Engineers Week 2024: BART celebrates the hard work, ingenuity, and creativity of our exceptional engineers

Engineers Week, held annually the third week of February, is a weeklong celebration of the engineers, technicians, and technologists whose work makes a difference in our world.  

Engineers at BART play a critical role in keeping our riders safe and on the move. Our agency is home to more than 180 engineers who encompass a staggering number of disciplines, from structures and electrical to traction power and computer systems (to name just a few).  

“As a Professional Engineer myself, I am routinely impressed and inspired by BART’s engineers,” said General Manager Bob Powers. “I thank each and every one of them for their ongoing work to imagine and implement projects that improve and advance our system.” 

Over the past year, our engineers have launched and progressed an array of major projects, including but not limited to: 

• Next Generation Fare Gates (systemwide replacement of our 20-year-old fare gates) 
•  Communications-Based Train Control, or CBTC (replacement of the systemwide signaling system) 
• Rail Inspection Vehicle, or RIV (our newly acquired geometry car with advanced track inspection capabilities that will transform our rail operations) 
• 34.5kV Cable Replacement (inspection and replacement of 34.5 kV cables along the M‐Line and R-Line), Civic Center Station Scissor Stairs (part of Measure RR system improvements, adding two additional "scissored" staircases at both ends of the station) 
• The Transbay Tube Seismic Retrofit (installation of a steel liner plates, and new water pumping system inside the tube).  

“BART engineers are some of the most hardworking, knowledgeable, and creative in the business, and they ensure we are honoring our commitment to riders to provide safe, clean, and reliable train service,” said Sylvia Lamb, Assistant General Manager of the Office of Infrastructure Delivery. “Our engineers are also working tirelessly to develop opportunities for innovation and the utilization of cutting-edge technology so that we may honor this commitment for years to come.” 

A photo of newly hired junior engineers. Pictured: (Back row left to right) Venus Ku, Christian Chaves, Hein Htet San, Mariela Gonzalez, Jia Wu, and Richard Devera. (Front row left to right) Artem Morozov, Brendan Dolan, Kevin Pham, Audrey Chuakay, and Peyton Hill. Not pictured: Jacob-Crispulo Rojo.  

The theme of Engineers Week is "Welcome to the Future," and that could not be more relevant to all of us at BART. In the last six months, we’ve welcomed 12 junior engineers in a multitude of disciplines. Their insight will strengthen and enhance our ongoing engineering projects as well as those that will be undertaken in the coming months, years, and decades. Welcome aboard! 

BART currently has job postings for engineer roles, as well as a robust Summer Engineering Internship Program for students. Learn more at bart.gov/jobs.