Bennet Only Texan Nominated to Serve on FEMA Council

A&M’s Bennett recognized for emergency management expertise; also, construction attorneys elected and promotions at The Beck Group, HOK, STG and other design and engineering firms statewide.

The Texas A&M University System recently announced that Dr. G. Kemble
Bennett, vice chancellor of engineering for and dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been nominated to serve on the Federal Emergency Management's National Advisory Council. In this capacity, Bennett and other council members will help ensure effective and ongoing coordination of the federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. Specifically, the council will focus attention in the development and revision of the national preparedness goal, the national preparedness system, the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan and other related plans and strategies. The development of the National Advisory Committee was set into motion by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006. Members are appointed by the administrator and represent a geographic and significant cross section of officials from emergency management and law enforcement, and include homeland security directors, adjutants general, emergency response providers from state, local and tribal governments, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations. Bennett, who was selected for the Emergency Management category, is the only Texan nominated to serve on the Council. Bennett is a leader in local, state and national homeland security and emergency response. He was the founding chairman of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Domestic Preparedness Consortium where he served for five years. He is executive director of the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center and the founder of Texas Task Force-1 (TX-TF1), a FEMA federal urban search and rescue team. He served as director of the team and was deployed to the World Trade Center following the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Bennett joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1986 and prior to his current appointment, served as department head in industrial engineering; associate dean; associate vice chancellor; and director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and the TEEX.

The Beck Group recently announced that Mark Collins has been named chief financial officer, overseeing the financial and administrative functions for the company. He is responsible for corporate functions relating to risk management, legal, information technology, treasury, and accounting. Collins has been serving as interim CFO since October 2006. He joined The Beck Group in 1999 as financial controller. Throughout his tenure he has led the upgrade and transformation of the Enterprise Resource Planning system, has served on Beck's corporate risk committee, has chaired Beck's operations innovation committee and co-managed Beck's captive insurance company.

Susman Tisdale Gayle in Austin recently announced that Chris Covey has taken on the role of construction administrator for the Healthcare division of STG. He graduated from University of Texas with a bachelor’s of science in architecture. Jennifer Mejia also recently joined STG. Mejia brings more than ten years of diverse interior design experience to STG. Through her ability to implement creative solutions, she will be responsible for managing interior design services and will work closely with clients to prioritize their needs and exceed their expectations. Mejia received her bachelor’s of science in Interior Design from Texas State University.

HOK recently announced that Sandra Paret, senior vice president, has been appointed to the leadership team of the firm's global Corporate Marketplace Group. In this position, Paret will focus on service delivery for HOK's growing number of national and global corporate accounts. She will continue to serve on the Dallas Management Committee and the firm's Project Delivery Board. A licensed architect and interior designer, Paret is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Texas Society of Architecture. She received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in architecture from Texas A&M University, where she earned the College of Architecture's Outstanding Alumni Award in 2004. HOK senior vice president Bill Prindle has relocated to Dallas from HOK's San Francisco office to assume the role of principal - management of the Dallas office. He will also serve as Justice marketplace leader for the Southwest region. His commitment to Justice Architecture led to his appointment to Chair the AIA Committee on Architecture for Justice. He has served on advisory committees of the National Institute of Corrections, has been a design jury panel member for the AIA, and has been a speaker at ACA conferences on ADA, life safety and design issues. A 14-year veteran of HOK, Prindle is a licensed architect. He earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from Utah State University and a master's degree in architecture from the University of Colorado.

State Bar of Texas Construction Law Section recently elected construction attorneys Robert Bass and Michelle Rieger as council members. Austin shareholder Robert Bass was elected Chair and Dallas shareholder Michelle Rieger was elected Vice-Chair. Announcements were made at the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting.

LJA Engineering & Surveying Inc. (LJA) announced recently that Andrés A. Pulido has joined the firm as a planner in the Houston Planning and Landscape Architecture Group. Andrés has more than 12 years of design and project management experience in planning, urban design and landscape architecture. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association and the U.S. Green Building Council. Andrés received a bachelor’s of architecture from Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico and a master’s of landscape architecture from Louisiana State University. Humberto “Bert” Estrada has joined LJA Engineering & Surveying Inc. (LJA) as project manager in the firm's Houston Land Development Division. Estrada brings to LJA 30 years of civil design experience in land development projects. Douglas K. Kneupper, PE, has joined LJA as project manager in the firm's Houston Land Development Division. A licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, he is a graduate of The University of Houston with a bachelor’s of science in Civil Engineering. Mark Scioneaux, ASLA, has joined LJA as a senior landscape architect in the Houston Planning and Landscape Architecture Group. He has more than 23 years of experience in landscape architecture. Richard De La Cruz, PE, has joined LJA as a project manager in the firm's San Antonio office. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering. William Dupal, PE, has joined LJA as a structural engineer in the firm's Houston Transportation Division. He is a graduate of The University of Houston with a bachelor’s of science in civil engineering. Wilson Wong, PE, has been promoted to senior project manager in the Houston Transportation Division of LJA. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s and master’s of science in civil engineering.