Leadership

↓ Joel Figueroa-Vallines

PE, SI, F.ASCE
Founder | Executive Principal
joelfv@sepengineers.com

With over twenty years of extensive and progressive experience in the industry, Joel is responsible for guiding SEP’s growth and performance as well as engaging in the firm’s largest and most complex projects. In addition to design, Joel is the firm’s lead special inspector and leads the firm’s forensic practice, having served as forensic expert on natural disaster evaluations and providing litigation support on construction defect and omission claims.

Joel is a native of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and is highly involved in the improvement of building practices in the Caribbean to mitigate structural failure due to hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis in the region. He was on the front lines during the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and also performed numerous structural assessments in the aftermath of Hurricanes Sandy and Irma.

Joel is a Fellow with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), an honor shared by only 3% of the industry’s membership. He is also an ASCE Mentor and lectures frequently for ASCE at both State and National levels on topics such as extreme loadings, risk management, anti-terrorism force protection, and other industry challenges.

Joel is a graduate of Northeastern University and also the author of important soil-structure interaction research for projects in the Caribbean and Europe as part of the MIT/UPR Technology Transfer Program. He is an alumnus of the MIT Transit Lab and contributor to the MIT Mobility Initiative, a forum designed to attempt to solve global transit challenges of the present and the future.

↓ Adam K. Weaver

CGC, PMP, RMP
Vice President | Director of Construction Services
Adam@sconmanagers.com

Adam is a licensed commercial general contractor and project manager with over twenty-seven years of experience in planning and execution of commercial and industrial projects in a variety of roles, representing owners and contractors across diverse industries.

He is the director and manager of Structural Construction Managers, ScM, a sister company of SEP that supplements the firm’s offerings by providing construction phase services such as construction management, owner representation, cost controls and schedule analysis.

Adam works closely with the firm’s engineering consulting and forensic practice to provide solutions that account for constructability and are cost-effective.

In addition, Adam is experienced in leading teams to develop, construct, execute and/or control a wide range of projects, including multi-billion dollar gas transmission pipeline projects, coal-fired and nuclear power station outages, luxury high-rise condominium projects, municipal facilities, and award winning LEED Gold Certified projects.

↓ Kasian (KC) Tomyn

PE
Associate Principal | Manager of Caribbean Sector
kct@sepengineers.com

KC is a senior engineer with over fourteen years of experience and proven success in the structural design and management for a variety of projects. He has diverse experience in the design, analysis, and management for a variety of building types including complex post-tensioned concrete projects, airports, office buildings, education, government, and healthcare facilities. KC is committed to providing a high level of service to his clients and engineering buildings that meet owners’ requirements while balancing budgetary and time limitations.

KC manages the firm’s operations in the Caribbean and is responsible for project success and community development in the region.

In 2017, KC provided disaster recovery and mitigation support in the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused widespread damage. He led the FEMA Permanent Home Construction program which consisted of permanent repairs of up to $200k each to storm-damaged homes throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was a contributor to the FEMA Mitigation Assessment Report, which was a comprehensive assessment of damage caused by the two hurricanes. He also assisted in the code development for the U.S. Virgin Islands and the development of the USVI Construction for Stronger Homes Guide, which is a prescriptive design guide for residential construction.

KC is a graduate of Florida State University.

↓ John M. Hale

PMP, RMP
Senior Forensic Consultant | Project Risk Controls
John@sconmanagers.com

John has over thirty years of professional experience in the development, setup, execution and closeout of various proposals, projects, programs and transactions in a variety of businesses, functional areas, and geographic locations with a focus on the global engineering and construction of large, complex energy and industrial projects.

John has specific expertise in transactional analysis of risk, operations management, project management, cost and schedule risk assessment, forensic schedule analysis, claims analysis, and project controls management. He consults with SEP on complex litigation support matters where risk and schedule analysis are needed and also supports ScM on project schedule analysis and project controls.

John is a member of the Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA), was part of the steering committee from 2009-2012, and is currently a regional director for the organization. He holds an undergraduate degree from California State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University.

↓ John Vu

PE, CPE, CBI
Senior Engineer | Quality Control Lead
johnvu@sepengineers.com

As a locally-recognized structural engineer in the Central Florida area with over forty years of experience, John brings a wide array of experience with entertainment and hospitality projects. His past career experiences have provided him with him with a unique understanding of both design and jurisdictional aspects of our industry, having worked as the chief structural reviewer for the Reddy Creek Improvement District (RCID) for over two decades.

In addition to bringing valuable experience and mentorship to our team, John is also responsible for implementing the firm’s quality control procedures to mitigate risk and improve coordination on projects. He brings valuable experience in the creative use of building materials to achieve aesthetics, ride, and show requirements in the hospitality and entertainment sector and from a value engineering perspective to commercial and industrial projects.

John has been a licensed as a Florida Professional Engineer in the structural discipline since 1983 and is also a Certified Plans Examiner and Certified Building Inspector in the State of Florida. He holds an undergraduate degree in Architectural Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds two master’s degrees from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; one in Architecture and the second in Civil Engineering.