Public engineering firm profile
New Orleans, LA
Consulting Engineers and Designers
Pivotal Engineering, LLC is a New Orleans-based multi-disciplined engineering practice offering electrical, mechanical, plumbing, civil, and environmental engineering alongside construction inspection services. Its principals and staff bring more than 200 years of combined design experience across Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and New York, serving industrial, commercial, and public-sector clients. Founded by design professionals committed to customized solutions, Pivotal delivers in-house, hands-on expertise that minimizes overhead and reduces contractor change orders. Post-Hurricane Katrina, it completed more than 50 FEMA-funded projects, conducted 7,000 structural inspections, and performed 4,500 asbestos evaluations supporting the City of New Orleans recovery.
Power distribution design and analysis, load calculations, emergency and backup power systems, and lighting design for streets, highways, and commercial and industrial facilities. Controls capabilities include PLC and DCS selection, design, and implementation, plus special systems such as fire alarm, intercom, and IT.
Mechanical systems support for commercial and industrial facilities.
Plumbing system design and code compliance for commercial and industrial buildings.
Street improvements, drainage design, utility infrastructure replacement, and streetscape design for public and private clients. Post-Katrina recovery work included structural inspections of more than 2,500 structures across New Orleans.
Multimedia environmental consulting covering asbestos inspection and sampling, air permitting and compliance, soil and hazardous waste permitting and compliance, and remedial design. Site closure services include on-site treatment, risk assessments, groundwater modeling, and mitigation.
Engineers, inspectors, and technicians verify contractor compliance with plans, specifications, and industry standards. Monitoring services include vibration monitoring, pile logging, landfill construction certification, and stormwater testing.
Louisiana | Environmental & Remediation
Pivotal performed an environmental and geological assessment of soil and groundwater and characterized sludge in a large oily waste impoundment. Data supported a toxicological assessment under the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality RECAP program, establishing remediation standards that eliminated the need for full site remediation and saved the client more than $1.5 million.
View project sourceNew Orleans, LA | Government
Engineering services for a multi-function gymnasium and recreation center on a compressed design and construction schedule with FEMA funding constraints post-Hurricane Katrina. Three complete sets of construction documents were produced in response to scope changes while the final bid document deadline was still met.
View project sourceInfrastructure
Pivotal provided drainage analysis, design, and lighting services for an urban greenway development project. Work included topographic survey review, grading plans, lighting plans, and signage plans coordinated with local, city, federal, and state agencies, incorporating architectural, civil, and electrical design components.
View project sourcePresident
PE
Avinash Mehta leads Pivotal Engineering as principal and business manager, overseeing civil engineering projects and marketing pursuits. He brings more than 14 years of experience managing project budgets, schedules, and scopes, with expertise in street design, drainage, permitting, wastewater and potable water system design, and conceptual planning for coastal restoration projects.
Principal
PE
Terry Elnaggar serves as engineering manager for environmental projects. His experience spans program management, design, and construction management across more than 50 industrial facilities, 30 schools, shipyards, libraries, airports, and contaminated properties. He is a licensed environmental and civil engineer in multiple states and a licensed contractor.
Principal
PE
Bassam Mekari oversees electrical and mechanical engineering projects for commercial and industrial facilities. He brings more than 25 years of design and construction management experience, with project work spanning schools, libraries, refineries, production sites, and medical facilities. He also designed thermal reactors for hazardous waste treatment deployed in the USA and internationally.
Principal
PE
Yoseph Shifare serves as project director for civil and transportation engineering, bringing more than 17 years of experience in engineering, project, and construction management for public infrastructure, industrial, commercial, and private facilities. His work covers roadway and traffic design, drainage and stormwater management, water and wastewater systems, and landfills.
Electrical Design Specialist
Irish Jones brings more than 40 years of experience in electrical design and construction, spanning interior and exterior lighting, building power supply and distribution, and system automation for large industrial and commercial facilities.
Senior Mechanical Engineer
PE
James Amodeo leads mechanical and plumbing design at Pivotal Engineering, with more than 15 years of experience in the analysis, design, and construction management of building mechanical systems. He is responsible for code compliance review, design recommendations, and project schematics.
Pivotal Engineering's staff has assisted us with environmental response, compliance, testing, reporting and permitting for over 20 twenty years in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas. They have done an excellent job and has always responded very quickly to our needs with high quality work. Pivotal has an excellent relationship with the regulatory agencies which ensured that testing, plans and reports were compliant with their requirements.