5 Questions with an Expert: Saurav Sinha

In our first “5 Questions” interview of the year, we spoke with Senior Project Manager Saurav Sinha. He shared his inspiring career journey from growing up near the world’s longest dam to leading complex geotechnical projects and managing a high-performing team.

1. Starting with some background about yourself, can you share how you got started in this field and what inspires you most in your work?  
I grew up in a small town in India called Odisha, home to the world’s longest earthen dam—the Hirakud Dam, which is across from theMahanadi River. I have always been fascinated by the dam. Since my father was a faculty member at one of the top engineering institutes in the area, I understood that infrastructure like the dam was made possible by civil engineering.  

The design and construction of mega infrastructure are both complicated and fascinating. I worked diligently to rank highly in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which enabled me to choose Civil Engineering as my undergraduate major at a prestigious university in India—Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology. Throughout the four-year program, I gained a great deal of knowledge through coursework, training, and internships. After graduating, I gained industry experience by joining Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering & Construction. I worked as a Construction Engineer in the QA/QC (Quality Assurance & Quality Control) Department for a commercial building project for the Reliance Global Headquarters. The project involved well-respected architects and designers like JW, HOK International Ltd, and BuroHappold. Collaborating with people from around the globe provided me with firsthand insights into diverse cultures and refined my technical and communication skills. 

As the next step in my career, I worked as a Research Assistant on the European Union FP-7 project “CEOP-AEGIS," collaborating with eight country partners, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, India, China, and Japan. I then pursued a master’s degree at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) with a thesis focused on an Infiltration Soil Study as part of the National Science Foundation-funded project, Cyper SEES: Type 2: Integrative Sensing and Prediction of Urban Water for Sustainable Cities (iSPUW), in partnership with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I developed and installed moisture sensors around the UTA campus and at various off-campus locations to monitor soil water infiltration at different depths and moisture fluctuations during rain events.  

A summer internship at Gorrondona & Associates, Inc. exposed me to geotechnical field investigation services. It was an incredible opportunity to do hands-on work and compare theoretical studies with practical experiences. I worked on diverse projects, including transportation, aviation, municipal, commercial, residential, etc. I am most inspired by how different civil disciplines work as a team, each bringing their unique specialties to make a project successful.  

2. Please tell us about your role at HVJ. What is important to success in this role, and which aspect of your work or daily routine do you like best?  
 I am a Senior Project Manager for Geotechnical Services at HVJ’s North Texas Office. I oversee geotechnical projects, ensuring client satisfaction, timely results, and the highest standards of quality. Anyone interested in a project manager role must first spend ample time thoroughly understanding the scope of work. Although this may seem obvious, it is easy to overlook, making it essential to establish goals, identify tasks, and prioritize needs from the beginning.

We typically manage the work of three major phases – field coordination, laboratory testing, and engineering analyses. For each of those phases, a manager must work with the end goal in mind – specifically, what is the deliverable, allocated budget, and expected timeline.  Complex geotechnical projects almost always have unexpected challenges, so they must be able to proactively identify solutions and solve the problem.

Success depends on effective communication within the team and with the client. For instance, I schedule regular check-ins with clients to ensure their satisfaction as we hit each milestone. I promote a collaborative spirit among my team and encourage them to leverage their technical expertise to creatively tackle complex engineering challenges.    

3. Could you briefly describe one of your recent projects and what you found most interesting or rewarding? What significant achievement resulted from the project?  

 I enjoy working on a variety of challenging projects with varying levels of complexity. One project I found particularly interesting was a Cast-in-Place (CIP) wall project in the Dallas area. It was difficult due to limited right-of-way and sloping ground conditions. Conventional designs were not feasible, so our team had to brainstorm and optimize the engineering analyses to accommodate this modified approach. We developed multiple models based on parametric analyses, foundation improvements, and other tools to ensure the structure met all minimum stability criteria. It required strong technical expertise and pushed our team to solve challenges creatively. 

4. For someone new to this field, could you explain the role of geotechnical engineering and how it differs from other disciplines within civil engineering? 
Geotechnical engineering is a close-knit profession that requires extensive knowledge of construction to provide relevant and buildable recommendations. As my professors at UTA emphasized, the geotechnical discipline is vast and encompasses everything below ground. Geotechnical engineering is the only discipline that involves multiple stages of investigation, which must be completed seamlessly, as other disciplines (e.g., structural engineering) rely on our studies to proceed with their designs.  

5. Which other disciplines do you frequently collaborate with on projects? What do you consider the most important factors for successful collaboration?  
HVJ Associates, as a minority firm, collaborates with other civil design companies to provide geotechnical and construction material testing services for public projects. We mainly partner with Design, Civil, and Structural Engineers to create the most economical and optimized designs that support each project. This necessitates close collaboration and clear communication among teams. Even the most complex design and construction challenges can typically be addressed by civil disciplines working together to find a viable solution.