2010 Call for Entries: Engineering Excellence. The American Council of Engineering Companies of New York invites you to participate in the 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) Program that recognizes and celebrates the engineering achievements of member firms. Per the Program Guidelines, the preliminary entry forms are due on July 17 and final entries are due September 25. For the second time, ACEC New York will present the “Empire Award” for the highest rated project designed and built in New York State. The Engineering Excellence Awards will be presented at a black-tie dinner dance at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel, NY on Saturday, March 27, 2010. Save the date!
Congratulations to the 2nd ACEC New York Leadership Class! The class of 2009 received plaques in recognition of completion of the course at the Union League Club during the Spring Conference on June 11, 2009:
Kris Almskog
Andrej B. Brzozowski, P.E.
Thomas W. Anella, P.E.
Noha S. El-Ghobashy
Adam Hapij, P.E.
Jeffrey N. Hu, P.E.
Joseph S. Logan, Jr., P.E.
Gary J. Miller, P.E.
Mark V. Mistretta, RLA, ASLA Robert R. Napieralski, C.P.G.
Scott, R. Neal, AIA
Chad G. Nixon
Hannah O’Grady, CAE
Peter J. Quigley, P.E.
Richard M. Rooney, P.E.
Gerry Rosen, P.E.
Christopher Smith, P.E.
Mark A. Stier, P.E.
William E. Verfuss, P.E.
ACEC New York Launches Third Leadership Institute. The ACEC New York Leadership Institute develops the future leaders needed to grow engineering organizations and create a more vibrant, dynamic, and profitable place to work. The course is open to all ACEC New York members and non-members. The program includes eight sessions plus an individual one-on-one session. The first class is scheduled for October 20, 2009. For more information on the program please review the attached 2009-2010 brochure. If you have any questions, contact Gina Potfora, gina@acecny.org or 518-452-8611.
Duke University’s Survey on American Attitudes Towards Engineering. In early 2009, Hart Research Associates conducted a telephone survey on behalf of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering among a representative national sample of 808 American adults. Please click here for a four page summary of the findings, and click here for the power point presentation.
Update on Legislative Priorities. As most New Yorkers are probably aware, on June 8 the New York State Senate Republicans staged a coup to take over the majority and leadership of the Senate. They recruited two “renegade” Democrats, Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate, to create a bi-partisan coalition to reform New York State Government. Within minutes of the coup, Senate Democrats brought suit against the GOP, claiming the coup was illegal, based on the rules of the Senate. Temporary State Supreme Court Justice Thomas McNamara was assigned to the case, repeatedly boasting he did not want to get involved in another arm of government, and telling the two sides to “work it out.” Since then, the media has dubbed the Senate a “circus,” especially after Senator Monserrate went back to the Democratic side, creating a stalemate of 31-31.
Not only has this been a bad public relations stunt for the Senate, but critical legislation has been pushed to the wayside until Senators can come to an agreement on who holds leadership and committee posts. More than two weeks have gone by, and even the votes that have been taken are already deemed illegal because neither side has been able to create a quorum.
Governor Paterson has bashed the Senators by stating they are “not doing the people’s business,” and has threatened to take away their pay if they don’t return to work. He will continue to call them into extraordinary session every day, including weekends and holidays until they finish the people’s business.
How does this affect our legislative priorities?
Both our QBS and Forms of Practice bills were moving along in the Senate. With the recent news of the coup, and Senators not finding agreement on anything, only vital and necessary legislation will be voted on. Our counsel has stated that although there is a possibility our bills could move this session, committee meetings are halted until further notice making passage this session difficult.
In the Assembly, after working tirelessly for months on our Forms of Practice bill, Speaker Sheldon Silver has stated it is unlikely this bill will pass this session, and he would like to hold hearings in the fall with other professions to discuss the impact of this legislation. Although we disagree that other professions need to be involved, considering engineering companies are the only industry that has grandfathered corporations, we will work with him to create consensus on the legislation.
RobsonWoese Inc. has adopted the 1st Platoon Pirates, Company 1 – Engineers, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mountain Division.The platoon was deployed to Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom on December 29, 2008 and since that time RW has sent packages with much needed items to its adopted platoon on a regular basis.
Brian Parker, a junior engineer at Foit-Albert Associates, has recently passed his EIT exam. The exam is the first step in receiving a Professional Engineering license. Mr. Parker has his Bachelor of Arts degree from SUNY Institute of Technology and his AAS from Mohawk Valley Community College.
MJ is pleased to announce the addition of Tanna LeGere as a civil engineer at their headquarters in Clifton Park, NY. LeGere earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy.
Samuel I. Schwartz, P.E. was named New York State Society of Professional Engineers, Engineer of the Year, 2009.
Sam Schwartz Engineering (SSE) is pleased to announce that Jeff Trim, a consulting engineer with 24 years of roadway design experience, has joined the firm. Jeff previously worked for Wade Trim in Tampa, FL and served as their Transportation Market Segment lead for work being done in Florida, Michigan and Ohio.
