Design and engineering leader Stantec has welcomed Kirk Meredith, Mike Smejkal, Alex Mariz, and Carl Abdallah to its growing North American aviation team.
Kirk Meredith joins as the new airport sector leader for the United States, Mike Smejkal as senior project manager, Alex Mariz as senior airport planner, and Carl Abdallah as aviation engineering manager. Each will be responsible for strengthening the services the firm provides to airports across the United States and Canada.
“The hustle and bustle is back at airports across North America. Passengers are returning to the skies and airport authorities are embarking on new projects and resuming those put on hold during the pandemic,” said Brian Norris, senior vice president of Stantec’s North American Transportation business. “Kirk, Mike, Alex, and Carl bring tremendous talent and experience to our team and will help us continue to deliver projects that improve airport operations and the customer experience.”
As the firm’s new airport sector leader for the United States, Kirk Meredith will work with all business lines pursuing strategic pursuits around airports. He brings 35 years of experience and has managed programmes at over a dozen FAA-defined Group V and Group VI aircraft-capable airports across the US. In addition, he has extensive experience coordinating and aligning federal, state, and local agencies with owners, airlines, and other stakeholders to deliver airport programs successfully. Meredith has served as director of construction support services for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), where he oversaw an integrated construction management and safety team that managed the implementation of ATL’s $6.2bn master plan.
Mike Smejkal will be responsible for helping to grow the firm’s aviation practice and managing airport projects across the Southwest. He brings over two decades of experience as both an airport owner and consultant working on airfield, landside, and terminal projects from concept to closeout. Most recently, Smejkal served as vice president of planning and engineering for the Tucson Airport Authority where he oversaw the planning, programming, EIS (environmental impact statement), design, and start of construction for the $350m airfield safety enhancement programme as well as all other capital projects at both Tucson International and Ryan Field airports.
As a senior airport planner, Alex Mariz specialises in heliports, airfield geometry, and apron planning. He also advises on aircraft parking stands, aircraft bridging, and apron pavement markings, and has extensive experience in runway payload/range analysis, airfield demand/capacity analysis, obstacle limitation surfaces, airport and heliport site selection, and airport master plans focusing on the assessment and expansion needs of airside infrastructure.
Carl Abdallah joins as an aviation engineering manager responsible for leading Stantec’s aviation infrastructure work in Canada. With 17 years of experience, he has executed and managed numerous projects in the fields of construction and design engineering, specifically relating to airport infrastructure. His projects span nine different countries and various active airfields including large international airports, military airports, and local general aviation facilities.
Image: Stantec
Left to right: Kirk Meredith, Alex Mariz, Carl Abdallah and Mike Smejkal
