Alan Krause

Alan Krause is named executive vice president of Canada-based design firm Stantec Inc., following the May 6 closing of its $795-million acquisition of engineer-constructor MWH Global, of which he was chairman and CEO. Krause will be president of the MWH unit’s global operations and lead its Stantec integration, he and Stantec CEO Bob Gomes told ENR. The deal provides MWH with better access to capital for growth and market expansion; Stantec gains from integrating a water-sector leader with a more global platform for acquisitions and lessens its dependence on the oil-and-gas sector. “Water is less cyclical than commodities,” said Gomes. MWH also gains a foothold in Canada, added Krause.

The executive said overlap and culture clash between the firms is minimal and that MWH’s Innovyze software and Hawksley consulting units, as well as its construction business, will remain intact, focused mainly on the needs of water-sector clients, particularly in the U.K. “Construction is a different business,” said Gomes. “We won’t integrate it. We will bundle it.” Krause said having the varied services “under one roof is a risk-aversion strategy.” Stantec will announce its first-quarter earnings on May 12.

MWH also elevated Dean Bell to senior vice president. A 21-year veteran based in Atlanta, he is a senior client service manager and government-relations leader at the firm, it said.

Michael Stephan has been named commercial director of Germany-based engineer Lahmeyer International GmbH and chief financial officer of its parent, Lahmeyer Group. Formerly CFO of utility ENGIE Deutschland AG, he succeeds Markus Auer, who left the firm. Lahmeyer is part of ENGIE—the new name adopted last month by French gas utility GDF SUEZ Group—through the 2014 purchase of the German firm’s parent, Tractebel Engineering. ENGIE said its name change was a sign of the global energy sector’s “profound” transformation, characterized by the renewables push. Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE deputy CEO, assumed the chief executive role on May 2. She is the first woman to lead one of France’s top-40 publicly traded firms.

Samuel S. Dannaway has joined Seattle-based Coffman Engineers as vice president of fire-protection technology, following its May 3 buy of S.S. Dannaway Associates Inc., a Honolulu fire-protection engineer of which he was founder and president. Coffman ranks at No. 221 on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms, with about $58.3 million in revenue. Dannaway partners Robert T. Bigtas and Jay T. Higashi now are Coffman principals.

Ontario design firm exp has elevated Mark Dvorak to chief operating officer. He was vice president for transportation in the firm’s U.S. central region, based in Chicago.

Charles "Charlie" Manning

Charles “Charlie” Manning has joined California-based design-builder Parsons as senior vice president and infrastructure leader for New York and New Jersey. He is based in New York City. According to his LinkedIn profile, Manning was senior vice president for North America design at AECOM and a 25-year firm veteran. Brian Quinlan also joins Parsons as vice president and area manager of its construction business unit in Washington, D.C. He was area manager for Archer Western.