Orange County Branch Newsletter

March 2016

ASCE LA

2016 Orange County Life Member Inductees

A brunch was held in honor of those members who have advanced to Life Member status in the society and in recognition of their career achievements on March 5, 2015. We are featuring the bios and recognizing the Orange County inductees this month.

 

 

Mohsen Beikae, P.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1981

Mohsen Beikae was born in the city of Shiraz in Iran.  He received his BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from the Tehran University in Iran. He obtained another MS degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.  He received his Ph.D. in Earthquake Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. His fields of specialties include Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering for embankment dams and Soil-Structure-Interaction.

Dr. Beikae is currently employed at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in Los Angeles and has been employed at TAGA Consultants in Berkeley and Woodward-Clyde Consultants in Santa Ana.  He considers his most gratifying position as a member of Diamond Valley Lake Design Team for Metropolitan Water District.  Dr. Beikae’s most significant career achievement was being involved in analysis, design, and construction of Diamond Valley Lake from inception to completion.

He is married to his wife, Shahrzad and they have two children, Taraneh and Nima.

Paul Stephen Carver, P.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1981

Paul Stephen Carver was born in Winnemucca, NV and now resides in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.  He received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University and did graduate work in CE at Cal State University Long Beach. His field of specialties is in Water/Wastewater.

Mr. Carver is currently employed at the Golden State Water Company. His past employers include Robert Bein, William Frost & Associates, PM Engineers, Willdan & Associates, BSI Consultants, Suburban Water Systems, and Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District.  His most gratifying position was being the Vice President of Engineering at the Suburban Water Systems for 16 years.

Mr. Carver’s most significant career achievement was serving as the Director and Chairman of the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster Board.  Other significant career achievements include:

• Designed the water/wastewater system for Rancho Santa Margarita
• Managed full-service engineering departments
• Planned, designed and managed construction of $10-$80M capital budgets to design and build water mains, water tanks, water wells, treatment plants, and recycled water systems
• An active leader in developing the water policies of the San Gabriel Valley and Central Basin
• Participated in developing water rates for 3 separate rate cases since 1992 for a water utility serving over 300,000 people; testified before an Administrative Law Judge on the need for additional capital expenditures by the water utility to maintain and improve water service

• Participated in negotiations with 4 water utilities and 17 corporate councils to negotiate the cleanup of ground water pollution in the San Gabriel Basin

Mr. Carver’s significant professional offices/positions held include:

• American Water Works Association – Past Chairman, Business Division
• San Gabriel Valley Water Association – Director and President of the Board
• Central Basin Water Association – Director and President of the Board
• San Gabriel Valley Water Quality Authority – Alternate Board Member
• Southern California Underground Service Alert – Board Member
• Rio Hondo College – Corporate Advisor for class curriculum
• OC Water Association and So. Cal. Water Utilities Association – Life Member

His most significant lifetime achievement is having a happy family, a 42-year marriage to his wife, Janiel.  They have 3 children, Claire, Danielle and Adrienne along with 8 grandchildren.

Bruce D. Harrigan, P.E., L.S.,M.ASCE Member Since 1976

Bruce D. Harrigan was born in Pasadena. He received his BS in Civil Engineering from University of Southern California and recently studied Critical Reasoning at Oxford University.

Mr. Harrigan worked for SC Edison, US Naval Engineering Command, FAA, The Irvine Company, Walt Disney Imagineering, Signal Landmark, Playa Vista, and Lennar Corporation.  He is currently self-employed.  He considers his most gratifying position and significant career achievement to be the VP of Land Development for Playa Vista, a project where everything physically, regulatory and politically was against them.  Through the sheer efforts of teams of very good people, they were able to prevail.  Playa Vista is a 1,100 acre coastal mixed use real estate development in West LA.  The fortune of working on such a well-financed project allows the assemblage of great talent and it was an honor leading such people.

The role of a project manager has the advantage of dealing with significant projects from commencement to completion.  The disadvantage is often the details, the actual on-the-board design, is in the hands of the myriad of design professionals under your direction and as PM you can only hope to influence it.  There isn’t the traditional engineer’s joy of putting ideas to paper.   Mr. Harrigan has been very fortunate to work upon some very different and significant projects from deep water wells through layers of lava to top-secret manufacturing facilities for the government.  Real Estate projects such as Woodbridge, Turtle Rock and Newport Coast have a particular place in his heart as they provide an ongoing evidence of the work he did.  With the exception of Disneyland Paris, most of his work has been in Southern California and Hawaii and almost always the large, mega-projects.  It takes a different skill set to deal with these, much more of a renaissance of abilities than those he was typically taught in engineering school.

