Engineering Influence from ACEC

A Conversation with Autodesk at the Moving America Forward Forum in Las Vegas

Engineering Influence sat down with David Ohrenstein and Theo Angelopolous from Autodesk at the Moving America Forward presidential forum on infrastructure in Las Vegas.
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence on the road - we are coming to you from Las Vegas right before the first ever, single issue focused presidential candidate forum on infrastructure being put together by United for Infrastructure and also hosted by some of our corporate friends, including Autodesk who I'm joined with today. I'm joined by David Ohrenstein, Director of government affairs and Theo Angelopolous. He is the Senior Director of Infrastructure Programs. I'm very, very pleased to have you join us today. Autodesk is something, the services that you provide, the digital technology, is something that our industry uses on a daily basis. I want to get your thoughts on why this forum is important, number one. And number two, from your position in the marketplace, what do you want our elected leaders to do? What could Congress do? What should the industry do to really move forward on the integration of digital technologies with engineering and the construction and design of infrastructure?
David: Sure. I'll start - I'm David Ohrenstein. First of all, we're really excited to be at this event and we think it's great that this is a big national conversation going on about how to have ambitious plans to build out America's infrastructure as a, as a technology provider to companies that design and construct infrastructure. We know the big challenge that the country faces in meeting its infrastructure needs and we think that technology can play a key role in meeting those needs. We work with big firms, with small firms, some are more advanced in the use of technology. Others have a way to go. And we think that any big infrastructure proposal by the candidates, by the administration, by Congress, all of them ought to have incentives to improve this use of technology.
Host: And Theo, from your perspective as a senior director in infrastructure what's your take?
Theo: Yeah. So I mean, I think, you know we all talk about the trillion dollar global infrastructure gap and we talk about the aging infrastructure in the U.S.. What's interesting is when you look at that gap, world economic forum is projecting that gap to get bigger every year for the next 20 years. And more than half that gaps actually in the U S and primarily in roads and highways. So, you know, I think we know that we have to do more, you know, better with less. And I think there's a couple of things we'd like to see happen. One is obviously we want to see the faster adoption of digital technology in design and construction. And then, you know, like David said, we'd like to see the government be more progressive and incentivizing, you know, their supply chain to go digital. And I think if you look at governments like the UK and governments in the Nordics, they've done that. So I think it's a really good opportunity for the U.S. to really go faster and, and be a leader in the area of digital technology for infrastructure.
Host: And before we went on you mentioned the fact that there's been a greater adoption of digital technologies in countries in Western Europe and are there any good examples? I mean, is there any one country, I mean, you mentioned a couple, but anyone who has really done it well, that could actually be a good I don't know - example for the U S for policymakers to follow in the way that they embrace digital technologies with infrastructure projects?
Theo: I mean, the one that really stands out for us is really the UK. I mean the UK has basically, you know, mandated that all projects over a certain threshold are delivered in building information modeling and they've actually adopted certain compliance and regulatory requirements on those projects. So I think, you know, I think there's definitely the standout right now. David, I don't know if you have anything to add.
David: Yeah, the UK is, in addition to having these policies, they have a real, like national construction strategy. So they really see this as a key industry to support both. In building in within the country, but also as you know, as an industry that can, they can export these services around the world. So they have, they're a great example of having a comprehensive national construction strategy.
Host: And David, from your perspective in government affairs, I'm a former T&I staffer. I kind of know that there's some, not everyone is current on exactly all the technologies that are out there, especially when it comes to infrastructure design. There may be a habit of looking backwards instead of forward. How should, Members of Congress, what would you, what would you advise T&I members for example, to do, to become more knowledgeable and more open to the idea of, you know you have, you've got digital twins, you've got all these different technologies that are out there to, to learn more about them and take advantage of them?
David: Well, you know, the, the past surface transportation bills have had some incentives for using digital modeling,
Host: Minor minor technology titles in the bills.
David: And the current Senate EPW bill that also a technology section to it. So we think those sections ought to be a robust part of any package. And not just around the design but also using digital technologies and construction. That's going to be a key, key piece of it. So you know, we want, we want the overall plans to be ambitious, but one of the things we're focusing on is making sure that the technology piece of these plans is robust. And as I mentioned you know, things like autonomous vehicles and broadband, smart cities, those are all important and those get a lot of attention. But also using more technology and how you design and construct infrastructure. I think that has sometimes not been as you know, upfront as part of the conversation we'd like to, for policymakers to be thinking about that too.
