KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Eduardo Andrade, a longtime executive in the Mexico energy industry, has joined Burns & McDonnell as its general director in Mexico for Burns & McDonnell Services S.A. de C.V. In that role, he will oversee the company’s pursuit of power generation and electrical transmission projects as Mexico moves quickly to upgrade its energy infrastructure. Over the past 30 years, Andrade has served in a variety of executive roles for large companies in Mexico with significant operations in the energy sector.

“Mexico is quickly becoming a first-world economy thanks to investments in the power and energy sectors and Eduardo has been a key influencer in that process due to his professional and civic roles over the past several years,” says Mike Brown, President of Burns & McDonnell International. “We’re thrilled to have him on our team and ready to get to work helping Mexico achieve its potential on the global stage.”

“I have spent my entire career advocating for investments and improvements to Mexico’s power and energy sectors because I believe strongly this is the best way forward to improve the lives of my fellow countrymen,” says Andrade. “This opportunity to lead Burns & McDonnell, the number one power firm in America, to bring their skills and expertise to my home country of Mexico is a dream come true.”

Prior to joining Burns & McDonnell Andrade was Executive President for Mexico for Sacyr, where he was responsible for a number of business initiatives related to recently enacted constitutional reforms in Mexico. Sacyr is a multi-national corporation with engineering and construction projects in 29 countries across five continents. In addition, Andrade has held executive positions with Iberdrola, a Spanish energy company with global operations, and Techint, the world’s second largest steel producer with additional businesses in construction and oil and gas production.

Andrade is a founder of the Mexico Energy Association and the Energy Chapter with the Canadian Mexico partnership. He is a past president of the World Energy Council, Mexico Chapter, and currently serves on the Mexico Energy Regulatory Commission’s External Advisory Board for electricity. He holds a civil engineering degree, with concentration in project management, from Universidad de Mexico and a graduate degree in corporate finance from ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey). 

In 2016, Burns & McDonnell established an office in Mexico City to pursue engineering/procure/construct (EPC) project opportunities in the power and energy sectors.

Earlier this year, the company was certified by the Centro Nacional de Control De Energía (CENACE), enabling the company to gain access to critical data on grid performance and other system performance measures as a means to offer engineering consulting services to clients and the system operator. The certification has enabled Burns & McDonnell to develop master plans on a number of improvements that are necessary to improve system reliability and resilience. Formed in 2013 in the wake of a reform of Mexico’s energy industry, CENACE is Mexico’s independent system operator for the country’s electrical grid.

Burns & McDonnell has had a presence in Mexico for more than 100 years, beginning in 1908 when company founders Clinton Burns and Robert McDonnell won a bid to develop a hydroelectric project for El Tigre Mining. Over the following decades, the company has engineered and built a number of projects, including a massive new wastewater treatment facility in Monterrey that was the largest treatment facility in Mexico when completed in 1997.

Mexico implemented far-reaching reforms of its power and energy industries in 2014 after decades of monopoly control by state-run enterprises PEMEX and Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). Both sectors are now open to private investment by both U.S. and international businesses. Solar, wind and gas-fired generating facilities are being added to the Mexico grid while other projects are being planned to upgrade its power transmission and distribution system.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune’s 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.