NEW YORK, NY — Ana Maria Ruiz Jimenez, Ph.D., joins HNTB Corporation’s national tunnel practice as Principal Engineer and Associate Vice President. She is based in the firm’s Empire State Building office and serves as an accomplished resource to clients and projects across the nation.

With nearly three decades of experience, Ruiz Jimenez’s specialties includes design and project management of ventilation systems and fire protections systems for complex tunnels.

“Ana Maria is recognized internationally for outstanding technical skills and has established herself as an out-of-the-box thinker and subject matter expert who consistently provides value to clients on the most complex underground transportation projects,” said Sanja Zlatanic, PE, HNTB National Tunnel Practice Chair, Senior Vice President, and HNTB Fellow. “Her level of experience ... and her ability to apply her extraordinary technical acumen toward innovations is remarkable. We are excited to have her leadership at HNTB where the tunnel and underground practice continues to expand while attracting the best talent.”

Ruiz Jimenez previously owned her own consulting firm, where clients included New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, AMTRAK, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Chicago Union Station, and many international transportation agencies. Her experience includes ventilation design of Barcelona Line 9 with one bore/two levels using platform screen doors and high speed rail tunnels ventilation design in Spain, as well as ventilation design for two subway lines of 12 and 13 stations in Chennai, India.

Prior to that, she worked with CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland) and ESRF (European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France) as Deputy Director for Spain’s Ministry of Industry. She has served on the National Fire Protection Association 502 Technical Committee for Road Tunnels since 2012 and presented papers and presentations for international tunnels and aerodynamics conferences.

“Ana Maria brings broad ventilation and fire protection knowledge,” said Bernd Hagenah, Ph.D., HNTB Principal Engineer for Tunnel Ventilation and Fire Life Safety and Associate Vice President. “She understands the technical aspects and intricacies of facility systems application for underground construction, and her collaborative work style helps the team navigate through unique circumstances that may arise, always bringing a valuable point of view.”

Ruiz Jimenez earned her Ph.D. in physics from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and a Master for Councelors from Esade Business & Law School in Barcelona, Spain.