Alpha Corporation Awarded Airport Expansion and Modernization Project in Bogota, Colombia

Alpha Corporation, a Dulles, Virginia-based engineering/construction management firm, has been awarded a contract to provide project management services for the $650 million expansion and modernization of the El Dorado International Airport (renamed El Nuevo Dorado International Airport) in Bogota, Colombia.  This expansion includes demolition of the existing passenger terminal and new construction of a combined domestic and international terminal.  The 160,000-square-meter development will increase the capacity of Colombia’s largest airport to 16 million passengers each year when completed in 2013.  El Nuevo Dorado International Airport is the most important airport in Colombia and serves as the nation's primary international gateway.  The airport is the main hub for Avianca, the flag carrier airline of Colombia and one of the largest airlines in Latin America.

As the project management consultant to the airport concessionaire, Opain, a consortium composed of Colombian construction/engineering firms and the Swiss Flughafen Zürich AG, Alpha will provide planning, design management, project controls, and construction management services.

Alpha Corporation is a consulting firm offering services to a broad spectrum of clients, including government agencies, municipalities, institutions, private enterprises, developers, and contractors.   The firm includes professional engineers, program and construction managers, cost estimators, schedulers, and risk managers.  Our  experience encompasses the realm of project development and delivery: planning, design, construction, commissioning, operations, and maintenance for building, transportation, civil infrastructure, and utility/energy projects.  The firm maintains multiple regional offices in the United States as well as three international offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Bogota, Colombia. For more information, visit www.alphacorporation.com. 

Manufacturing Professionals to Introduce Cool Careers to the Next Generation

While there has been a significant loss of repetitive manufacturing jobs, workers with engineering and high-tech skills remain in demand and are vital to keeping manufacturing and the economy going. A recent survey conducted by Deloitte, Oracle, and the Manufacturing Institute revealed that more than half of U.S. manufacturers reported significant shortages of “high-skilled workers.” But who will fill these high-skilled jobs when according to The Manufacturing Institute “half of the manufacturing workforce will turn over in the next decade as baby boomers retire?” Who will be there to innovate job-creating products?

 

Doug Mitchell, development engineer at Ford Motor Company Design and a member of the Rapid Technologies & Additive Manufacturing Community (RTAM) of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, is concerned about the future.

“Not enough engineers are being trained in the United States. That’s one reason work is being outsourced,” he says.

Mitchell believes the shortage may have something to do with the perception that “manufacturing engineering is not considered a glamorous profession like law or medicine.”

 

He is working to change this by introducing young people to one of manufacturing’s “cool factors”: rapid or additive manufacturing, or the process of using 3D imaging and layered manufacturing to create physical objects. Mitchell should know. His work relies on this process to develop such auto components as instrument panels, grills, and other auto design features.

 

Outside of the office, he serves as a mentor in the Bright Minds Mentor Program, a program developed by the RTAM Education & Information Exchange Tech Group within SME. In its seventh year, Bright Minds pairs additive manufacturing industry mentors with high school students. This year, the program is being sponsored by the Boeing Company and OBJET Geometries. Bright Minds will take place as a part of SME’s RAPID 2010 and 3D IMAGING Conference and Exposition, May 18-20 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif.

 

“Bright Minds is a good opportunity to get an idea of what engineers are doing,” Mitchell says.

 

Local students from Cypress, Kennedy, El Toro, Tustin and Trabuco Hills high schools will be introduced to prototyping, tooling and additive manufacturing industries as prospective career choices.

 

“I enjoy seeing the light bulb go on in students as they see some of what can be done with 3D imaging and additive manufacturing,” notes Mitchell. “Last year, we had kids see how the technology can be used to create a physical model of a World of Warcraft figure. They could also see how it can be used on the medical side.”

 

Beyond Bright Minds, the RAPID 2010 and 3D IMAGING Conference and Exposition also engage young people through the Design for DDM Student Design Competition. DDM is a manufacturing process which relies on building parts from 3D computer-aided design (CAD) files or data often used in rapid manufacturing.

