Wight & Company, which is involved in architecture, engineering and construction solutions for the built environment, has expanded its team with the addition of three professionals, including:
- Thomas Williams, PE, AVS brings more than 30 years of experience in transportation to his new role as senior project manager at Wight. He has worked on a wide variety of projects during the course of his career for a number of high-profile organizations, including the CTA, METRA, Utah Transit Authority, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the City of Orlando, among others. Williams’ experience includes facilitation of value engineering studies for highway and transit projects, feasibility studies, interchange planning and design, and preparation of environmental documents. He is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, Project Management Institute, and Society of American Value Engineers/SAVE International. Williams holds a Bachelor’s of Science in civil engineering from Cornell University.
- Christine Dumich joins Wight’s interiors team as a senior interior designer. She is a LEED AP-CI with international experience, having worked on projects in both China and the United Arab Emirates. Before joining Wight, Dumich was an associate at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, LLP where she focused on corporate, institutional and government projects ranging from 5,000 to three million square feet. Earlier in her career, she held positions at Powell/Kleinschmidt, Leo A Daly Co. and Hobart Heron Architects. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in architecture from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in architecture from the University of California-Los Angeles.
- Jason Perez brings 10 years of experience as a project engineer and manager to his new role at Wight. He will be working with Wight’s UNO team on the construction of the new UNO Soccer Academy located at 5050 S. Homan in Chicago. Perez has extensive knowledge of K-12, high-rise and tenant build-out projects. He comes to Wight from Turner Construction Company, where he served in a number of roles, including project manager, project engineer and engineer/superintendent, on a wide variety of construction projects in Illinois and Toronto. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelor’s of Science in electrical engineering. +
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Study explains the financial value of green commercial buildings
Green building may be booming, especially in the Northwest, but the claims made for high-performance buildings have been slow to gain traction in the financial community. Appraisers, lenders, investors and brokers have found it difficult to confirm the value of high-performance green features and related savings. A new study of office buildings identifies how high-performance green features and systems can increase the value of commercial buildings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA
After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index drops to lowest level since June
Another stall in the recovery for the construction industry as the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped to its lowest level since June. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the August ABI rating was 41.7, down slightly from 43.1 in July. This score indicates a decline in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).
| Aug 11, 2010
RTKL names Lance Josal president and CEO
Lance K. Josal FAIA has been named President and CEO of RTKL Associates Inc., the international planning, design and engineering firm. Josal succeeds RTKL’s current President and CEO, David C. Hudson AIA, who is retiring from the firm. The changes will take effect on 1 September 2009.
| Aug 11, 2010
Balfour Beatty agrees to acquire Parsons Brinckerhoff for $626 million
Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction, investment and services group, has agreed to acquire Parsons Brinckerhoff for $626 million. Balfour Beatty executives believe the merger will be a major step forward in accomplishing a number of Balfour Beatty’s objectives, including establishing a global professional services business of scale, creating a leading position in U.S. civil infrastructure, particularly in the transportation sector, and enhancing its global reach.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction unemployment rises to 17.1% as another 64,000 construction workers are laid off in September
The national unemployment rate for the construction industry rose to 17.1 percent as another 64,000 construction workers lost their jobs in September, according to an analysis of new employment data released today. With 80 percent of layoffs occurring in nonresidential construction, Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said the decline in nonresidential construction has eclipsed housing’s problems.
| Aug 11, 2010
Billings at U.S. architecture firms exceeds $40 billion annually
In the three-year period leading up to the current recession, gross billings at U.S. architecture firms increased nearly $16 billion from 2005 and totaled $44.3 billion in 2008. This equates to 54 percent growth over the three-year period with annual growth of about 16 percent. These findings are from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Business of Architecture: AIA Survey Report on Firm Characteristics.
| Aug 11, 2010
CHPS debuts high-performance building products database
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) made a new tool available to product manufacturers to help customers identify building products that contribute to sustainable, healthy, built environments. The tool is an online, searchable database where manufacturers can list products that have met certain environmental or health standards ranging from recycled content to materials that contribute to improved indoor air quality.
