ReEngineering the Engineer: Longing for the Good Ol’ Days of Engineering
I was recently talking with a friend of mine in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) side of the industry. Several years ago, they acquired a small structural component to their office in a merger with another firm, and he was surprised by the quantity of software this little contingent needed on a regular basis. The MEP team really only used two software: something for BIM and something for their HVAC analysis. The structural folks had BIM software but also a slew of other software: so...
Sustainable Infrastructure: Informed Path To Net Zero: From Building Design to Operation
Greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions are agreed to be the culprit that shifts global weather patterns, threatens climate systems and endangers human health. Long-term effects of GHGs only can be reversed by global proactive actions focused on emission reduction. The Paris Climate Agreement is one such solution, wherein 200 countries worldwide signed an initiative to keep rising temperatures below 1.5°C. Net zero is the first goal to reduce and reverse climate change. The definition of net zero varies...
From The Editor: Climate Change Now Is ‘The Issue’
My October 2020 column was titled “Engineers Need to Lead the Way on Climate Change Mitigation,” and I tried to make the point that our profession has a responsibility to maintain an environment that’s best for the world, and we need to do more than just sit back and watch. I also noted that many areas were reporting improved climate conditions due to the fact that more people were staying home because of the pandemic, and there was hope we could continue some of that progress. This morning, I...
Executive Corner: 2021 Mid-Year Executive Outlook
As the disruption and severity of the global pandemic continues to fade, A/E leaders across the country are ready to take on the challenges and opportunities left in its wake. I recently connected with several CEOs from coast to coast for our annual Mid-Year Outlook to glean insights as to what they’re facing today. I asked how they’re handling office-reopening efforts, which client and business opportunities are emerging, how the pandemic shaped them as leaders, and what their plans are for the...
Thoughts From Engineers: Microplastics: An Unavoidable Reality of Modern Life?
There’s nothing like the widespread use of plastic by all—and for nearly all purposes—to thwart any ambitions we may have as a society to live more sustainably. Plastic is indisputably fundamental to the world’s economy. The material’s strength, flexibility and durability make it indispensable in virtually all fields, from the delivery of vaccines to the manufacture of auto parts and ordinary household gadgets. But after the object’s useful life is over, the plastic invariably lives on, often i...
From the Editor: Personal and Mass-Media Stories Highlight the Importance of Inspections
During my career, I’ve performed inspections on hundreds of bridges. The inspections varied in detail depending on the reasons for looking at them. Some were cursory inspections to determine whether or not to include particular bridges in the INDOT program for replacement or rehabilitation. There were some general criteria to follow about geometrics and structural condition, but a lot was left up to inspector experience. A couple of us would inspect five to 10 a day, mostly depending on how far...
Executive Corner: The Pandemic’s Impact on A/E Firm Ownership
A psychological shift seems to be taking place as we begin to migrate back to “normal.” More Americans are shifting their views on retirement, with many considering retiring earlier than initially planned. In a recent phone call, an A/E firm owner (aged 62) told me they had always planned to work full-time until they were 70, then scale back their hours for a few years after that. But since the pandemic, their goals have changed. They now are considering selling their firm and only working anoth...
Thoughts From Engineers: Water Reuse Enters the Spotlight
The Wichita Falls Resource Recovery Facility in Wichita Falls, Texas, became a national model for indirect potable reuse (IPR) in 2018 when it captured, disinfected, filtered and oxygenated wastewater before delivering roughly 20 million gallons a day to the city’s drinking water reservoir, Lake Arrowhead. A prime example of making the most of a city’s water supply, the city now treats and reuses what would have been discharged as effluent 10 years ago. Pure Water San Diego is in the process of...
Infrastructure Outlook: Building Back a Better Next-Generation Infrastructure
As we have changed our shopping patterns from the cart to an app and meetings from conference rooms to Zoom, infrastructure has been one of the last vestiges of the industrial era that hasn’t migrated to the digital era. This must change. President Biden recently echoed the same message in Louisiana. Reliable and safe bridges also bridge party lines, and literally unify people. “We’ve got to build back to a different standard, not to what it was,” the President said. “It’s got to be better.”...
ReEngineering the Engineer: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
When I left my old firm in the early 2000s, my breadth of experience was mostly in hospitals and medical facilities—new and renovations. Having all my eggs in one basket wasn’t how I wanted to run my company, so I was determined to diversify the types of work my firm had to offer. Through the years, we expanded our portfolio of project types to just about everything except residential. Expanding into new building categories of work never seemed to bother me much. Structures are structures, to...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
