San Bernardino County Department of Public Works (DPW) is thrilled to introduce Noel Castillo as the department’s new director. He is a significant addition to the leadership team with a proven track record of innovation and excellence in engineering and project leadership. Castillo brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will undoubtedly contribute to our community’s continued success and enhancement.
Castillo worked alongside his predecessor, Brendon Biggs, who recently retired in December as the director of DPW after 32 years of service. Castillo continues to have a relationship with Biggs and plans on leading the department with a strong legacy and foundation for success, as Biggs did before him. After completing a recruitment process using a third-party recruiting firm, Castillo, who was the assistant director for DPW at the time, was selected as the next DPW director.
Castillo has over 20 years of experience in engineering and project leadership and has shown he can cut through the red tape and deliver top-quality work. Castillo is innovative, provides excellent customer service to our development community, and can navigate the complexities associated with development and field operations.
Castillo graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor of science in civil engineering. He started his civil engineering career in the private sector, designing freeways and working on rail and transportation projects. He specializes in construction management in addition to highway and transportation design and has experience in the design and engineering of a range of infrastructure projects, including rail, roads, highways, traffic signals, drainage and utilities.
Castillo spent the last 16 years of his career working with local municipalities such as the City of Montclair, serving as the city engineer/public works director for three years; the City of Fontana as the engineering manager for ten years; and the City of Corona as a resident engineer for three years.
Castillo is motivated to educate the public and to help make the county a great place for our residents to live and work. In addition, Castillo enjoys participating in career day presentations at local schools to motivate kids to enter careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related fields. As the assistant director, Noel was responsible for overseeing various key areas within the Public Works Department, including transportation planning, design, traffic, contracts and operations and the administration side. In addition to these roles, Castillo also oversaw the County Flood Control District.
We are excited to see all the great things DPW will accomplish under Castillo’s leadership. DPW looks forward to the positive impact and innovative ideas Noel will bring to our public works initiatives.