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Engineers and designers from IMEG, a top 5 U.S. engineering firm, discuss innovative and trend-setting building and infrastructure design with architects, owners, and others in the AEC industry. Topics touch on all market sectors, engineering disciplines, and related services.
Episodes
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
UW Health bringing a proton center powered by the sun to Madison
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
This episode offers a preview of UW Health’s Eastpark Medical Center in Madison, WI. Expected to be fully open by Fall 2024, the seven-story outpatient facility will offer advanced imaging and lab services, destination services, multidisciplinary adult specialties, and women’s complex care. The center also will feature the state-of-the-art UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center, one of the few in the country to offer proton therapy and, in collaboration with Leo Cancer Care, the first healthcare facility in the U.S. to offer upright proton therapy.
Discussing the new center and proton therapy aspects of the project are Jerry McGuire and Steve Mumm, senior project managers for University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Planning Design and Construction, and Kevin Langan, an IMEG mechanical engineer working on the project. “Proton therapy is a relatively new cancer treatment,” says McGuire. “It’s an advanced form of radiation therapy using a precise dose of radiation that conforms to the tumor itself—reducing side effects and causing no damage to surrounding healthy tissues.” The new center will offer both a rotating gantry where a patient lies down on a couch with the machine rotating around them, and an upright fixed beam system in which the patient sits up. The upright system is being found to provide improved outcomes— offering greater comfort, reducing patient anxiety, and improved accuracy—and is particularly beneficial for pediatric patients.
The planning, design, and construction not only of the proton therapy spaces but also the infrastructure to support the technology was like no other healthcare project. “There were huge implications well beyond the proton therapy space—for example, the chiller plant gets larger, an additional electrical service was added, and larger generators,” said Langan. “It also required a lot of coordination with the proton therapy vendors to make sure we were providing what they needed.” To withstand the neutron dose rates of the treatment bay and contain the radiation, the proton therapy space also required 7-foot-thick concrete walls below grade. A temporary system to pump glycol through tubing within the poured concrete was required to keep the concrete from overheating and to cure appropriately.
Eastpark Medical Center is also seeking LEED v4.1 certification for healthcare and has several sustainable features, including a 1MW rooftop solar array which provides the approximate energy needed to power the proton center. “We basically will have a carbon-neutral proton center in Madison, Wisconsin,” says Mumm.
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Housing director: ‘We’re providing homes where people can thrive’
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Thursday Sep 28, 2023
Scott Campagna, Senior Director of Housing at IMEG, is featured in this episode—one in a series of conversations with the firm’s market leaders. Scott talks about the subsectors of IMEG’s housing work—neighborhoods, multifamily, student housing, and senior living—and the challenges and opportunities facing the market overall. “It's an interesting time,” he says. “There's a huge housing demand in all sectors but in the current environment, with the lending being pulled back, projects in all sectors generally are moving a bit slower.” Scott also discusses office-to-residential conversions, a trending topic in the market. He cautions that such pursuits always be preceded by an infrastructure assessment. “Certainly not every building is the same nor is it best suited necessarily for a housing conversion. You need to look at the systems infrastructure to ensure it will support the housing project. You don't want to be hit with any surprises after the fact or during construction.” On all projects in the market, Scott says the mentality at IMEG is to “Turn housing into homes. We understand we are drawing more than just lines on paper—we are providing a home where people can thrive and flourish within our communities.”
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Planning is essential for meeting education market challenges
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
In a continuing series of discussions with IMEG’s market leaders, this episode of The Future Built Smarter features John Holbert, vice president of education. John discusses the challenges facing the market, primarily those for higher education institutions, which face ever-increasing enrollment competition, changes in student demographics, limited resources, aging infrastructure, and difficulties with facility staff retention. Many higher education institutions, as well as K-12 school districts, also face challenges in meeting sustainability and environmental initiatives as well as the need to improve safety and security in their buildings and on their campuses. “Security has become a big topic, and we have started consulting on safety and security plans for campuses and districts,” he says. Such initiatives start with a vulnerability assessment and gap analysis, with planning and design including principles from Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, or CPTED. “We’re also seeing more referendums and funding opportunities for safety and security measures,” he adds. Before embarking on any building project, John emphasizes the importance of master planning to best prepare for the needs of the future. Such planning helps institutions meet their long-term goals and allocate funds and other resources accordingly—before it’s too late. “Across the landscape of education, we see a lot of deferred maintenance,” he says. “We're still going into 50-plus-year-old buildings that have original systems in them.”
