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Reconstruction of Park Facilities Upgrades to 17 high-rise Buildings Cross Bronx Expressway/Bruckner Interchange Rehabilitation Project Project Management Services for Public Schools, Grades K-12, Region 5 JFK Boulevard Columbus Bridge over Conrail and PATH Total Design and Construction Support Services, East Gunhill Road Bridge over New York City Transit Construction Inspection and Management Services for Various Projects Statewide Total Design and Construction Support Services for Congress St. Bridge over the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway 2000 Biennial Bridge Inspection of the Queensboro Bridge over the East River 2001-2002 Biennial and Interim Bridge Inspection Resident Engineering and Inspection Services for Belt Parkway over Ocean Parkway Construction Management and Inspection Services for Project BB-80, Replacement of Elevators, Governors Island Facade, & Rehabilitation Ulster County Transit Center Inspection and Evaluation of Highway Bridges Statewide, Connecticut Friendset Housing for the Elderly New Rooftop Greenhouse at Davis Hall New Fire House for Engine Company 71
Construction Management | Engineering | Architecture | Land Surveying | Material Testing

KEY PERSONNEL

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Husam Ahmad, P.E., President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Ahmad is President and Chief Executive Officer of HAKS who established the firm as a partnership in 1991. The firm incorporated in 1994. HAKS has grown steadily from the start, to the point where now it is a leading, mid-sized consultant in the New York Metropolitan area with a multi-disciplined staff of over 330 employees. Under his leadership, the firm has established a reputation for providing all of his clients with the highest quality of engineering, architectural and construction management services, and completing all assignments on schedule, within budget and without compromising quality or function. Mr. Ahmad is responsible for planning, directing and evaluating the operations of HAKS' eight offices. He has served as the Principal-In-Charge of the company's major projects in construction management, engineering, architecture, land surveying and material testing. Mr. Ahmad has over 28 years of diversified experience in design and construction supervision of bridges, roads and building. Mr. Ahmad plays a lead role as a Board Member in numerous professional societies, e.g., the Concrete Industry board, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and the New York Building Foundation among others. Mr. Ahmad is an expert in QA/QC and Safety and oversees all corporate-wide initiatives. He is also responsible for developing and directing HAKS' Strategic plan.
 

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Franco Balassone, P.E., Executive Vice President

Mr. Balassone is the branch manager of our Connecticut office. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York and has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and managing construction services for high-profile and complex transportation projects.

Mr. Balassone's prior experience includes the review of federally funded design and construction of major highway and bridge projects for the FHWA, the management of consulting projects for ConnDOT such as the safety improvement on the Merritt Parkway in the Towns of Fairfield and Trumbull, two sequential projects for the Reconstruction of I-95 in Bridgeport, CT with a combined value of nearly $250 million, and reconstruction of the western approaches to the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford, CT. He has also managed projects for MTA Metro-North Railroad and the NYC Dept. of Sanitation.

Email: fbalassone@haks.net

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Paul Cavota, P.E., Senior Vice President, Construction Management and Construction Inspection

Mr. Cavota has more than 45 years of experience including 32 years with the New York State Department of Transportation. Mr. Cavota is in-charge of all ongoing construction infrastructure inspection projects including the NYS Department of Transportation, NYS Thruway Authority, NYC Department of Transportation, NYS Bridge Authority, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, Port Authority of NY & NJ, NYC Department of Design and Construction, ConnDOT, NYCDEP and the Long Island Rail Road among others.
 
Mr. Cavota was the Construction Manager for the rehabilitation of the Cross Bronx Expressway/Bruckner Interchange which had a final cost of $204 Million, and was completed one year ahead of schedule with no contractor claims. This project received numerous awards including Construction Management Assocciation of America 2003 Project of the Year and the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York 2003 Platinum Award for Engineering Excellence.
 
Currently, Paul is the Project Executive for HAKS' JV partnerships for the $152 Million Gowanus Expressway repairs and interim deck replacement. He is also leading our effort as JV partner for the $150 Million Park Avenue and Nassau Concord Viaducts on the BQE for the New York State Department of Transportation; the $85 Million reconstruction of the Croton Reservoir System and the $600 Million Gilboa Dam Reconstruction for NYCDEP; and the $80 Million Catenary Replacement project on the New Haven Main Line for ConnDOT.
 

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Fawzi M. Faraj, Senior Vice President

Mr. Faraj is the Senior Vice President for HAKS Engineers and currently serves as Regional Director for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Mr. Faraj has more than 25 years of project management experience with Environmental, Civil, and Structural projects. Mr. Faraj has managed the Northeast Environmental Division for a major national consulting firm (1988-1998).  Mr. Faraj has also served on many industry committees with federal, state, and quasi government organizations in the NY metro area within the environmental field where he has managed over $7 Billion of environmental/construction work. He has managed the structural evaluation division for HAKS since 1998, which  has performed inspections of over 5,000 simple and long span - complex bridges in the New York Tri-State region. Mr. Faraj served on state and federal task forces in both of Engineering and environmental sectors.
 

