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Stop in the Library and start building! Wee Build STEM materials will be available for your use to enjoy hands-on learning with your young children. STEM learning focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in a fun, creative way. Building materials offer children an almost infinite variety of opportunities to express themselves, from constructing simple designs to veritable engineering feats of bridge building.
Tag: engineering
SummerQuest 2020 Wee Build Fridays, ages 3 – 5 | Kreutz Creek Library
Stop in the Library and start building! Wee Build STEM materials will be available for your use to enjoy hands-on learning with your young children. STEM learning focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in a fun, creative way. Building materials offer children an almost infinite variety of opportunities to express themselves, from constructing simple designs to veritable engineering feats of bridge building.
SummerQuest 2020 Wee Build Fridays, ages 3 – 5 | Kreutz Creek Library
Stop in the Library and start building! Wee Build STEM materials will be available for your use to enjoy hands-on learning with your young children. STEM learning focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in a fun, creative way. Building materials offer children an almost infinite variety of opportunities to express themselves, from constructing simple designs to veritable engineering feats of bridge building.
SummerQuest 2020 Wee Build Fridays, ages 3 – 5 | Kreutz Creek Library
Stop in the Library and start building! Wee Build STEM materials will be available for your use to enjoy hands-on learning with your young children. STEM learning focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in a fun, creative way. Building materials offer children an almost infinite variety of opportunities to express themselves, from constructing simple designs to veritable engineering feats of bridge building.
SummerQuest 2020 Wee Build Fridays, ages 3 – 5 | Kreutz Creek Library
Stop in the Library and start building! Wee Build STEM materials will be available for your use to enjoy hands-on learning with your young children. STEM learning focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in a fun, creative way. Building materials offer children an almost infinite variety of opportunities to express themselves, from constructing simple designs to veritable engineering feats of bridge building.
Early outreach, big dreams leading more students to study engineering
Educators in the region’s colleges and universities say they are seeing a steady growth in students interested in majoring in engineering disciplines, and the ones coming into their programs are showing more knowledge and have more hands-on experience than in the past.
Most see two main factors for the trend:
First is the availability of engineering jobs and the salaries. Second, the years of pushing the idea of engineering careers and other STEM fields to the young set are starting to pay off.
The current starting salary projection for Class of 2020 engineering graduates is $69,961 per year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Those salaries can be earned in a variety of fields.
In Pennsylvania, a number engineering disciplines are in demand.
The Workforce Development Board of the Greater Lehigh Valley named civil engineers, mechanical engineers and industrial engineers as some of the most in-demand engineering fields. Demand for skills in drafting, engineering and mapping technologies is also very strong.
At Elizabethtown College, which has a prominent engineering program in Lancaster County, engineering professor, Sara Atwood, said the growth in engineering interest has been significant.
“In the last 10 years we have definitely had a huge increase in engineering enrollment. We are essentially at capacity for our program,” Atwood said.
She said the engineering degree gives them skills they can use in engineering jobs or even in finance or law careers.
At Penn State Lehigh Valley in Schnecksville, which has a two-year engineering program, Tracey Carbonetto, a lecturer of mechanical engineering, said the majority of students on campus are in some sort of an engineering program. Mechanical, industrial, civil, aerospace and biomedical are among the top being studied, she said.
“There’s a lot of different directions an engineering career can take you,” she said. “And there’s a promise of a good job market. They’re not going to toil away for four years and then get out of school and they can’t find a job.”
At Lehigh University in Bethlehem, which has one of nation’s top engineering programs, it’s harder to quantify an increase in demand, said Greg Tonkay, associate dean for academic affairs in the engineering college. Demand to get into Lehigh’s engineering program is always strong, he said.
“We tend not to see large changes in enrollment in engineering because the school tries to balance its enrollment in different programs,” Tonkay said.
He did note that the incoming students are coming with a level of know-how, hands-on experience and enthusiasm that he wasn’t seeing 10 years ago.
He credits scholastic STEM Programs for letting younger students experiment with engineering technologies and create real-world projects that go beyond basic academic lectures.
“There was a time prior to the STEM push, where students had no experience working with their hands,” Tonkay said. “Society as a whole doesn’t fix as much anymore, so there’s no tinkering. STEM started a bunch of activities that are hands on so they can decide if it’s something they want to do or not.
