Dennis K. Henning, Frank Domingo
NEW YORK, NY—Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) announced the appointments of Dennis K. Henning as a senior engineering manager in the Dallas office and Frank Domingo as a senior project control specialist in the Los Angeles office.

Henning will be responsible for developing and managing transit and rail projects throughout PB’s South Central Region. His 35 years of civil and environmental engineering and project/program management experience includes more than 19 years managing design, construction support, and environmental studies for major rail and transit projects located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Domingo comes to PB from a transportation consulting firm where he worked on a variety of Los Angeles area projects. He has 17 years’ experience and, for PB, will be responsible for budget/cost management, contract change control, and subcontract administration for the Los Angeles Metro Regional Connector project.


Ian Newberg
COLUMBIA, MD—Ian Newberg, a graduate of the Leadership APTA Class of 2001, has been appointed managing director for public transport, North America, for ACS, A Xerox Company.

Newberg comes to ACS from Parkeon, where he served as vice president of new business beginning in 2006 and was promoted to president in 2009. He succeeds Bob Jones, who is now focusing on large business pursuits for ACS’ Transportation Solutions Group.


Harry Saporta
PORTLAND, OR—The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has named Harry Saporta its safety and security executive.

During his 31-year career, Saporta has worked on major transit projects around the world. Most recently, he worked in Abu Dhabi as lead of the Surface Transport Safety and Security Project for all modes of surface transportation for the United Arab Emirates Department of Transport. He earlier spent 19 years with TriMet during the construction of three MAX light rail lines, and is a former director of safety and security for the Federal Transit Administration.

Robert Kalivoda, Fotos Andreou, David Loutit
OMAHA, NE—HDR has expanded into Australia with the hiring of Robert Kalivoda, Fotos Andreou, and David Loutit of the former RK Consultancy Services (RKCS), based in Melbourne.

RKCS founder Kalivoda will be the managing director of HDR International in Australia. He earlier held senior management positions with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Credit Suisse First Boston, and American Express. Andreou has extensive experience advising water authorities and previously held senior positions with Treasury Corporation of Victoria and the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. Loutit is a management consultant in the transportation, agriculture, textile, infrastructure, corrections, and government services sectors.

Shana Ellis, Ron Aames, Michael Johnson
PHOENIX, AZ—The Valley Metro Board of Directors elected Tempe Councilmember Shana Ellis as its chair. Peoria Councilmember Ron Aames was elected vice chair and Phoenix Councilmember Michael Johnson treasurer.

Ellis has served on the Tempe City Council since March 2006. She retired from the Tempe Community Council in 2006 after 20 years of service working with nonprofit organizations and community groups, and now is a board member of the community council. She also serves on the Maricopa Association of Governments Transportation Policy Committee and several committees of the National League of Cities.

Aames is an independent marketing consultant who has also been a corporate executive for high-tech, banking, and marketing firms. He joined the Peoria City Council in 2007. His background in planning and city development includes a Ph.D., focused on urban development, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Johnson has served since 2002 as a councilmember representing District 8, which includes Sky Harbor Airport, Downtown Phoenix, and South Phoenix. He retired from the Phoenix Police Department in 1995 after 21 years as a police officer, community relations officer, and detective, and is now president and chief executive of Nkosi Inc., a security service firm.



Jian Guo (Gordon) Yu
VALLEY FORGE, PA—Gannett Fleming announced the appointment of Jian Guo (Gordon) Yu, Ph.D., C.Eng., as manager of traction power analysis for Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems.

He is based in New Hampshire and has more than 26 years of experience in traction power system simulation and analysis.

For APTA, Yu serves on the Power, Signals and Communications Technical Forum and the Research and Technology Committee.


Michael Buehlhorn, John Langa
ST. LOUIS, MO—Michael Buehlhorn has joined the Board of Commissioners of Metro in St. Louis, appointed by the St. Clair County Board. He succeeds Dr. James T. Rosborg, whose term expired.

