About Us

W.S. Williams & Associates is an exclusive network of experienced executives that provide business development services for professional engineering, planning, finance, and homeland security consultants in the transportation industry.

Based in San Francisco, W.S. Williams & Associates was founded and is managed by Mr. Wayne S. Williams, the Principal of the firm. Mr. Williams began his career with Southern Pacific Transportation Company serving in both the Mechanical and the Research Departments. During his tenure at SP, he assisted the Chair of the AAR Car Construction Committee, and worked frequently with the original author of the AAR M-1001 Design Standards Manual, Mr. Cedric Leriche. He was appointed to the joint FRA/AAR Track Train Dynamics Program, and represented SP as an industry consultant during the construction of the Pueblo Test Center.

Mr. Williams provided engineering and program management services, and transitioned into the world of marketing and sales, in equipment lease finance positions with Itel Rail Corp. and General Electric Railcar Services Corp. Following the departure of those firms from San Francisco, Mr. Williams performed business development services for Morrison Knudsen and Parsons Corp. in a wide range of environmental, planning and engineering projects in transportation, including highways, tunnels, and bridges. In these positions, he was involved in political campaigns for sales tax ballot measures and Congressional support of local project funding, in cooperation with local elected officials.

Subsequently, Mr. Williams represented ALSTOM and Siemens, significant European passenger rail equipment and systems manufacturers, whose product lines included the TGV and ICE high speed rail systems, as well as the Transrapid™ MAGLEV system.  While at Siemens, he was assigned to the prestigious Siemens One corporate marketing team as a member of the Airports Group, formed to provide coordinated representation of all 20 Siemens operating companies for major opportunities.

During his career, Mr. Williams has developed an extensive network of colleagues, associates, and various affiliated professionals in all areas and modes of the transportation industry. It is the combination of technical knowledge and business development expertise, in conjunction with significant industry relationships, that W.S. Williams & Associates brings to bear on behalf of its clients, through established affiliation and association agreements.

Mr. Williams holds a BSME from the University of Pittsburgh, and has accomplished some notable achievements in the industry, a few of which are listed below.

 

 

“A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.”

-- English Proverb

Mr. Williams performed one of the very first finite element structural analyses in the freight railroad industry in support of major mechanical repair programs. The effort was documented in industry technical publications, and Mr. Williams contributed to the effort of incorporating FEA techniques into the AAR M-1001 Design Manual Standards.

Mr. Williams was central in both the engineering and marketing programs that introduced articulated intermodal railcar designs into the mainstream of freight railroading. Patents of the revolutionary Sante Fe “Ten-Packer” were obtained after an extensive analysis of new Intermodal technologies, and the equipment was redesigned in conjunction with Trailer Train (TTX) TOFC and COFC standards. The successful marketing program to promote the visionary design was the beginning of the modern era of intermodalism. Significant fuel savings and the elimination of slack-action lading damage were the major benefits of the articulated design, and dramatically contributed to the intermodal revolution that is manifested today with the double stack articulated container car configuration.

Mr. Williams led the business development effort for the initial engineering analysis of feasibility for the Caltrain electrification project. Subsequently, Mr. Williams led the effort that submitted the winning bid for the extensive mechanical, systems and interior rehabilitation of Caltrain’s fleet of gallery passenger railcar equipment, resulting in extension of service life and enhanced public receptivity.

Mr. Williams represented Southern Pacific in the Track-Train Dynamics Program, which implemented numerous technical solutions to vehicle and train-action instabilities that resulted from the industry transition from 70 ton to 100 ton equipment. He was appointed to the SP Track-Train Team to implement the program technology at the railroad in support of minimizing operating incidents and performing derailment analyses.

Railcar Structural Analysis

Carquinez Bridge Design

Caltrain Electrification and Gallery Car Rehabilitation

Articulated Intermodal Railcar Design

Track-Train Dynamics National Research Program

The California High Speed Rail System is potentially the largest public works project in the history of the U.S. The predominant European high speed rail technologies are the French TGV (Tres Grand Vitesse) and the German ICE (Inter City Express). Mr. Williams represented both of these technologies and offerings on behalf of the manufacturers (ALSTOM and Siemens respectively) to the California High Speed Rail Authority, providing both the technical and management interface, during the initial environmental phase of the project.

High Speed Rail Representation

In order to represent combined offerings from multiple operating companies for major market sectors, Siemens created an elite marketing organization at the corporate level named Siemens One. Mr. Williams was appointed to the Airports Group within Siemens One to service western region airports and airlines. Services and offerings represented included baggage handling systems and in-line explosion detection systems (EDS), security command and control centers, airfield lighting systems, flight operations management systems, and complete systems integration of all airport operations.

 

 

 

Siemens One Airports

“Vision & Action”

Mr. Williams led the business development effort that resulted in the award of the Caltrans design contract for the Carquinez Bridge (also known as the Al Zampa Bridge), the first new suspension bridge designed in the United States in over 30 years. This contract was awarded after a design competition between cable-stayed vs. suspension

bridge design concepts. Technical selection criteria favored the suspension design after analysis of seismic response characteristics, deck replacement simplicity, and navigation improvements resulting from the elimination of a central caisson. The contract also included the environmental documentation and approval process. The project is generally recognized as the most successful of all of the Caltrans bridge seismic retrofit program.