Introducing our 2024 Principals & Associates

Inspired. Innovative. Future-ready.

Congratulations to our next generation of employee owners—recognized for their outstanding accomplishments, dedication to our core values, and leadership in advancing our Generational Company. VHB embraces the responsibilities of stewardship, and we are focused on passing along a healthy, growing organization to our next generation.

Principals

Allison Ruddock

Director of Planning

New York, NY

Fun Fact: Over her last three vacations, Allison has found herself on three different canal systems and has traveled a total of 12 locks.

Benjamin Martin

Director of Transportation

Bedford, NH

Fun Fact: Ben is an avid DIY’er and this summer installed a 10 kW solar system on his house, sustaining only minor injuries in the process.

Brent Richard

Structures Project Manager

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Brent’s brother-in-law is also a bridge engineer. Together, they’ve ruined many family holiday dinners with riveting infrastructure discussions and structural puns.

Brittany Gesner

Director of Land Development

Worcester, MA

Fun Fact: Brittany married her high school sweetheart in a wedding they planned in three days when they were both 18.

Chad DaGraca

Corporate Controller

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Chad is a certified SCUBA diver and has dove wreck sites in Bermuda.

Don Cole

I-64 Operational Manager

Williamsburg, VA

Fun Fact: Don keeps 85 bee hives and grows sunflowers, pumpkins, and vegetables on 1.5 acres, and enjoys basic astrophotography.

George Lester

Director, SI&R

New York, NY

Fun Fact: George really enjoys making breakfast sandwiches for his friends and family.

J.D. Hines

Water Resources Lead

Virginia Beach, VA

Fun Fact: J.D. grew up in the Virginia Beach area and spent most of his childhood in the Atlantic Ocean. He still surfs and paddleboards as much as possible today!

Louis Bekofsky

Director of Environmental Planning

Hauppauge, NY

Fun Fact: Lou’s wife wanted their kids to be raised Catholic and he agreed under one condition: they’re raised NY Giant’s fans. Today, one child is a Charger’s fan and the youngest thinks he’s Josh Allen.

Michael Altobello

Director of Workplace Strategy & Operations

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: An avid hockey fan and active goalie, Mike plays twice a week and is still hoping to fill in as an emergency backup goalie (EBUG) in an NHL game.

Paul Vitaliano

Director of Land Development

Wethersfield, CT

Fun Fact: Paul met his wife on a blind date set up by a fellow VHB employee who was her cousin.

Peter Smiar

Director of Land Development, Vermont

South Burlington, VT

Fun Fact: When Peter was young, his family home was almost flooded by a dam breach. Ever since, he has taken infrastructure design more seriously.

Regan Hammond

Transportation Systems Director

Atlanta, GA

Fun Fact: Regan is planning a trip to Croatia and is open to suggestions on what to see, eat, and do while there.

Robert Blunt

Transportation Market Lead, Maine

Augusta, ME

Fun Fact: Bob is a Registered Maine Guide and a fly-fishing enthusiast. He gets lost in big cities, and often finds himself in the woods.

Selma Mandzo-Preldzic

Senior Project Manager/TPO Team Leader

Boston, MA

Fun Fact: Selma is a proud supporter of her daughter’s participation in Girl Scouts. She’s the "Cookie Mom," transforming their home into a stockpile for the troop's cookie inventory.

Shannon Ruby Julien

Energy Market Lead, Florida

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: March 2024 marks Shannon’s 20th wedding anniversary. She notes that it took a very special person to live with her this long!

Tim Goins

Director of Transportation, North Carolina

Raleigh, NC

Fun Fact: Tim has an identical twin who’s also a professional engineer. More than once, he’s had strangers begin conversations thinking he was his brother.

Associates

Amanda Bazinet

Project Manager

Worcester, MA

Fun Fact: Amanda was a coxswain while at WPI and has competed in the Head of the Charles Regatta four times.

Andrew Cheng

Senior Project Manager

New York, NY

Fun Fact: Andrew is a former runner, having competed in track and field, cross country, and other road races, but hasn’t run a marathon.

