A later session explored additional case studies in revolutionary sustainable solutions. Projects need not be massive to be influential. David Clarke, project manager with RW Armstrong & Associates, Inc., described his work to implement sustainable means of controlling water run-off at elementary schools. They utilized rain gardens to provide an effective and naturally beautiful solution. [...]

Tags: green roofs, infrastructure, Public–private partnership, Sustainability, urban agriculture

I woke up at 5:34 and immediately texted “ctabus 929” to 41411. Response: “North Avenue & Larrabee 72 to Harlem due & 19 MIN.” Just enough time to brush my teeth and run over the bus stop. 15 minutes later, I replied “R”. Great, the bus was still on time. I was glad I wouldn’t [...]

Tags: O'Hare International Airport, Public transport, Transportation and Logistics

ASCE is a very big tent.  It includes members from diverse industries including: Architectural Engineering; Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers; Construction; Environmental & Water Resources; Geotechnical Engineering; and Transportation and Development.  Each of these technical areas has been given a home within the ASCE umbrella in the form of a technical institute.  There are currently [...]

Tags: American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, construction institute, executive leadership forum

We took advantage of the Memorial Day weekend to take our first vacation with our four-month-old daughter – if you can really call any extended trip with an infant a vacation.  The logistics of traveling with a baby are challenging.  First, there’s the difficulty in packing the extra luggage, the diaper bag, the milk cooler, [...]

Tags: familly travel, vacation

Large end-of-year design projects are a mainstay of architecture and engineering curriculum.  It’s for good reason, in the real world you jump from project to project and usually juggle multiple projects at the same time.  As a teacher, it’s rewarding to check back in with students that I taught in their first semesters.  This year [...]

Tags: Chile, earthquake, final project

Last week Chicago suffered its greatest snowstorm since 1967.  High winds and thunder snow (no kidding) made the event seem apocalyptic.  The two day accumulation total was over 20”! At the height of the storm, my wife went into labor with our first child.  Fortunately, we had taken the precaution of getting a hotel room [...]

Tags: Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority, infrastructure, Lake Shore Drive