the news
FROM the CEO... It was baseballer Mickey Rivers who once observed—You shouldn’t worry about the things you can control, because you can control them. And, you shouldn’t worry about the things you can’t control, because you can’t control them. Our legacy companies have been through a lot of change in the past year or so and we recognize that any change is most-always unsettling. But change is only part of the story. What people unsettled by massive tornadoes, earthquakes or fires do AFTER, is what defines them. We are, in life and work, basically our own masters—creators of our own destinies. At any given moment, we choose to innovate or deliberate. We choose to embrace or ignore. We choose to charge into the future or wallow in the past. We make lemonade or we don’t. For each of us, it is our own choice. Happiness is the clear consequence of recognizing your own powers, your own opportunities, your control over yourself. Together, all of us stand on the threshold of great opportunity. We have and will work on landmark projects that smaller firms must pass by. We have and will do things that make people’s lives better and make society stronger. We have and will embrace our new colleagues. I choose for my tomorrow fun, success, helping others, and learning new things. Join me. Use your power.
in this issue: AWARDS PROJECTS
New Projects Aplenty Wellpharma Mecial Solutions Facility Project
Ray Rudolph, P.E.
INSIDE CHA
The Increasingly Qualified Rochester Corporate Challenge Corporate Service Highlight Brag on My Dad Congrats Marzena! Global Reach Technology Solutions Capabiltities Albany Corporate Challenge Crossing Paths Four Decades Later
You shouldn’t worry about the things you can control, because you can control them. And, you shouldn’t worry about the things you can’t control, because you can’t control them.
Presenting... our Presentations Bike Across America CHA Office Spotlight First Annual Summer Shindig
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Adam W. Lawas Scholarship CANstruction
Volume 1 // July 2013
Keeping Indianapolis Beautiful Student Outreach
awards AWARDS: With greater size comes greater success, and to that end, our combined firm is gaining more recognition than ever before. Here is a list of accolades we have received in the last few months:
We won two ACEC-Indiana Engineering Excellence awards: one for the Allisonville Road & I-465 Interchange and one for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.
We also won two ACPA Indiana Excellence in Concrete Pavement awards: one for the 126th Street reconstruction in Fisher, IN and the other for the Allisonville Road & I-465 Interchange.
The IN Society of Professional Engineers presented us with an Outstanding Engineering Achievement award for a historic bridge rehabilitation project in Warrick County, IN.
ENR magazine now ranks us #69 on their top design firms list (up 12 spots from last year).
Among ENR’s ranking of top firms serving manufacturers, we rank #16.
The widely-acclaimed Lake Champlain bridge project won one of only eight grand awards from ACEC’s national organization. The project also won a Diamond award from ACEC-NY.
Finally, two of our staff received awards from ACSE’s Mohawk-Hudson section: Gary Dale (Environmental, Albany) for meritorious service and Dave Emerich (Highways/Bridges, Albany) for being elected incoming president.
GOT NEWS?
Two projects won APWA Capital Branch awards: the reconstruction of Broadway in Rensselaer, NY and the Old Ravena Road over CSXT bridge in Albany County, NY.
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Indianapolis Cultural Trail
Warrick County’s historic Briscoe Bridge
Gary Dale
Dave Emerich
Lake Champlain bridge
If you have team, project, or individual news or successes you’d like to share with the entire company in a future newsletter issue, please let us know! Send your ideas to Jennifer Voreis, Human Resources (317.780.7224 or jvoreis@rwa.com).
PROJECTS new projects aplenty: In the past few months, CHA has obtained hundreds of new assignments including:
Designing a major wastewater pumping station in Durham, NC
Developing baseball & softball fields in South Brunswick, NJ
Providing asset management software and support to a major natural gas pipeline operator in the Midwest
Designing a collector system and substation for the Hancock wind power project in Maine
Providing dam safety monitoring services at two hydroelectric facilities in MA
Updating Windham airport’s master plan in CT
Designing traffic signal improvements in Pembroke, MA
Performing an energy assessment of Analog Devices campus in Wilmington, MA
Performing a performance and operation evaluation of a power plant in Nova Scotia, Canada
Creating an asset management plan for the City of Rensselaer, NY
Designing an artificial turf athletic field complex at D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY
Developing a site plan for Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ
Designing improvements for the City of Covington’s water system in VA
Assisting the University of New Hampshire through an on-call civil engineering term contract
Providing engineering and project management support for the NY Power Authority’s Transmission Life Extension and Modernization program.