Lok Yoon, PE has joined AKF's team in the Philadelphia, PA, office bringing over 25 years of mechanical engineering design experience to AKF. "Lok is an accomplished senior mechanical engineer who strengthens our HVAC capabilities in this office," explains Dave Moreno, partner. "His expertise in sustainability and large scale projects are a welcome addition to our firm and we know our clients will welcome his outgoing personality as well."
Russ MacDonald joins Halcrow’s water and power business group as regional director for North America. Based in Tampa, Russ will be responsible for attracting new business and leading the North American water and power team. He will also join the region’s management team and will contribute towards Halcrow’s strategic goal to make North America one of its largest regional businesses.
Halcrow names Guillaume Lucci regional manager Latin America, maritime. In his new role, Guillaume is responsible for Halcrow’s maritime business development and operations throughout Mexico, Central and South America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
Medina Consultants ranked as the largest Hispanic-Owned civil engineering and land surveying firm headquartered in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic regions according to the June 2009 issue of Hispanic Business Magazine’s Top 500 Largest Hispanic-Owned Companies in the United States. A full version of the article can be found on the Hispanic Business Magazine website at http://www.hispanicbusiness.com or in the June 2009 issue. Medina Consultants also ranked No. 492 in the prestigious ENR Top 500 Design Firms list for the first time in their 20 year history.
LaBella Associates, PC, is pleased to announce that Mr. Michael Winderl has joined LaBella as a project manager and senior engineer in the Structural Division and Mr. Duerr-Clark has joined the firm as a junior civil engineer.
Popli Consulting Engineers is pleased to announce the addition of an Architecture Division and re-branding of the firm as Popli Design Group (PDG). With the addition of an Architectural Division, PDG will expand and provide services for vertical structures including institutional, municipal and commercial. Rohil Agrawal, AIA, a licensed architect in the state of New York, has joined the firm as director of the Architecture Division and James (Jim) Brady has joined the firm as a government relations liaison.
Watts Architecture & Engineering, P.C., is pleased to announce the addition of Kirk Miller to the firm’s Architectural Department as an architect intern.
ACEC New York Fall Conference to be held in Rochester, September 24-26: For the first time ever ACEC New York is teaming with the AIA New York State, The New York State Professional Engineers, AGG/GBC, and the New York State Association of Land Surveyors to present the Fall Conference. If your firm is looking for opportunities to increase your visibility among design and construction professionals throughout New York State, plan now to be part of “Rebuild New York Main Streets.” Main Street is a first time gathering of engineers, architects builders, land surveyors and landscape architects. This group of related design and construction professionals will come together at the Rochester Convention Center for three days of learning and sharing of expertise that results only from in-person contact. To review the marketing opportunities for the Conference click here. Registration brochures will be available early July. To view the conference website click here.
ACEC New York Sponsored Webinars ACEC New York Webinar Series Webinar # 18: “Improve Fire & Life Safety Knowledge” (2.0 PDH), September 16, 2009, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm (EST)’ Location: Online, Presented by: Hamilton (Guy) Garnsey, P.E., and Charles Laun, P.E., Beardsley Design Associates Architecture, Engineering & Landscape Architecture, P.C.
Other Courses throughout New York State Columbia University, Project Success Requires Leadership AND Management, August 25, 9:00am-5:00pm. Please visit http://www.projectleadershipcenter.org/id63.html for detailed information.
Approved Sponsor
ACEC New York is an authorized provider of continuing education for registered architects, professional engineers and land surveyors in New York State. Courses approved by ACEC New York are now acceptable for both engineering and architectural credits in New York State.
As an approved sponsor organization for continuing education, ACEC New York may approve courses for certification. Members need to submit a course application and related materials.
Call for Web Seminars!
ACEC New York is seeking two-hour courses to be offered throughout the year as web seminars. Courses are sought for all engineering disciplines. ACEC New York, with our partner Contract Solutions Group, will review the course material for free and provide training on how to present via the web. If you need information or have a course to offer, contact gina@acecny.org
Self-Study Courses
ACEC New York and Contract Solutions Group (CSG) have teamed up to offer our web seminars as self-study courses. Currently, ACEC New York has eight courses in our library, each worth (2) professional development hours. The courses may be ordered from CSG. Each course package contains: instructions, the PowerPoint presentation - printed and electronic, audio from the program (embedded in the PowerPoint), and a 10-question quiz. The cost of the course is $95.00 and includes one test. Each additional test is $25.00. For each successfully completed program determined by a score of 70% or greater on the required quiz, a certificate of 2 pdh's will be earned. If you participated in the LIVE webinar, you will not earn credits for the self-study course. Engineers may earn 18 self-study credits during each three-year registration period. To order your courses click on the order form. If you have any questions you can contact gina@acecny.org or jjennings@contractsolutionsgroup.com
Fire Protection/Fire Suppression Seminar. On June 15, over 170 people attended a seminar by John Lee, RA, NYC Department of Buildings Technical Affairs Division, at the Union League Club. The seminar, organized by ACEC New York, focused on requirements for passive and active fire protection systems of the New 2008 New York City Building Code, including fire resistance rated construction, automatic sprinkler protection, appendix Q and the modified NFPA national standards. Please click here to download Mr. Lee’s full presentation.
