October 2025 Vol. 80 No. 10
Business
Underground infrastructure leaders take on new roles across the industry
Carollo Engineers
Carollo Engineers, North America’s premier water engineering and consulting firm, announced Vice President Dr. Graham Juby, was made a Fellow of the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The prestigious, peer-nominated Fellow designation recognizes WEF members' achievements, stature, and contributions to the preservation and enhancement of the water profession.
During his 28-year career with Carollo, Juby has established himself as a pre-eminent figure in brine management, membrane technology, and potable reuse. His groundbreaking research and innovative designs have transformed how utilities approach water recovery, setting new standards for desalination, advanced treatment processes, and sustainable water management.
As a pioneer in brine management, Dr. Juby's work has been instrumental in helping find solutions to enable inland communities to pursue potable reuse and brackish water desalination projects by maximizing water recovery rates to minimize brine volumes and provide environmentally safe disposal. His innovations in this space have shown promise to achieve water recovery rates around 95 percent. These breakthrough achievements have resulted in the potential for significant reductions in brine disposal costs.
Juby was also an early advocate for membrane bioreactors (MBR) and served as technical advisor for one of the first large-scale MBR implementations in the United States – a 6.6-million-gallon-per-day facility in Redlands, California. This landmark project not only demonstrated the large-scale viability of the technology but also created a significant opportunity for local water reuse which continues to this day.
McElroy
McElroy, the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of thermoplastic fusion equipment, promoted Chris Zenthoefer, the company’s director of Digital Strategy, to vice president of Product Strategy.
Playing a pivotal role in shaping the company’s digital future, he spearheaded expansion of platforms and introduced innovations that have set new standards. Most recently, Zenthoefer’s leadership drove the launch of McElroy’s Operator Profiles, a groundbreaking integration of training, credentials, and performance data that elevates industry standards and gives machine operators a single platform to store their machine and training credentials.
A Tulsa native, Zenthoefer graduated from the University of Tulsa with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Marketing focus. Prior to his work at McElroy, Zenthoefer was the founder of ICEdot, a startup that designed technological products for outdoor enthusiasts.
“Chris’s vision and entrepreneurial spirit, strengthened by a proven track record in product innovation before McElroy, have been instrumental in seamlessly connecting digital integration with customer experience,” Chip McElroy said. “As Vice President of Product Strategy, Chris’s leadership will once again be key to helping us better define and deliver our go-to-market strategies across our entire product portfolio.”
McElroy is the leading manufacturer and innovator in the science of joining thermoplastic pipe. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company offers the industry's most complete line of butt, saddle and socket fusion equipment for 1/2" CTS to 2000mm OD pipe, as well as quality assurance accessories that increase productivity and efficiency on the job site. For more than 65 years, McElroy has successfully demonstrated a complete dedication to excellence that lies at the heart of the design, engineering and manufacturing of its products.
PipeSense
Following 18 months of operational excellence and rapid adoption of its original solutions, PipeSense, the pipeline leak detecting and monitoring authority, is set to triple its headcount.
PipeSense, part of the full-service pipeline integrity firm Charps, has increased its team from five full-time employees to 10 within the last 12 months, with plans to onboard another five employees in the coming months. This growth comes as a result of widespread endorsement of its no-nonsense approach to pipeline maintenance, particularly with operators throughout the United States, including Fortune 500 and blue-chip companies.
New additions to the business development team will focus on diversifying the width and depth of PipeSense services across the Americas, including expanding awareness in South America and exploring global opportunities for integration in European markets.
Additionally, PipeSense has grown its operational capacity with new appointments assisting in the in-field implementation of the AI-backed leak detection system technology PipeGuard and field service solution PipeServ. New expertise and resources in its engineering team will substantiate the goals of developing further technologies from its Houston-based R&D and testing facilities, advancing the firm's technical prowess.
Since entering the market less than two years ago, PipeSense has seen operators embrace fresh approaches to protecting operations and the environment, rapidly adopting PipeTest for hydrotest monitoring and PipeGuard for leak detection. Appointments made by PipeSense in the last year will support the aims of its experienced leadership team in ending false positives through relentless innovation and invention.
Earlier this year, in line with its growth strategy, PipeSense moved into a new office space for its growing team, expanding from 1,300 to 3,900 square feet.
Promoris
At Primoris Services Corporation, a premier specialty contractor of critical infrastructure services, the Board of Directors appointed Koti Vadlamudi president and CEO. He succeeds Interim President and CEO David King, who will continue to serve as chairman of Primoris’ Board of Directors.
Vadlamudi is a seasoned engineering and construction executive with over 30 years of global experience leading operations, business development, and strategic growth across public and private sectors. His industry expertise spans energy and power, oil and gas, mission-critical facilities, consumer products, and life sciences. Most recently, he served as executive vice president at Jacobs, overseeing multi-billion-dollar global business segments.
A well-regarded leader, he is recognized for his expertise in driving enterprise growth, acquisition integration, project delivery, client relationships, and operational leadership across complex, high-value programs. He has a consistent track record of driving results in challenging market conditions, leading high-performing and multidisciplinary teams, championing a robust safety culture, and delivering long-term value to clients and stakeholders.
Fortiline
Fortiline, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Reece, Inc., promoted Keith Young to president. Fortiline serves as the Waterworks Division of Reece USA.
Young has been a highly valued leader on the Waterworks team since joining Fortiline in March, 2012 as regional manager-Florida. He later advanced to regional vice president, overseeing both the Florida and Mid-Atlantic Regions. More recently, Young has led the expansion of Fortiline’s High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Fusion Division and played a leadership role in the recent acquisition of Belair Road Supply, which expanded Fortiline’s footprint into Maryland and Delaware.
For nearly 30 years, Fortiline Waterworks has been a dedicated wholesale distributor of underground water, sewer and storm utility products local partner to major private and public contractors, and municipalities. Through acquisition, Fortiline became a part of Reece Group in 2018. Today, Fortiline distributes thousands of products to a diverse base of customers through its network in 16 states across the United States.
Fortiline and Reece Inc. (USA) are a part of the Reece Group, a leading distributor of plumbing, waterworks and HVAC-R products to commercial and residential customers through more than 900 branches in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
In Memorium
Dave Nicoli, CEO of DP Nicoli, Inc., died Sept. 17, at the age of 70.
Dave dedicated his life to building DP Nicoli into one of the Northwest’s most trusted trench safety and shoring companies. For over three decades, he led with vision, integrity, and an unwavering belief in people.
In 2022, he achieved one of his proudest milestones, transitioning DP Nicoli into a 100-percent employee-owned company. His decision to sell the business to its employees reflected his lifelong commitment to shared success and ensuring the future of the company would remain in the hands of those who helped build it.
He was also a founding member of NAXSA, which was created to promote the safe and efficient use of excavation shoring practices. It represents manufacturers, engineers, rental companies/distributors, universities/educators, associates/suppliers, and government agency representatives who share the common goal of maintaining safety in the excavation shoring industry with the result of zero deaths and injuries.
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