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Volume XVII, Number 11, July 2008
 Michael T. Hermesmeyer, PE It has been my pleasure to serve as President of the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers [FICE aka the American Consulting Engineers Council of Florida; National Society of Professional Engineers in Private Practice]. We are the voice of engineers engaged in private practice in Florida. The entire FICE organization—our staff, Board of Directors, committees and member firms—subscribe to our mission of representing and promoting the business of engineering, the environment in which engineering is conducted and the image of engineers in private practice. We also encourage engineers to be active participants in their communities, giving back to the places where they live. I am pleased to state that FICE is extremely vibrant and healthy with a strong financial base. I wish to thank all of the leaders and board members preceding me who laid the foundation and defined the culture of the organization, making my job as President relatively easy. I am also confident this same situation will continue with future boards.
FES/FICE Now Accepting Applications for 2009 Florida Engineering Leadership Institute Is anyone from your firm taking the Civil PE Exam in October? Tell them about the Civil PE Review Course sponsored by the Florida Engineering Society with aguarantee for a passing grade. FICE has teamed with the International Institute of Learning (IIL) to offer members the Project Management Certificate Program at a significantly reduced fee. SASHTO 2008 (SASHTO.org) on August 8-13 in Orlando promises to be the best one ever. With an estimated 1,100 attendees from the southeast United States, sign up TODAY to be part of this unique opportunity that only comes to Florida once every 13 years.
Message from Joe McMahon, PE, ACEC PAC Chair As a member of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and ACEC/FL, and a key principal for your firm in Florida, you play a crucial role in ensuring ACECs success in all aspects of the engineering industry—especially in advancing our industry’s legislative initiatives. A strong political action committee is essential to maintaining our legislative strength in Washington and we are asking for your support of the ACEC/PAC.
ACEC/PAC Fall Conference Sweepstakes
AVCON Inc. was selected by the Florida Department of Transportation District Five to provide project management and highway design services on the SR 600/US RT 92 project in Volusia County; by the Board of County Commissioners of Pinellas County to provide professional engineering services to implement the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport’s (PIE) Capital Improvement Program (CIP) of multidisciplinary engineering projects relating to Enviromental Assessment/Architectural/Engineering/Construction Management and Land Development Professional Services (James A. Kriss, PE, a senior principal, has been assigned as AVCON’s Project Manager for this assignment). Recent project awards for Geotechnical and Environmental Consultants Orlando include Lake County CR 561 corridor study, CEI laboratory testing support for Osceola County’s Osceola Parkway/John Young Parkway Interchange, Poinciana Boulevard Phase 1 and Osceola Parkway Phase 1. GEC will also be providing geotechnical engineering for the City of Orlando Citrus Bowl expansion. Nodarse & Associates Inc. was recently awarded the Materials and Soils Testing Contract with the City of Cocoa. The contract consists of serving as the City’s general materials and soils testing consultant for its capital projects and providing services on an as-needed basis for other utility and public works projects. The contract duration is for five years, with three optional two-year renewals. In addition to this contract, N&A holds numerous continuing contracts with schools boards, municipalities, and counties, including the Canaveral Port Authority, the City of Orlando, Orange County Public Works, Orange County Utilities, City of Daytona Beach Public Works Department, Volusia County Public Schools, Orange County Public Schools, Volusia County Public Works, Polk County, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Seminole County Public Works, and Osceola County. Wantman Group Inc, is pleased to announce they were selected by Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) to provide professional services for the design of a ramp bridge replacement at the PGA Boulevard interchange with the Turnpike Mainline (SR-91) in Palm Beach County. The bridge is being replaced due to substandard vertical clearance and inability to span SR-91’s planned 8-lane widening.
Gary D. Huttmann, AICP has joined Burgess & Niple as Director of Transportation Planning in the firm’s Orlando office.
Nodarse & Associates Inc. is pleased to announce that Hugo E. Soto, PE (shown left ro right) has joined our team as Principal Geotechnical Engineer Howard M. “Budd” Post, one of the founders of the engineering, science, and architecture consulting company, Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan Inc. (PBS&J), has died. For more information>> RWA Inc. is pleased to announce the certification of its Human Resources Manager, Kurt Englund, as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR). Stanley Consultants’ ranking advanced across the board in Engineering News Record magazine’s Top 500 Design Firms issue. ENR is the leading trade publication that delivers business and technical news in the construction industry. It annually ranks engineering, architectural and environmental firms according to revenue earned for design services performed the previous year. The ranking gives a relative indication of the size of the firms. According to ENR, Stanley Consultants is ranked: 57th in Top 500 Design Firms (ranked 64th in 2007); 20th in Top 20 Power (ranked 21st in 2007); 33rd in Top 100 Pure Designers (34th in 2007); and 31st in Top 50 Designers – International (39th in 2007). The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) announced today that Beaches of South Walton and Destin’s beach restoration project was named one of the 2008 Best Restored Beach Award recipients. Taylor Engineering, based in Jacksonville, designed the award-winning beach restoration project.
TKW Consulting Engineers Inc. would like to congratulate John Allard who has passed the Civil Principals and Practice of Engineering Exam in June 2008. Since joining TKW, Mr. Allard’s extensive project management expertise has brought the firm to an even higher level of engineering professionalism. The Florida Engineering Society Calusa Chapter will present the 2007-08 FES Technical Achievement Award to Bob Burbrink, PE of TKW Consulting Engineers.