Atwood said such programs have helped to increase women enrollment.
“We’ve seen that the effects of such programs have doubled the percent of women in engineering and more people are being exposed to it at an earlier age,” Atwood said. “10 years ago people came in here and didn’t really know what engineering meant.”
Karen Buck, manager of workforce initiatives for the Manufacturers Resource Center of the Lehigh Valley, said there are many academic programs being developed throughout the state of Pennsylvania to expose younger people to opportunities in engineering from actual lesson plans that focus on engineering subjects to extracurricular efforts.
She pointed to the “What’s so Cool About Manufacturing” contests, which sends eighth grade students into manufacturers to create videos about their operations, as a popular program that began in Lehigh and Northampton counties seven years ago and is debuting in Central Pennsylvania this year.
There is also a “Dream Team” of recent engineering grads that go into schools to talk to school students about engineering opportunities.
“This is good because they’re getting to talk to people a little closer to their age,” Buck said.
Carbonetto said bio-medical fields and green technology are also attracting students that hope to use their education to shape a better world.
“In the bio-medical file all of these possibilities are becoming feasible,” she said. “These students have the option to do something that may be remarkable. They can have an impact on the world when they’re 22-23 years old.”
Gannett Fleming names five Pa. stockholders
Seven leaders in different sectors of Harrisburg-based global infrastructure and engineering firm Gannett Fleming have been named as the company’s newest stockholders.
Gannett Fleming chose the new stockholders based on their work with clients, their ability to innovate in the spaces they work and a commitment to professional development among their teammates, the company wrote in an announcement last week.
Five of the new stockholders work in Gannett Fleming’s Pennsylvania offices.
- Michael Mehaffey, vice president and north water market leader in the firm’s Harrisburg office. Mehaffey leads the company’s water projects in the Northeast U.S. and has performed and directed engineering services in the water industry for the past 15 years.
- Nathan Reinard, also based in Harrisburg, is the Transit & Rail Facilities Practice Leader. Reinard works with North American transit agencies on rail and bus maintenance facilities, transit stations and transit intermodal facilities.
- Jamie Shambaugh, vice president and chief engineer for the water sector. Shambaugh is based in Harrisburg and leads operations for the firm’s Pennsylvania clients.
- Brian Teles, principal project manager, operates out of Valley Forge and the Lehigh Valley. Teles provides oversight for technical, supervisory and administrative tasks and has designed, inspected and managed transportation projects for 25 years.
- Brian Smith, senior vice president of Gannett Fleming’s geospatial technology division in Philadelphia. Smith oversees software development, innovation, strategy and location analytics-specific projects.
- Elik Livay, vice president and south water market leader in Baltimore. Livay is responsible for leading the water sector’s project quality.
Gannett Fleming operates more than 60 offices around the world and employs over 2,500 people. In 2018, the company made $483 million in revenues.
Yingst Engineers stays limber in changing market
Steve Yingst founded his engineering consulting franchise in Hershey to offer pre-purchase home inspections— a practice that was still in its infancy in Pennsylvania when he opened Criterium-Yingst Engineers in 1990.
A franchisee of national engineering consulting firm Criterium Engineers, Criterium-Yingst offered home inspections to potential buyers with each of the firm’s inspections completed by a professional engineer.
As more general home inspectors joined the state’s market, less customers were interested in paying for the cost of an engineer unless they needed a second opinion, said Kathy Yingst, Steve Yingst’s wife and a partner in the business.
“The reality was that the market became flooded with general home inspections,” Kathy Yingst said. “We moved out of that market because there are now a number of general home inspectors so we get called in when that inspector found a problem and they need an engineer.”
In 2013, the Yingsts and their staff separated from the franchise and founded Yingst Engineers & Associates Inc., an independent firm in Londonderry Township.
The firm’s experience in the home inspection space organically led it to offer a much wider array of services such as residential and commercial design and forensics engineering, said Kathy Yingst, now the vice president and COO of Yingst Engineers.
“We would inspect homes for people, they would come back around to us and say hey, you inspected this home for me and I want to add a deck to the back,” she said. “It grew out of our presence and expertise in the inspection market.”
