/ News / Pooja Jain, Mark Valenti to Lead WSP USA Regional Maritime Business

Pooja Jain, Mark Valenti to Lead WSP USA Regional Maritime Business

Parul Dubey on March 3, 2021 - in News, People

Jain named California and Pacific maritime leader; Valenti will serve as Southeast region maritime leader.

 

SAN FRANCISCO AND TAMPA — WSP USA, a leading engineering and professional services consultancy, has enhanced its growing maritime business leadership with the hiring of Pooja Jain in the West region and Mark Valenti in the Southeast Region.

Pooja Jain

Jain will champion the firm’s national maritime resiliency, sustainability, innovation and technology initiatives and lead the California and Pacific maritime practice. Valenti, as the Southeast regional maritime leader, will pursue work with our key clients and manage maritime staff in the region.

A recognized leader in infrastructure planning, design and innovation in the maritime sector, Jain arrives at WSP with 19 years of experience with projects in the U.S. and globally.

Over her career, Jain has provided innovative planning, project delivery and design solutions for both public and private clients. In her role as managing principal at her prior firm, Jain developed market expansion strategies, created strategic partnerships and led multi-disciplinary teams for leading ports and harbors, urban waterfront, oil and gas terminal and ferry terminal clients. Prior to joining WSP, Pooja was a Fellow at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“WSP has the perfect combination of maritime planning and design expertise, coupled with environmental, other infrastructure and building design capabilities,” Jain said. “Mobilized together, WSP will continue its growth as a global maritime leader. I am excited to facilitate and be part of WSP’s journey.”

Jain is a graduate of Punjab Engineering College with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, University of California-Berkeley with a master’s degree in structural engineering, and Stanford Graduate School of Business with a master’s degree in management.

Jain serves as the committee chair for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Seismic Design of Bulkheads task committee and is a member of the ASCE Ports and Harbors Committee and the ASCE committee for Seismic Design Standards for Piers and Wharves. She currently serves as an industry advisory board member for the Stanford Center for Integrated Facilities Engineering.

She is the author of multiple maritime papers and articles and has been recognized with industry awards, including the SAME Design Excellence Award and ASCE Seattle Civil Engineering Design Excellence Award.

Mark Valenti

“I am glad to have Pooja here at WSP,” said Kosal Krishnan, WSP USA national maritime market sector leader. “She brings a strong technical background combined with excellent client development and management skills. I have known Pooja for more than 10 years, having served with her on technical committees, and I’m glad to finally have an opportunity to work with her.”

Valenti has been active in the heavy civil marine construction industry for more than 27 years as both a professional engineer and a certified general contractor, specializing in marine and port facilities. He began his career as a structural engineer and became a project manager, leading multi-disciplinary teams on port projects. Most recently, he served as a senior project manager for a large marine construction firm, building the types of structures he had previously designed.

“What really intrigued me immediately from the beginning about WSP was the dynamic team culture,” Valenti said. “I have a passion for maritime work, and this new position has opened up opportunities to work in ports not only throughout the U.S., but worldwide, which is pretty exciting. It is a great honor to be a part of this team.” 

Valenti is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in structural engineering. He is active with the International Propeller Club of the United States where he currently serves as the president of the Port of Tampa club, and was recently appointed to its international board of directors.

“I am very happy to have Mark here at WSP to lead our Southeast maritime team,” Krishnan said. “Mark brings a unique construction perspective to our maritime team from his years of experience working for a large marine contractor.”

 

About WSP USA

WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 10,000 employees in 170 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper. wsp.com

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