Bernardo Majano

Raised in a family of doctors and engineers, Bernardo developed an interest in all things mechanical early. His favorite childhood toy, Meccano, was an early introduction to mechanical systems; when he became a bit older, he moved onto reading his uncle’s engineering textbooks so he could learn how cars, airplanes, watches, pumps, valves, and fans worked. After briefly considering a career as a rockstar as a teen (an idea that he soon abandoned for lack of musical talent), Bernardo went on to pursue his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering at Universidad Centroamericana in 2006, graduating in first place in his year. Since then, Bernardo has developed an expansive portfolio in process and building mechanical systems in the private and municipal infrastructure sectors, including building energy modeling, air and noise and computational fluid dynamics for over 200 projects.

After joining RVA, Bernardo quickly ascended the ranks and was soon offered the opportunity to develop RVA’s mechanical discipline into a full-service practice. He began with a simple edict: build a great team, and the business will follow. By focusing on talent and discipline development, Bernardo now leads a hand-picked team of co-op students to senior engineers, who are capable of cross-channel ownership and alignment across the entire firm.

For Bernardo, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions; every project is an opportunity to push the boundaries of the known and the given. It starts with creating a culture of collaboration that is committed to innovating together, rather than in silos. And innovation does not necessarily imply breakthrough solutions with every iteration; it’s about creating new, improved experiences for clients to help them leverage technology at speed and evolve at scale – no matter how big or small the change. This led Bernardo to introduce a new format for collaboration amongst our teams, regardless of discipline, to help them get diverse feedback on tough problems, and stretch their creative muscles in new, unexpected ways. It’s an approach that’s paid off in spades: with it, our teams have been recognized for their achievements in helping our clients explore emerging technologies – including BIM, virtual and augmented reality, and computational fluid dynamics – that have the potential to optimize entire industries, making them smarter, faster, and cleaner. Whatever project Bernardo may be working on, his work serves the higher purpose of providing our clients and communities with the most economical, sustainable, and efficient result possible.

A former competitive triathlete and cyclist, Bernardo enjoys staying active outside the office in any way he can, whether it’s traveling, swimming, biking, running, rock climbing – and, of course, playing the electric guitar. While he can’t imagine doing anything other than mechanical engineering as his career, he still hasn’t ruled out the possibility of becoming a rockstar one day.