Andrew Kelly

Landscape Architect

Hauppauge, NY

Fun Fact: Andrew spends his downtime volunteering for his local fire department as an Assistant Fire Chief.

Andrew Prezioso

Structures Team Leader

Providence, RI

Fun Fact: Andrew is a proud first-generation American with family in both Italy and Argentina.

Andrew White

Corporate Sustainability Director

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Andrew adores Latin America, studied abroad in Ecuador, and vacationed in Peru and Costa Rica. He’s always looking for someone to practice his Spanish!

Annie Bastoni

Water Resources Project Manager

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Annie is a return VHB employee. She left VHB for a position at another company but turned around and came right back!

Brandon Barham

Water Resources Project Manager

Raleigh, NC

Fun Fact: Brandon enjoys coaching youth athletics and is an outdoor enthusiast who likes camping, hiking, mountain biking, snow skiing, boating, and wakeboarding.

Brandon McAdams

Senior Transportation Engineer

Virginia Beach, VA

Fun Fact: Though he doesn’t find much time for it these days, Brandon has been a successful bow hunter in the past.

Brianne Belschner

Autodesk Model-Based Design Lead

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Brianne lived in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for a summer in high school tutoring English at an orphanage.

Caitlin King

Regional Marketing Manager, New England

South Burlington, VT

Fun Fact: Caitlin once got trapped in an elevator on her birthday.

Carrie McInerney

Director, Transportation Systems

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Carrie once scrubbed into an operation as an engineer. She ended up assisting the cardiac surgeon by holding the heart during bypass surgery.

Christine Trearchis

Project Manager

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Christine and her husband, a fellow VHB employee, starred in a local plumbing commercial that aired during the Bruins playoff games last year.

Ivy Clinton

Gulf Coast Design Studio Lead

Tampa, FL

Fun Fact: Ivy loves creating and crafting including knitting, crocheting, sewing, scrapbooking, resin jewelry, and watercolor painting. She used to own an art studio!

James Shao

Director of Traction Power

Newark, NJ

Fun Fact: James enjoys traveling. During his travels, he likes to experience local cuisine and transportation systems.

Jeff Gooch

Transportation Safety Engineer

Raleigh, NC

Fun Fact: Jeff is taking a crash course in parenting, recently becoming the stepfather to 10- and 7-year-old boys.

Jennifer Rader

Regional Marketing Director, Southeast

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: Jennifer turned down a tennis scholarship (that her dad reminds her of often!) but has recently dragged her tennis outfits and husband to the pickleball court.

Jess Kenny

Director of Urban Permitting

Boston, MA

Fun Fact: Jess loves to spend time with her family and two dogs.

Jimmie Gonzalez

Learning & Development Director

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: In 2013, Jimmie started a non-profit gym called Trinity Fitness Central Florida with the mission to help people become healthy inside and out.

Joedel Zaballero

Transportation Planning Director

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: Joedel is an artisan baker with a pop-up shop. Her banana butterscotch pie won first place at the Central Florida Fair.

John Classe

Corporate Real Estate Market Leader

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: John’s first project was on the Orlando Naval Training Center, which he later demolished for the new Baldwin Park master-planned community.

John McSweeney

Bridge Structures Lead

New York, NY

Fun Fact: John met his wife on an MTA Project that involved the implementation of floodgates in subway vents in Lower Manhattan.

Josh Sofsky

Transportation Engineer

Atlanta, GA

Fun Fact: Josh leads and participates in a men’s outdoor workout group that meets early most mornings rain or shine.

Justin Holloman

Senior Systems Architect

Williamsburg, VA

Fun Fact: Justin started his career at VHB as a Civil PE before discovering his knack and passion for IT systems design.

Kenny Ray

Structures Manager

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: When Kenny’s not working, he hopes to be rock climbing, sky diving, white water rafting, scuba diving, or doing an extreme obstacle race on a mountain course.

Kevin Freeman

Project Manager

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: Kevin is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys both hunting and fishing.

