Leadership

Raj is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DLZ Corporation. Raj is a recognized professional expert in the area of water resources development and control involving various types of control structures. He is well respected by his peers in the water resources engineering field as well as various local, state and federal government officials. His leadership and expertise have proven invaluable time and again to our clients in the planning and execution of projects associated with the development of water resources for a multitude of uses such as power generation, flood control, recreation, irrigation and domestic consumption. In addition to his management role for DLZ Corporation, Raj heads DLZ’s international joint venture, India Hydropower Development Company (IHDC), which manages hydropower facilities across India. Recently, Raj launched a new DLZ division, DLZ Hydrokinetic Company, to develop hydrokinetic turbines, for which he serves as the President.

Ram is responsible for corporate operations including human resources and information technology.  He leads DLZ’s efforts in mergers and acquisitions for new markets.

His technical background specializes in the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) applications using Microsoft .NET and ESRI ArcGIS. His project experience includes leading DLZ’s participation in the O’Hare Modernization Program Management Joint Venture at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Oakland County, Michigan Water Resources Commission’s storm water asset management programs.

Ram also serves as Corporate Secretary and is a member of the Board of Directors.

Joe is DLZ’s Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for oversight of DLZ’s six operating divisions. Joe maintains close contact with DLZ operational Presidents and Discipline Leaders to ensure that work is being completed on time and to the complete satisfaction of our clients. His other management-related responsibilities include the development of the firm’s resources including computer software, and formulation of office procedures and practices to effectively accomplish sound architectural and engineering design for all projects. Additionally, Joe is involved with numerous projects either in an engineering design role or corporate management oversight role.

Brian manages DLZ’s operations in Indiana. He is responsible for overseeing and coordinating contracts, production, staff, and financial management issues. He is also responsible for development of the firm’s resources including computer software, and formulation of office procedures and practices to effectively accomplish sound architectural and engineering design for all projects. Brian maintains close contact with the project team to ensure that work is being completed on time and to the complete satisfaction of clients. He has provided civil engineering services for various site development, environmental, transportation and building projects.

Manoj serves as President of DLZ Michigan, Inc. and leads the overall management and growth of DLZ’s five offices in Michigan which provide engineering, architecture, and construction services throughout the entire Great Lakes region. As a Principal in the firm, he also provides guidance and supervision to numerous significant transportation, construction services and water projects throughout the Midwestern United States.

Mr. Brumm brings over two decades of diversified experience in design and construction of highway and other civil engineering projects. Greg’s technical management experience includes serving as Construction Manager for the recently completed Roselle Road / I-90 Interchange.

Bob serves as the President of DLZ’s Ohio operations. In this role, he closely monitors the progress of all contracts, reviews scheduling, staffing requirements, and quality control measures, and provides quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) for many of the firm’s federal, state, municipal, educational and private sector projects. Bob brings significant project experience in the design and preparation of construction documents for urban roadway and highway designs, site development, residential subdivision engineering, right-of-way engineering and community development infrastructure improvement projects, high precision machinery surveying, materials testing, construction inspection and property surveying services. He is also experienced in reinforced concrete design of bridges.

Kurt serves as President of DLZ’s industrial operation. His responsibilities include oversight of the overall activities of the industrial company, its divisions, and its professional staff and project coordination. His experience in industrial surveying, material quality assurance testing, and project engineering provides him the background to be an industry engineering leader and mentor. Developing and maintaining client relationships is another daily focus which has paid dividends in the industrial growth over the past decades.

Mr. Draper is the President of our Kentucky operations. He develops project plans, site inspection, supervision of technical staff, and project management related administrative tasks. He manages engineering projects for both public and private sector clients. He has prepared plans for highway and transportation improvements as well as industrial parks and site layouts, including utility relocations and coordination. Mr. Draper’s background is in transportation engineering, and he has experience in public involvement, geometric design, drainage analysis, traffic control plans, and erosion control measures.

Pablo is a civil engineer and hydropower expert, with over 20 years of combined academic and professional experience in the fields of hydropower development, hydraulic engineering, river engineering, and hydrology. His experience encompasses both academic and professional consultancy for the public and private sectors, in Costa Rica, Germany, and Central America.

Since 2006 Dr. Porras has been part of the consultancy team of DLZ Carbon (formerly CARBON Ingeniería, acquired by DLZ Corporation in 2021). He is currently President at DLZ Carbon, senior project manager, and senior hydraulic designer. He has overseen hydrologic studies and hydropower potential assessment, project layout definition, prefeasibility, and feasibility studies, and hydraulic design for over 20 small and medium hydropower plants in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Guyana, and Colombia. He has been in charge of numerous hydrologic and hydraulic studies for bridges, drainage, runoff management, and river protection works. As a Project Manager and design expert, he currently leads the design and implementation consultancy for several large renewable energy and water infrastructure projects.