Providing master plan and design services for 60 villas and a mosque in Bida’a Al Mutawa, UAE
Performing visual inspection surveys of buildings, bridges and road in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Reviewing a master plan for compliance and statutory approval in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia
Providing consultancy services for a residential building in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Performing energy audits at five public schools in Springfield, NJ
Designing improvements for a 7.5 mile section of Route 143 in Worthington, MA
Performing a combined heat & power feasibility study at Skidmore College in Saratoga, NY
Designing a boiler replacement at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s laboratory in Chalk River, Ontario
Performing a natural gas distribution system feasibility study in Patrick County, VA
Assisting Kinder Morgan Liquid Terminals with emissions inventory tool development
Designing a tennis complex at Coastal Carolina University in SC
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Wellpharma medical solutions facility Project: Abu Dhabi, UAE Our staff in the UAE helped our client, Abu Dhabi Investment House, set a benchmark in the competitive UAE pharmaceutical production market for our work on the Wellpharma Medical Solutions facility. The facility is the first in the region to embrace new standards in medical manufacturing processes, contemporary design, and transparency that facilitates full monitoring by international authorities. We provided design, project management, construction, and site supervision services for this purpose-built intravenous solutions manufacturing and distribution plant. The project has helped position us as a standard-bearer in the medical industry.
(Continued on page 12) Medical Solutions facility (top and bottom) Exterior of the Wellpharma
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the increasingly qualified: Congratulations to the following employees on their accomplishments!
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Elvira Alexander (Human Resources, Albany) – PHR
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Danielle Bargovic (Technology Solutions, Albany) – GISP
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Aaron Beckner (Right-of-Way, Bedford) – P.E.
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Sarah Bowman (Traffic, Albany) – P.E.
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Antonio Ceci (Design, Abu Dhabi) – LEEDTMAP
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Skyler Coombs (Transportation, Indianapolis) – P.E.
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Mark Dummett (Water, Indianapolis) – P.E.
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Dan Eckert (Transportation Structures, Albany) – Dale Carnegie Certification
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Chris Einstein (Environmental Science/Health & Safety, Albany) – PWS
10 Julianne Fuda – (Transportation Structures, Albany) – P.E. 11 Michael Gaskill (Water/Waster, Blacksburg) – P.E. 9
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12 Matt Gavelek (Water, South Bend) – P.E. 13 James Hall (Environmental Science/Health & Safety, Norwell) – CPESC 14 Joe Kleinmann (Highway, Buffalo) – P.E. 15 Daniel Kurdziel (Transportation, Indianapolis) – P.E.
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16 Tim Merklein (Civil Engineering, Kansas City) – RLA 17 Betsy Meulendyke (Transportation, Indianapolis) – P.E. 18 Matt Mohler (Water/Wastewater, Blacksburg) – P.E. 19 Kyle O’Connor (Mechanical Technical, Albany ) – Certified Fire Protection Specialist
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20 Andrew Odien (Transportation Structures, Buffalo) – P.E. 21 Trevor Ortolano (Utilities, Hartford) – P.E. 22 Ryan Pattenaude (Transportation, Indianapolis) – P.E. 23 Andrew Pojasek (Civil, Norwell) – P.E.