Kevin Ryan, IMSA III joined VANUS Inc. in Tampa as a Senior ITS Inspector and brings more than 20 years of experience in the traffic engineering field. Wade Trim is pleased to announced today that it has opened a new Fort Myers office to provide consulting services to clients throughout Florida’s Southwest region. The new office, located in the Key West Professional Centre at 1342 Colonial Boulevard, will allow Wade Trim to better serve a growing customer base in Charlotte, Collier and Lee Counties. The Fort Myers office broadens Wade Trim’s Florida geographic footprint, which already includes offices in Daytona, Key Largo, Tampa, Palm Bay and Palm Coast. Laurie Swanson, PE will lead Wade Trim’s new office, and the company will be hiring staff over the next several months in preparation for continued market growth. Woolpert Inc. recently selected additional employees to join as shareholders of the privately held firm, raising its total number of shareholders to 147. Woolpert transitioned from a privately held partnership to a privately held corporation in 2005. Locally in Woolpert’s Miami office, Tom Murphy was promoted to senior associate. As a new shareholder, Betty Hermida will assume the title of associate. Additionally, new shareholders who will assume the title of associate throughout Woolpert’s offices nationwide include: John Albers, Will Ballard, Bob Brooks, Jason Combs, PE, Tracy Coughlin, PE, Jamie Dobrozsi, Scott Emmelkamp, Trevor Gauron, PE, Rachel Headings, Kevin Hoffman, Justin Hug, Doug Joos, Dan Kuester, PE, Mike Raubenolt, PE, Joe Seppi, Matt Sink, PE, Dylan Thomas, Bill Tongay, Brenda Wilder, Qian Xiao and Wayne Yingling. Additional shareholders who will assume the title of senior associate include: Denise Breunig, Bryan Dickerson, Jon Downey, Tom Haas, Darius Hensley, Layton Hobbs, Brian Jansen, Jeremy Jobe, Mark Kollitz, PE, Cliff Lovin, Tom Mackie, Eric MacDonald, Greg Monnig, Andrew Pack, Kevin Pierce, Mike Shepard and Nancy Stocker. Further, Mike Avellano, PE, Bill Dougherty and Dave Dillow, PE have advanced to vice president. Bob Brinkman, Mike Stanoikovich and John Przybyla, PE were promoted to senior vice president.
NOVA Group Services LLC and CAPRI Engineering LLC are pleased to announce their merger. Woolpert Inc. recently announced the acquisition of TEK Science, a storm water specialty firm, located in Orlando.
For full details and registration
information, please check the web at www.fleng.org | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
AVCON is pleased to welcome Ronald A. Hearst, PE (shown) as a Senior Project Manager supporting the firm’s activities in aviation and transportation planning and design from AVCON’s corporate headquarters in Orlando. They are also pleased to welcome Darcy Chaney and Gilbert Ortiz Jr. 
At the annual Ridge Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society and American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) awards banquet held on Thursday, May 1, 2008, Robert A. D’Aiello, PE, (shown right) Florida Engineering and Design Inc, was honored as the Ridge Branch – 2008 Engineer of the Year.
Gregory Parsons, PE, (shown left) has joined HNTB Corporation as Senior Project Manager for the firm’s Jacksonville office. Parsons is the inventor of the parallel flow intersection and holds the U.S. patent for this innovative high-capacity traffic intersection.
Keith and Schnars is pleased to announce that Robert Bullinger (shown right) was recently named Young Engineer of the Year and their Griffin Road Stormwater Treatment and Improvement Project was named Project of the Year by the ASCE Ridge Chapter.
and Vice President; Craig Anstett, PE has been promoted to Area Manager; Brett Harbison, EI has joined as a geotechnical engineer; and Cindy Cox has joined their Tampa office Business Development Manager.
TBE Group is pleased to announce that Gwen MacArtan, SPHR has been promoted to assistant vice president of human resources; David O’Connor, PE, has been promoted to assistant director; and Christopher Proulx has been promoted to director. TBE currently ranks, #5 on Trenchless Technology’s Top 50 Design Firms (2007), #176 on Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) List of Top 500 Design Firms (2008), #5 and #6 respectively on the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s lists of top engineering firms (2007) and top environmental engineering firms (2006). TBE has received numerous industry and civic awards, including the 2004 Large Business of the Year Award from the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers (FICE) 2005 Grand Award for its Clearwater Northwest Fire Station brownfields redevelopment project. TBE is headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and has more than 40 offices throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China and Puerto Rico. 
The new Baker Center Early Childhood Center has become the first public school building in Florida to achieve U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification. The LEED green building rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. Baker Center is home to Charlotte County’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The center’s green design includes high efficiency chillers and air handlers, low-flow toilets, motion-activated lights, tinted windows, and indirect lighting. Ceiling and vinyl floor tiles, carpeting, and the filters used for heating, ventilation and air conditioning are all made of recyclable and renewable products. TLC Engineering for Architecture teamed with Parker/Mudgett/Smith Architects of Ft. Myers and provided structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, communications, and technology design, LEED administration and commissioning services. The original Baker Center, home to Charlotte County's Head Start and Early Head Start programs, was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004. The Orlando, FL-based TLC Engineering for Architecture has a staff of more than 400 and regional offices in Cocoa, Deerfield Beach, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Tallahassee, Nashville and Dallas.
