TAI Engineers names Amer Kalla director of production design

Amer Kalla, director of production design, TAI Engineers LLC.

S&B Infrastructure Ltd.’s New Orleans based naval architecture and marine engineering consultancy TAI Engineers LLC (TAI) has appointed Amer Kalla director of production design. Based in Houston, Kalla will leverage his extensive experience to develop and evolve TAI’s production design capabilities for the maritime sector.

Prior to joining TAI, Kalla was a senior engineering program manager at Tesla, where he led the full design and engineering of the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, from concept to production launch, and supported the Gigafactory’s heavy industry projects, notably vehicle casting and battery cell manufacturing.

Kalla, who holds a bachelor’s degree in applied science from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., has also been a key figure in spearheading multimillion-dollar Canadian Navy and Coast Guard projects, serving as the manager of detail design at Vancouver Shipyards, where he insourced the design effort and directed multidisciplinary teams to create 3D models and manufacturing packages. He successfully delivered large ship designs for the Canadian Coast Guard and Navy under the National Shipbuilding Strategy valued at more than $6 billion. Under his leadership, the yard introduced initiatives such as just-in-time manufacturing and next-gen production information. Project deliveries included its offshore fisheries science vessels, oceanographic science vessels, and joint support ships.

“We are excited to have Amer Kalla join the TAI team. His wealth of experience and expertise will play a crucial role in advancing our production design capabilities and contributing to the success of our projects,” said Kris Karri, senior vice president of operations and chief engineer at TAI Engineers LLC. “Kalla will be responsible for TAI’s global production design team in the U.S. and abroad.”