Newsletter_Summer 2023_FINAL for web

2505 N. State HWY 360, Suite 750 | Grand Prairie, Texas 75050

Editor:

Crystal Oczkowski Dallas/Fort Worth | 972.890.9800 Steve Perliss San Francisco | 415.908.6450 Daniel McFadden Miami | 305.500.9390 David Little Washington, D.C. | 703.968.7883

Advisors:

About Lea+Elliott Lea+Elliott is a transportation consulting firm offering a broad range of planning, engineering, program management, and construction management services for clients worldwide. These services are provided to public transit authorities, airports and private sector owners for new transit systems and the refurbishment of existing systems. We have expertise in all modes of transit, including high-speed and intercity rail, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, automated guideway transit, personal rapid transit, autonomous vehicles, and conventional and advanced technology buses. The firm is especially well known for its creative structuring of procurements for a wide range of delivery options that include DBOM and P3.

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Please send address correction information to coczkowski@leaelliott.com.

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Meet Nicolas Gutierrez, P.E.

LOS ANGELES - Nicolas (Nick) Gutierrez is Lea+Elliott’s Deputy Project Manager for the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) APM project. He leads the oversight of the APM systems, including fabrication of system elements, field installation, testing and commissioning activities. Throughout the past few years, he also participated in the preliminary engineering efforts and was a key member of the APM procurement team. Previously, he worked with our Honolulu team on the Honolulu Rail Transit Project. Nick says that he really enjoys the diversity of the work he performs. “Every day is different,” he says. “I may do cost estimates one day, witness an electrical test the next, or design an alignment or perform simulations.” Though trained as a civil engineer, he also performs electric and mechanical engineering activities so this also adds to the variety of opportunities for creative problem solving. Seeing a project through also gives him a sense

of satisfaction. “From sketches on a whiteboard to a finished transit system in operation, I enjoy seeing each project evolve.” Nick grew up with a natural bent toward engineering. “Since high school, I knew I wanted to do transportation engineering,” he says. “ It was always in my mind, but I never imagined I’d get to work with automated trains and transit. Lea+Elliott has given me a unique opportunity.” Nick is proud to have played a key role on the massive, 26-mile Honolulu Rail Transit Project. “It is the first automated rail transit systems in the US. and is truly a landmark project,” he says. Now, he’s equally enthused about his work at LAX. “I grew up in Colombia, but my family moved to Los Angeles when I was 13. Los Angeles is my home—and getting to work on the APM for my hometown airport gives me a lot of pride! I get to help make the airport something better and special.” When he’s not in the office, you’ll find Nick hard at work as a model maker. “I build cars, ships, boats, structures, whatever comes to mind, and I love it,” he adds. “When you build a model, you’re in your own universe. You get your head into this and you can make whatever you like.” He’ll often work on a project for up to six months. He creates his own designs and has 3D printers and other tools to help with fabrication. He has a strong reputation among model builders and has sold many of his creations to collectors across the globe.

In Motion

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Vol. 30 No 1