 

Now through April 6, 2010, Bright Minds students and Bright Minds alumni, as well as entrants from various high schools and universities are invited to submit computer-aided design “inventions” based on the theme of “eco-friendly household products.” Previous competitions have encouraged students to submit innovations based on computer and automotive design.

 

Winners of this year’s competition will be announced at the RAPID 2010 and 3D IMAGING Conference.

 

For the more information about the Bright Minds Program, visit www.sme.org/brightminds. For more information about the DDM Design Competition, entry requirements and submission form, please visit www.sme.org/ddmcompetition.

FEA Awarded Austin LEED-EB Consulting Contract

Facility Engineering Associates (FEA) was awarded a contract to provide consulting relative to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings (EB) process by the City of Austin, Texas.  FEA’s work will include guiding the City of Austin through the LEED – EB certification process and performing retro-commissioning for the Austin Convention Center.  The Austin Convention Center began working toward energy efficiency and LEED certification in 2007, and FEA is committed to helping them achieve their goal of LEED Gold certification.

 

FEA’s team includes several Austin-based firms:

Winterowd Associates, Inc.

Baer Engineering and Environmental Consulting, Inc.

MWM Design Group, Inc.

Encotech Engineering Consulting, Inc.

                                                                                

                                                                                                                                               

As cited by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), “The LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System helps building owners and operators measure operations, improvements, and maintenance on a consistent scale, with the goal of maximizing operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts.  LEED for Existing Buildings addresses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues (including chemical use), recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs, and systems upgrades.”

 

FEA is a nationally based consulting engineering firm specializing in existing facilities.  Their services provide solutions to help extend the lifecycle of facilities.  FEA has office locations in Washington, DC; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; and San Francisco, CA.  For more information, visit www.feapc.com

MACTEC Awarded Contract to Provide Construction Management Services for Key Stormwater Project

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has retained MACTEC to provide construction management services for a major stormwater project in South Florida. Contract amount is $2.5 million.

SFWMD is a regional governmental agency that oversees the water resources in the southern half of the state, covering 16 counties from Orlando to the Florida Keys and serving a population of 7.5 million residents. Created in 1949, the agency is responsible for managing and protecting water resources of South Florida by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems and water supply.

According to MACTEC West Palm Beach Office Manager/Principal Scientist Bruce S. Schmitt, MACTEC will also provide construction inspection, materials testing, and verification surveying services for the Lakeside Ranch Stormwater Treatment Area North (STA), located in western Martin and adjacent Okeechobee Counties.

The project (construction costs are approximately $30 million) will encompass 2,700 acres and include a 3-cell STA, distribution/outlet canals and water control structures.  It will also include improvements for the L-64 and L-63 canals, including excavating about 5,000 linear feet of canal below the control water elevation, partial reconstruction of more than 4,000 linear feet of the L-64 canal and replacing the culvert/road crossing at County Road 15B (structure S-667). “The Lakeside Ranch North STA will ultimately provide additional treatment for nutrient laden waters flowing into the Florida Everglades,” said Schmitt.

MACTEC (www.mactec.com), based in Alpharetta, GA, is an engineering and design, environmental, and construction firm focused on four strategic business lines: industrial/commercial, infrastructure (transportation and municipal), energy, and federal. With annual revenues of more than $490 million, MACTEC’s 3,000-plus employees work from over 80 offices nationwide. Florida offices are located in Gainesville, Jacksonville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach.

Merrick Expands Civil Engineering Group With New Hires and Promotions

Merrick & Company has expanded its civil engineering group with the addition of two new staff and the promotion of several key team members. Michael Martin P.E., LEED AP, a 10-year employee of Merrick, has been named public sector market leader.  Martin will expand his project management responsibilities and pursue new public sector project opportunities for the firm.