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24 Craig Riley (Building Services, Indianapolis) – LEEDTMAP BD+C 25 Jen Schembari (Human Resources, Albany) – PHR 26 Tammy Schroeder (Aviation, Indianapolis) – P.E. 27 Cameren Sholl (Aviation, Indianapolis) – CM, Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE)
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28 Eva Vargas (Aviation, Cleveland) – AICP
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rochester corporate challenge: The CHA Rochester office had nine runners compete in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, a 3.5 mile race. A crowd of 11,000 people from 460 companies participated. CHA’s runners gathered for a photo before the race (from left to right): back row – Yana Khaychuk, Dick Krause, Bob Bilyo, Nancy Campbell, Kristin Dawe, and Elizabeth Bava; front row – Matt Murphy, Bill Ernst, and Shannon Wegman.
brag on my dad: In honor of dads everywhere, check out www.bragonmydad.com, a site launched by our own Doug Orcutt from the Richmond, VA office. In honor of his late father, Larry Orcutt, Doug developed the website to give people an opportunity to share stories about their dad. We encourage you to follow the link and read some stories or even submit your own.
Before the race
Corporate service highlight: Human Resources Department By Paula Heller, SPHR (Human Resources, Albany)
Doug as a child with his father, Larry
Our Human Resources department has recently refined our shared services model, to ensure that our staff can better assist you, your groups, and our clients when they need our help the most. As our organization expands, we now provide support to all 1,400 employees both domestically and internationally. We want to take this opportunity to remind you of the services we offer and how you can utilize them. Our Human Resources department aims to go above and beyond in all of our interactions. Our employment support services are aligned with our Markets, Technical, and Support Groups to create one-point of contact and streamline processes. Our services are entirely comprehensive and cover all aspects of employment from recruiting and hiring all the way through to separation. Ultimately, we will have staff members with diverse skill sets in all of our larger office locations, including internationally, allowing us to continue to provide well-rounded support. We also provide more centralized services for the entire company in the areas of compensation, benefits, and Human Resources administration. This includes a variety of employee data and reporting as well as legislative compliance and benefits administration. Additionally, we have support to focus entirely on program initiatives like training and development, charitable giving, rewards and recognition, and employee events. While we prefer and enjoy personalized one-on-one interactions, we understand that sometimes you may have questions about who to go to for help, or general issues not directed to one specific person. In these instances, we ask that you use our General HR Inbox at CHAHumanResources@chacompanies.com. This inbox is monitored daily by our staff, and will be forwarded and responded to by the appropriate person. As our company continues to advance, our goal is to deliver our services in a way that supports our employees and the growth of our firm. As always, your feedback is welcomed and encouraged, and we look forward to hearing from you. 5 | JULY 2013
congrats marzena!: Marzena Bramowska (Finance, Norwell) recently became a US citizen. The oath ceremony took place April, 25th in Boston. Marzena was born in Poland and immigrated to the US 15 years ago.
*This map represents office locations marketed to clients. 6 | JULY 2013
GLOBAL REACH CHA has over 50 offices and more than 1,300 employees around the world.
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technology solutions:
By Jennifer Voreis, PHR (Human Resources, Indianapolis)
Recently Jody Lounsbury, Jim Horton, and Steve Nieradka traveled to Indianapolis and presented initiatives in their departments. Jody demonstrated how 3D Laser Scanning (3DLS) is valuable on 3D Design and Construction projects in facilities. He also presented the use of 3DLS data in several 3D BIM and design software packages including Revit. Jim and Steve presented on CHA’s technology services including mobile and tablet-based data collection applications, GIS, 3D visualizations, project collaboration tools, web design, and database development. The purpose of this presentation was to share knowledge across our company.
Steve, Jim, and Jody (left to right) deliver their presentation
crossing paths four decades later: Recently two employees reconnected after 43 years. Mark Devine—currently the section manager for water and wastewater in Norwell, MA—who joined us through the C&C acquisition, was an intern for CHA in the early 70’s. He was assigned to the I-90 project in the Albany area. The resident engineer on that project was Dick Bovee who is now a chief engineer working in the Albany office on technical quality.
Mark’s internship held so many wonderful memories that he kept his “Clough Associates” hard hat throughout the years
In an email exchange between Mark and Dick, Mark expressed some of his fondest memories of his internship with CHA—“It was a terrific experience. I was very impressed with how professional everyone was and serious about the project, yet very kind and warm to a deer-inDick Bovee headlights college kid.” At the end of his internship he remembered Dick telling him in a jovial way, “Don’t come back until you have learned something.” Mark responded recently, “a mere 40 years later… I’m BACCKKKKK.”
