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ON THE MOVE DR. SUJAN PUNYAMURTHULA JOINS STANTEC’S WATER PRACTICE TO GROW FOOTPRINT ACROSS NORTH AMERICA Sujan Punyamurthula, Ph.D., MBA, PE, has joined Stantec – a global engineering, architecture, and consulting firm – as a North American Water Growth Leader. A senior vice president in the firm’s Water practice, Punyamurthula will collaborate with team members across North America to identify and foster growth opportunities that span business lines. While his primary focus is the Water sector, he will work with the firm’s network of industry leaders to develop and build long-term strategies to position Stantec for growth across the U.S. and Canada in alignment with innovation and sustainability goals. Basedout ofSacramento, Punyamurthula has nearly three decades of experience building, growing, and managing large multidisciplinary programs. He is well known in the civil engineering industry as a thought leader who can integrate global expertise on emerging technologies to optimize the planning and implementation of infrastructure programs across the U.S. “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Sujan Punyamurthula to our growing North American Water team,” said John Take, Stantec’s chief business officer. “While his resume and reputation

speak for themselves, his forward- looking insights into the Water sector bring an invaluable perspective to our Stantec team, enabling us to better serve our clients across the U.S. and beyond.” Punyamurthula has worked on a wide range of complex civil infrastructure projects as project manager, program manager, technical lead, and principal in charge. He previously served in several leadership roles across the Western U.S. at one of the largest infrastructure firms in the world. Over the past decade, he focused on water infrastructure projects and developed and implemented annual strategic growth plans that resulted in consistent organic growth of more than 10 percent. Punyamurthula specializes in integrating digital technologies to drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and sustain market leadership. On the project execution front, Punyamurthula has a strong reputation for closely collaborating with client leadership to execute projects fully aligned with owners’ expectations from inception through completion. Some of his recent success included projects with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Valley Water, Sites Project Authority, the city of Stockton, Padre Dam, the MetropolitanWater District, and

King County. He recently conducted a P3 workshop with several state and federal agencies and actively supports clients in the transition to alternative project delivery models for mega projects. Punyamurthula has served on various joint venture boards to oversee and manage corporate risk on mega programs and design build projects. He has published technical papers and participated at conferences as a moderator and panel member to discuss emerging trends, challenges, and solutions in the water resources sector. In addition to a bachelor of science in civil engineering, he holds a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering and a master’s in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a doctorate in geotechnical engineering from the University of Washington. Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That’s why Stantec always designs with community in mind. Stantec is made up of designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.

about each other’s experiences is a good way to begin understanding each other’s perspectives – helping to bridge the gap between our differences. We will look to add these educational components to our everyday workflow through company meetings, regular emails, and monthly newsletters. There are many more action items that will take a significant amount of effort to accomplish, but we look forward to working hard to achieve our goals. We are looking forward to working with an outside diversity consultant to help us with these objectives. Some of our larger, long-term goals include overhauling our hiring to process to help with our diverse talent pipeline, encouraging employee resource groups, and reviewing compensation for gaps between employees. We are diverse in many ways, but still have challenges to work on. We aren’t only trying to shore up our weaknesses, but are working toward a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive company in order to achieve greater business success and improve employee work satisfaction. Andrew Schwarz, PE, SE, LEED AP, is a branch manager at D.H. Charles Engineering, Inc. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

ANDREW SCHWARZ, from page 9

& Awareness, Recruitment & Hiring, and Retention & Development. Within each of these groupings we have very specific action items with goals, costs, and timelines. We foresee dividing up these tasks between our committee members and engaged employees, and making a push to integrate the results into our company workflow. We intend to meet regularly as part of our work on the DEI Task Force. “We want to bring awareness to the importance of DEI in the workplace and integrate best practices for fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce into our culture.” Some immediate action items are to expand employee resources, such as libraries and employee resource groups, and to acknowledge significant holidays for various cultural, religious, and ethnic groups. Educating ourselves and learning

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THE ZWEIG LETTER APRIL 4, 2022, ISSUE 1435

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