Change Leader Full Interview: Engineering Is Much More Than What’s Taught in School
Sinéad Mac Namara is an associate professor at Syracuse University, teaching structural engineering courses for the School of Architecture and the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. She also co-authored a book, Collaborations in Architecture and Engineering, with Clare Olsen. V1 Media: Please tell me about your education and background? Mac Namara: I have a bachelor’s degree in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering from Trinity College, Dublin. And from there I wen...
Executive Corner: What’s a Good Outside Board Director Worth?
So you’ve finally decided to add an outside, independent director to the board of your privately held A/E firm. You’ve even identified several candidates. Now the question is what (if any) compensation to offer them. For an independent party to take on the time and responsibility of serving on your board, you expect some level of compensation to be appropriate, but how much? Looking for Guidance Before addressing that question, here are a few background statistics on board compositions in the...
Thoughts From Engineers: A River Runs Through It: When Green Infrastructure Is More Than a Bit Player
Urban water management is on course to complete an evolutionary circle. When cities began to modernize more than 100 years ago, the goal was to dispose of wastewater as quickly as possible. Engineers studied the physics of natural systems with an eye toward building the structures needed to subdue them. Sewer mains, large tunnels and massive pumps have faithfully rerouted and diverted unwanted water through our pipes and treatment facilities for most of the 20th century and into the 21st. Focus...
Future Forward: Sensors Are Just Part of Intelligent Water Systems
These profiles are based on interviews, and the opinions and statements are those of the subject and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by this publication. Albert H. Cho is vice president and general manager, Advanced Infrastructure Analytics, Xylem. With an impressive resume that includes Harvard, McKinsey, the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State and CISCO, Cho has seen the effects of water systems from an especially wide set of views and applications. His current work at...
Future Forward Full Interview: Sensors Are Just a Part of Intelligent Water Systems
Albert H. Cho is vice president and general manager, Advanced Infrastructure Analytics, Xylem. V1 Media: Please provide a brief background about your education and career? Cho: I did my undergraduate degree at Harvard in social studies, which is basically a fusion of economics, sociology and political science. In graduate school at Oxford, I did a master’s in development economics and an MBA. Professionally, I worked at the UN Development Program (UNDP) on a global strategy to achieve...
ReEngineering the Engineer: Do You Have a ‘Plan B’ for the Totally Unexpected?
I try to take some time over the holidays to reflect on the previous year. What good things happened? Were there any things we could have done better? Do our employees have the proper skill sets for their current positions? Is there any software we’re missing to help our people be more productive? Is there a decent backlog of work coming in for 2020 to keep my staff busy? Yeah … there’s a lot to think about as a business owner, but I try to catch my breath and then prepare for the next year. Gr...
Video: Interview with CEOs of Bentley Systems and Topcon Positioning Systems
In October 2019, Informed Infrastructure Editorial Director Todd Danielson went to Bentley Systems’ Year In Infrastructure conference in Singapore. While there as an award juror for the Buildings and Campuses category, he was able to interview Greg Bentley and Ray O'Connor, the CEOs of Bentley Systems and Topcon Positioning Systems, respectively, about their companies and the joint venture they launched at the event: Digital Construction Works Incorporated (DCW).
Engineered Solutions: The Case for 3D Geotechnical Analysis
By Dr. Murray Fredlund, strategic advisor, Geotechnical, Bentley Systems Sponsored by: There are ongoing discussions in the geotechnical community about the need to perform 3D analysis. The questions raised relate to the results achieved when performing a 3D analysis vs. the results of a traditional 2D analysis. While the industry has largely embraced the 2D approach as an accepted method of practice, important questions still need to be answered, including the following: Is there...
Distributed Water Management Marks A New Way Forward
For more than 100 years, the United States has relied on an ever-growing massive network of centralized water-treatment facilities. This is the standard model for both public and private investment. As a result, more than 85 percent of the U.S. population is served by large number of “mega water systems” with capacities greater than 1 million gallons per day (bit.ly/2yVwovI). Centralized Networks In Trouble But aging water infrastructure is forcing these utilities to spend more each year. B...
A Cool-Looking Chiller: New Core Infrastructure at UMass Amherst Is Sustainable, Educational and Beautiful
The northwest corner of the chiller plant shows rhythmical façade patterns in channel glass and metal panels above ground level. Oxford’s “dreaming spires” (subject of the famous poem), Harvard’s Widener Library (home to one of the world’s few perfect Gutenberg Bibles), the University of Michigan’s 102-year-old Michigan Union, and Bard College’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts (a $62 million, acoustically tuned and geothermally heated Frank Gehry masterpiece); for several centurie...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
TriMet’s Banfield Type 1 Substation Replacement Project
February Issue 2026
