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NYSSPE Announces 2019 Award Recipients for Annual Conference

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Please join the New York State Society of Professional Engineers, Inc. in congratulating our 2019 Award Winners!

Meritorious Service Award: Irvine G. Reinig II, P.E.

Young Engineer of the Year:  Kaitlin E. Sajduk, P.E.

Contribution in Education: Aaron D. Straus

 

Meritorious Service Award: Irvine G. Reinig II, P.E.

 

Irvine G. Reinig II, PE has been a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of New York since 1974. He received both his Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Civil Engineering from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. While an undergrad, he received a WNY Construction Industry Employers Association Scholarship and was inducted into Chi Epsilon, a national civil engineering honor society. He also received a National Science Foundation Traineeship to pursue his graduate studies and as a graduate student he was elected to Sigma Xi, a scientific research honor society.

Throughout his 48 year career as a civil engineer he has made a number of important contributions to the commercial and environmental development of the Buffalo area. He began his career working for the NYSDOT and ran his own geotechnical instrumentation business for nine years. He has worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers , served as chief geotechnical engineer for Thomsen Associates/ Empire Soil Investigations, and was principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies Inc. After retiring he began teaching and currently works part time as an assistant professor at Erie Community College.

Throughout his career, Reinig published several technical papers, provided presentations to professional groups and clients, and has been involved with over 500 engineering projects in New York state ranging from investigation, analysis, design, and construction.

Reinig has been very active in professional organizations at both the national and regional levels throughout his career. He is a past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers Buffalo Section, and has chaired many of its committees. He is a past president of the Technical Societies Council of the Niagara Frontier. He is a member of the Erie/Niagara chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers and a past member of other professional societies.

Irvine has been involved in as well as led numerous volunteering initiatives aimed at promoting engineering to children and young adults. He conceived, developed, and ran “Engineering Expressions,” an educational outreach program for ASCE for 20 years. The program’s initiative is to introduce children, 10 to 12 years old to engineering principles through a series of “hands on” workshops. He also developed the “Engineering Opportunities” program and started an NSPE student chapter at ECC for engineering students.

Reinig has been awarded many prestigious honors throughout his career including the 2000 Engineer of the Year Award from the University at Buffalo, the Engineering Educator of the Year Award from the Erie Niagara Chapter of NYSSPE (an honor he has received twice), and many others.

Young Engineer of the Year: Kaitlin E. Sajduk, P.E.

Katlin Sajduk is a practicing structural engineer and associate at CityScape Engineering PLLC. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2008 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from Manhattan College. As an undergrad she was inducted into Tau Beta Pi Honor Society for Engineering, Chi Epsilon Honor Society for Civil Engineering, and Epsilon Sigma Pi, the college’s highest scholastic honor.

As one of the owners at CityScape Engineering, Katlin is involved in all aspects of operations, including hiring, staff management, staff training, marketing, billing, and client relations. As a structural engineer, she periodically visits construction sites to check on the progress of construction and resolve field conditions. With her experience in a great number of projects along with her knowledge in structural design, she can offer valuable criticisms and insights when working with field staff.

Sajduk currently holds her professional engineer’s license in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. She is also currently the chair of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers – P.E.s in Construction Group and was awarded the “Intern of the Year” by NYSSPE-PEC in 2010.

 

Contribution in Education: Aaron D. Straus

Aaron Straus is a National Science Foundation Researcher and Instructional Coach for Science and technology at Salamanca City School District. He earned his Bachelor of Science from SUNY College at Buffalo and STEM Teaching certificate at the American College of Education. Over the course of his career, Aaron taught numerous elementary and secondary courses in engineering, trades and instructional technology.

While serving at Salamanca, Aaron led a taskforce to design a STEM-wing modeled after a manufacturing firm. He introduced a college credit academy program in 3D modeling, industrial robotics, and biomedical technology. Aaron recently secured a $100K STEM grant to upstart the Slamanca Engineering Maker Initiative (SEMI), a design and prototyping pipeline program that directly advances the STEM fields as identified in NYS Department of Labor’s CALL TO ACTION, and finished a highly successful summer “STEAM” school.