Bruce’s most significant life time achievement is having a great family and just a great life as a civil engineer.

Mr. Harrigan has served on the Board of many organizations. He has been called to be an expert witness for the CA Engineering Board and most recently has served as a member of the state’s Safety Assessment Program and his city’s CERT program.

Bruce is married to Eileen and they have two children, Jennifer and Philip.

John Hogan, P.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1973

John C. Hogan was born in Palo Alto, CA and currently lives in Laguna Hills since 1975.  He earned a BS in Civil Engineering from USC and a MS in Civil Engineering from CSU, Long Beach.  His field of specialty is Land Development.

Mr. Hogan is currently employed by Hall & Foreman, Inc., and previously worked at Southern California Gas Company and Albert C. Martin & Associates. His most gratifying position has been being the CEO of HFI from 1996-2015. He is now a senior vice president for David Evans & Associates, Inc. and a member of the Board of Directors of David Evans Enterprises, Inc. Mr. Hogan considers his most significant career achievement as leading HFI over 18 years, having faced the challenges of managing tremendous growth and expansion. He presided over the rebuilding years leading up to the 2014 merger with DEA, and was particularly proud during his years as CEO, Hall & Foreman, Inc. achieved perennial annual national recognition by CE News as a Best Civil Engineering Firm to Work For.  His most significant projects at HFI included the award winning master planned communities of Covenant Hills/Ladera Ranch in Orange County and the Village of Heritage in Fontana for the design and construction of hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure.

Mr. Hogan first joined ASCE as a student member and has been active in ASCE and held numerous leadership positions. He was president of the LA Section AMF (now YMF), the Orange County Branch, and the Los Angeles Section. He is currently in the 2nd year of a 3-year term as Region 9 Governor. He also currently serves on the boards of the OC Chapter of the Building Industry Association and of One OC, and is a member of the advisory council for the Civil Engineering Dept. at CSULB.  He is a past board chair of the Mission Viejo YMCA

His most significant lifetime achievement is being a husband to Becky, a father to their 7 children, Jennifer, Jason, Geoffrey, Jeff, Scott, Kellee, and Richard, and a grandfather of 6 grandchildren.

Kevin Vincent Keegan, P.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1973

Kevin Vincent Keegan currently resides in Mission Viejo, CA. He received his BS degree in Engineering from California State University Northridge.  His professional licenses and registrations include:

• Professional Registration as Civil Engineer in California, 1978
• General Engineering Contractor, 1994
• General Building Contractor, 1995
• Professional Registration as Professional Engineer in New Mexico, 2010
• Pipeline Inspection/Review Certification: Pipeline Assessment & Condition Program, 2014

ASCE thanks Mr. Keegan for his military service as a Combat Engineer and served in Germany and Vietnam.

Mr. Keegan is currently a sole-practitioner and provides consulting civil engineering and forensic review services related to site and pipeline design and construction.  His past employers were William Rose & Associates, Masterman & Associates, Kevin Keegan & Associates, and Highline Construction Company.

As a Civil Engineer, Mr. Keegan has designed and overseen the construction of many projects such as:

• The 90 lot subdivision in the Santa Monica Mountains, which included the grading of approximately 2 million cubic yards of soil in two grading phases, and the construction of all site improvements
• Structural foundation underpinning of hillside residences
• Construction of new residences, the remodel of others, and the construction of a hillside and flatland site improvements
• Civil engineering related services ranging from Auburn to Oceanside, CA
• The forensic review and analysis of approximately 5 miles of recently constructed sanitary sewer trunk and onsite residential lines, and the repair of defects within the same.

Mr. Keegan has been a member of ASCE since 1979, and NASSCO since 2013.

He is married to his beautiful wife, Alethea, and they have four children and eight grandchildren.

Kris Khilnani, P.E.,G.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1981

Kris Khilnani was born in India and currently resides in Newport Beach, CA.  He received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from the Nagpur University in India and a MS degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalor, India. His fields of specialties include Geotechnical and Environmental Services.

Mr. Khilnani is currently employed at Advanced Earth Sciences, Inc. (AES) in Irvine.  His past employers include B.C. Hydro & Power Authority, Shawinigan Engineering Company Limited, and Earth Tech.  He considers his most gratifying position as being the Owner and President of Advanced Earth Sciences, Inc.  Mr. Khilnani’s most significant career achievement was having a diversifying career from design of some of the largest dams/hydro projects to a leading consultant in design and construction of solid waste facilities.