Wednesday Sep 06, 2023
Keeping K-12 students safe demands a holistic security approach
Wednesday Sep 06, 2023
Wednesday Sep 06, 2023
Holistic security considerations for K-12 school design are examined in this 17-minute episode featuring Ryan Searles, IMEG’s security consulting group leader. Ryan spends an average of three weeks of each month traveling the country presenting at conferences or training organizations in crisis management, active shooter mitigation, and other security preparedness—with a growing number of school districts seeking his team’s services. “We keep seeing a rise in violence in the United States and more violent events occurring at places of education,” he says. “In K-12, particularly, it's really about what we can do to mitigate it from happening.” In addition to getting involved earlier in the design phase of new facilities, Ryan and his team are also conducting an increasing number of security assessments of existing schools, providing answers to such questions as, “What do we have in place? What are we doing right? Where are our gaps and where are our vulnerabilities? How do we fix those?” The most effective security design and emergency preparedness takes a blended, holistic approach, Ryan says, and includes not only physical and technology design aspects but also “the human aspect”—training, drills and rehearsals for staff and students, as well as proactive threat assessments of individuals and being vigilant about watching for early warning signs. “We've been a very reactive culture in the United States with school security and safety. We can't do that anymore—that's become very apparent and has a lot to do with my team being so busy. Schools are reaching out saying, ‘Come show us what we need to do to keep these kids safe.’ “
Ryan Searles will present "Security Considerations for School Design" at 8:15 a.m. Oct. 13 at the Association for Learning Environments' National Conference, LearningSCAPES 2023, in Chicago. Learn more.
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Water, water everywhere—with many improvements needed
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
This episode—another in a series of discussions with IMEG’s market leaders—features Jack Kusek, market leader for water and wastewater. Listen to the episode and you’ll learn:
- What PFAs are and what can be done about them
- Which U.S. city has the largest concentration of lead pipes
- Why security is a big concern for water and wastewater facilities, particularly in smaller communities
- How two communities collaborated to ensure their water resiliency
- Why outsourcing facility operations is a necessity for many small municipalities
- How IMEG has helped restore Frenchman’s Reef resort on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands following back-to-back hurricanes that devastated the property in 2017
Jack also discusses his motivation for the work he specializes in, and the reward he receives when he’s able to help a community improve its water infrastructure and water quality and provide for one of the fundamental needs of life.
“The fact that we can help people on St. Thomas and other communities so that they have new facilities, cleaner water to drink, and wastewater plants that aren't polluting the Top of Formstreams—just seeing how those improvements benefit people and how thankful they are, that’s motivation enough for me.”
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Industrial market challenges: Project pace, scramble for resources, ESG goals
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
This episode—part of a series of conversations with IMEG’s market leaders—features Kelly Altes, the firm’s industrial market leader. Kelly discusses the firm’s industrial teams’ areas of expertise— agriculture, aerospace, automotive, food and beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, and general manufacturing—as well as challenges facing industrial clients. These include the pace of project delivery, the lengthy process of capital expenditure decisions, and the push to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. She also talks about the difficulty of meeting and funding ESG and corporate sustainability goals and the importance of master planning to help clients achieve those goals over manageable periods time. “I'm actively talking with clients about the importance of master planning,” she says. “As with any big problem, you break it down into small chunks. So, we've worked with a number of clients on yearly capital expenditures that we can look at over a five-, 10-, 15-, or 20-year period to try to help them with that decarbonization process.”
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Used as a ‘copilot,’ AI can positively assist designers
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Note: In keeping with the topic of this episode—artificial intelligence—the following summary has been generated by ChatGPT using a transcription from the podcast.
In this podcast episode, host Joe Payne and co-host Mike Lawless discuss the topic of AI and its impact on the design profession. Their guest, Michael Kilkelly, is a registered architect and member of IMEG’s internal Technical Operations team. He shares insights on how AI is being used in the field of architecture and engineering.
They discuss the initial fears and concerns architects and engineers may have about AI taking over their jobs. However, as people start using AI tools like ChatGPT, they realize the practical applications and usefulness of these technologies. Michael highlights that while there may be some unfounded fears, there is also a recognition of the skill involved in effectively utilizing AI.
The conversation dives into various areas where AI can enhance the design process. Michael mentions generative design tools like TestFit and ARK that help architects create optimal building layouts based on specific parameters. They also discuss the potential of AI in aiding visualization during client meetings, where AI tools can generate images based on spoken text, allowing clients to better understand and react to design concepts.
