Third Annual Purpose & Values Awards
Our purpose and values are the distinguishing features of our firm. For the third year, we invited all employees – now 1,200 in more than 40 offices – to nominate colleagues who best embody them. Below are brief descriptions of each winner, followed by excerpts from their nomination letters.
Rob Otani
Ken Maschke
Peggy Van Eepoel
Bob Nacheman
Rebecca Jones and Phill Thompson
Purpose
Value
Value
Value
Value
Rob Otani, Principal, CORE, Madison Avenue, New York Rob developed and leads CORE studio, our firmwide virtual incubator of ideas. CORE cultivates innovation through support of more than 100 projects and its industrywide technology symposium and hackathon. Rob also serves as leader for our special structures services.
Ken Maschke Vice President, Renewal, Chicago Ken has played a key role in the Renewal practice, leading a variety of structural design, investigation, renovation and adaptive-reuse projects. He was an early proponent of Revit in façade design, introduced the first fully integrated 3D model of an existing building and contributed to the design of the 3D-printed Office of the Future.
Peggy Van Eepoel Associate Principal, Weidlinger Protective Design, Washington, DC Peggy established and leads the Protective Design practice in Washington, where she is a recognized expert in security solutions. She is co-editor of the ASCE state-of-the-practice manual on structural design for blast effects.
Bob Nacheman, Principal, Renewal, Newark Retiring this year after four decades with the firm, Bob is a recognized leader in renovation and restoration of structures and envelope systems. He has worked on the Empire State Building nearly continuously since 1986.
Rebecca Jones, Senior Associate, Structural Engineering, Seattle In just 10 years with the firm, Rebecca has contributed to projects as diverse as Hudson Yards, Basrah Sports City and our earthquake response work in New Zealand. She has worked in four of our offices, and serves on multiple professional and technical committees.
We embrace challenges to make lasting contributions.
“Under Rob’s leadership, CORE studio has made an indelible mark, becoming a source of innovation for us and raising the game across the industry for better and faster computational tools.”
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We are passionate about what we do.
“With infectious creativity and dedication, Ken always brings a solution to the table that draws on the best ideas out there – from tried and true to truly innovative.”
Thornton Tomasetti 2016/2017 Annual Report
We challenge people to grow.
“Peggy challenges us to grow by creating an environment where we can truly collaborate and support each other as a team – both personally and professionally.” For more, see the case study on page 22.
We look beyond the obvious to solve the real problem.
“Bob shows us that the quality of your questions is just as important as the quality of your answers. He always resists the temptation to jump to conclusions, and shows us how to explore every opportunity to question what may, at first, seem obvious.”
We see opportunity where others focus on risk.
“Rebecca teaches us that the best engineers have the courage to explore their curiosity. She has moved across practices, always learning and teaching others, and has worked in offices around the world in her quest to learn more.”
Phill Thompson, Principal and Director of European Operations, Weidlinger Applied Science, Edinburgh Phill filed the patent for the air-gun shock-testing method now used by several NATO navies to test survivability. His team now performs shock analysis on every U.K. naval platform. With the advent of TTWiiN and his development of the PUMPKIN Mount (see page 27) for shock isolation, he continues to see opportunity where others see risk. “Phill has a sixth sense about matching innovation and market demand, and the discipline and rigor to do the hardest part of all – bring ideas to life.”