SCHERER

Steven Scherer, former senior vice president of Hayward Baker Inc. has joined Nicholson Construction Co., Cuddy, Pa., as president. A 14-year veteran of his prior firm, he was responsible for about $200 million of self-performed, design-build geotechnical projects in a 21-state region, says Nicholson. Scherer succeeds Christophe Dauchy, who had been serving as interim president and resumes his role as director of North America for Soletanche Bachy, which is Nicholson's parent firm.

Gannett Fleming has elevated Keith Mullins, a Philadelphia-based coordinator of intelligent transportation systems planning, design, integration and construction support in its transportation operations practice in the Northeast, to vice president.

Howard Harary has been named director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Engineering Laboratory in Gaithersburg, Md. The institute develops measurement tools and standards for manufacturing, construction and other sectors, and conducts research to reduce risks of fire, earthquakes and other hazards. He was deputy director since 2004 and acting director since 2013.

 

SZYMCZAK

Thomas Szymczak, president of SSM Industries Inc., a Pittsburgh-based contractor, was elected president of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association, Chantilly, Va. He is former chair of its budget and finance committee and was president of the group's western Pennsylvania chapter. A former sheet metal apprentice, he now also is a management trustee of the Sheet Metal Industry Labor Management Cooperation Fund. SMACNA represents about 4,500 contractor companies,

Dipali Patel has joined Pennoni Associates as a senior project manager in Chantilly, Va. She specializes in bridge design and inspection.

SmithGroupJJR has elevated David Varner to workplace practice leader, based in Washington, D.C. He leads the firm's national practice for design of workplace facilities, including corporate headquarters, workplace interiors, speculative office buildings and multifamily buildings. He had been the firm's workplace studio leader.

Lewis Goetz has joined Richmond, Va.-based architecture firm Baskervill as managing director. He formerly led Group Goetz Architects and is a former president of the International Interior Design Association and its foundation. Goetz is now based in Vienna, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb.

 

MCLAUGHLIN

Erin K. McLaughlin, regional business development director at Dewberry in Fairfax, Va., has been named a board director of the northern Virginia chapter of Construction Real Estate Women, a national professional group, effective Jan. 1. She rejoined the firm in 2011 from a previous position as federal market development leader for HOK.

Christopher Bostaph has joined Larson Design Group, a Pittsburgh-based engineering, architecture and surveying firm, as vice president of its energy division in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Texas. He had been a leader in the oil and gas project management group at URS Corp. and also previously at AMEC Earth and Environmental.

Tim Llewellyn, a project manager for engineer ARCADIS US in Millersville, Md., has been promoted to senior vice president. Llewellyn has been managing performance-based projects for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force for the past 10 years.