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Join us on Monday, August 18, for our Capital Program Webinar series, featuring Ron Blaj, Director of Campus Design and Construction for Major Capital Projects at UCSF Real Estate. The session will be hosted by Talin Espinoza, Chief Strategy Officer at Royal Electric Company, and moderated by Don P. Hill, Project Manager at Hensel Phelps.
This live webinar offers a valuable opportunity to hear from UCSF leadership about the university’s approach to capital planning and campus development. Ron will share insights based on his experience overseeing major projects, with a look at how UCSF is evolving to meet the needs of its mission and community.
Do not miss this informative session designed to connect, inspire, and highlight the future of higher education infrastructure.
Sponsor today, space is limited!
Ron Blaj
Director
Campus Design & Construction – Major Capital Projects
UCSF Real Estate
Ron Blaj, UCSF Campus Design & Construction Director of Major Capital Projects, has worked in the design and construction industry since the late 1970’s. After growing up in the Bay Area, the United Kingdom, & Brazil, he obtained his BS in Civil Engineering from UC Davis in 1979 and his MS in Construction Engineering & Management from Stanford in 1980. He is a Professional Engineer registered in both California and Colorado.
Ron’s working career has including significant stints working for a large Construction / Engineering Company, for a medium-sized Specialty Subcontractor, as a Private Consultant, for a Project Management firm, and on the staff of two Higher Education Institutions (Portland State University and UCSF). He has worked in Oregon, California, Washington, Colorado, Montana, Kansas, the United Kingdom, and Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa.
He has been fortunate to have worked on a wide variety of Project types, including higher education research buildings, other educational and institutional buildings, K-12 construction, food processing projects, industrial projects, high tech facilities, military construction, and heavy civil construction.
He loves the collaborative Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model and working environment and has been putting IPD and other techniques nowadays called ‘Lean’ into practice since long before those terms became widespread in the industry.
Don P. Hill
Project Manager
Hensel Phelps.
Don Hill, project manager on the UCSF Bakar Research and Academic Building (BRAB), has more than 19 years of experience in the construction industry, including 12 years with Hensel Phelps. His portfolio of projects is valued at more than $3.2 billion and totals 3,000,000 SF of space built. He is a graduate of Bowling Green University with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management. Prior to starting up the BRAB project, Don contributed to leading the 1021 O Street State Office Building project in Sacramento and San Francisco International Airport’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1. Don has extensive design-build experience and believes the power of communication and building connections can bring project teams together. He’s been involved in multiple projects with formal partnering that has made a clear difference, including on the fast-paced 1021 O Street project.
Don is passionate about mentoring and recruiting the next generation of construction leaders, engaging with students wherever he can. He attends the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Convention annually and is involved with regional recruiting across Northern California at colleges and high schools. Don is an active member of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Northern California Chapter, serving on the CMAA NorCal Board of Directors as the CMIT Emerging Professionals Chair. In this role, he has organized and supported events for emerging professionals across the Bay Area and Sacramento and has served as a beacon in revitalizing the CMAA NorCal Emerging Professionals group over the past three years. Don believes in building a community that supports each other, both within the construction industry and in the cities and towns where we work. In 2023, Don received the CMAA Northern California Chapter’s President’s Award for Emerging Professional and was featured on Autodesk’s 40 Under 40: Champions of Construction 2020 list.
