A long-time public servant, licensed Professional Engineer, and certified Engineering Contractor, Esther Calas was appointed Director of the Public Works Department  in August 2005. With this appointment, Ms. Calas became the first woman to head the department and serve as Chief Engineer for Miami-Dade County. With over 900 employees, the Public Works Department has an annual operating budget of $137 million, and a capital budget exceeding $200 million, supplemented annually by more than 121 contracts with $59 million in contract capacity for engineering, surveying and soil investigation services and over 150 contracts totaling $200 million for construction and maintenance activities.

During her 31-year career in engineering with Miami-Dade County – which began in, and includes 21 years in the Public Works Department – Ms. Calas has held a number of increasingly responsible positions as both a professional engineer and administrator for Miami-Dade County government.

Prior to her appointment as Public Works Director, Ms. Calas spent 10 years as the department’s Assistant Director of Highways and Traffic Engineering, where she oversaw key divisions and directed a team of technical and professional staff in the evaluation of feasibility studies, planning, design, and development of the county’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and other important transportation infrastructure projects such as the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS); all the while ensuring the proper application of professional traffic engineering principles for the safe and efficient transportation of vehicles and pedestrians through the roadway network.

Between 1986 and 1995, Ms. Calas worked first as a Coastal Professional Engineer and then as Chief of the Plans Review Division for the County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM), responsible for the application of environmental regulations affecting construction and development in Miami-Dade County.

Ms. Calas holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Luis P. Saenz Award from the Association of Cuban-American Civil Engineers.