ALBANY corporate challenge: CHA had a great turnout at the big Corporate Challenge, a 3.5 mile run. Over 9,000 people from 450 organizations ran! CHA had 40 runners including: Matt Abatto, Elvira Alexander, Rich Amadon, Lou Bach, Danielle Bargovic, Nikhil Bodhankar, Sarah Bowman, Tim Burtnick, Andrew Cassier, Caitlynn Coppinger, Daniel DeGennaro, Shaun DeMaranville, Scott Doehla, Lee Ecker, Michael Farone, John Favreau, Philip Graziadei III, Jason Harden, Ronald Harvey, Brian Healey, John Hickok, Bryan Jones, Tony Marruso, Olin Mather, James Morey, Chris Morris, Neil Ochal, Chris O’Connor, Neil O’Connor, Kyle O’Connor, Ray Rudolph, Jasleen Sandhu, Denise Shell, Megan Shlotzhauer, Dan Spielvogel, Lily Tang, Kate Theissen, Julie Thompson, Tom Titsworth, and Lisa Westrick.
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Some members of the CHA team
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PRESENTING... OUR PRESENTATIONS: Bill Horne (Transportation, Albany) presented on bridge scour at the Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting.
Ron Burns and Bill Hoyerman (Environmental, Norwell) presented on Massachusetts’s hazardous waste site cleanup regulations.
Dale Gozalkowski (Transportation, Albany) co-presented on the Lake Champlain Bridge project at the Institute of Transportation Engineers Northeastern District Annual Meeting.
Ken Gallagher (Environmental, Parsippany) presented on sustainability plan development at the New York Federation of Solid Waste Association’s annual conference.
Patrick Graham (Business Development, Savannah) presented on landfill gas-toenergy development at the Solid Waste Association of North America’s Georgia Chapter Annual Conference. Gary Dale (Environmental, Albany) presented on dam rehabilitation; Steve Wilson (Campus and Institutions, Albany) presented on sustainability plan development; and Jim Horton (Technology Solutions, Albany) presented on field data collection at the Capital Region’s Annual Engineers Week event. Rich Rappa (Manufacturing, Rochester) presented on energy efficiency at four events. Steve Ellis and Simon Pena (Geospatial, Houston) presented on distribution integrity management programs at four regional Texas Gas Association (TGA) events. Simon also taught a Pipeline Safety Records Keeping & Compliance Workshop for TGA.
Brittany Vrzina (Water, Indianapolis) presented on water system modeling at the American Water Works Association’s Indiana Chapter annual conference. Rob Faulkner (Transportation, Keene) presented on the NHDOT Spaulding Turnpike upgrade project at the NHDOT Technical Transfer Conference.
Congratulations and thank you to staff who presented at conferences, conventions, and technical association meetings! Presenting at industry events is an important component of our marketing and business development strategy. Prospective presenters are encouraged to contact Mona Samaan (Business Development, Rochester) at msamaan@chacompanies.com or 585.232.5610 ext. 235 or Scott Keating (Marketing, Albany) at skeating@chacompanies. com or 518.453.4516 with their ideas.
Paul Puckli (Aviation, Chantilly) was a track host at the Airports Consultants Council/American Association of Airport Executives Symposium. Bryan McBride (Technology Solutions, Albany) presented on mobile data collection at the North Country Technology Conference. Jim Howe (Power and Energy, Albany) was an opening speaker and panel presenter asset management at the Western Energy Institutes Operations Conference.