Laurie is a Vice President and Principal in charge of DLZ’s Indianapolis office. She is focused on marketing, business development, and client relations in the transportation, municipal, and program management markets. Additionally, Laurie provides highway and bridge engineering services to DLZ clients. Laurie’s additional background and experience includes serving as the Assistant County Engineer for St. Joseph County, Indiana. Laurie is a member of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety’s Peer to Peer Programs providing technical assistance in Local and Rural Road Safety Program and Road Safety Audits Program.

Mike serves as a Vice President in DLZ’s Fort Wayne office. His experience includes project design and management of several facility engineering projects consisting of over 1.2 million S.F. of new building construction and over 1.5 million S.F. of existing building renovation. His experience also includes project management of several Federal, State and Local government pavement reconstruction projects. He has extensive experience with highway design, roadway alignments, reconstruction, widening, resurfacing, braces, drainage design, maintenance-of-traffic, right-of-way design, design study reports, permit applications, design exceptions, design calculations, quantity computation, special provisions, cost estimates and contract documents. Mr. Trevino has also served as Right-of-Way Engineer. His responsibilities included overseeing operations of right-of-way permit section for new water and sewer permits and construction inspection.

Andy has significant project management, design and construction supervision experience in municipal storm water, wastewater and drinking water distribution/collection, pumping and treatment projects. Along with preparing construction specifications, drawings and construction cost estimates, he has also completed facilities needs assessments and treatability studies. He has also managed large Brownfield redevelopment projects with accelerated schedules. These projects have included coordination/management with other state and federal agencies and subconsultants.

Ricardo has 20 years of experience in business development and primarily focuses on business development efforts in Michigan. He has a wealth of experience in all aspects of business development strategy and has developed comprehensive programs for broadening the customer base and establishing critical industry partnerships.

Mr. Mark D. Kessinger, PMP, FSAME, is DLZ’s Vice President of Water Resources and Dam Safety. Mr. Kessinger joined DLZ in 2016 following a distinguished career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has over 35 years of experience managing complex civil works projects including dams, floodwalls, levees, and navigation locks. As Vice President, he is responsible for DLZ’s services on federal, state and municipal water resources and dam safety projects. Mr. Kessinger is a Fellow and Life Member in the Society of American Military Engineers, a Past President of the Huntington Post and currently serves as an advisor to the Post.

Barry serves as the General Counsel for DLZ. He has practiced law since 1983, and has been AV Peer Review rated by Martindale-Hubbell for more than twenty years. As a former equity partner at a leading law firm, Barry has in-depth knowledge of corporate law and its application in the architecture, engineering, and construction related industries.

As the Senior Vice President of Ohio Operations, Gary focuses on managing and growing the Ohio operations, which includes offices in Akron, Bellefontaine, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Logan, and Toledo and over 125 employees. Gary has been with DLZ for over 23 years and has been instrumental in growing DLZ’s Field Services Disciplines while assisting in the overall growth of the operation. Most recently, Mr. Bowen focused on managing the firm’s surveying and construction management, inspection and testing services in Ohio. He has worked on nearly every type of public infrastructure construction including; highways, roadways, bridges, dam removals, waterway restoration, trenchless utility rehabilitation and traditional utility replacement. He will continue to be actively engaged in managing projects and overseeing day-to-day operations.

Mr. Hessler has been with DLZ for over 28 years and has been instrumental in developing successful client relationships in the Cleveland and Akron Area. Recently, he has focused on large infrastructure improvement projects. He has extensive design and construction experience that includes sanitary collection systems, stormwater conveyance, pipe rehabilitation, water distribution, civil/site development, and highways and bridges. As Vice President of Northern Ohio Operations, Mr. Hessler develops strategies to expand the firm’s regional market share.

Tom serves as Senior Vice President and overseas Northeast Ohio client relations with a focus on the water sector. He is responsible for the day-today operations ensuring that contractual obligations are fulfilled and that work is progressing to the clients’ satisfaction. He regularly reviews schedules, staffing requirements, budgets, and quality control measures. Additionally, Tom performs project management and client coordination; client development in concert with DLZ’s marketing group; development of the firm’s resources including computer software; and formulation of office procedures and practices to effectively accomplish engineering/architectural design. Tom has an extensive background in wastewater facility planning, underground utility design, project management and construction management, including coordination between owners, contractors and engineers. He is experienced in working with the Corps of Engineers; Ohio Water Development Authority; and Ohio and U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies grant and loan programs.

