In less than five years, Paul Matsuda has taken the lead on some of the biggest civil engineering initiatives in the state. He has planned and designed a five-megawatt solar farm in West Oʻahu, eight Honolulu rail stations and Kihei High School on Maui, to name a few.
Matsuda began his engineering career in Oregon. He credits his 10 years of engineering experience in Eugene and Portland as vital in shaping his out-of-the box thinking. Oregon’s strong focus on the environment and sustainability encouraged Matsuda to use this practice as a model for developing Hawaiʻi on a large scale. “We have a very pristine environment to protect here and a lot of those same lessons learned, approaches and thought processes that I had in Oregon apply here.” Matsuda says.