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Richard T. Hallahan, P.E., Senior Vice President, Design Services

Mr. Hallahan oversees the provision of the full range of professional engineering services in the areas of transportation, facilities and railroads. He serves as Principal-In-Charge for major metropolitan clients, including the New York State Department of Transportation, the New York State Thruway Authority, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York City Department of Transportation, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, as well as other public and private sector clients.

Mr. Hallahan has more than 30 years of technical and management experince including experience as a structural engineer in the design, rehabilitation, and inspection of bridges, tunnels, buildings and waterfront structures.
 

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Alfred D. Barcenilla, Sr., P.E., P.L.S., Senior Vice President, Land Surveying and Mapping Services

Mr. Barcenilla has more than 38 years of land surveying experience including more than 12 years as Director and Licensed Surveyor for the New York City Bureau of Site Engineering. While at the Department of Design and Construction, Al  managed and coordinated the Ground Zero survey monitoring and mapping during the 9/11 rescue, recovery, and demolition phases. At HAKS, Al oversees the Land Survey Department. Some of his key projects at HAKS are the NYCEDC East River Promenade, NYCDEP GIS Sewer Mapping Program, TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel Facility, NY State Thruway Authority Noise Barrier Program, NYC Police Department Tow Pound, NYSDOT Van Wyck Expressway & Rt. 347, DEP/EDC/DDC Verrazano Harbor Water Siphon, and NY/NJ Port Authority JFK / Newark facilities. Al also led our effort for Surveying and Mapping for the $3.1 Billion Proposed Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel for NYCEDC which won the ACEC Diamond award for excellence.
 

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Jerome Liebowitz, P.E., Senior Vice President, Special Projects

Mr. Liebowitz has more than 42 years of construction experience including more than 31 years with New York City Department of Transportation where he rose to become an Assistant Commissioner and Chief Engineer of Roadways. Mr. Liebowitz is currently HAKS Project Manager for NYCDOT's $175 Million Design Build Rehabilitation of the Staten Island Ferry Ramps projects which will expand the capacity of the St. George Ferry Terminal.
 
He is also HAKS Project Manager for NYCDOT's Resident Engineering Inspection Service project for the $37 Million Emergency Reconstruction of the Borden Avenue Bridge over Dutch Kills in Long Island City in Queens.
 

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Joseph McGough, Senior Vice President, Business Development

Mr. McGough has over 30 years of engineering and architectural firm and agency management experience.  He has served as the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.  At HAKS, Mr. McGough manages all of the firm's business development and customer relations management operations.  His business development experience includes planning, design and construction management services for bridge, highway, transit, commuter rail, water supply, wastewater, water resources, environmental assessment, hazardous materials management, economic development and K thru 12 school projects.  His clients include the Transportation Departments of NYC, NYS, NJ and CT; the Turnpike and Thruway Authorities of NY and NJ; all of the Capital budget agencies of NYC; the Economic Development Corporations of NYS and NYC; the Port Authority of NY & NJ; all of the MTA agencies, NJ Transit and the NYC School Construction Authority.

He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Municipal Engineers of the City of New York for the past 8 years, is a member of the Legislative Committee of the ACEC NY Met Chapter and a past President of the New York Section of the America Water Works Association.

Email: jmcgough@haks.net

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Jeffrey Terzakis, Senior Vice President, Construction Management

Mr. Terzakis has over 21 years of construction management experience directing large-scale capital projects.  His diversified background includes serving as a Senior director in the Office of Facilities Development for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation as well as a Corporate Real Estate Project Manager for Continental Airlines, responsible for the renovation of Terminal C at Newark Liberty  International Airport which had a budget in excess of $100 MIllion. He has also managed other facility projects including schools, residential, commercial, and transportation/maintenance facilities as well as environmental projects for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
 
Mr. Terzakis is currently serving as Project Executive on several CM projects including a new 30,000 SF NJ State Police Facility in Holmdel, NJ for the NJ Turnpike Authority; a new 290,000 SF $95 Million Bus Maintenance, Storage and Administration Facility in Hamden, CT for the CT DOT; and a $50 Million On-Call contract for CM/Build Services for the NYC Housing Authority.  He is also managing HAKS' effort for the $31 Million Rehabilitation of Harlem Hospital for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York; and several Construction Management Services contracts for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.  He is also leading HAKS' efforts as part of the team for Phase III of the $200 Million MetroNorth Railroad Harmon Shop Replacement Program; and Construction Management Services for the WTC site including the Transportation Hub.
 