Chris Einstein (Environmental, Albany) was a session facilitator at the New York State Wetlands Forum. Jody Lounsbury (Surveying, Albany) served as a member of the advisory board and presented on 3DLS at the SPAR International Conference. Doug Hudgins and J.S. Brown (Environmental, Blacksburg) presented on infiltration & inflow; and Lawrence Hoffman (Environmental, Blacksburg) presented on treatment plant permitting at the Virginia Rural Water Association’s annual conference. Michael taking a break on his 8,600 mile journey 9 | JULY 2013
Mona Samaan
Scott Keating
BIKE ACROSS AMERica: This past September, Michael Hurtt (Transportation, Albany) embarked on an epic journey across America. Joined by Joseph Foglietta (retired NYSDOT Chief Engineer) and Peter Church (A-Plus Architecture), the trio rode their motorcycles on a 16 day, 8,600 mile adventure. One of the highlights included the Iron Butt Association’s sanctioned event, the IBA 50CC (coast to coast in 50 hours), which the riders completed between Jacksonville, FL and San Diego, CA in 46.5 hours. Sights along the way included the Mojave Desert, Red Rock Canyon, the Great Sequoia National Park (NP), Yosemite NP, Lake Tahoe, US Route 50 (“the Loneliest Road in America”), Zion NP, Grand Canyon NP, Monument Valley, the Four Corners, Mesa Verde NP, Great Sand Dunes NP, and the San Juan Skyway.
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CHA OFFICE SPOTLIGHT: Nashville, Tennessee The Nashville office opened in late 2007 with one full-time and one parttime person (Travis Falls and Kim McClintock, respectively). The office grew to over 20 employees in the first two years. Today, the office has produced almost $18 million in net revenues since 2008. Staff Breakdown:
Transportation Planning and Design: 15
Water: 1
Structures: 6
Construction Inspectors: 5
Construction: 3
Aviation: 4
Other: 3
Facts about the city of Nashville:
Nashville, the capital of Tennessee is located in the northcentral part of the state along the Cumberland River.
It is nicknamed “Music City” due to being a focal point for the music industry.
Nashville was founded on Christmas Eve 1779 .
Nashville is also referred to as the “Athens of the South” because of its many higher education institutions. Today the Nashville area has 21 post graduate institutions. The city even has a full-scale replica of Athen’s Parthenon in Centennial Park.
In 1941, Nashville was granted the first FM license in the United States.
Nashville is home to the world’s longest-running live music radio show. The Grand Ole Opry has been broadcasting every week since 1925 on AM radio station WSM.
Elvis Presley recorded more than 200 of his songs at RCA’s Studio B on Nashville’s Music Row.
Employees at t the 2013 “Soup”erbowl Party (from left to right): Travis Falls, Spenser Schwartz, Don Collins, Caitlin Dillon, Carrie DeBardelaben, and Jeremy Richerson
Nashville’s Highlighted Projects TDOT Manuals and Guidelines • Authored Drainage and Erosion Control Manuals • Authored Roundabout guidelines • Developed LRFD compliant drainage structure standards TVA’s Chickamauga Bridge over the Tennessee River • ¾-mile long steel structure is experiencing movements due to a chemical reaction in the concrete • Developed an instrumentation monitoring plan, in-depth structural analysis and rehabilitation plans Metro Nashville Clean Water Program • One of seven pre-selected firms to perform engineering for the $1.6B program Jack Daniel’s Industrial Processing • Providing structural work and materials processing for the new Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN—combined RWA/CHA group
First annual summer shindig: The Indianapolis office got together for the first annual summer shindig—a lunchtime cookout on our green roof terrace. Employees pitched in and brought hamburgers, hot dogs, side dishes, and desserts—including ice cream made on the spot! Special thanks to Beth Corbett and Jill Hayth for organizing the event. 10 | JUNE 2013
Employees gather on the overpass for the first annual summer shindig – complete with food, music, and cornhole
community Outreach adam w. lawas scholarship:
By Rich Rappa (Manufacturing, Rochester)
In 2007, CHA began a scholarship fund to honor the memory of Adam Lawas, a CHA employee, who lost his life in an automobile accident. Adam was the mechanical process and energy operations manager in our Rochester, NY, office. He was a husband and a father of three boys who was extremely talented both on and off the job. This scholarship is a means to keep Adam’s memory and spirit alive. It is with great pleasure that CHA announces the selection of Jessica Fuss as this year’s recipient of the Adam W. Lawas Scholarship. Jessica is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a 3.84 GPA. The selection committee felt Jessica stood out as someone who possessed the attributes Adam would have looked for in a young engineer.
