Robert Russell, PE - Principal
Robert graduated from UCLA in 2010 with a Degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering. Since his Junior year in College, Robert has worked for various civil engineering firms - both large national multi-disciplinary, and small local start-up. Robert has had the pleasure to work on a wide variety of different land development projects, big and small, with a range of different architects, engineers, developers, and owners. Prior to engineering Robert worked in Sales for several years which instilled a passion for building relationships with all different types of people.
Robert's experience spans across single family homes, small lot subdivisions, multifamily / mixed use, retail, commercial, education, and healthcare. Any development that has a site, Robert is eager and willing to dive into, identify design parameters and potential issues, and coordinate solutions and site design with the project team. Robert is experienced in and enjoys all aspects of the profession - from the weeds of precise grading and utility design, to jurisdictional relationships and permit processing, to business development / contract scope and fee negotiation; and how it all fits together to create a successful project and healthy Client / Consultant relationship.
In 2019 Robert decided to make a leap and start RCE. By establishing his own business, Robert is free to take ultimate ownership and focus on making sure each and every one of his projects is successful, and the professional relationships he has, both old and new, continue to flourish. Robert's goal is to build an environment where everyone he works with - internal and external - is happy, and enjoys the projects they work on together.
Outside of work, Robert is a proud husband and father of two young children. If Robert happens to get some free time outside of his professional and family life, he enjoys golf and tennis (playing), all other sports (watching), exploring Southern California and the great outdoors, chess, reading, and learning new things.
Hugo Herrera, PE - Project Engineer
Hugo attended Cal State Fullerton where he graduated top of his class in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Weeks before graduating he accepted a job offer with one of the nation’s top civil engineering firms (where he first met Robert Russell). While working there Hugo worked on a variety of traffic and land development projects. He traveled to offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Minnesota, and all of California to provide his site plan, grading and utility design expertise. His exposure to different projects across the country helped broaden his experience and helped polished the quality of his work.
After about 4 years of working in design, Hugo wanted more of a challenge so he decided take a program management role on LAX’s $14 billion Landside Access Modernization Program. Hugo was an owner representative. He assisted with construction time & space coordination and reviewed construction impacts of design builder’s means and methods to accelerate project schedules. Hugo’s experience in design and construction has made him a well-rounded engineer that understands the relationship between design and constructability.
As much as he enjoyed that type of work Hugo’s true passion was always civil design and after about 5 years, he left LAX and joined RCE. RCE was different than any of the other firms he had worked before. RCE takes full ownership of every project and puts the client’s needs first before their own. This allows for the highest quality of work to be produced but most importantly creates an environment where clients are happy and work is enjoyable!
When he’s not working, Hugo enjoys high intensity interval training, golfing and biking along the LA/Santa Monica coastline. He also likes trying new restaurant with his wife and enjoys spending quality time with close family and friends.