California Rail Builders LLC, a joint venture led by Ferrovial Construction, appointed Miguel Mora as its chief executive officer. Mora, an aeronautical engineer, joined California Rail Builders in 2018 as contract manager, bringing 18 years of experience managing singular complex construction projects. In addition to his work in the U.S., Mora has led multidisciplinary project teams in the Middle East and Europe. California Rail Builders was selected by the California High Speed Rail Authority to design and build the CP4 package of the first high-speed rail system in the country.

Alicia Loh Ortiz has been named DPR Construction’s Southern California co-business unit leader. Ortiz joined DPR Construction in 2006 and has held past roles on the firm’s innovation and operation teams. In her new role, Ortiz will lead strategic growth and work to enhance the organization’s culture and people practices.

Alston Construction welcomes Hendrik van Niekerk to its Seattle business unit as preconstruction manager. With experience in managing design-build projects, understanding the VE process and leading design review working sessions, he will be responsible for overseeing projects and managing client relationships in multiple markets. 

Burns & McDonnell hired George Makrinos as a department manager to lead aviation and federal infrastructure projects. As an architectural department manager, Makrinos will support sales and marketing as well as growing the architectural practice in California. The firm also hired Justin Moffett as an environmental project manager. He will provide environmental permitting, compliance and project delivery for power infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest. Burns& McDonnell also says that Justin Sherman will lead the company’s team in San Diego, where he manages operations for critical infrastructure projects. Keil Anderson was hired as a project manager in Honolulu, leading transmission and distribution projects in Hawaii and the Pacific region.

Architecture firm Page & Turnbull announced a new leader, Peter Birkholz, and the debut of its fourth office in San Jose. Birkholz has served as a prime architect with Page & Turnbull, but he also has experience with diversity and inclusion, materials conservation and historic resource planning and assessments. Major projects underway this year include the Cheech Museum and the Glenn County Courthouse. Other projects include the adaptation of the Capitol Park Hotel in Sacramento into affordable housing and a rehabilitation of the San Jose Water Co. Building to form the centerpiece of Google’s future San Jose campus.

Technology and cybersecurity consulting firm 1898 & Co. has hired Sai Ramesh as a technical advisory consultant, providing utility consulting services for power distribution systems. Ramesh earned her master’s degree in engineering with a concentration on electric power and energy systems from Arizona State University.

LRS Architects Inc. has promoted Amalia Mohr to principal. She is NCIDQ certified and is the first interior designer to become a principal at the firm. LRS also promoted Chuck Archer to principal. Archer has experience with senior living construction and design and fosters a collaborative approach to the work environment. The firm also has promoted Ray Yancey to principal. Yancey has more than 30 years of experience and excels at balancing design considerations with technical requirements throughout the design process.