KOA CORPORATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of San Diego Office
Ali Shahzad brings to KOA 25 years of experience with a strong working knowledge of traffic and civil engineering, specializing in traffic signal system design and principles, signal operations, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and construction inspection. His project experience consists of project management and oversight from the concept to the design stage and through construction. He has worked on several Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant applications, administration and design. His experience specifically includes traffic signal design and modification plans, roadway striping and signage design, all types of traffic safety studies, traffic control investigations, accident analysis, traffic calming, signal timing and coordination, street lighting design, signal interconnect, traffic control plan design, and traffic impact studies. Mr. Shahzad is dedicated to utilizing his experience to find creative solutions while completing projects in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Favorite Word: Awesome!
Carlos Velásquez has experience in transportation planning, transit planning/operations, traffic circulation, bicycle/pedestrian planning an economic development. He has worked on projects addressing transit operations, pedestrian circulation and safety, bikeway planning, traffic studies, and economic revitalization and as been involved in the development of numerous bicycle and pedestrian plans, including the City of South Gate Bicycle Plan and the City of Lancaster Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. He has experience in working with downtown associations and businesses to develop and implement strategies to improve the physical appearance and livability of the commercial district. He also has experience in a number of planning studies that have addressed transportation planning for existing and planned rail transit stations and transit-oriented districts. Carlos is a certified Transportation Planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), #026845.
Favorite Movie: Batman Begins
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Director of Engineering and Principal With
Giuseppe Canzonieri is the Director of Engineering and Principal with KOA. He has performed numerous projects for both public and private developments throughout Southern California. He has considerable experience working with roadway design, traffic signal design, signing & striping design, traffic control design, construction specifications and cost estimates. He has served as project manager and project engineer on several civil and traffic engineering design projects for several Cities throughout Southern California. Giuseppe is also known for his quality control capabilities and providing clients with high quality construction documents.
Favorite Restaurant: Arroyo Chophouse, Pasadena, CA
Job Titles:
- Senior Civil Engineer and Project Manager
Kevin is a senior civil engineer and project manager with 21 years of international experience. He is well-versed in Caltrans standards, PMBOK guidelines, and the Caltrans Risk Management Handbook and has significant experience with local cities and counties, particularly in the Inland Empire. His expertise includes corridor improvement studies, interchange designs, roadway design-build, and street and local roadway improvements. Services include ADA requirements, PSRs, PA/ED, and PS&E. He has extensive experience preparing drainage reports, stormwater data reports, life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) reports, and DSDDs for Caltrans-related projects. Kevin has extensive knowledge of risk management and earned value management and is familiar with the resource-loaded critical path method (CPM). He has a good understanding of preparing project risk management plans and risk registers and is adept at identifying project risks and providing risk mitigation strategies early on. He was instrumental in developing, maintaining, and updating risk registers for several Caltrans projects. His most recent risk register effort was for the I- 40 Median Regrade Project PA/ED. Kevin has supported 11 Caltrans on-call contracts and delivered 29 task orders.
Favorite Movie: 50 First Dates
Favorite Word: Smile
Principal | Director of Planning and Orange County Office
Michael Nilsson, AICP CTP, has over 20 years of experience. He understands how to link land use, environmental, and mobility policies to create high-quality sustainable environments. His project experience includes urban/mobility planning, policy, and outreach; CEQA/NEPA environmental review; and project funding/implementation. Working with regional and municipal government agencies, private developers, non-profit organizations, and advocacy organizations, Michael has guided a diverse array of complex, innovative projects from vision to reality, including cap parks, pedestrian plans, and complete/ green street projects. He has participated in the successful adoption of parking management plans, zoning ordinances, and transportation infrastructure projects - many of which have received awards from American Planning Association, American Public Works Association, Southern California Association of Governments, and Westside Urban Forum.
Favorite Movie: Vacation (the original 1983 one)
Min Zhou has 28 years of transportation engineering and planning experience with both private consultant companies and public agencies. She is knowledgeable in roadway design, traffic design, transportation modeling and studies, non-motorized transportation, database management, and statistical analysis. Min has managed several large-scale projects involving multiple stake holder groups and has a reputation of delivering projects on-time and under budget.
Job Titles:
- Operations Manager, California Region
Tom Bacus has joined KOA, A Lochner Company, as Operations Manager, California Region. Tom is a highly experienced planning and design professional with over 25 years in the transportation, land development, and sustainability fields. Many of his projects have been large scale and have focused on making positive impacts on communities and the environment through major infrastructure investments. Tom has held various leadership roles throughout his career, including office and market leadership, executive leadership, and companywide operations, and is particularly skilled at developing business strategy, opening new markets and geographies, and implementing business processes.
In his role, he will work closely with our teammates from KOA as we integrate KOA into the Lochner platform as well as support business strategy and implementation, finance/operations, project delivery, and more.
Favorite Book: "No Picnic on Mount Kenya" by Felice Benuzzi
Favorite Word: Perspicacity