His other significant career achievements include:

• 45+ years of multi-discipline expertise of design and construction of earth and rockfill downs, highways and transportation corridors, waste disposal facilities (landfills and wastewater projects) and infrastructure projects
• Founded AES in 1995 and in 20 years, AES has become a leading provider of design and construction quality assurance (CQA) services for 100+ landfill projects and earned the status of “Consultant of First Choice” for major public sector clients
• Responsible for providing technical oversight, directing and mentoring projects and technical staff and seeing them grow to the positions of senior project managers and principals of the firm

Mr. Khilnani’s significant professional offices/positions held and organizations are:

• Active member of the Geosynthetic Institute, involved in the Research & Development in Geosynthetics
• Member of the International Congress on Large Dams (ICOLD)

He considers his most significant lifetime achievement as having raised a wonderful family with two highly accomplished children, Avinash and Sarita with his wife, Mira.  They have four grandchildren.

Thomas Rath, P.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1981

Thomas Rath was born in Portland, Oregon and currently lives in Lake Forest, California.  He earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University.  His field of specialty is Construction.

Mr. Rath is currently employed by Shimmick/FCC/Impregilo JV – Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement. His past employers include Morrison Knudsen Corp., Alaska Petroleum Contractors, Flatiron Construction Corp., and Washington Group International. Mr. Rath’s most gratifying position was being a Project Manager.  His most significant career achievement was working on the construction of the Aeropropulsion System Test Facility in Tennessee.

Mr. Rath’s other significant career achievements are:

• Construction of the Liquid Natural Gas Terminal in Maryland
• Prefabrication of the Oil-Gas Modules in California, Oregon and the installation on the North Slope of Alaska
• Construction of the GM Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas
• Construction of the five (5) State Prisons in Idaho, Oregon and Texas
• Completion of the design/build of the SR133 Toll Road in Orange County
• Provided construction services to reconstruct and widen the four lanes, 118 miles of the New Mexico SR 44 Highways

Significant professional offices/positions held and organizations include:

• SAME – 2001 President, Albuquerque Post
• ACNM – 2001 Environmental Committee Member
• Provided technical review for an ASCE publication, “Who Provides Inspection”

Mr. Rath’s most significant lifetime achievement was receiving the Safety Awards for 1) over 2.5 million man-hours worked without a work zone accident, 2) over 1 million safe work hours, and 3) over 500 days without a lost time accident.

Mr. Rath is married to his wife, April and they have two children, Brandon and Hadon and five grandchildren

Ernesto E. Vicente, Ph.D, P.E., M.ASCE Member Since 1981

Ernesto E. Vicente was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and currently lives in Tustin, CA.  He earned his degrees from the National University in Cordoba, Argentina and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.  His field of specialty is Geotechnical and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering.

Mr. Vicente is currently self-employed and previously worked at Hidronor, Woodward-Clyde Consultants, Harding-Lawson Associates, Fluor-Daniel, Rust Environment and Infrastructure, Hushmand Associates, Vicente GeoServices and Fugro Consultants. He found his gratifying positions as 1) a Resident Engineer for the construction of an earth-fill dam in Southern Argentina, and 2) a Lead Geotechnical Engineer for the geotechnical exploration for major infrastructure projects.  Mr. Vicente considers his most significant career achievement as being the Lead Geotechnical Engineer for a $4.5 billion expansion of the Sangachal Gas Terminal by the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, or the “Shah Deniz 2 Project” as part of the Fugro Consult GmbH team of Berlin, Germany.

His other significant career achievements include:

• Arroyito Hydroelectric Project, Argentina (geotechnical exploration, design and construction of earth-fill dam, river diversion, cofferdam, spillway and 100 MW powerplant)
• Maracaibo Lake Dikes, Venezuela (geotechnical and earthquake engineering evaluation)
• Ravong Refinery, Thailand (geotechnical exploration, design and earthworks and foundations construction)
• Olinda-Alpha Landfill Expansion (geotechnical exploration, landslide exploration and stabilization; civil design and construction)
• Gardella Dam, Tuolomne County, California (geotechnical exploration and earth-fill dam and spillway design)
• Various Port of Los Angeles modernization projects, including several marine landfilling, dredging, channel deepening berth development projects
• Windfarm, Chile
• JWPCP Treated Effluent Outfall Tunnel for Los Angeles Sanitation Districts (comprehensive geotechnical investigation)

His most significant lifetime achievement is his wonderful family, starting with his wife, Ines, their three loving children, Alex, Marcela and Gabriela and their four grandchildren.