ReEngineering the Engineer: Reasonable Resolutions That Can Last All Year
Historically, I try to use the holiday break as a chance to regroup, reflect on the last year and get prepared to do it all over again for the next 12 months. This year, however, was an unrelenting race right to the bitter end. “Sleeping” projects came back to life at the last minute, and projects in design scrambled to get finished before everyone headed off for the holidays. Of course, as soon as the Christmas holiday is over, attention turns to the consummate generation of empty promises for...
From the Editor: Predicting the Present: Yesterday’s Future and Tomorrow’s Past
In the classic original The Terminator movie from 1984, an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) wages war against humanity. A fierce band of human resistance fighters battles back and eventually tips the scales in favor of the humans. In a last, desperate attempt to snatch victory from defeat, the AIs hatch a plan: they would alter the future by changing the past. To do so, they send a killer robot, a “Terminator” (played perfectly by Arnold Schwarzenegger), back in time to the present day to a...
Thoughts From Engineers: Robot Engineers? You May Lose Your White-Collar Job to a Robot Sooner than You Think
According to the International Data Corp. (IDC), a global provider of market intelligence and analysis, big changes in the U.S. workforce will happen quickly and at a scale you never would have expected. The report, “IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Robotics 2017 Predictions,” outlines several jarring projections: By 2019, a hefty 35 percent of industries in health, commercial goods and utilities will use robotic automation in their operations. Nearly 40 percent of robots currently in use will be conn...
Code Update: Exploring New Concrete Connection Developments
Author’s Note: This is a highly condensed summary of a full paper, with many details and references, that can be read in its entirety on the Informed Infrastructure Web site at informedinfrastructure.com/36533/concrete-connections. Table 1. Approvals of Concrete Connections Table 2. Checklist for Cast-In Anchors Building codes in the United States have long acknowledged the need for regulators to allow for alternative materials. Yet the codes don’t provide much beyond gen...
Thoughts From Engineers: Leadership Resolutions for 2018
So ... how are you doing on your New Year (professional) resolutions? This is only relevant, of course, if you actually set some. Perhaps you’re not necessarily making a resolution as much as you’re committed to business initiatives outlined in your strategic plan. Maybe you just have new goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll be measured against in this first quarter. Essentially, these are all the same engagement in change that will benefit you and the organization. At one time or...
Executive Corner: Five Takeaways on 2017 A/E M&A Activity
With the country in transition, settling into the dynamics and drama of a new administration, the underlying positive momentum of the U.S. economy and A/E industry has certainly been significant. At a macro level, we’ve seen this unfold with a soaring stock market, back-to-back quarters of 3-percent-plus GDP growth and a plunging unemployment rate. And although unleashing a major U.S. infrastructure package wasn’t in the political cards this year, A/E executives seemed not to notice. Backlogs a...
Buildings: What Does “Sustainable Buildings” Really Mean?
Building professionals and the general public are talking about how we need “sustainable” and “healthy” buildings, but what does that really mean? And how do we verify that a building is really sustainable and healthy? There are available rating systems, but do they really give us the big picture of sustainability? Is there a method to measure sustainable and healthy buildings to a single result or a carbon emission number? Many states and cities now are taking the lead on ways to lower carbon...
Smart Cities: Putting a ‘Smart Communities’ Strategy to Work
The term “smart cities” has been around for a while now. You can’t go to an event or pick up a magazine without some discussion on smart cities, and a lot of organizations have jumped onboard and created “smart” projects and initiatives. But in the end, they’re a random set of workflows that aren’t connected. What’s lacking is a comprehensive plan that outlines overall objectives, sets milestones to get there and digitally transforms an organization. This idea has exposed what I believe to be a...
Infrastructure Outlook: Infrastructure: How Do We Pay for It?
There is widespread consensus that America’s infrastructure needs help. It ranks 11th in the world, and the American Society of Civil Engineers has repeatedly graded it a D+. As noted in the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) “Building to Win” infrastructure plan, “Without immediate action on the infrastructure crisis, the United States will lose more than 2.5 million jobs by 2025 and more than 5.8 million by 2040.” We have a big job ahead of us; the estimated funding needs exceed $1 t...
Change Leader: Vectorworks CEO Discusses BIM, New Releases
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. Dr. Biplab Sarkar is the CEO of Vectorworks, a Nemetschek company, with 25-plus years of experience developing CAD software. As CEO, he provides strategic leadership to the company by establishing and meeting company sales, growth and market-share objectives. Sarkar earned a Ph.D. in CAD and an M.S. in mechanical engineering at Th...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