The hosts explore the benefits of AI in terms of efficiency and productivity, as well as the potential for AI to assist with data analysis and historical data access. They emphasize the concept of "augmented intelligence" and the idea that AI tools can enhance human capabilities rather than replace them entirely. Michael introduces the concept of "prompt engineering" as the art of extracting useful information from AI systems, while maintaining contextual control to avoid generating false or fabricated data.
Looking toward the future, the discussion touches on the possibility of personalized AI assistants or virtual copilots that can work alongside professionals, providing support and leveraging collective experience. They also anticipate advancements in querying databases with AI, allowing users to ask complex questions and receive accurate answers, leading to more informed decision-making.
For related information, read Michael Kilkelly’s article, “AI and architecture and engineering: Programmed for success,” published by Smart Buildings Technology.
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Bridge market update: Many projects, higher construction costs
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
In a continuing series of conversations with IMEG’s market leaders, this episode of The Future Built Smarter features Bridge Market Leader Steve Myer. Steve discusses his background, the types of services that IMEG’s bridge engineering team provides, challenges facing the market, and often-heard questions from clients. “The common questions from our clients include how to extend the life of their bridges,” he says. “They also often ask for rough cost estimates for their bridges and what they can do to make their money go further. We provide quite a few estimates, either for rehabilitation of existing bridges or for replacing bridges.” Steve adds that over the past five years he and other engineers “have been going at a really fast pace and have designed many bridge projects—to the point that now one of the biggest challenges facing clients is there so many projects out there, the competitive bid process is somewhat going away because contractors can just go after the projects they want.” As for the future, Steve says, “I really don't see a slowdown coming in the bridge market. Hopefully it stabilizes a little bit and construction prices stop doubling every five years.”
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Transportation market update: Infrastructure bill projects ramp up
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
In a continuing series of conversations with IMEG market leaders and directors, Corey Stout discusses the transportation market with host Joe Payne. Corey touches on several topics, including the effects to date of the federal government’s massive infrastructure funding made available in late 2021.
“Aside from repair and maintenance work, most of the projects have been in the planning stages and we’re seeing these projects go out for bid, two years later,” he says. Labor shortages have added to the slow-down of the process. “The state agencies have to assign the contracts and they're short-staffed; consultants have to do their work and they're short-staffed; and then the contractors have to get their work done and they’re short-staffed. But it’s coming around and we’re starting to see more and more construction going on everywhere.”
Corey also talks about the importance of public engagement, the effectiveness of holding virtual community meetings, and the technology now being used to help motorists and pedestrians visualize and understand infrastructure projects. In one such project, IMEG created a 3D rendering and flyover video showing a combine easily moving through a proposed rural roundabout. This allayed farmers’ concerns by allowing them to “see that the intersection was going to function just fine with something as big as a combine going through it.” (Learn more.)
As for the future, Corey says to expect more electric vehicle charging stations popping up along the highways, and, someday, the rise of drones as a means of personal conveyance and commerce. “I don't know what that's going to do to the infrastructure, but it’ll be kind of exciting to see how it’s going to go.”
Tuesday May 23, 2023
Innovation ends the game of ‘Frogger’ at site assessments
Tuesday May 23, 2023
Tuesday May 23, 2023
This episode examines an innovative and integrated application of reality capture technologies that has been developed by IMEG to improve exterior lighting and security site assessments. Explaining the components, applications, and benefits of the ALL (Accurately Locating Light) Meter are guests Eric Vallejo, Director of Reality Capture and Geospatial Solutions, Ryan Searles, Security Consulting Group Leader, and Shanna Olson, Architectural Lighting Team Leader. The ALL Meter combines an illuminance meter, 3D camera, GIS, and drone photography to gather more accurate and robust data in a vastly more efficient and safer manner compared to conventional site assessments. “The traditional methodology for lighting assessments is to go out on site, obviously after dark, and about every five feet or so get down on the ground with a light meter,” says Olson. “You're also looking at other things, making observations, and taking photos as it gets later and later into the evening. At a particularly large job site recently it ended up becoming a little bit like Frogger in that we were repeatedly bending down, getting up, and moving around as cars and semi-trucks drove past us.” In addition to allowing the gatherer to remain standing, stay out of harm’s way, and quickly collect more and better data to inform the design phase, the night drone photography enables stakeholders to visualize areas of poor visibility, lack of uniformity in lighting, and gaps in security. “You can see immediately where something's dark or well illuminated,” says Olson. “Owners can see and feel how it is to be in that space at night.”