Buehlhorn has served since 2004 as executive director of the Metro East Park and Recreation District, and was mayor of Swansea, IL, from 1985 to 2003. He was a board member of the St. Clair County Transit District from 1981 to 2001, a member of the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council from 1990 to 1997, and a member of the site selection committee for St. Clair County MetroLink from 1992 to 1994.

Also, Metro announced the hiring of John Langa as vice president of economic development. He has nine years of public sector experience in economic development and real estate brokerage and development, acting most recently as a vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle.


Lisa DeTaranti
BOSTON—Lisa DeTaranti, a 25-year veteran of the transportation industry, has joined Vanasse Hangen Brustlin as northeast director of transit and rail, with responsibility for projects in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Throughout her career, DiTaranti has led alternative analyses and planning efforts on large-scale projects in those three states.



Douglas R. Clark, David Hill, Ron Eickelman, Donna Peeples
WASHINGTON, DC—Douglas R. Clark, president of the Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha, has been elected chairperson of NGVAmerica. He succeeds Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., who remains on the board as the immediate past chair.

Also elected were David Hill, vice president, natural gas economy operations, for Encana, vice chair; Ron Eickelman, president, Agility Fuel Systems, treasurer; and Donna Peeples, vice president & chief marketing officer, AGL Resources, corporate secretary.

Edward A. Mierzejewski
TAMPA, FL—Edward A. Mierzejewski, Ph.D., P.E., has joined Gannett Fleming as director of transportation research, based in the Tampa office.

Mierzejewski brings more than 40 years of transportation planning experience to the firm. He spent the past 22 years at the University of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research, most recently serving as its director.




Woodrow L. Moore
PHOENIX, AZ—Stantec recently hired Woodrow L. Moore as vice president and practice leader for its Desert, Mountain and Pacific Northwest transportation groups.

Moore has more than 30 years of large-scale project experience with all modes of surface transportation in the public and private sectors. Most recently, he was vice president of a national facilities, infrastructure, and aviation consulting firm.

Stacie H. (Soumbeniotis) Tiongson
WASHINGTON, DC—Stacie H. (Soumbeniotis) Tiongson has joined the law firm Kaplan, Kirsch & Rockwell as Of Counsel in the Washington office.

Until December 2010, Tiongson was deputy chief counsel to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I). Earlier, she served for 10 years as staff director of the T&I Subcommittee on Aviation.

David Markunas
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Urban Engineers Inc. announced the hiring of David Markunas as director of client development.

Markunas brings more than two decades of engineering and construction industry experience to the position, having worked for both public agencies and private firms. His experience includes employment with the New Schools Development Authority and the New Jersey Department of Treasury, where he spent nearly 14 years.


Anthony Zbierajewski
SEATTLE, WA--Anthony Zbierajewski has joined Michael Baker Jr. Inc. as a senior rail systems construction manager, technical consultant II, based in the Seattle office.

He has more than 22 years of professional experience in major transit and railroad projects, working in both the public and private sectors.

Brad Underwood
CINCINNATI, OH—Brad Underwood, a First Transit employee who serves as executive dir4ector for the Texoma Area Paratransit System (TAPS) in Sherman, TX, has been named Outstanding General Manager of the Year by the Texas Transit Association.

Underwood began his transportation career as chairman of the TAPS board in 2007 and was named executive director in 2009. He has been with First Transit for nearly two years.

Rodney Hardy
ST. PETERSBURG, FL—The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) Board of Directors honored bus operator Rodney Hardy for a 30-year career of accident-free driving.

Hardy began his career with the former Central Pinellas Transit Authority in 1980 as a recent college graduate. While he originally thought of his job as temporary, he realized that “it was such a good fit that I never looked back.”

In addition to his safety record, Hardy received recognition in 1996 as Driver of the Year for both PSTA and the state of Florida—the only bus operator from the agency to accomplish that feat.