Executive Corner: Special Report from the AI Summit for AEC
For this “Executive Corner” column, I will discuss BST Global’s AI Summit, an industry-first event focused on all things AI for the AEC industry. I interview Javier A. Baldor, CEO at BST Global (email: JBaldor@BSTGlobal.com). JAVIER A. BALDORCEO AT BST GLOBAL Ryan: I’ve heard rave reviews about BST Global’s AI Summit held in April 2024. Can you tell me more about the event? Baldor: We had an idea to bring the industry’s brightest minds and visionaries from the world’s top design, engineer...
Getting Geotechnical: All Roads Lead to Soil Improvement
The soil beneath a pavement often is integral to long-lasting infrastructure. It supports the structural and load requirements of roads, bridges and abutments while contributing added resilience to flooding and erosion by allowing free water drainage. When soil amendments are recommended, engineers have a few paths toward improvements. For example, soil compaction and stability offer different benefits to infrastructure projects and are governed by distinguished standards. This column looks at...
Engineering the Future: Global Survey Reveals Perspectives on Intergenerational Equity Seen Through an Infrastructure Lens
“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our grandchildren,” is an insightful Native American quote attributed to Chief Seattle. It’s also my personal favorite definition of sustainable infrastructure. We need to leave our home at least as good as it was for us or even better. We’re seeing climate and manmade stressors wreaking havoc on our communities; the costs to individuals, institutions, businesses and governments are growing every year to fiscally unsustainable lev...
From the Ediror: New Engineers Will be Creating the ‘Infrastructure of the Future’
I recently attended the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Indiana Chapter Annual Meeting in Carmel, Ind. I went to accompany some of the senior students at Valparaiso University who participated in the Senior Project Presentation competition. Engineering students from five colleges in Indiana presented projects and were judged on their presentation skills—not so much on the technical aspects of their projects. It’s a great exercise to hone speaking skills for future meetings and public...
Executive Corner: Inside ROG’s Latest A/E Business Valuation and M&A Transactions Study
In 2023, uncertainty defined the year for many firms in the A/E industry. While some firms experienced robust revenue growth, others expressed skepticism about the future due to declining backlogs toward the end of the year, particularly in the architecture sector. In addition, four interest-rate hikes within the first eight months of the year and tighter capital directly impacted the cost and availability of capital to fund new projects. However, despite the increase in the cost of capital and...
Water Works: A Smarter Approach to Stormwater Management
If you’ve been immersed in the world of urban stormwater management for long, you’ve probably noticed the persistent gap between our water-quality standards and practical capabilities to control stormwater pollution. It’s been more than five decades since the Clean Water Act articulated the goal of protecting and restoring the beneficial uses of our nation’s waters, and it’s been more than three decades since permitting authority for nonpoint pollution was added. As municipal stormwater permits...
Transportation Troubleshooting: How Close Is U.S. Transition to Zero-Emissions Trucks?
After a surge in capital investment and hiring in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trucking industry has struggled for the last 18 months with lower demand, declining freight rates and increasing diesel prices. So it may seem premature to ask the trucking industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by adopting expensive new electric and hydrogen vehicles. But the Biden Administration still hopes to achieve this ambitious and worthy goal, and with careful approaches to impl...
Engineering the Future: Infrastructure Is the Hypothalamus of Society
The basic functions of your body are controlled by the hypothalamus—think “breathe, breathe, heart beats, I’m hungry.” Similarly, every aspect of a modern economy is based on the foundation provided by a strong, efficient and resilient infrastructure. It supports a modern economy, silently, with a select few understanding the large amount of work required to keep it running. Society doesn’t see such infrastructure until there’s a catastrophic failure. Following a failure, there’s a rush to judgm...
Thoughts From Engineers: Enhanced Aquifer Recharge Goes Mainstream
Sometimes it takes converging events to suddenly ramp up interest in a particular water-management technology. Articles with headlines such as “America is using up its groundwater like there’s no tomorrow” (bit.ly/IsNoTomorrow) do little to quell fear, but data show that the United States has hit all types of records in recent years—from record heat and drought to precipitation and flooding. Notwithstanding the many climate and aquifer model projections in circulation, the common theme is uncert...
Infrastructure Outlook: A Better Road Ahead for Baltimore Harbor Traffic
Peter Vanderzee Despite unforeseen complexities related to recovery of those who perished and complex entanglement of the collapsed structure with the ship that caused the Francis Scott Key (FSK) bridge collapse, transportation officials in Maryland now expect to be able to reopen the Baltimore Harbor Channel to commercial ship traffic this coming week, less than two months after the maritime disaster that destroyed the main span of the FSK Bridge. While this is good news, the biggest c...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
