Executive Corner: Despite Indicators, A/E Sector May Avoid a Looming Economic Recession
All the usual warning signs point to a potential U.S. recession, beginning as early as Q3 of 2023. We have an inverted yield curve with short-term interest rates significantly exceeding long-term rates due to aggressive monetary policy actions by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Open Market Committee raised the Federal Funds rate 10 times during the last year—from 0.25 percent in May 2022 to its present level of 5.25 percent—to combat inflation. This had driven up short-term borrowing rates. The...
Thoughts From Engineers: The Fight to Get the Lead Out
No issue captures the failings of our nation’s drinking-water infrastructure quite like the chronic and widespread problem of lead service lines (LSLs). Starkly highlighting racial disparities in the United States, LSLs can be found predominantly in poorer communities of color, all of whom are literally and figuratively on the wrong side of the pipes. We’ve long recognized lead’s toxic character—its ability to stunt mental and physical development and snuff out individual potential amongst th...
Transportation Troubleshooting: Five Steps to Build a Case for Road-Usage Charging
In the mid-1970s, the average fuel economy of a U.S. passenger car was less than 15 mpg. Thanks to regulations and advances in vehicle technology, that figure today is more than 25 mpg. With hybrid and electric-vehicle (EV) sales growing, we can expect that average to continue rising. This is a good thing for many reasons, including local air quality, climate change and the financial wellbeing of drivers. But because road and highway work largely is funded by motor-fuel taxes, better fuel eff...
Change Leader: Engineering and Nondestructive Testing Are Mutually Beneficial
This particular interview was recorded by Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure. You can watch a video of the full interview by visiting bit.ly/3Mvud7l. Ricky Morgan is director at large of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) and president of FlawTech America. With more than three decades of experience in the nondestructive testing (NDT) industry, Ricky Morgan knows that a key aspect of successful analysis is a positive rel...
Infrastructure Outlook: Drones Have Changed How Engineers Capture Data on the Jobsite
Through the years, drones and civil and structural engineers’ attitudes toward these tools have changed. Previously viewed as a gimmick, drones have proven to be indispensable, dynamic and flexible tools helping to lead the technological and autonomous revolution on the modern jobsite. The number of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has continued to grow, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports more than 314,600 commercial drone registrations in the United States. Stru...
Future Forward: Five Ways AI Is Going to Shape the Future of Water and Resilient Infrastructure
For quite some time, we’ve been aware of artificial intelligence (AI). But for most of us, AI was limited to fantastic science fiction tales in the movies or large-scale experiments conducted by scientists and engineers. Certainly, who thought it would be something of significance that would directly touch our daily lives? Recently there has been a shift in that perception, with a surge in popularity among individuals and organizations discovering ways to utilize AI in one form or another to...
ReEngineering the Engineer: Making It Buildable
Through the years, I’ve noticed my firm does a lot of additions to existing buildings. In the early days, much of it was driven by our hospital work. Hospitals are constantly growing—expanding emergency departments, adding beds, increasing diagnostic capabilities, offering new services, etc. Most campuses we work on still have enough real estate that allows them to expand horizontally. But even as our breadth of project types expanded, we still had to deal with expansions. Private schools add...
From the Editor: No Surprise, but Engineering Gets ‘Smarter’ Every Year
In this annual Smart Engineering issue of Informed Infrastructure, you will read about great new ideas and products that are not only more efficient and economical, but also better for our environment. Isn’t this the definition of a win-win-win proposition? I always appreciate the advances being made in the engineering world. As I quickly reviewed some of the topics in this issue, I realized that a lot has changed in our profession—even in the last decade, let alone when I started as a new en...
Thoughts From Engineers: Smart Tech Steps into the Spot (Flood) Light
Any homeowner who has taken advantage of the myriad doorbell cameras, home thermostats, motion sensors and other smart devices available in the market knows the value smart tech brings to home security. (“I can’t be everywhere at once,” the thinking goes, “but thankfully my tech can.”) And so we shell out more money to have an electronic foot soldier onguard at our home’s doors, windows and anywhere else we feel a twinge of vulnerability. But smart tech can clearly do more. In the last decade...
Executive Corner: What’s My Legacy? An A/E Generation Transitions Out
Growing up, my father was fond of sharing various quips and quotes. Some were motivational, others just corny, and I’m confident most of them went in one ear and out the other. But one that always stuck with me was the famous Maya Angelou line: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” A poignant citation for aspirational self-improvement, it also speaks to the vital legacy we all want to leave with people and organi...
Video: Crashes Drop Measurably After Rural Road Safety Improvement Project on US 521 in Lancaster County
AdventHealth Weaverville Hospital
June Issue 2026
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