Jessica Fuss, this year’s scholarship recipient
Jessica has interned at SunMaxx Solar and LORD Corp, an adhesive, coating, and motion management technology company that serves the aerospace, defense, automotive, and industrial sectors. She has been both a teaching assistant and research assistant at RIT. Her goal is to work in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries upon graduation.
keeping Indianapolis beautiful: Employees from the Indianapolis office lent a brush to paint fire hydrants as volunteers for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, a beautfication organization that unites people to build community and transform public spaces through aesthetic and environmental improvements.
A freshly painted hydrant (from left to right): back row – Makaila Smith, Angie Smith, Sarah Hayth, Jill Hayth, front row – Kezaiah Smith
The scholarship was formally presented to Jessica at the Rochester Engineer Society Annual Gala on April 20th and CHA will present her with a check for $1,000 later this summer. Thanks to Mike Masny for his help in the applicant review and interview process.
CANstruction:
By Lauren Cataldo (Human Resources, Albany) The CHA Albany office, for the third consecutive year, competed in the Annual Capital Region CANstruction competition. CANstruction is a charity committed to ending hunger, using ‘one can’ as a catalyst for change. A total of 51,119 cans and over $30,000 were collected for the Capital Region Food Pantries. This year’s theme, “CAN You Imagine,” spotlights hunger while showcasing the design community’s creativity. The CHA team won the “Best Use of Labels” award for their mural rendition of Albert Einstein. The Einstein mural contains 3,739 cans. The team raised over $7,500 to support the project including a $5,000 donation to the food pantries. 11 | JULY 2013
Jonathan Mirgeaux, Leilani Sebolboro, Tim George, and Mark Dummett (from left to right) work together to paint a hydrant
Photo of the CHA Team on Build Day (from left to right): back row – Ron Harvey, Jody Lounsbury, Heather Wyld, Jeremy Garrett, Danielle Bargovic, and Michelle Garrah; front row – Glenn Easton, Matt Cuevas (Team Captain), and Julie Thompson. Not pictured: Elvira Alexander, Amy Brockman, Caitlyn Crowley, Brian Marx, Chris Morris, Jeanne Rice, Deb Vantine, and Seth Watson.
community outreach cont’d
Student outreach:
By Jennifer Schembari, PHR (Human Resources, Albany) CHA employees know the importance of connecting with students on careers in the technology and engineering fields! One of the best ways to give back to your community is by sharing your work experiences. This year, employees have participated in several events and programs such as:
HAVE A QUESTION about a company policy or procedure? Submit your question to: NewsletterQuestions@ chacompanies.com The names of those submitting will remain confidential. We will include some Q & A’s we receive in the next issue of the newsletter.
Future Cities
Project Lead the Way
Girls in STEM
Various job shadow days
ACE
Mentoring programs
Office tours
Bridge competitions
f you are interested in volunteering your time or have an experience that you would like to share, please send the information and pictures to Jen Schembari (Human Resources, Albany) jschembari@chacompanies.com or Megan Shlotzhauer (Human Resources, Albany) mshlotzhauer@ chacompanies.com.
Julianne Fuda, Ryan Henderson, and Phil Roth (Transportation Structures, Albany) volunteered at the Parker School in Wynantskill. From an initial site visit, brainstorming, design, 3D modeling, construction and installation of the bridges, this project afforded students with a good overview of bridge engineering. This is a photo of the bridges once they were installed.
Khalid Abed speaking with students at Boushall Middle School about the importance of mathematics and engineering in society
projects cont’d New Projects Aplenty (Continued from page 3)
Designing a runway rehabilitation for Myrtle Beach International Airport
Designing a taxiway rehabilitation for Eagle Creek Airpark in Indianapolis, IN
Preparing a feasibility study for Port San Antonio’s Kelly Field in San Antonio, TX
Managing bidding and construction services for a large conveyance sewer in Noblesville, IN
Performing a feasibility study including hydraulic modeling for a combined sewer overflow facility in South Bend, IN
Designing a new fire department training center for the City of South Bend, IN
Designing a major arterial roadway reconstruction and bridge rehabilitation in St. Joseph County, IN
Designing a new three mile urban trail connecting the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Monon Trail, and three City of Indianapolis Parks on the near eastside