The University of Maine at Presque Isle has hired an experienced facilities and construction leader, planner and manager – who has worked in commercial, industrial and institutional environments – to serve as its new Director of Facilities Management.
Robert Aughinbaugh, who comes to Maine from Mentor, Ohio, and has 21 years of experience in facilities management, replaces outgoing Director of Facilities Management David St. Peter, who officially retired Jan. 20 after 24 years with the University. He and his wife Victoria will split their time between Madawaska Lake and Florida as they enjoy their retirement.
“We’d like to thank Dave for his many years of dedicated service to campus and wish him well as he begins his retirement,” UMPI President Don Zillman said. “We were very lucky to find a highly experienced facilities manager like Bob Aughinbaugh to fill the spot Dave is leaving. Bob already has settled in nicely to campus and we look forward to working with him on many projects to come.”
Aughinbaugh has had significant success in facilities master planning, strengthening operations, structuring high impact business plans and boosting productivity. He has led concurrent, multi-site healthcare, manufacturing, retail, education and entertainment facilities construction and development projects. Most recently, Aughinbaugh served as a self-employed consultant, working with companies in developing technical drawings, safety programs and writing business plans.
Prior to that, he worked for the University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland, Ohio, from 2005 to 2009, serving first as Facilities Manager for Bedford Medical Center and later as the Program Executive of Community Hospitals Construction. While there, he managed more than 55 simultaneous projects representing $30 million at any given time. He was responsible for a massive construction initiative representing $2 billion in total construction over three to five years, and was chosen by his peers to receive the organization’s Superstar Award.
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of Facilities Engineering and Plant Operations at Cleveland Clinic Hospital, where he handled a $58 million expansion project and introduced a paperless preventative maintenance system. Prior to that, he served as Director of Facilities and Plant Operations at Mary Baldwin College. While there, through concerted preventative maintenances practices, his crew was able to catch up on maintenance projects and his engineering group was able to be reassigned as a construction group, resulting in significant cost-savings for the college.
Before that, Aughinbaugh served as construction manager and later facilities manager at Philipsburg Area Hospital in Pennsylvania, where he first helped to renovate and reopen the shuttered hospital in six weeks and later returned to streamline facilities management operations there. In between his two positions at the hospital, Aughinbaugh worked for a major construction company, where he oversaw commercial, residential, and institutional building and renovations projects. Prior to 1991, Aughinbaugh held various positions in the construction field, conducting building and design work.
“We’re so pleased to have someone of Bob’s caliber on board and overseeing our facilities,” Charles Bonin, Vice President for Administration and Finance, said. “The challenge ahead for us will be to utilize resources more effectively and efficiently and to meet government regulations. With Bob here, we’re well poised to do that.”
Aughinbaugh resides in Presque Isle with his wife Nancy. They have two grown sons, who reside in the family’s hometown in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, and one granddaughter.