Kristopher Wilkes

Project Manager, Energy & Environmental

Bedford, NH

Fun Fact: Kris loves music and has attended hundreds of concerts since his first show, Santana, 26 years ago. He also enjoys playing guitar.

Laurent Cartayrade

Environmental Team Leader

Washington, D.C.

Fun Fact: Laurent once got a gig narrating a TV cooking show because they wanted someone with a French accent.

Luke Mitchell

Land Planning Team Leader, MA

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Luke has lived in Japan, Singapore, and Spain, and yet somehow, he can only speak English.

Lydia Lee

Environmental Services Manager

South Burlington, VT

Fun Fact: When not serving as a taxi driver for kid sports, Lydia loves to ski with her family - downhill, backcountry, and cross-country.

Maggie Maddox

Project Manager

Boston, MA

Fun Fact: On the weekends, Maggie and her daughter can be found rock climbing, where her 4-year-old leaves her in the dust.

Marisol Castro Aguilar

Project Manager

New York, NY

Fun Fact: Marisol is an avid Lego collector and builder. She is also a trivia master and mother to a rescue doggie.

Michael Petrin

Senior Project Manager

Springfield, MA

Fun Fact: When not working, Mike can often be found in a hockey rink both playing and coaching.

Mitch Bowser

Land Development Team Leader

Richmond, VA

Fun Fact: Mitch enjoys baking and is known especially for his pizza.

Nick Fetzer

Geomatics Manager

Manasquan, NJ

Fun Fact: Nick was an avid skydiver with over 5,000 jumps. He’s temporarily hung up the skydiving gear so he can focus on raising his twin boys.

Nicole Fresolo

Program/Visual Media Manager, Experience

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Nicole tried out for American Idol in 2005. We know how that turned out since she joined VHB that very same year!

Peter Doster

Charlotte Real Estate Market Team Leader

Charlotte, NC

Fun Fact: Pete is an Eagle Scout and avid hiker. His love for nature and the outdoors brings him to the Appalachian Mountains regularly.

Roberta Fennessy

SE Region Planning & Design Service Lead

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: Roberta loves to travel and speaks five languages. She is currently working on learning a sixth language using Duolingo!

Ryan Cloutier

Geomatics Director

South Burlington, VT

Fun Fact: Ryan is an avid runner having qualified for and ran three Boston marathons. He’s currently working on qualifying for his fourth Boston marathon.

Sasha Weller

Project Manager

Providence, RI

Fun Fact: Sasha loves to travel. Within her travels, she enjoys visiting cool bridges and trying new foods, beer, and wine.

Scott Lindgren

Senior Project Manager

Providence, RI

Fun Fact: When not working, Scott enjoys hikes in the woods with his family and friends, fly fishing, or exploring photography.

Seth Lattrell

Massachusetts Energy Market Lead

Boston, MA

Fun Fact: Before taking a desk job, Seth spent over a decade working on commercial and charter fishing vessels, pursuing his passion for fishing.

Sophia Villavicencio-Ortiz

Project Manager

Orlando, FL

Fun Fact: Last Fall Sophia rode the inaugural high-speed Brightline train from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale.

Stéphane Lefebvre

Northeast Transportation Market Leader

New York, NY

Fun Fact: Stéphane loves extreme sports and used to be an avid surfer, snowboarder, skater, and skateboarder in his earlier days.

Stephen Rhoads

Project Manager

Watertown, MA

Fun Fact: Steve completed the New Hampshire 4,000-footer list on Mount Isolation on the same trip that his father marked his 2^nd completion of the list.

Stephen Talley

Landscape Architect Project Manager

Williamsburg, VA

Fun Fact: Despite being stung by a stingray as a teenager, Stephen still favors the beach as his place to unwind.

Tom Stein

Director of Newark Operations

Newark, NJ

Fun Fact: Tom is the kind of guy that's 'loco' about locomotives. He's compiled a collection so vast of G scale it could rival Amtrak and LIRR.