From 1999 to 2016, the Yingsts operated the business from their office on Chocolate Avenue in Hershey. When the now Yingst Engineers & Associates grew to a total of 12 employees, the firm’s owners realized they would need more space to grow and eventually decided on the current office at 4000 Vince St. in Londonderry Township.
“I really had to think long and hard if we wanted to leave Hershey because I am a lifelong resident,” said Steve Yingst. “The only thing that made me do it is there was nothing available that was big enough to support our growth.”
2020 is the Yingst’s 30th year in business since Steve Yingst first founded his franchise in Hershey. The firm currently offers its engineering consulting work in a 50 to 80 mile radius around Londonderry Township, but has gone as far as St. Thomas to offer their services.
Finding engineers to consult on residential properties is difficult as firms are generally more interested in larger commercial projects, which has allowed Yingst Engineers to hold onto its niche in the market, said Kathy Yingst.
A Conversation With: Aaron Barnes
Aaron Barnes, 44, was recently promoted to vice president at Urban Engineers, providing construction support services from the firm’s Mechanicsburg office. He has been with Urban for 20 years, working on projects with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, among others.
Barnes has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University and is a registered professional engineer (PE) in three states.
He lives in West Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, with Becky, his wife of 15 years, and their 12-year-old sons, Logan and Wyatt.
Q: When working on a public project, with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, for example, how do you make sure the project is correct from a technical standpoint but stay mindful of the budget?
A: Our main focus is the time, quality and cost, so we’re always mindful of those things. We have a set of what we call contract documents, plans and specs that are specific to the job. Our responsibility on the construction end of things is to administer the contract, and that involves monitoring the cost, the schedule and the quality of work that’s being performed. We’re basically under the guidelines of the owner’s specifications.
When leading teams through complex construction assignments, what are the keys to keeping the project flowing through so many people with different perspectives and tasks?
One of our major roles in any complex project is getting the parties and stakeholders involved and getting their concerns and objectives on the table early. And the key to all that, really, is open communication. When you have a lot of different stakeholders and a lot of different things going on in the job, the best way to resolve anything is to bring people to the table so they can express their concerns. If they understand what the other party is thinking, it actually makes it much, much easier. We have found that sometimes people are afraid to talk about things that may go against the grain, and we try to tell everyone, no matter what it is, we want to bring any problems or concerns to the table so we can head off any problems early.
What will you take from your time in the field to this new administrative role as vice president?
One of the things I love about my job is I interact with a wide range of people, a variety of agencies, every single day. I treat people that work for me way I expect to be treated, and that’s first and foremost with dignity and respect. With my role as vice president, I don’t think a whole lot has changed. I’m going to head up maybe some larger initiatives, but my approach will always be the same. Instead of texting or emails, I prefer a phone conversation or a face-to-face chat. I can detect tone, things like that that make my job easier. In any kind of public works, we’re building something for the public so the end goal is basically a facility, a bridge, or anything that can be used, so we need people’s feedback.
What is your favorite project that you have worked on?
The replacement of the Lehigh River and Pohopoco Creek bridges was unique in that it was a large job, a lot of different things on that job from the foundation right up to the structure. Some people might think, well, it’s just another bridge. It is, but that job was a complete redesign. The foundation plans changed, pier designs changed, the span lengths changed, our permitting changed. We were more or less doing a design build while we were going in the construction phase. Along with that we did what we call value engineering, which is basically an innovative way of doing something and it actually saves the project some money. It was a four-year job, and we actually came in under budget and on time. Seeing it through to completion, especially on time, was a big deal.
Guest view: A contractor’s trash can be another firm’s treasure
Commercial-building construction debris is a significant challenge. But this challenge also presents opportunities to achieve benefits when using a strategic and sustainable management approach.
The spectrum of commercial building debris includes, but is not limited to: concrete, wood, stone, drywall, metals, bricks, glass, plastics, doors, windows, electrical, plumbing and mechanical system components.
Commercial building construction generates a significant volume of solid waste in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported that 548 million tons of construction and demolition debris were generated in the U.S. in 2015 and this was more than two times the volume of generated municipal solid waste. It is important that this debris be diverted from disposal and strategically managed into new productive uses.
How?
One significant strategy to reduce debris sources is the preservation of existing buildings, instead of constructing totally new buildings. This also has the potential to preserve local architectural character and historic significance of some buildings.
