Chosen for their substantial technical achievement over the years, the Bechtel Fellows advise senior management on questions related to their areas of expertise, participate in strategic planning, and help disseminate new technical ideas and findings throughout the organization. Here are brief profiles of current fellows:
Prem Attanayake, environmental engineering
Prem is recognized internationally as a technical leader in environmental restoration and environmental monitoring. He has developed state-of-the-art monitoring techniques that are used around the world. His multilingual skills and intimate knowledge of different cultures help him use effectively his technical leadership in many countries. Prem has authored two chapters of books and over 25 other technical publications. Over the last 20 years, he gas been invited to provide his expertise to prestigious international panels sponsored by organizations such as UNESCO and the International Association of Hydrogeologists.
Amos Avidan, liquefied natural gas technology, fluidization
Amos specializes in liquefied natural gas, synthetic fuels, and fluidization, and is one of the foremost experts in fluidization and fluid-bed technology. Amos came to Bechtel following a 20-year career with Mobil, where he served in various capacities in a number of units. He pioneered Mobil’s fluid-bed processes and later developed and implemented the company’s LNG technology strategy. Amos has maintained and improved Bechtel’s high-profile alliance with ConocoPhillips, which spawned innovative processes that has become the standard for production of liquefied natural gas (LNG). He has taken the lead in creating LNG designs that are more efficient, offer higher capacity, and are more environmentally friendly.
August D. Benz, process technology
August D. "Gus" Benz has been an industry pacesetter and a leader and mentor at Bechtel for more than half a century. In fact, the only person who has been with the company longer is Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. Since joining Bechtel in 1954, Gus has been a technical leader and innovator on numerous “first of a kind” projects that have won industrial awards for process excellence. He holds five U.S. patents covering a range of technologies, from a process for selective grinding of coal to the destruction of dangerous materials.
Siv Bhamra, rail systems engineering
Siv is internationally recognized in the railway industry, particularly for his work in advanced train control technologies and innovations that reduce overall train power consumption. His expertise spans railway systems engineering from signaling and systems integration to operability analysis, safety, and performance assessment. He is one of Europe's leading engineers on adaptation and trialing of advanced train control technologies, and has been Bechtel's manager for some of the world's largest rail upgrade projects
Peter Carrato, structural analysis
Pete’s specialty is seismic analysis of structures and steel anchorages in concrete. During more than two decades at Bechtel he has worked on most of the fossil and nuclear power plants the company has built during that period, providing complex analysis and design work key to the success of many projects. Pete has performed work on the design, modification, or maintenance of some 18 nuclear plants. His contributions include seismic analysis, equipment qualification, and analysis of the potential impact on plants of line breaks, tornadoes, and turbine accidents.
Doug Elliot, gas processing services
Doug is one of the world’s leading gas processing technologists. His experience encompasses 44 years in the design of oil production and gas processing facilities with emphasis on the prediction of thermophysical properties of petroleum mixtures. In 1986, Doug founded IPSI, a process engineering consultancy within Bechtel. Since that time, Doug’s imaginative mind; hard-driving work ethic; and ability to recognize, develop, and motivate some of the best talent in his field have made a substantial contribution to our reputation in the gas processing industry.
Angelos Findikakis, flow and transport simulation
Angelos is specialist in numerical simulation and analysis of flow and transport processes. Applications of his expertise include the performance analysis of radioactive waste storage facilities, environmental impact and risk assessment of infrastructure, energy and mining projects, landfill gas generation, ground water remediation, restoration of polluted waterways, and water resources planning. He has provided modeling support to dozens of Bechtel projects from all major business lines.
Benjamin Fultz, corrosions and coatings
Ben is a specialist with 40 years’ experience in formulating, testing, selecting, and applying a wide range of nonmetallic materials of construction, from paints, linings, and insulation to fireproofing, refractories, and composites. His coatings experience covers industrial, marine, fossil and nuclear power, mining and metals, petroleum and chemical, and pipeline. During his 25 years with Bechtel, Ben has traveled the world to solve a fascinating array of complex materials mysteries.
Orhan Gurbuz, structual and earthquake engineering
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Orhan has earned a reputation for excellence in seismic and structural analysis. He has helped design nuclear and fossil fuel power plants, and he developed assessment criteria for hazardous systems at petrochemical facilities. He has provided support and technical direction for the resolution of regulatory issues on numerous projects. He has been a consultant and reviewer on seismic issues for more than 25 nuclear power plants, and has worked on code committees and nuclear and petrochemical industry task forces.
William Imrie, Pyrometallurgical Engineering
Bill is a widely regarded metallurgical expert with 39 years of experience in research, operations, maintenance, and project management in sectors including copper, nickel, lead, zinc and sulfuric acid. Bill has had a hand in developing new approaches that have been embraced by Bechtel customers and the industry at large. His recommendation for integrated flash smelting and flash converting technology was a first application in the industry, and is now widely regarded as one of the best available for today’s economic and environmental factors. Bill also fostered the use of a new furnace feed system that is now an industry standard.
