Executive Corner: Frequently Asked Questions about A/E Ownership Transitions
Of the wide-ranging internal-ownership inquiries my firm receives, most can be distilled into just a few ideas that ultimately answer the same question: “How can my firm make an internal transition process work?” So I thought I’d reflect on the most commonly asked questions, and offer guidance and advice on ways that will help strengthen your firm’s approach to internal ownership transition. Q: “My partners and I have an idea as to when we’d each like to start pulling back a little, but it’s s...
Managing the Model: Getting the Lead on the Late Majority
A longtime acquaintance recently started an engineering design firm, and he asked me and my staff at Engineered Efficiency to help him get their AEC technology up and running. Right now, his company is small and has a clean slate: they don’t have any bad habits to break and can take a big-picture view of how they want to integrate design and modeling technology into their business. As we worked through a short checklist of the basics, such as software to buy, hardware for office and remote st...
Structural Solutions: Engineering without a Net
I was flipping around the cable channels a while back and happened across a show about “The Flying Wallendas.” I had heard of the Wallendas as a kid, but I didn’t realize they had been performing since the late 1700s, a remarkable seven generations. In the 1920s, however, Karl Wallenda put the family on the map when they started performing their balancing acts without nets. Nik Wallenda, the most-recent performing Wallenda, has taken it a step further and also practices without a safety net o...
Managing the Model: Why Do A/E Firms Hate BIM?
It’s possible that “hate” in this column’s title is too strong a sentiment—perhaps “have indifference toward BIM” is more appropriate. I spend a lot of time talking to owners and department managers at A/E firms, and a common chorus I repeatedly hear is “there’s no need to move to BIM.” To be sure, “The Business Value of BIM for Infrastructure” report by McGraw-Hill found that 59 percent of A/E firms understand the benefits of BIM and have adopted it. What’s not clear is how the term “adopted...
Executive Corner: Five Takeaways on 2015 A/E M&A Activity
Fueled by cheap debt, a restless and activist investor climate, and a desire to accelerate growth through economies of scale and efficiencies, global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across all industries hit an all-time high in 2015. In fact, this year will break the dollar volume M&A record achieved back in 2007. Every few days saw one massive transformational combination announced after another: Dow Chemical/DuPont, Pfizer/Allergan, Dell/EMC, AB InBev/SABMiller, Kraft/Heinz, Walgreens/Rite Aid,...
Infrastructure Outlook: Radar Tomography Provides an Underground Point Cloud
By Andrew D. Lund, GISP Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was first patented in 1904 by Dr. Christian Hülsmeyer, a German scientist. It wasn’t until the 1970s, however, that GPR became a widely used tool for underground (or under-ice) surveying. Since then, it’s experienced widespread use in archaeology, utility detection, forensics and transportation, to name the most-common applications. Few people realize that GPR has always been a 3D technology, assuming location is known (the X/Y coordi...
Repurposing Buildings and Urban Infrastructure for a Smarter City
The smart city has many emerging definitions and the concept is touted to be the one, that will shape cities of future. All ‘smart city’ definitions encompass the idea of a sustainable, livable, intelligent and green city with continued economic growth and job opportunities for all. However, we hardly ever see the concept of adaptive reuse infused into the definition of a smart city. Is the development of new green buildings the only way to drive our cities towards a sustainable future? What...
Infrastructure Outlook: Smart Cities–Guided by People, Powered by Information
A key characteristic of a smart city is the ability to make effective connections among its citizens, assets and services. The smart city does this by using technology to support and improve the interaction among people and government. In doing so, a city enhances its citizens’ well-being as well as its overall performance and efficiency. Most cities aren’t concerned about being labeled “smart.” Rather, their concerns focus on providing a safe, pleasant and sustainable environment for its cit...
Executive Corner: Emerging Risk Trends and Best- Practices Management for A/E Firms
Michael Herlihy Russ Ryan Understanding professional liability and managing risk is an important aspect of all A/E business plans. For this installment of “Executive Corner,” Russ Ryan, principal at Rusk O’Brien Gido + Partners (e-mail: [email protected]), interviews Michael Herlihy, ARM, CRIS, executive vice president of Ames & Gough, insurers and risk-management service providers to A/E clients (e-mail: [email protected]). Ryan: As we head into 2016, are there any emergin...
Structural Solutions: Add True Value to Command Fees You Deserve
Many years ago, I left the security of the engineering firm I worked for right out of school and ventured out on my own. If you had asked me when I was hired after graduate school, I thought I would retire at that company. But that wasn’t the case, as I felt compelled to start my own company and try to do something different. Although I was fortunate enough to leave with some clients, and some active projects, it was painfully obvious I now had to put the marketing hat on if I was going to gr...
Video: Crashes Drop Measurably After Rural Road Safety Improvement Project on US 521 in Lancaster County
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June Issue 2026
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