Other related strategies of include optimizing the size of new buildings: designing new buildings for adaptability to prolong their useful lives; using construction methods that allow disassembly and facilitate reuse of materials; employing alternative framing techniques; reducing interior finishes; and purchasing recycled materials for construction.
Innovative and efficient design of buildings, building systems and materials can also enhance debris-reduction efforts by strategically purchasing materials to prevent excess materials and packaging from being delivered to the construction site.
Another strategy is deconstruction, which is the process of carefully dismantling buildings to salvage components for reuse and recycling. Deconstruction can be applied on various levels to salvage usable materials and significantly cut waste.
What it yields
Some benefits of deconstruction include: maximizing the recovery of materials; conservation of natural resources; employment and job training opportunities; allowing communities to create local economic activities around manufacturing or reprocessing salvaged materials; and diverting demolition debris headed for disposal.
The major benefit of reusing materials is saving the resource and energy that would have been expended for the production of new materials. Some commonly reused debris materials and applications include:
– Easy-to-remove items like doors, hardware, appliances, and fixtures. These can be salvaged for donation or used during the project construction or on other jobs.
– Wood can be used for lintels, and blocking to eliminate the need to cut full length lumber.
– Scrap wood can be chipped on site and used as mulch or groundcover.
– Brick, concrete and masonry can be recycled on-site as fill or subbase material for paved driveways and parking lots.
– Excess insulation from exterior walls can be used in interior walls as noise abatement material.
– Packaging materials can be returned to suppliers for reuse.
Many building components can be recycled where markets exist. Asphalt, concrete and rubble are often recycled into aggregate or new asphalt and concrete products. Wood can be recycled into engineered-wood products and also mulch and compost. Metals, including steel, copper and brass, are also valuable commodities to recycle.
Other significant benefits can be achieved from reducing the amount of debris disposal to landfills or incinerators. Some of these benefits include: fewer disposal facilities; reduction in environmental issues associated with disposal facilities; reduction of natural resource consumption; conservation of landfill space; reduction of transportation costs to haul debris off-site; reduction of construction costs by using recycled materials; increased business opportunities and employment at recycling facilities and reduction in life-cycle material use, energy and waste generation.
There continues to be many messages of concern about our growing volume of solid waste, even beyond what is generated by commercial building construction. One of those messages provides a great take-away for this article.
“Solid wastes are the discarded leftovers of our advanced consumer society. This growing mountain represents not only an attitude of indifference toward valuable natural resources, but also a serious economic and public health problem.” Those were the words of Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States.
Glenn Ebersole, is a professional engineer and business development manager at CVM Professional and CVMNEXT Construction in King of Prussia. He can be reached at [email protected] or 610-964-2800, ext. 155.
Group forms to elevate Pa. drone industry
The PA Drone Association is on a mission.
A burgeoning industry is literally taking off nationwide, and members of the nascent Harrisburg-based group want to ensure Pennsylvania doesn’t get left behind.
“The key to advocacy is education,” said David Heath, director of the association, which formed in February and is based on North Second Street.
The association has a coming-out party of sorts on June 11 during a nearly day-long event coordinated by Heath. It took place both inside and outside the state Capitol, where representatives of the drone industry met with state leaders and the public to show how drones are changing the way businesses operate.
According to the association, drones will offer $82.1 billion in economic benefits and create 100,000 new jobs in the United States alone by 2025. The association’s goal is to encourage state leaders to support the development of a drone industry – or unmanned aircraft systems, as they are more formally known – because other states already are doing so.
For example, New York is putting up $30 million to pay for a 50-mile unmanned air corridor between Syracuse and Rome, the association said. Other states have become federal test sites for the drone industry, while others have been joining regional partnerships to develop initiatives. As each day passes, Pennsylvania seems to be falling farther behind in developing a domestic drone industry, observers said.
For now, the association isn’t asking Pennsylvania’s leaders for much – except to be aware of what is going on and to offer support as ideas develop, several people said. One goal is to create a working group within the state aviation caucus – a legislative group – to develop a roadmap that would “identify funding opportunities to support critical drone infrastructure,” the association said in a fact sheet.
The association isn’t asking for new regulations, pointing out that drones are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, which controls U.S. airspaces and already requires commercial drone operators to get a license.