Joe Litehiser, seismology
Joe, a 33-year Bechtel veteran, specializes in seismology, earthquake design criteria, and geophysics. His innovative use of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for all of Bechtel’s GBUs has earned him a worldwide reputation for applying theoretical concepts to engineering uses to reduce earthquake risk. Although Joe has been based in San Francisco his entire career, his professional reach spans Bechtel’s world. He has developed, defined, and reviewed seismic design criteria and earthquake design parameters for almost 600 Bechtel projects of all sizes.
Jake MacLeod, communications
A veteran of 30 years in the communications industry, Jake was chairman of the FCC committee that established some of the basic ground rules for the cellular industry in the early 1980s. Since joining Bechtel in 2000, he has established two communications labs, assisted in the reconstruction of the communications systems in Iraq, established the Bechtel Communications Technical Journal, created over 20 technology training videos, established bi-annual technology debates and is active in several industry associations. Jake provides numerous keynote and technical presentations at industry conferences each year.
Sanj Malushte, structrual and earthquake engineering
Sanj, who has worked for Bechtel since 1989, is a specialist in structural mechanics and earthquake engineering. An acknowledged expert in standards and codes, he has played a key role helping the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) develop design requirements for industrial structures. In the United States, he is nationally recognized for his expertise in seismic isolation research and is a member of several key committees in the area of structural and earthquake engineering.
Cyrus B. Meher-Homji, large rotating equipment
Cyrus is an internationally recognized expert in the design and development of large turbomachinery and gas turbines, with 25 years of experience in the consulting and EPC industries. At Bechtel, he has helped provide the technical basis for the company’s success in the fast-growing market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) handling facilities. He also is an expert in turbomachinery failure analysis and helps manage risks involved with new technologies and innovations. Four of his papers have garnered Best Paper Awards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, which named Cyrus a fellow in 1998.
Ram Narula, fossil power technology
Ram has been in the forefront of power plant engineering for 45 years—nearly all of it with Bechtel. As project engineering manager. he assesses the effectiveness of new plant technologies, manages plant feasibility studies to provide customers with viable solutions, and analyzes the performance risk of variables in plant design and procurement decisions. He has authored numerous technical papers on a wide range of power plant topics, including building design, fuel supply, maintenance, financing, and environmental compliance. He has chaired numerous international power and environmental technical sessions, and he received the Edison Electric Institute’s Prime Movers Award for outstanding contribution to technical literature.
Farhang Ostadan, geotechnical earthquake engineering
Farhang is considered a worldwide authority on geotechnical earthquake engineering. He is known for his development work on soil-structure interaction (SSI), a key factor in the seismic design of nuclear plants and other “critical” facilities, and he codeveloped a software program that has become the industry standard for SSI analysis. For more than 27 years, Farhang has worked on numerous Bechtel projects around the world, interacting with major international engineering firms and consultants on seismic design. He is the author of more than 40 technical papers and has spoken at many conferences and seminars internationally.
Stewart Taylor, geotechnology and hydraulics
Stew specializes in geotechnical and hydraulic engineering. He is world-renowned for his expertise in soil and groundwater remediation, and he has been published in more than 50 publications, including two book chapters and 11 peer-reviewed journal articles that have been extensively cited in the literature in this area. In recent years, Stew led the initiative to create a groundwater division within the American Society of Civil Engineeres and now serves as chair of the Ground Water Hydrology and Ground Water Management Manual committees and vice chair of the ASCE/Environmental and Water Resources Institute groundwater council.
Linda Trocki, energy and environmental technology
Linda is a specialist in energy and environmental technologies and systems with 25 years’ experience in government and the private sector. Since joining Bechtel in 1996, she has played a key role in helping the company address emerging technology trends and applying capabilities in the marketplace. Her peers recognize her management skills and expertise on a wide variety of issues, including climate change. Linda manages Bechtel’s R&D group and is also responsible for working with Bechtel’s business units on technology needs and strategies.
Ping Wan, environmental engineering
Ping has earned a reputation as a leading technical environmental consultant and is a recognized expert in air quality analysis, dispersion meteorology, and chemical accident analysis. She has contributed to the development of state-of-the-art dispersion modeling, including wind tunnel analysis techniques. She has published and presented dozens of technical papers in reference journals and at international conferences. Ping’s technical innovations cross a wide range of projects in the power, petroleum, chemical, and transportation industries.
Fred Wettling, network and security
In the United States, Fred is a nationally acclaimed leader in applying new technology in the workplace—something he has been doing at Bechtel since the dawn of the personal computer. He has helped develop and adapt information technology and has applied it to make our networks both world-class and cost-effective. He has been quoted more than 20 times in major IT industry publications over the past three years, and he frequently speaks at industry events about Bechtel’s use of emerging technologies. His broad knowledge has earned him recognition by NetworkWorld as one of the world's most influential people in networking.