Mr. Straus is a fellow at the University of Rochester and research office affiliate at the Pennsylvania State University. His innovative and creative methods of program development are engineered to improve the socioeconomic status of underprivileged youth through pipeline workforce initiatives.

Aaron is also takes part in a number or recurring professional development programs and activities, such as the New York state STEM Education Summer Institute, the ITEEA Conference, and the Dream it Do it Manufacturing Institute which provides teachers with hands on experiences with local manufacturing facilities and engineering firms.

Throughout his career as an educator Aaron has been awarded several prestigious honors such as the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Teacher Excellence Award, the Margaret Ashida STEM Leadership Award, the Designed Leaders Award, and the Albright Knox Museum Teaching Award.

The awards will be presented at the NYSSPE Annual Conference on June 7th at the Holiday Inn: 232 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
For more information, Click Here.

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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.

The New York State Society of Professional Engineers Awards New York City’s 5-Mile Belt Parkway Bridge Replacement Project as the 2019 Construction Project of the Year

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The New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) is proud to announce that the 5-Mile Belt Parkway Bridge Replacement & Reconstruction Project has been selected as the 2019 Construction Project of the Year.  The Award recipients include the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) as project owner; AECOM, Hardesty and Hanover, and HNTB as the project design firms; and Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI) and Thornton Tomasetti (Weidlinger) as Construction Managers and Resident Engineers.  Among others, the project’s general contractors CCA Civil, Inc., Halmar International, and Michels of the Mill Basin Bridge Constructors (MBBC) will be recognized.  The award will be given out at the NYSSPE Annual Installation & Awards Reception & Dinner which will be held on Thursday, June 7th, 2019 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center, 232 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.  The event is open to the public.  For more information about the Awards Reception and Dinner event, click here.

The 5 Mile Belt Parkway Reconstruction Project is about the reconstruction of a vital artery of a historic parkway, which spans over a 5-mile strip of environmentally sensitive coastland of New York City.  Located in a dense urban setting, the reconstruction project remained open for approximately 150,000 commuters per day, necessitating innovative design and work methods.    The project required diligent coordination of the work between the City and some of our nation’s most prominent engineering firms. The scope of the $780 million infrastructure project included: the reconstruction of five (5) unique bridges in critical need of repair originally built circa 1940; and the complete replacement of the connecting roadways, bike path, and ramps.  The complete surface landscaping and final tree planting of the project was being completed in late 2018.

The project’s owner, NYC DOT, employs dozens of professional engineers who provide design and supervision of critical infrastructure construction and maintenance work throughout the City.  The distinguished design professionals in charge at NYC DOT that contributed to the design and supervision of the project of the year included Mr. Robert Collyer, P.E., Deputy Commissioner and Chief Bridge Officer, David B. Dunn, P.E., Deputy Chief Engineer, Bridge Capital Design and Construction,  Anil Vyas, P.E., Deputy Chief Engineer, Mousa Nazif, P.E., Director, Roadway Bridges – Manhattan / Brooklyn Groups, and Daniel Hom, P.E., Engineer in Charge.

NYC DOT Division of Bridges is responsible for the design, construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction, maintenance, operation, and administration of the 784 bridges, 5 tunnels, and 53 culverts located citywide, that are under the jurisdiction of the agency.  Included in this inventory are the majority of the original 1940’s bridges of the Belt Parkway.  The Belt Parkway is the namesake for a series of connected highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The parkway was originally conceptualized in the 1930’s by the City’s Planning and Parks Commissioner, Robert Moses.

The replacement of the five (5) bridges in the project were packaged together in a single corridor-wide replacement program that brought the corridor into full compliance with current state and federal standards.  This included compliance with standard width of traffic lanes, requirements for safety shoulders and super-elevation of curbing roads and bridges, realignment of approaches to improve sight distances, and new concrete median barriers.

