Inc. He currently oversees more than $1 billion of construction in southern California including Petco Park in San Diego, Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles, Save Mart Center at Fresno State University and the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

Heim has 27 years of construction experience and oversaw the management of projects such as the Los Angeles Convention Center Expansion, Veteran Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, Los Angeles City Hall Seismic Retrofit, Water Reclamation Project in El Segundo and the Flamingo Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas.

Doherty to Lead ACTA

John Doherty has been named director of construction and engineering for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, the public agency that built the Alameda Corridor freight-rail expressway.
Doherty served for seven years as the director of construction for the agency’s joint-venture Alameda Corridor Engineering Team. He succeeds Timothy B. Buresh, who is taking a position with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Doherty will oversee all engineering design and construction management firms hired by ACTA, whose current focus is building the Pacific Coast Highway Grade Separation, a 1-mi.-long bridge that will carry street traffic over Alameda Corridor mainlines, branch rail lines and Alameda Street in the Los Angeles port community of Wilmington.

Prior to his service on the Alameda Corridor, Doherty performed consulting roles on the Metrolink Commuter Rail Project, Honolulu Rapid Transit Development Project and California High Speed Rail Study. He is the former vice president of operations of the Long Island Railroad, the nation’s largest commuter railroad, where he served 24 years in various engineering, construction and operations capacities.

Grainger Named Senior Associate at Perkowitz + Ruth

Don Grainger has been named senior associate with Long Beach-based Perkowitz + Ruth Architects.

Grainger was most recently with Thrifty Corp., where he was director of architectural design and construction. He joined Perkowitz + Ruth in 1995 as project manager, was named associate in 1998 and has served as associate-in-charge of the firm’s Wal-Mart team.

He has also been the project manager for retail center developments such as Trails Village Center and Gateway Plaza, both market-anchored community shopping centers in Summerlin, Nev.

Swinerton Hires Gee as GM

Jeff Gee has joined San Francisco-based Swinerton Management & Consulting in the new position of general manager.

Gee comes to Swinerton Management & Consulting from the San Franciso office of Degenkolb Engineers, where he served as a vice president.

Gee worked for 12 years at UC Berkeley. For seven of those years, he served as the director of project management/capital projects, overseeing the management and implementation of more than $1.5 billion of capital projects including the seismic retrofit of existing buildings, renovations and renewal projects and construction of new facilities.

Newsom Named AIACC President

Robert L. Newsom, FAIA, has been elected president of the American Institute of Architects California Council, the nation’s largest state architectural organization.

Newsom is principal and regional director of Cannon Design.

Newsom’s projects include the Los Angeles Federal Building, U.S. Port of Entry in Calexico, which received a Presidential Award for Design Excellence from the General Services Administration and the National Endowment for the Arts.

He has served as regional director of the AIA on the National Board of Directors.

Gensler Promotes Hatzikian, Thompson

Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning Worldwide has appointed two new vice presidents in its Santa Monica office.

Arpy Hatzikian has been promoted to vice president. She is an adjunct professor at Santa Monica College and a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Design Advisory Council.
Keith A. Thompson has also been promoted to a Gensler vice president.

For more than 25 years, Thompson has been involved in aviation facility planning and design services at more than 60 airports worldwide. Following the 9/11 attacks, he has been engaged in developing terminal security solutions at more than half a dozen U.S. airports.

Gunter Promoted to Regional Director

Irvine-based Ware Malcomb, an architectural and interior design firm, has promoted Rick Gunter to regional director of its Denver office.

Gunter has been with Ware Malcomb since 1997.

He has more than 14 years of architectural experience. He is a licensed architect in Colorado and California.

Buresh Appointed COO of LAUSD

Timothy B. Buresh has been named chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

He most recently served as director of construction and engineering for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, a $2.4 billion project in Los Angeles County that was completed last April.

Buresh will manage the implementation of Measure K, a $3.35 billion bond that gave the district a 68-percent public mandate to complete construction of 80 new schools and 79 school expansions.

Buresh has worked in a diverse mix of industries. He was with CRSS Constructors, a construction management firm, from 1983 through 1990 and then again from 1994 to 1998 as a vice president for large public works projects on the west coast.

He is a civil engineer, registered in 10 states, and an attorney registered with the California State Bar.

Dianat Named Senior VP

<p>Los Angeles-based Syska Hennessy Group, a major consulting, engineering,
technology, and construction firm, has named Brittany Dianat a senior
vice president.<br>
</p>
<p>She manages the firm&#146;s critical facilities group and is the national
account manager for the Bank of America/Syska Hennessy relationship, which
involves on-call services for facilities nationwide. <br>
Dianat has more than 16 years of experience with the planning, design
and engineering of critical-facility systems. </p>

HDR Names Ruby, Wessels VPs

The San Diego office of HDR has promoted Eric J. Ruby and Eric Wessels to vice president.
Prior to being named vice president, Ruby was operational manager for HDR’s Southern California environmental and resource management program and western region manager for the community planning program. He has been with HDR since 1999.

Wessels was water and wastewater business group manager for the San Diego region prior to being named vice president. Wessels has been with Omaha, Neb.-based HDR since 2000.

Meyers Named President, CEO

The mechanical and electrical consulting firm of Flack + Kurtz Inc. has appointed Randy J. Meyers president and chief executive officer of the global engineering company. Former President and CEO Norman D. Kurtz will remain the firm’s chairman of the board.

Meyers, 46, joined the San Francisco office of Flack + Kurtz in 1984, following a five-year tenure as chief electrical engineer and associate of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

As part of the transition, Mark Belgarde will become managing director for the San Francisco office. Alan Zlotkowski will continue as managing director of the New York office.

Meyers is a member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Inc., the Illuminating Engineering Society and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.