Matt Kundrot has joined HDR as the firm’s military aviation director, bringing nearly 40 years of aircraft operational, airfield planning, engineering and construction project management experience.
Kundrot will provide valuable expertise to clients in all aspects of military aviation operational infrastructure, including engineering, architecture, military planning, construction, economics and finance, and asset management. He will help clients like the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal aviation clients navigate risk, pursue funding opportunities, advance technical innovations, and increase overall safety and efficiency. Based in HDR’s Glen Allen (Richmond), Virginia, office, he will increase HDR’s service offerings related to DOD airfield infrastructure design, rehabilitation and modernization, as well as joint-use military/commercial airports worldwide.
“We need to be strong advocates and help our clients prioritize and fund critical projects,” Kundrot said. “ We also need to work together to complete operational designs that deliver long-term, sustainable solutions. Our advice is key to the airfield project planning and designs our government clients need.”
With a passion for aviation and airports that started in his childhood, Kundrot earned his degree as a civil engineer and flew helicopters in the Air Force for 10 years. He eventually amassed more than 4,000 hours as a helicopter and fixed wing pilot over 30 years. After attending a Society of American Military Engineers luncheon on the Anchorage Airport Master Plan presented by pilot-engineers, he realized where his career would lead and began his airfield engineering career and military airfield project work in 1995.
Kundrot previously served as a design principal for multiple major airfield infrastructure projects, including the installation and replacement of precision landing systems at over 30 Navy and Marine Corps airfields. His work as the lead engineer for a worldwide study of airfield infrastructure impacts of new aircraft made him a recognized expert in operational impact assessment and infrastructure requirements for the F-35, V-22 and P-8.
“Matt has the right combination of successful experience as a U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot, civil engineer and military aviation consultant,” said Eric Venable, HDR’s federal transportation director. “As the need to update and advance our federal aviation infrastructure increases, he will bring firsthand knowledge of the needs of each stakeholder.”