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Howard Kronland, R.A., AIA, Vice President and Chief Architect

Mr. Kronland has more than 40 years of  architectural experience and has held management positions in both the private and public sectors. Mr. Kronland served as a Managing Architect for The NYC School Construction Authority where he was responsible for the management of over $200 million worth of design and construction dollars each fiscal year. Previous affiliations have included: The Dormitory Authority State of New York where he was a Contract Administrator for major college and university programs, Staff Architect for General Public Utilities Corporation The Shorenstein Company where he was manager of construction for a large commercial real estate management company

He also has experience working with many agencies including the NYCSCA, The NJ Schools Construction Corporation, NYCDDC, U.S. Postal Service, NYC Department of Correction, U.S. Military Academy/West Point, The NYC Transit Authority, and the Corps of Engineers: He was Project Director for such projects as the modernization of Newark Penn Station, the rehabilitation of a major transportation center for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Program.

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Ramesh Mehta, P.E., Vice President and Branch Manager, Hudson Valley Office

Mr. Mehta has over 40 years of infrastructure experience in the areas of planning, maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction of transportation sector structures, particularly in the Lower Hudson Valley region.  Formerly, he was the Director of New York Division for the State Thruway Authority, responsible for its Capital Budget and all operation and maintenance of Thruway facilities in the six souther Hudson Valley counties.

His major projects include the award-winning Reconfiguration/Reconstruction of Interchange 8 (the largest project ever undertaken by the Authority), the I-87/I-84 Interchange at Newburgh and the award-winning replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge deck.  He also implemented the first $1.7 Billion capital plan and was responsible for investing in statewide bridges as Director of Bridge Management.  His prior engineering experience also includes bridge safety and inspection work for the NYSDOT, and several decades of railway system engineering projects such as maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of bridges, and passenger, freight and yard facilities.  He is a registered professional engineer in New York, and is a member of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers and Past Presidents of its Rockland County Chapter.

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John Schweppenheiser, III, P.E., C.M.E., Vice President and Branch Manager, Medford, NJ Office

Mr. Schweppenheiser has over 25 years of diversified experience in site development, engineering, surveying, construction management, soil erosion and sediment controls, as well as design of highways/roadways, dams and various commercial, residential and industrial projects. He also has performed many municipal planning and zoning reviews.

He has worked on numerous dam restoration projects including design services and construction management/inspection (CM/I) services for Ballingers Lake Damn, Medford Lakes, NJ; for Giampietro Dam and Burnt Mill Dam, Vineland, NJ; for Stockwell Dam, Medford Township, NJ; and for Verona Lake Dam, Essex County, NJ. Services have included feasibility studies, hydraulic/hydraulics studies, hazard classification analysis, complete design and permitting services, bidding and specification preparation.

Mr. Schweppenheiser has performed many complete designs for residential development projects such as the Creekside affordable housing complex and other projects ranging from 15 units to 1,500 multi-phase units. He is a registered Professional Engineer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

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John H. Smith, IV, P.E., Vice President and Branch Manager, Pennsylvania Office

Mr. Smith manages HAKS' full range of engineering, architecture and construction management/inspection services in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He has more then 34 years of experience in civil/structural engineering including the design and construction management of highway, bridge and other transportation facilities, site development for residential, commercial/industrial buildings, steel plants and power generation stations. Mr. Smith also has expertise in geometric design, utility relocation, staging, signage design, r-o-w acquisition plans, earthwork and drainage, design cost estimation, specification writing and permitting.

His significant projects include the replacement and widening of the Swatara Creek Bridge on the Pennsylvania Turnpike; replacement of the Linden Street Bridge in Allentown, PA; design and construction management of a new roadway and bridge in Bethlehem, PA; and the Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge rehabilitation for the DRJTBC, PA/NJ. His clients include the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, PennDOT, NJDOT, DelDOT, DRJTBC DRPA, SEPTA, and the cities of Bethlehem and Philadelphia. He is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the states of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

Email: jsmith@haks.net

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Eugene Takhtovich, P.E., Ph.D., Lab Director, HAKS Material Testing Group

Mr. Takhtovich is a well-known expert in the area of concrete and has more than 30 years of material testing and construction work experience. His extensive lab testing experience as a project engineer includes supervising inspections of steel, welding, concrete, pilings, masonry, soils and more.

The HAKS Material Testing Lab occupies a fully equipped 10,000 square foot facility in Long Island City, Queens, NY. It offers a full line of materials testing, inspection, certification, design and quality assurance/quality control services for construction projects, forensic studies, materials evaluations and reports. It is accredited by AASHTO and HAKS participates in AMRL and CCRL proficiency sampling programs.

Mr. Takhtovich's most recent accomplishments include being a key member of the construction management team for a concrete and steel bridge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan, and management of the Five Year Concrete Quality Assurance program for NYCDEP. His expertise in cast-in-place and precast concrete mix design and QA/QC procedures has been put to good use by the American Concrete Institute; he serves on four ACI technical committees and is an active ACI instructor/examiner conducting certification classes for inspectors, engineers and technicians. He is also a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Email: etakhtovich@haks.net

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