Cordoba Corporation is pleased to celebrate California Water Professionals Appreciation Week to recognize the outstanding work of our water professionals! The California Legislature officially designated the first week in October as California Water Professionals Appreciation Week. It is intended to highlight the important role of water industry professionals and local public water agencies in ensuring safe and reliable water, wastewater, and recycled water in California.
Each day this week, we are recognizing Water Professionals who are Making a Difference for our water industry clients. Please enjoy getting to know them below.
Masih Bari is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer who joined Cordoba as a Hydraulics and Hydrology Engineer in June 2021. He has 17 years of experience with interdisciplinary projects that require systemic approaches to plan and manage water resources in the context of environmental concerns, sustainability, and climate change.
Masih has contributed to the development of multiple Groundwater Sustainability Plans under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). He also has extensive experience in developing computer simulation models from local to regional scales as decision-making support tools for planning and management of surface water systems. Masih’s expertise includes facilitating discussions with stakeholders and decision makers; managing and processing large datasets; computer programming; developing interlinked models; conducting hydrologic and statistical analyses; and using GIS applications.
Masih earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Islamic Azad University, a M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the Amirkabir University of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Colorado State University. He is also the co-author of a textbook on groundwater hydrology and has published many scientific articles, technical reports, and white papers. In addition, Masih has co-advised multiple graduate students while conducting projects around the world.
Fakhri Manghi is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering/Water Resources from Colorado State University. Fakhri earned both a M.S. and B.S., both in Civil Engineering Water Resources from Mosul University in Iraq. With over 20 years of experience in the public sector, Fakhri has planned, managed, designed and constructed numerous water utility capital improvement program (CIP) projects, including transmission pipelines, pump stations, groundwater recharge basins, and municipal production wells. He joined Cordoba in June 2021 and is serving as a Project Manager.
Fakhri’s motivation to get the job done has led him to closeout three major water projects in 2019 and 2020 totaling more than $20 million; publish four peer-reviewed papers regarding the development of optimum water resources management; and lead groundwater numerical modeling efforts for the San Jacinto River watershed. Fakhri’s experience, skills, and determination to complete projects on time, within approved budget, and with high quality have contributed to his success as a leader and Project Manager.
Fakhri is often praised for his ability to create strong interpersonal relationships. He uses effective communication skills to coordinate with staff, develop successful engineering designs, ensure consistency of plans for construction documents, and reduce construction cost risk.
Brad Milner has consulted for more than 30 years providing engineering, environmental, and operations services to public and private clients in California including water, waste water, recycled water, storm water, water conservation, and emergency response projects. As a consultant, he worked for numerous public agencies such as the US Department of Defense, County of Ventura, dozens of cities and utility districts, large and small private corporations, and the oil and gas industry.
Brad has prepared 100+ engineering, environmental, and operations reports and memorandums. Examples of technical reports/ documents that Brad prepared include Engineering Reports for Water Treatment Plants, Urban Water Management Plans, Facility Audits, Master Plans, Risk Management Plans, Sewer System Management Plans, Operation and Maintenance Plans, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans, Permit Applications, and Grant Applications. In addition, Brad has obtained and or supported 100+ permits from Federal, State, and local agencies.
Brad currently assists the Cordoba Water Infrastructure Sector as a Senior Project Manager where he provides management of business development pursuits and technical projects in engineering, environmental/permitting, and operations services. Brad is currently working on projects for the Los Angeles Pumping Company, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, and Santa Clara Valley Water District.
John Otoshi earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and a M.S. in Organizational Leadership from Biola University. John has over 30 years of experience at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power spending most of his career in the Water System and has several years of experience in the Power and Environmental Systems. His responsibilities included Manager of Mechanical Engineering, Program Manager, Project Manager, Design, Contract Administration, Construction, and Planning. John currently works in Cordoba’s Water Infrastructure Sector as a Project Manager.
John is currently responsible for managing the Oak Knolls Pump Station Project for the Simi Valley Water District and is the Technical Design lead for the Long Beach Valve Replacement Project, and is assisting with the Project Support Office for City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation.
Mary Vorissis is a licensed professional engineer with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and has over 35 years in the environmental engineering field with experience in providing governmental liaison and project management services;
planning and design for water and wastewater projects; establishing policy and standards for wastewater treatment; and independent consulting for wastewater engineering services.
She has successfully owned and operated her own consulting firm specializing in helping municipalities address their water resource needs and small to large size consulting firms deliver water, wastewater, and recycled water projects.
Mary has held vital roles for companies both domestically and internationally. She spent an extensive amount of her career working as a Lead Process Engineer, Project Manager, and Technical Author on various wastewater, potable water and recycled water projects throughout the Upper Midwest and California. In addition, she worked in the United Kingdom where she held the role of Wastewater Policy and Standard Manager for United Utilities for which her responsibilities included maintaining and developing asset design standards and policies for wastewater treatment applicable for over 600 wastewater treatment facilities.
Mary has served in a variety of capacities since joining Cordoba Corporation in 2020, including working as a Senior Project Manager on several high-profile water projects.