Paerdegat Basin Bridge.

The five (5) bridges in the reconstruction project span over four waterways and one roadway.  The design and replacement of the old Belt Parkway bridge over Paerdegat Basin was performed by NYC DOT – In House Design team, which opted for independent eastbound and westbound replacement bridge structures as shown in the captioned photo. The Eastbound bridge also carries a dedicated, 12 foot wide, barrier protected, bicycle and pedestrian path.  The joint venture by the design firms of GPI and AECOM (“CTE”) was selected to provide resident engineering and construction inspection services.  An innovative design feature of the Paerdegat Basin Bridges was the design of the two (2) bridge structures on a split alignment, which allowed the existing bridge to remain in service, while the new bridges were constructed “off-line”. [Read more…]

Proposed Suffolk County Charter Amendment by County Executive Steven Bellone Eliminating Professional Engineering Qualification

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As a result of our Memorandum in Opposition crafted by NYSSPE Legal Counsel, Mark Kriss, NYSSPE was invited to speak at the DPW Legislative Committee on May 6, 2019.   Representatives of the Long Island chapter, Tom Petracca, PE and Andrew Haimes, PE addressed the committee sharing the views of both the chapter and the state societies.  The following statement was read by Mr. Haimes.

I am Andrew S. Haimes, P.E. and I am one of the past presidents of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers and past president of the Society’s Suffolk Chapter. NYSSPE represents the interests of the 25,000 licensees in New York State.

As stated in our memo dated 4/3/19, the society is strongly opposed to resolution 1312 that would allow the appointment of a non-licensed person as DPW Commissioner.

It is clear from the DPW Mission Statement and the County Charter that the DPW Commissioner is responsible for the supervision, and has the ultimate responsibility, for all the engineering done by the County, and for the County by consultants.  By State Education Law, this supervision of engineering and responsibility for engineering must be provided by a Licensed Professional Engineer. 

It is unrealistic, and even absurd, to think that a DPW Commissioner could effectively pass all of that engineering supervision and responsibility to others in the department.

The legislative intent of the bill is stated to broaden the qualifications  for the consideration of potential candidates for DPW Commissioner.  What the bill actually accomplishes is to open the position to unqualified candidates.  There are approximately 25,000 licensed Professional Engineers in NYS.  Has the County reached out to them?  It may take a while, but I would think the County could find a licensed PE who can also handle the administrative duties required of a Commissioner.

As a result of our efforts, the motion to install a Non-PE in the role of DPW Commissioner has been tabled and the motion to amend the wording in the charter has also been tabled.

An article quoting Mr. Haimes has been published in Newsday Online.

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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.

 

 

NSPE Executive Director Update to the Board of Directors – April 2019

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Mark J. Golden, FASAE, CAE, Executive Director of NSPE highlights the following in the most recent Executive Director Update: April 2019
• NAE Convocation Addresses Diversity
• Upcoming Webinars
• 60 Years of Ethics Cases
• Technicians and the Engineering Team
• News from South Dakota

FULL REPORT linked here.
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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.

 

NSPE Executive Director Update to the Board of Directors – March 2019

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Mark J. Golden, FASAE, CAE, Executive Director of NSPE highlights the following in the most recent Executive Director Update:
• Responding to Antilicensure Legislation
• Remember When: Software Engineers
• ‘Snooping’ on Government Contractors
• Preventing Sexual Harassment
• FEYA Winner Sends Thanks

FULL REPORT linked here.
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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.

NYSSPE’s Jaclyn Peranteau, P.E. and Steven Fangmann, P.E. named Long Island Business News Top Engineer of 2019

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New York State Society of Professional Engineers and the Long Island Chapter of NYSSPE would like to Congratulate our own Jaclyn Peranteau, P.E. and Steven Fangmann, P.E. for being named Long Island Business News Top Engineer of 2019!

The 2019 book of lists is the essential business resource for Long Island’s top executives, demographic and economic data and local business profiles.  The book is the single most comprehensive business to business resource publication on long island.