Host: And then finally, for the forum in general we're going to have a couple of presidential candidates come up and talk about infrastructure. What do you hope to hear, what would make your day from any of the candidates today? You know, on the issue.
David: They all have ambitious plans and we think that's great. What we'd like to hear is a little bit more detail, again about technology, how technology can play a bigger role. Because if we're going meet as, as Theo was saying, if we're going to try to build more infrastructure, built better infrastructure with, you know limited resources, then technology is key to that. And we'd like to hear them get a little bit more granular about about how to promote technology as a key part of these proposals.
Theo: No, I mean, I agree. I think the devil's in the details always of course. But I think, you know, for me what I would like to hear is definitely the how, you know, I think we all can align on both sides of the aisle around the value of investing in infrastructure. And really the challenge is how do we do it? And that for me, that's kind of the key takeaway that I'd like to understand from each of the candidates.
Host: Hopefully we hear that and we've got a long time until November. But our members - the engineering industry is going to be very interested throughout. So hopefully it's a good forum and, and, and successful one. And I really appreciate you both coming on our podcast. You have an open invitation anytime you want to when anything comes up, our members of course are very interested in the services and products that Autodesk provides the industry. So if you have news or information, please consider us as a, as a place to come. And I want to thank you both for being on the show.
Theo: Great. Thank you. Thanks for having us.
 

Digital Twins: What Every Engineering Firm Needs To Know

Engineering Influence welcomes Adam Klatzkin, who is vice president, business development - iTwin Services at Bentley Systems, to talk about digital twin technology and its accelerating impact on the engineering industry.Host: Hi, this is Gerry Donohue with ACEC with another episode of the Engineering Influence podcast. One of the most exciting technological developments in the A/E/C space in recent years has been the digital twin and Bentley Systems is a leader in this field. To learn more about it, we're talking today with Adam Klatzkin who is Bentley’s Vice President, Business Development - iTwin Services. His team is responsible for the firm's digital twin cloud services for enterprise infrastructure engineering. Welcome, Mr. Klatzkin. How are you?
Adam Klatzkin: Great, thanks for having me, Gerry. I'm excited to be here today and to talk to you about digital twins.
Host:Great. So, so to give me and the listeners a firm foundation into what we're talking about, what exactly is a digital twin?
Adam Klatzkin: So to try to very simply describe it as a digital asset that you can trust represents a physical asset as it exists today. And typically they are joined together and kept in sync. So you can leverage the digital twin to understand what's happening with the real-world assets in real-time; to have visibility into the real-world asset without having to leave an office; to collaborate easier around it and more effectively with distributed teams or stakeholders; and ultimately to make more informed decisions that lead to better performance. It might be a better project performance if you're designing or constructing the asset. It might be better operational performance if the asset already exists. But that, that's the end goal and the value to come out of it. I'll also mention that of course as a twin that relationship is in and should be symbiotic between the digital and physical assets.
Adam Klatzkin: You can imagine this continuous feedback loop of sorts. The analysis and insights that happen within the digital twin become actions and interventions that feedback to the physical asset and result in outcomes or changes the feedback to the digital twin. And that cycle just continues. And there are lessons to be learned in mind and the impacts of decisions that are made along the way can be digitally captured. So ultimately an organization that leverages digital twins is not only going to reduce costs and risks for a single asset, but that digital transformation can allow them to optimize performance across an entire portfolio and future projects as well based on the lessons that have been learned.
Host: Well, that's, that's quite comprehensive. To take it down to just a single project, for example, a bridge, how would an engineering firm use a digital twin in the design and construction of a bridge?
Adam Klatzkin: So that's it's a great question, but to answer it honestly, I'd like to start with kind of the ugly truth and challenge some of the ugly truths and challenges of an infrastructure digital twin for any type of engineering project--a bridge being one--to better understand what you would need and how you would work with it. So the concept of digital twins isn't new. It has been used in manufacturing for years, but why haven't they really been adopted in infrastructure? One ugly truth is the data. Engineering projects tend to have massive amounts of data. We've seen bridge projects that have multiple design tools in play by trade or discipline. There are modeling tools, geotechnical, structural, beyond just the design tools. There's are tools for and data for analytics and simulations, scheduling, resource management. The list goes on.
