Rick Azer is Associate Vice President for Black & Veatch and a founding member of the company’s Growth Accelerator. Rick commercializes new technologies and service offerings that extend the company’s position as a leader in critical human infrastructure, with a focus on the intersection between the physical and digital realms. Rick brings a global engineering and construction perspective from his work at Black & Veatch, where he is a founder in their Growth Accelerator – a team that champions cultural innovation and technological disruption. Rick has led many of Black & Veatch’s advanced transportation initiatives, including nationwide networks of high power EV Charging stations, hyperloop feasibility studies, autonomous vehicle and smart city mobility infrastructure projects. He is the Chair of Cleantech San Diego, supporting organization’s members and leadership on a mission to position the greater San Diego region as a global leader in the cleantech and smart cities economy. Prior to joining Black & Veatch, Rick worked for a number of years at Qualcomm managing teams that implemented wireless networks around the globe. Rick has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from Arizona State University, a Master of Architecture and a MBA from Washington University, Saint Louis.