flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

ENGINEERING GIANTS: Firms continue to push innovation

ENGINEERING GIANTS: Firms continue to push innovation

Trends include 3D printing, modular hospitals, and fluid dampers.


By David Barista, Editorial Director | July 26, 2016

The LEED Platinum–registered Engineered Biosystems Building at Georgia Tech is packed with energy-saving features and technologies, including energy-recovery wheels, a two-stage runaround loop for vivarium systems, and chilled beams. On the Building Team: Lake|Flato Architects (design architect), Cooper Carry (AOR), Research Facilities Design (lab planner), Uzun & Case Engineers (SE), Newcomb & Boyd (MEP), Long Engineering (CE), and McCarthy Building Cos. (GC). Photo: Chris Cooper

As part of the Giants 300 survey process, a number of engineering and engineering/architecture firms reported innovations, market trends, and new business ventures. Here’s a roundup of what they reported:

Hankins and Anderson expanded its services with blast engineering. A recent project success involved a custom solution for analyzing and designing cold-formed roof trusses, which traditionally have not been viewed as capable of resisting blast loads. H&A also increased its capabilities in the early analysis of renewable energy systems and on-site energy storage to meet growing client demand for campus-level micro-grids for increased energy security.

ThermalTech Engineering doubled down on its controls business by expanding its programming capabilities and creating custom monitoring systems that allow its engineers to check on systems several thousand miles away, at little cost.

“We continue to strive to become controls specialists,” says Jeffrey Celuch, the firm’s President and CEO.

TOP 55 ENGINEERING FIRMS

2015 Revenue
1. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff $507,779,000
2. Fluor Corp. $234,170,000
3. Arup $170,601,562
4. Jensen Hughes $126,307,878
5. KJWW / TTG $121,000,000
6. Vanderweil Engineers $110,028,000
7. Syska Hennessy Group $99,432,587
8. Henderson Engineers $94,551,747
9. Simpson Gumpertz & Heger $83,125,000
10. Walter P Moore $72,264,662

SEE FULL LIST

 

TOP 35 ENGINEERING/
ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

2015 Revenue
1. AECOM $1,026,350,000
2. Jacobs $852,130,000
3. Thornton Tomasetti $213,548,965
4. Burns & McDonnell $200,748,166
5. Woolpert $115,400,057
6. SSOE Group $109,180,000
7. Affiliated Engineers $108,435,000
8. Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates $93,520,600
9. IPS $92,543,417
10. CRB $80,967,500

SEE FULL LIST

 

ENGINEERING GIANTS SPONSORED BY:

Thornton Tomasetti licensed a NASA-developed fluid structure coupling (FSC) device designed to reduce rocket vibrations, and is adapting it for buildings and bridges. The Fluid Harmonic Damper calibrates the way liquids and structures interact. It is less expensive and more effective than traditional tuned mass dampers, according to the firm.

Thornton Tomasetti and its newly acquired partner Weidlinger Associates launched a company, TTWiiN, focused on developing tools and techniques to solve engineering problems and improve processes. Six products were part of the initial launch. 

As part of its Vision 2025 business strategy program, Syska Hennessy is making a push to advance 3D printing technologies and methods for the building construction market. Its signature project is the recently completed Office of the Future project in Dubai. The firm collaborated with WinSun, Gensler, and Thornton Tomasetti on the pilot project for client Dubai Holding, which has a stated goal of 3D printing a quarter of the city’s buildings by 2030. Syska Hennessy is currently working on methods and design approaches for embedding MEP systems within the 3D printing process.

“We knew early on that 3D printing would be a game changer in the AEC space,” says Greg Jasmin, Principal and Co-managing Director for the Syska Hennessy Group MENA office in Dubai. “In a practical sense, it allows building in challenging environments to become easier and more cost effective.”

Jensen Hughes is working with engineers at Virginia Tech to develop technology for robotic firefighting. The innovations involve mapping and localization within indoor environments containing smoke, autonomous location of fires outside the field of view of the robot, and autonomous suppression of fires. The technologies are being developed for both ground and aerial vehicles. The firm also developed a software tool, called EndSight Software Suite, which utilizes new technology to solve complex site monitoring, compensatory, and impairments needs related to fire protection.

During the past year, Dewberry led an international team in the creation of a modular hospital prototype for developing countries. The World Standard Modular Hospital utilizes a proprietary panel product for the construction that can be executed by local laborers. The prototype is energy and water efficient and effective for use in locations where there is no infrastructure. It is scalable up to 500 beds and accommodates a range of spaces, including patient wards, surgery, emergency, and outpatient care.