Adam Klatzkin: All of that data is siloed. It's all typically understood by a single application or expert users and not available in other contexts. Even worse, engineering projects have tons of change in them and that change is relentless. It's the nature of an engineering project. If there wasn't change happening, then the project isn't progressing. So that's one ugly truth. The data is a mess. The second is, no one vendor could ever provide a digital twin that was locked into their ecosystem. If we consider that bridge example and I said there are many different tools in play, we've seen many projects that use a combination of Bentley products and our competitors. There may be AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley OpenRoads, Bentley OpenBridge Designer. All may be used on the same project and others as well.
Adam Klatzkin: So even get started with it a digital twin or even get started a digital print platform is needed to address those ugly truths. And that platform needs to be able to align and federate data together with all this data coming from those many different vendors. And the platform can't just handle the relentless change but it has to leverage it to provide better change management and insights based on the impacts of changes that are occurring. So Bentley has introduced a platform that addresses these challenges, iModel.js. That's our foundational development platform and iTwin services, which is our commercial offering built on the platform. And our philosophy around this is openness, open in every regard, open to any tool by any vendor, any repository where data may reside. And we've even open-sourced the platform itself.
Adam Klatzkin: So to come back to that example of the bridge digital twin platform, addressing those challenges and context to a bridge. You would consider that they'd be very early on in planning. The most important thing to understand for the engineering team through the twin would be the physical location, the site where that bridge is going to be designed, engineered, ultimately constructed. So reality capture could be used via drones to establish a 3D-mesh. That's one example. There are other ways to get reality data too. That could be combined together with map data, terrain data, and all brought together in the context of a digital twin that is the basis and leveraged for planning. This gives anyone at any location access to the true site conditions. Those drones can be flown as often as necessary to keep that digital twin. That's just a reality model right now, continuously surveyed and synchronized. And now as design and engineering progresses, the files that are created from design tools today, they'll likely reside in a connected data environment like ProjectWise, Bentley’s offering there.
Adam Klatzkin: And connections are established between the digital twin and the files in the connected data environment, the design files, through things that we happen to call bridges, an overloaded term in this context, but they are also the bridges that bridge data from the connected data environment into the twin. They understand the native formats that are in play in all those silos. They detect changes as those changes occur. They make those changes available in the digital twin and they align all of that disparate data together into a single digital representation of that physical bridge that you're engineering. And as these changes come into the twin, because as I said relentless change, as they come into the twin, the twin itself can validate the trustworthiness of that data through data quality services. And this is all automated, validated against codes and standards and whatever other rules the engineering team might want to dream up as well.
Adam Klatzkin: Immediately the engineering team can start recognizing the benefits through workflows such as integrated coordination and design reviews where they've got all of the richness of not just having the mirror of what they're designing against the physical reality, but understanding what has changed across all this disparate data that's been aligned together. What changed? When did it change? Why? Where? They can do clash detection against that continuously up-to-date twin and they can do issue resolution. So you get all those benefits in easy web-based accessibility without requiring any installed software. They can make it available to clients for communication to the public stakeholders or whoever else may need access as well.
Adam Klatzkin: And then they can start to introduce connections to other systems and information, like for instance, maybe there's a risk register or database in play, hazards and such, that they can connect that information into the digital twin and have it for visual sharing and, and recognition. They can run simulations against the digital twin. They can run insights and analytics to understand, "Okay, with these changes that occurred over the last period of time since our last coordinated design review, what's the impact of those changes on our costs, on our schedule, on risks," and have those dashboards recognized through the twin. But most importantly, as they go through this entire process, it's not intended to be disruptive. Those engineers and designers are still using the tools and the systems that they use today, they get the added benefit of the twin at being complementary to those systems where everything's being brought together for those integrated workflows.
Host: And just so I understand, right? So if the contractor is using a different system it would automate whenever they input something into their system, it would automatically move over into the Bentley iTwin system and be available to everyone else on the team
Adam Klatzkin: That is absolutely correct. Of course, it does have to be configured that way. But that's correct.
Host: So there's really no extra work. There's no extra inputting. Anything you input into your own system if everything's configured correctly works its way into the twin automatically.
Adam Klatzkin: Not disruptive. No extra manual intervention. No duplication of data.
Host: So you mentioned earlier that one of the reasons why digital twins haven't really made it deeply into the engineering industry so far has been just the huge amounts of data. How far and how deeply into the industry have twins come? Have you a lot of clients out there? A lot of potential?
