Rubén Muñoz

Rubén Muñoz is a civil engineer with more than a decade of experience in engineering for industrial projects and water supply infra­struc­ture for mining facilities. As the discipline leader for desali­na­tion at CDM Smith, Rubén focuses on the design of marine works, desali­na­tion plants, hydraulic conveyance for pipelines and pumping stations, and seawater reverse osmosis (RO) plants. 

He has extensive experience in water supply projects, partic­i­pat­ing in the most recent desali­na­tion projects in Chile including early stages of concep­tu­al­iza­tion, permits, presen­ta­tion of bids, contract negotiation and awarding, up to the phase of project delivery. "My favorite part of my role is working closely to the clients during all project stages, gaining the confidence and building long term rela­tion­ships," Rubén says. Addi­tion­ally, he's an experienced presenter on water treatment, and a published author with over 10 articles in national and inter­na­tional conferences.

His proudest project to date is the CODELCO Water Supply Project. This involved the supply of desalinated water through a BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) contract. He played a key role in the project, starting from the early conceptual engineering phase, including site selection for the desali­na­tion plant and the pipeline route. During the BOOT bid stage, he was the technical solution director of the desalination plant package, which consortium was successfully awarded. The overall project encompassed design, financing, construction, and two decades of operation and maintenance of a RO desalination plant and water conveyance system. 

"I'm motivated by CDM Smith because it's a company that truly specializes in water supply infra­struc­ture projects. I was impressed by the vast inter­na­tional experience in these large water projects, the universal spirit of hard work, and the quality of the profes­sion­als I work with," he says.