KLH Engineers developed a custom, integrated software tool for processing submittals and RFIs. The application has helped the firm reduce the average turnaround time for RFIs and submittals by 60%. The tool also supports proactive management of dates, client requirements, project documentation, and lessons learned on projects.

 

Syska Hennessy worked with Gensler, Thornton Tomasetti, and 3D printing technology firm WinSun to design and manufacture the world’s first 3D-printed office building, in Dubai. The project, labeled Office of the Future, opened in May. Pictured: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Emir of Dubai. Photo: Ahmed Jadallah, Reuters.

 

P2S Engineering, SSOE Group, and Woolpert added 3D laser scanning services to streamline and improve the capture of existing conditions on renovation work. SSOE’s latest purchase is a short-range, handheld scanner that enables its project teams to capture discipline-specific components of a facility, such as MEP systems. Woolpert developed design workflows to “ingest” 3D scans from a number of technologies—stationary, van, drone, and aircraft-based scanning—into its designs. The firm collects its own thermal and hyperspectral imagery and lidar scans, and interprets them in software such as Revit, Civil3D, City Engine, and Infraworks 360 in an effort to speed and improve conceptual design for clients.

Magnusson Klemencic Associates launched a mentoring program, called Concept Design Master Class, focused on practice development and presentation of structural concepts based solely on conceptual architectural sketches and drawings. Open to all engineering levels, including beginners, the course introduces and explores design decisions commonly required by senior staff early in project development.

Wick Fisher White last year launched a thought leadership and content marketing program that involved producing an educational video series around the firm’s commissioning services. Known as qWICK Tips (www.wfweng.com/videos), the 45-second videos cover everything from the RFP process to functional test procedures for equipment and systems.

 

RETURN TO THE GIANTS 300 LANDING PAGE

Related Stories

| Mar 29, 2011

City's design, transit system can ease gas costs

Some cities in the U.S. are better positioned to deal with rising gas prices than others because of their design and transit systems, according to CEOs for Cities, a Chicago-based nonprofit that works to build stronger cities. The key factor: whether residents have to drive everywhere, or have other options.

| Mar 29, 2011

Chicago’s Willis Tower to become a vertical solar farm

Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) is set to become a massive solar electric plant with the installation of a pilot solar electric glass project.

| Mar 29, 2011

Read up on Amazon.com's new green HQ

Phase IV of Amazon’s new headquarters in Seattle is nearly complete. The company has built 10 of the 11 buildings planned for its new campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood, and is on-track for a 2013 grand opening.

| Mar 29, 2011

Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura wins Pritzker Architecture Prize

Portugese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, whose precisely-honed buildings reflect the influence of the late Chicago modernist Mies van der Rohe, is the 2011 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the field's highest honor.

| Mar 25, 2011

Qatar World Cup may feature carbon-fiber ‘clouds’

Engineers at Qatar University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering are busy developing what they believe could act as artificial “clouds,” man-made saucer-type structures suspended over a given soccer stadium, working to shield tens of thousands of spectators from suffocating summer temperatures that regularly top 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

| Mar 23, 2011

AIA adds 13 new contract documents to Documents-on-Demand service

Web-based solution adds 13 popular Architect’s Scope of Services Documents to AIA Documents-on-Demand, providing easy access to documents anytime, anywhere.

| Mar 23, 2011

After 60 years of student lobbying, new activity center opens at University of Texas

The new Student Activity Center at the University of Texas campus, Austin, is the result of almost 60 years of students lobbying for another dedicated social and cultural center on campus. The 149,000-sf facility is designed to serve as the "campus living room," and should earn a LEED Gold certification, a first for the campus.

| Mar 23, 2011

Architecture Billings Index shows nominal increase

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the February Architecture Billings Index score was 50.6, up slightly from a reading of 50.0 the previous month. This score reflects a modest increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 56.4, compared to a mark of 56.5 in December.

| Mar 22, 2011

The American National Standards Institute accredits Stantec for greenhouse gas verification

Stantec Consulting Ltd.’s Atmospheric Environment Group has been awarded accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for verification of assertions related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Scope of Accreditation is for verification of emissions and removals at the organizational level for Group 1 – General.

| Mar 22, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s

Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Healthcare Facilities

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021