As DLZ’s Corporate Controller, Vicki is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of all accounting and financial functions. She focuses on the supervision of the monthly close process, regular billings to clients, reimbursements from clients, collection of accounts receivable, supervising accounts payable, financial forecasting, annual budgeting and  annual tax return preparation. She is also part of a team that creates and implements corporate accounting policies and procedures.

As Vice President of DLZ American Drilling, Inc., Barry is responsible for overseeing all field and laboratory testing of construction materials. He has more than 20 years of experience working as a construction and geotechnical engineer and in the field of materials testing.  He is experienced in subsurface explorations, stability and seepage analyses, settlement, laboratory testing, geotechnical reports, landfills, landfill lining, roadway pavements, volume computation and field geotechnical observations and evaluations.

Craig serves as a Vice President and has responsibility for business development and marketing activities as well as assisting in the management of the Industrial practice. Craig’s experience includes project/construction management with large general contractors specializing in heavy civil projects and engineering firms in a management role dealing with similar type projects. These include highways, bridges, earth retention systems, wastewater treatment plants, general buildings, railways and casinos. His involvement has included all facets from job procurement to site development, and construction through project closeout. He has worked successfully with a variety of clients including federal, state, and local municipalities along with private owners maintaining positive relationships throughout.

Eric is a Principal Architect for DLZ’s architectural and building engineering practice. He is responsible for the operations of the architectural and building engineering division, including the overall quality for design. Many of his building designs have received design awards and recognition for excellence and innovation. He has extensive experience in correctional, military, educational, and historic preservation design and management.

Stephen is a Principal Architect for DLZ’s architectural and building engineering practice. His experience involves all phases of architectural practice, including project management, programming, design, production, specifications and construction administration, with a specialized expertise in facility programming and design. This experience combined with technical knowledge and sensitivity to clients needs provides an opportunity to achieve overall project quality of service to the client.

Mr. Beaulieu’s experience includes project management, design, preparation of construction documents, multi-discipline coordination, code analysis, cost analysis, bidding, and construction administration. Mr. Beaulieu has acquired experience in a wide variety of project types including renovations and new construction of all sizes and levels of complexity.  Most notably, his architectural experience includes projects for a broad range of federal, state, and local public agencies.

Gopalan has a comprehensive background working on a wide range of multifaceted design and construction projects in the public and private sector. Mr. Govender has nearly 20 years of experience in the Consulting Engineering/Construction field and has a comprehensive background working on a wide range of multifaceted design and construction projects.

Gary has more than 30 years of hands-on experience in the fields of engineering and design, having worked within both the private and public sectors of engineering consulting for American Electric Power Company and the Ohio Department of Transportation, respectively. His responsibilities have included the design and construction of sanitary sewer projects ranging from $75,000 to $54M, the design and construction of water distribution and treatment projects ranging from $30,000 to $18M. In addition to water and wastewater system projects, Gary is also experienced in the design of road improvements, storm water management, and site design for private sector developments.

Mr. Coffey serves as the Director of Water Practice at DLZ. His 26 years of professional engineering experience include more than six years with the Ohio EPA. He is an expert in the design of sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water distribution systems, and has specialized in the use of trenchless technologies. Mr. Coffey has served as a Project Manager and Lead Design Engineer on several large scale projects, with the largest exceeding $350 million in construction costs. His experience managing projects has involved sanitary/storm/combined sewer systems, tunnels, sewer rehabilitation, pump station and force main systems, wastewater treatment plants, water treatment and distribution, feasibility studies, general plans, and funding evaluations.

Mr. North has more than 16 years of experience on a variety of geotechnical and construction-related projects. His experience includes performing traditional geotechnical analyses in soil and rock including slope stability, bearing capacity, settlement, and preparing and conducting subsurface site explorations. His experience also includes construction management for many LPA projects, dam and reservoir assessments and investigations, oversight of field construction monitoring, as well as oversight of both laboratory and field-testing of construction materials.

Mr. Campbell is a dedicated and motivated transportation engineer with extensive engineering, project management, and leadership experience in both the private and public sector. He started his career with the Ohio Department of Transportation and has worked in the consulting industry for 18 years. He has experience leading modest to large complex projects and design teams. He also has experience with contracting, quality management, marketing, business development, client relations, practice growth, operations, and talent development.