But that doesn’t mean there is no room for action on the state level. In October 2018, Pennsylvania lawmakers passed Act 78, which limits the ability of municipalities to regulate unmanned aircraft unless authorized by the statute.
Local jurisdictions often move to pass ordinances that can interfere with commercial operators, said David Day, executive vice president at Keystone Aerial Surveys based in Philadelphia. That makes education critical, he added.
Keystone does work nationwide and has found that some officials in states – such as New York and New Jersey – are more aware of issues facing the drone industry than those in Pennsylvania. The advocacy day was an effort to change that, too, he said. It also is hoped that Pennsylvania’s government agencies will increasingly adopt the technologies, as agencies in other states have, Day added.
The association maintains that 36 out of the 50 states have transportation departments that fund centers or programs for drone operations. PennDOT, it said, is not among those that have initiated outside programs.
Alexis Campbell, PennDOT press secretary, said PennDOT has an active internal drone program and has been flying drones for several years.
“We’ve recently advanced our operator training and certification program and are currently engaged with a pilot program assessing efficiencies for the use of drones for 3D modeling of stockpiles, excavations and roadway slide areas,” she said in a written response to questions.
Flying into new roles
Several attendees at the June 11 event said they think state leaders will be supportive of ideas to expand drone programs both within state agencies and with commercial applications once they understand the potential.
Tasks such as bridge inspections or aerial surveys that once took weeks to conduct can now be done in a day or so, Day said. Farmers, utilities and others have seen how drones can reduce the costs of projects and inspections. They also have weighed the liability risks and realized they are better off using drones.
Governments, however, seem to have a higher hurdle to overcome when liability concerns are raised, Day said.
Several experts noted the concerns can be eased once the options are carefully weighed. For example, the risks to survey a utility line traditionally would involve workers using ladder trucks to examine high-voltage wires, which is dangerous work that could take weeks. Now, drones with cameras can inspect the same line in a fraction of the time – and without putting people in harm’s way.
As people become more aware of how drones can be used, the industry has taken off, Day and others said.
Keegan Flahive is a remote pilot for Argos Unmanned Aerial Solutions based in Lititz. When the company was founded in 2015, it did a lot of work with real estate companies that wanted aerial views of properties, Flahive said. The company now does work for a number of different clients, including construction companies, utilities and government agencies.
The opportunities for creating new jobs and businesses are vast, said Albert R. Sarvis, an assistant professor of geospatial technology at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. HU has adapted its geospatial programs to include the use of drones and has sponsored summer camps for students in high school and middle school to encourage interest in the technology, Sarvis said.
Others pointed out that drones have been used in the film and television industries, as well as in surveying rail lines and in police and emergency applications, such as river rescues. One story told during the June 11 event was how cattle had ruined a portion of a farmer’s crops. A drone was able to assess the total damage, which helped justify the insurance claim.
Then there are the spin-off businesses. Ryan Boswell is the Philadelphia-based sales manager for PhaseOne Industrial, a camera company based in Colorado. PhaseOne cameras can be outfitted on various drones to do a variety of work for governments, quarry operators and utility companies, among others Boswell said.
Day said the drone industry is competitive in that anyone can buy a drone for around $500 and set up shop. However, commercial operators are required to take FAA training to become a licensed remote pilot, he and others said.
At Keystone, Day said, prices can range depending on the job and the location. A day of aerial camera work with a licensed remote pilot might cost about $2,000 in some high-density areas in New York or New Jersey and perhaps about $1,000 elsewhere.
Paragon Engineering founder retiring, to remain a principal with the firm
A York County engineering firm is making a change at the top.
Spring Garden Township-based Paragon Engineering Services Inc. said Monday that founding principal Vaughn Silar Jr. will be retiring, effective May 24. Paragon specializes in mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering services.
Silar, the firm’s president and CEO, will remain a principal and take on a part-time role in business development. He will be succeeded as CEO by Pete Shovlin, a licensed mechanical engineer who has worked for the firm for 10 years.
Shovlin is the company’s current COO.
Paragon Engineering was founded in 2002. Since then, Silar has grown the firm to more than 30 employees with offices in Lancaster, Chambersburg and Bel Air, Maryland.
The firm finished 2018 with $3.5 million in revenue, according to Business Journal records.