Woolpert Hires Former TxDOT Project Manager Fawzi Abou-Hossa to Support Infrastructure Projects Throughout Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (Jan. 19, 2022) — Woolpert has hired Fawzi Abou-Hossa, PE, a veteran civil engineer and former Texas Department of Transportation project manager, as a senior project manager for transportation. Abou-Hossa has more than 40 years of engineering and management experience in transportation design and construction.

Abou-Hossa managed consulting contracts at TxDOT for more than 21 years, reviewing the development of Plans, Specifications and Estimate construction bid packages for highways, interchanges, roadways and bikeways in the Houston District. Prior to that, the University of Houston graduate worked in Beirut, Lebanon, as a construction contractor for turnkey design and construction apartment buildings; at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; and as a project engineer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He said his construction-related work in Riyadh provided him with a wealth of engineering experience early in his career.

Fawzi Abou-Hossa

“Working with multinational designers and contractors—from Korea, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, India, the U.S. and various Middle Eastern countries­—helped me better understand future projects, differences in workmanship, competition and international building design codes,” Abou-Hossa said. “This scope has benefited my work throughout Houston, where continued economic and population growth has congested and strained roadways throughout the metropolitan area. We need an immediate and long-term mass transit solution that can be coordinated with future developments to enable the city to not only catch up but to prepare for the future of public transportation.”

Abou-Hossa said the recently passed federal infrastructure stimulus funding will help Houston address aging infrastructure and modernize existing roadways and bridges, water and sewer systems, and clean energy systems. He said multimodal transportation options should be explored and additional electric vehicle charging stations should be installed, suggesting that the federal government establish a tax incentive to encourage Americans to purchase electric vehicles. He also noted that highways should be upgraded to support autonomous vehicles.

“With this funding, the workload of TxDOT project managers is expected to increase exponentially,” Abou-Hossa said. “Woolpert and CivilTech have established a great working relationship with TxDOT over the years. I hope to strengthen that relationship further, matching the needs of the department and the region with the extensive design and geospatial capabilities of Woolpert to support transportation efforts throughout the Houston metropolitan area.”

Michelle Milliard, the director of construction services for CivilTech, a Woolpert Company, said Abou-Hossa’s engineering and management expertise specific to Houston will benefit the firm and the region.

“Fawzi has a long reputation for completing major transportation projects on schedule and within budget, for the benefit of the taxpayer, TxDOT and consultants,” Milliard said. “As we enter this phase of infrastructure advancement throughout Texas, Fawzi’s expertise, focus and innovative outlook will be relied upon. We are extremely happy he joined our team.”

About Woolpert
Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is an ENR Top 150 Global Design Firm, recently earned its sixth-straight Great Place to Work certification, and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been America’s fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. The firm has more than 1,600 employees and 60 offices on four continents. For more, visit woolpert.com.