2021 Airport Business Top 40 Under 40: Tony Esposito, PE, Project Manager, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

Studying population growth trends around airports while in college is what led Tony Esposito into a career designing airports.

“It all makes sense now. My fascination for aviation and construction at an early age did not come together until a college course at the University of Dayton. I have been doing that now for the last decade and a half and I love every single day of it,” said Esposito.

“There's something so exciting when I see a large or heavy aircraft arriving on a runway or performing an oversteer turning movement. There's such a fascination for me that I just absolutely enjoy being around the airport and aviation industry,” he said.

A project manager with Kimley-Horn, Esposito has over 15 years of experience in the aviation industry and specializes in Airfield Design and Centralized Deicing Facilities.

Prior to joining Kimley-Horn, Esposito had the opportunity to work on several international aviation projects while abroad, including Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima, Peru; Al Bateen Air Base, United Arab Emirates; and Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates.

Since joining Kimley-Horn, Esposito has worked at airports of all sizes, including Chicago O’Hare, Indianapolis International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, McCarran Las Vegas, Cincinnati Northern Kentucky, Cleveland Hopkins, and Jackson Municipal, to name a few.

Esposito takes great pleasure in mentoring others, both internally and externally. He leads a 16-month training program for young professionals at Kimley-Horn, exposing the recently hired staff to several practices within aviation planning and design. He has also closely partnered with local minority firms during multiple phases of the Indianapolis Runway 5R-23L reconstruction design and early tasks for the O’Hare Global Terminal in Chicago. The firms have benefitted from his expertise and are able to grow their staff and expand their technical knowledge, positioning them for future assignments. “I enjoy mentoring others; if I couldn’t be practicing in the field of engineering, I would want to be a university professor introducing students to the field.”

Tony also specializes in providing construction administration and construction management for all airfield projects. Through his extensive field and design knowledge, he bridges the gap between the different elements of a project, and helps bring forward innovative solutions, such as facilitating the implementation of “Smart Pad Technology” for deicing facilities or leveraging sustainability in pavement design.

“I absolutely love watching my design go from a piece of paper to construction in the field. There's a huge sense of accomplishment in seeing something that you designed and then coordinating with contractors, owners, and the FAA while witnessing it get built in the field. That's a really exciting part of it for me,” Esposito said.

But Tony acknowledges that none of this would be possible without a strong support network. “The professionals I have met throughout my career have been influential, for which I am extremely thankful. My parents laid the groundwork by instilling a strong work ethic, and my wife encourages me every day to make the most of my opportunities. These factors have shaped me into the aviation engineer that I am today.”