Thoughts From Engineers: Spinning Gold: Desalination Steps in to Alleviate World’s Water Crisis
A scenario reminiscent of Garret Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons” plays out quietly around the globe. Proof that swelling populations in bone-dry regions of the world can no longer survive on existing reserves of freshwater, technology (and money) step in to mute hard reality. According to the International Desalination Association (IDA), there are 20,000 desalination plants in operation today worldwide. Not surprisingly, more than 70 percent of them are located in the Middle East, a region wit...
Executive Corner: What Is Your Ownership Strategy?
Does your firm have an ownership strategy that clearly defines how you will be able to exit your firm? Are you relying on selling your firm to a third party or the next generation of leaders? According to the Census Bureau (and assuming age 67 for retirement), more than 9,000 people each day are hitting retirement age, and this is expected to increase to more than 12,000 per day by 2028. During this same period, the gap between the number of buyers and sellers will likely narrow and, in some ye...
From the Editor: Is the ‘Scary Season’ Over or Just Beginning?
I started thinking about my column for this issue when I received an email from Todd Danielson, the editorial director, with the subject line reading: “Next scary column deadline.” Obviously, it was due near Halloween. A year ago, I wrote about the various “costumes” we wear or characters we play as engineers and how that might change during our careers. This year, when I received that “scary” email about the deadline, I remembered some of the times during my work life where I was scared or afr...
ReEngineering the Engineer: Not ‘My’ Job? Engineers Don’t Have that Luxury
One of our architectural clients approached us with an interesting renovation of an existing building. It was a relatively older building with an existing tenant in one half of the building and several vacant suites in the other half. The owner had purchased the unoccupied half of the building and wished to turn it into a nightclub. Of course, no existing drawings were available. It sounds simple enough, until they tell you a true firewall was required to separate the two occupancies. That mean...
Code Update: EC-017: The Evaluation Criteria for Field-Applied Fire-Protective Coatings
During seven months from 2006 to 2007, three firefighters—in three separate fire-related incidents—died from injuries sustained after falling through the floor on which they were walking. Each tragedy had one thing in common: the floors were constructed with lightweight engineered-wood floor systems. These firefighters’ experiences with conventional solid sawn lumber provided guidance on how long one could be near such construction when it was on fire. Engineered wood, however, which has lon...
Infrastructure Outlook: Remote Sensing for Distribution Networks Drives Safety, Reliability and New Insights
There’s an increasing focus on the reliability and resiliency of the nation’s electric grid; outages have continued to grow in frequency and cost. More than 37 million people were affected by more than 3,500 outage events in 2017, compared to 2009, when only 13 million people were impacted by about 2,800 outages, according to the 2017 Eaton Blackout Tracker. Aging infrastructure, greater demand for service and the need to place additional equipment on existing poles to support 5G and small-cell...
Project Management Insights: Project Management or Else
A contact of mine was considering an administrative assistant position with an engineering firm this summer and wanted my opinion on the job description. She isn’t an engineer but has served in several marketing and support roles throughout her career. The list of responsibilities was typical: some marketing coordination, time at the reception desk, assisting HR, and other assorted generalist duties. The firm was expanding to the city where she lived, and she was looking for a new opportunity....
Executive Corner: Is Your Company’s Stock a Good Investment?
"The best investment I ever made!” I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard owners in the architecture, engineering and environmental consulting industries say something to this effect when I’ve asked about the performance of their company stock. There are exceptions, of course, but this is by far the more-common refrain. Yet many firms struggle with their ownership transition plans due to a lack of demand for stock among their next generation of leaders. Competing Capital When a company offers...
Thoughts From Engineers: Water Scarcity is Common: The Grim Reality of Freshwater Supplies Worldwide
Most news headlines barely get my attention, but it was startling to come across a list of 11 cities projected to experience serious water shortages within the next 50 years due to a combination of polluted and diminishing water supplies, climate change and population growth (bbc.in/2Mj16HR). Some of the major urban centers at risk for severe water shortages won’t surprise you; others surely will. The mix of cities with looming water shortages include Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Tokyo, London, Mi...
Change Leader: Use Familiar Tools to Achieve Public Support
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. The video discussed in this interview can be viewed at wp.me/p8dJln-bXo Doug Taylor is vice president and transportation practice leader for Stewart, an engineering, design and planning firm located in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte and Wilmington, N.C.; and Columbia, S.C. A successful project requires much more than a...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