John Holland,P.E., LEED AP, has been named civil discipline leader where he will be responsible for overseeing the technical portion of the civil engineering group’s work.  This will include developing and maintaining standards, software and training, and quality assurance and control.

Scott Jardine, P.E., LEED AP, has been promoted to a civil discipline representative for district engineering and public works.  Troy Kelts PE, was recently hired by Merrick to fill a similar role as a civil discipline representative for the private sector. Aaron Seal, P.E., LEED AP, was recently hired as the Colorado federal civil team leader for Merrick, where he’ll focus on federal projects for the firm.

Merrick & Company, an $85 million engineering, architecture, design-build, surveying, and geospatial solutions firm, serves domestic and international clients in the infrastructure, energy, security, life sciences, and mapping markets.  With a focus on civil infrastructure, the firm’s most recent work includes system-wide upgrades for the Bancroft-Clover Water and Sanitation District, road improvements for a portion of Arapahoe Road between Holly and Colorado Boulevard, and continuing infrastructure work at the RidgeGate master planned development. Additional information about Merrick is located on the firm’s website at www.merrick.com or at the firm’s online newsroom Merrick Newsroom .

Bob Beringer, P.E. Joins JMT

JMT announces that Robert Beringer, P.E. has joined JMT as a vice president in our Sparks, Maryland corporate headquarters. He will be responsible for leading JMT’s Water/Wastewater Division in Sparks as well as overseeing the water/wastewater business practice in all of JMT’s offices.

 

Robert Beringer’s career in engineering spans nearly four decades in both the private and public sectors.  He served for 27 years as Chief, Bureau of Utilities for Howard County, Maryland, where he was responsible for a staff of more than 130 employees providing water and wastewater service to 70,000 accounts.  His recent private sector experience involves regional leadership in the environmental engineering discipline.

 

Beringer, a registered Professional Engineer in Maryland and Virginia, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Engineering Administration degree from George Washington University.

 

JMT has been in the field of consulting engineering since 1971 and is headquartered in Maryland with offices in Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. JMT offers planning, engineering, and construction management. Visit us on the web at jmt.com.

Kors Engineering Enhances Production Processes at Metal Forming and Coining Corporation

Kors Engineering, a service provider for manufacturing and industrial organizations, announced the successful deployment at Metal Forming and Coining Corporation (MFC) of an inventory control tool to automate its manufacturing process. The output of machine presses is now automatically segregated into bins of good and occasional bad parts which results in a more accurate inventory of good parts, saving time and resources.

 

The automated process integrates with SaaS ERP solution Plex Online to sort and track all parts manufactured, eliminating the need for manual input from floor operators. Prior to the adoption of the inventory tool, occasional operator input errors required time consuming and expensive manual inventories to reconcile accurate inventory counts. Automation also eliminated the need to stop automated presses to record output, freeing operators to conduct other activities.

 

“Keeping an accurate inventory is one of the most important things we can do to ensure our manufacturing processes are as efficient as possible,” said MFC Corporation Materials Manager Holly Noonan. “Prior to automating the reporting function our inventory was inaccurate, requiring us to carry a larger amount of raw materials than we actually needed for production. Now, instead of several people working many hours to perform physical inventories, we merely pull the data from Plex Online.” 

 

MFC manufactures cold-formed components used in several applications with a strong focus on the powertrain area. They serve many markets, including automotive, industrial, and agricultural with both low- and high-volume programs.

 

Kors Engineering is a service provider for manufacturing and municipal organizations looking to optimize technology and integrate systems. With expertise in automation, controls, systems integration and energy management, Kors Engineering delivers quantifiable results in cost reductions, time savings, and labor efficiencies. For more information, visit www.korsengineering.com.

 

Plex Systems, Inc. is the developer of Plex Online, a software as a service (SaaS) solution for the manufacturing enterprise. Founded in 1995, Plex Systems is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan with customers around the globe. More information is online at www.plex.com.