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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.

NYSSPE Official Ballot for 2019-2021 Results

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The New York State Society of Professional Engineers is proud to announce the results of the Official Ballot for 2019-2021 The following members were duly elected and will be installed in June 2018 for their terms, which will begin in July of this year.

Central New York Region VP- Peter Lautensack, PE
Mid-Hudson Region VP- Andrew Yarmus, PE, F.NSPE
Long Island Region VP- David Macedonio PE

Officers already elected for two-year terms:
James Kuhn, PE, President – 2018-2020
Joseph Pasaturo, PE – President-Elect – 2018-2020 – President: 2020-2022
Andrew Yarmus, PE, F.NSPE – Treasurer – 2018-2020
John Sucharski, PE – Assistant Treasurer – 2018-2020 [Read more…]

NYSSPE Remembers Past President Marvin Spector, P.E.

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With sadness, The New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) recently learned of the passing of Marvin Specter, P.E. at the age of 91.   Mr. Specter joined NYSSPE in 1955, was President of the Westchester Chapter in 1968, NYSSPE State President in 1972, and NSPE National President in 1982.

Marvin grew up in Baltimore, MD where he graduated Baltimore Polytechnic Institute High School followed by the Johns Hopkins University and JHU-ROTC (Scabbard & Blade), where he earned a BE in Civil Engineering, then later a MSC from Columbia University. Starting first in the USMC, then continuing in USMCR and MD State and National Guards, Marvin’s professional career began working for HNTB, SSVK, USACE, and the MD State Roads Commission, and later in private practice as a Consulting Engineer in White Plains, NY until 2017. Marvin served as Founding President and later Executive Director of the NAFE and co-founder and President of CESB. Honors; Highest Honors; NSPE, AAES, ASCE

Marvin’s contributions to and his impact on the engineering profession and specifically forensic engineering were great and will be long lasting. Marvin’s family has requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Education Foundation, 1420 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.

 

Trenchless Underpinning: A Method to Underpin Foundations and Stabilize Soil Without Excavating.

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By the PEs in Construction Group

On Tuesday March 12th, 2019 there will be a presentation made for NYSSPE members on the topic of Trenchless Underpinning: A Method to Underpin Foundations and Stabilize Soil Without Excavating, using a chemical grout injection technique. The 1-PDH presentation will be made by Tony Alfano of Ground Works Solutions at the conference room of Brooker Engineering in Suffern, NY. For more information about the presentation and to RSVP, click here.

The presentation will provide a review the technical specifications of the URETEK chemical grout and its application on soil stabilization. The course will discuss the chemical reaction and the effect on temperature and pressure as it applied to various soil conditions. The chemical injection effectiveness and limitations will be discussed at various depths from 3 feet to 50 feet below grade. We will discuss our solution for the following applications:

  • Sub-terrain void fill and high rise underpinning.
  • Seawall, bulkhead, ground water and injectable barrier containment.
    culvert, spillway, and sewer and dam repair.
  • Soil stabilization for bridge approaches and rail ballast.
  • Slab lifting.

Legislative Update: Letter to Commissioner Fariello

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Please see the link below for a copy of a letter sent to Thomas Fariello, RA who has assumed the duties of Commissioner of NYC Department of Buildings following the decision by Rick Chandler, P.E. to step down.  We are awaiting a reply to our request for a meeting.  NYSSPE is hopeful that the meeting will lead to additional improvements at the DOB squarely focused upon the elimination of inordinate delays in the plan approval process.  Thanks to everyone who has helped with this initiative.  We will keep everyone apprised.

Letter from NYSSPE to Thomas Fariello, RA 

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Note: NYSSPE facilitates posting on this blog, but the views and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not the views or accounts of NYSSPE, its officers or directors whose views and accounts may or may not be similar or identical. NYSSPE, its officers and directors do not express any opinion regarding any product or service by virtue of reference to such product or service in this blog.