WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed three new executives to its North American rail transit and transportation and infrastructure businesses.
Yassmin Gramian has been named Northeast Business Development Director for the Transportation and Infrastructure sector at WSP | PB. She is based in Philadelphia.
Gramian has more than 30 years of experience in operations, business development and client services, as well as project management and structural engineering. As a project manager and structural engineer, she has focused on transportation and infrastructure projects throughout Pennsylvania. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, she was a senior vice president with responsibility for Pennsylvania operations at global architecture, civil engineering and construction management firm HNTB.
Gramian earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Michigan. She serves on the boards of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania, and the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association.
Dale A. Brown has been appointed Assistant Vice President, Transit and Rail Systems in the Atlanta office. In his new position, he leads a team of systems and specialty engineers to address the project, safety and asset accountability requirements of North American transit and rail agencies. He also supports the development of business process improvements for the integration of transit and ITS (intelligent transportation systems).
Brown has more than 30 years of experience implementing systems engineering practices for complex rail and manufactured systems, including design and delivery of embedded control for specialty equipment and military and rail vehicles throughout North America, South America and Europe. Prior to joining WSP | PB, he was systems engineering director for the transit and rail practice of Atkins, a diversified international design, engineering and project management firm.
A licensed professional engineer in Ontario, Canada, Brown earned a master’s degree in engineering/business administration and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Western Ontario. Among his professional affiliations, he serves as co-chair of the transportation working group of the International Council on Systems Engineering and is an active participant on the APTA systems engineering subcommittee.
Pamela Townsend has been appointed Senior Vice President and Southeast Region Business Manager for the transportation and infrastructure sector. She is responsible for strategic business development, client service delivery and financial performance, and is based in the Raleigh, N.C., office.
Townsend has more than 30 years of diversified leadership experience, including program and project management experience with federal, state and local governments, as well as commercial and industrial clients throughout the Southeast. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, she was a senior vice president of Dewberry, a consulting engineering firm with strategic planning and growth responsibilities for all market sectors in the Southeast. She also held several positions over 24 years with AECOM and Earth Tech (which AECOM acquired in 2009), including senior vice president and southern states district general manager.
A licensed professional engineer in several states, Townsend earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from North Carolina State University. She is the current chair of the joint American Council of Engineering Companies/PENC political action committee. She also serves on the North Carolina State University College of Engineering Foundation Board. Townsend has served the State of North Carolina in many ways, including appointment to the Joint Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission to Study the State’s Building and Infrastructure Needs.