Adam Klatzkin: There are a lot of clients, a lot of potential. There is no doubt. It is an emerging technology. Anecdotally I can tell you there isn't a single firm that I or our teams here I've spoken with, that isn't exploring or implementing their digital twin strategy. But there's also some interesting third-party research showing that the digital twin market in very short order is actually going to surpass that of BIM. Now, that doesn't mean BIM is going away. It has incredible value and that the market is going to continue to grow at a respectable rate, but digital twins don't replace it. They complement it. They advance it. And they enable further digital transformation. The use of cases, workflows, benefits are much more unbounded in a digital twin than they are in BIM, which is a static file representation at a moment in time.
Adam Klatzkin: Those projections and that research show that in 2024, the BIM market size will be $13.2 billion in U. S. dollars with an 18% growth rate. While in 2025, they're skewed by a year, the digital twin market will be $29.1 billion with a 37% growth rate. If you look at the charts, it's amazing where they intersect and the rate at which digital twins continues to grow. As for today's adoption and initiatives that are out there, again, this independent research, not by Bentley, is showing that of all the digital twin initiatives that they've surveyed, about 16% of those are being driven by engineering and engineering firms; 33% of them are being driven by operations and owners; and the remainder of those initiatives are being driven by supply chain, finance and others.
Adam Klatzkin: So it is definitely skewed right now towards owners and operators driving it, but there's a significant drive within engineering services firms directly. Leading the way by industry penetration of digital twins is transportation. They have the most, again in the same survey, they have the most digital twin projects that are implemented, budgeted or planned within the next three years. Transportation is definitely a leader and that seems to be followed closely by plant design, particularly oil and gas and chemical and then metals and mining.
Host: All, all those things you mentioned are big, big projects, a big infrastructure project, a big factory project. Is there some sort of size limitation for when a digital twin is effective or either affordable or can you do it on a small project as well as a big project?
Adam Klatzkin: From our perspective, the commercial model scales. It's not an inhibitor for any size project. And the benefits certainly apply to all ranges as well. But as far as penetration in the market, those were the areas that seem to see the most activity underway, the industries and types of assets that see the most activity underway right now.
Host: When I was reading about this in the stuff that Bentley's written about digital twins, a statement that came up that sort of struck me was that a digital twin is a connection of data sources. Would you talk about that?
Adam Klatzkin: Or, yeah. If we go back to those ugly truths that I mentioned earlier. A project or asset may have different sources of truth for information. That source of truth may be some bespoke database, it may be an enterprise database and maybe a design file. It may be a connected data environment involved that is a collection of those sources of truth of information. A digital twin should not be a source of truth. It's a view of truth. You can also look at it at a single pane of glass. That's another descriptive term we like to use. The digital twin needs to be a federation of all the relevant information and data sources wherever they reside, brought together into this single pane of glass. It would be a losing proposition to say that data needed to move somewhere else in order to create a digital twin and, and we chatted about that earlier in this discussion as well.
Adam Klatzkin: Generally, we're talking about three types of data sources across an asset life cycle and the connections that might be formed: ET, IT and OT. Data coming from engineering technologies, informational technologies, and operational technologies. The digital twin needs to federate all of this to make information easily accessible in that single pane of glass for immersive visualization, for analytics, for improved decision making. So those are the types of connections and data sources that we're we're talking about. And, you know, just to give you some examples, engineering is definitely obvious, but we say OT operational data, we're talking about data coming from IOT feeds, sensors, cameras, etc. And informational or IT data, we're talking about data coming from asset registries, maintenance records and inspection records, and such.
Host: For a digital twin to work, does everyone have to be playing the game or can a team work if one member doesn't play?
Adam Klatzkin: So, sure it can work if one member doesn't play. I guess it depends on the team you're referring to. Are you referring to the engineering team? Which team do you have in mind?
Host: The project team, I guess would be, with all the different players that need to collaborate. To go back to our earlier example, to build a bridge, if one of the designers or one of the constructors decides not to play, can it still work?
Adam Klatzkin: It can still work. The value is only going to be great as the data that has been federated into the twin. So, if there are members that are keeping data out of it. There will be constraints on maximizing the value of all of the asset data in creating that digital representation of a physical thing you're trying to design and build. But it's absolutely still viable. And actually, our premise is to get started easily and quickly with the data you have at hand. There are use cases that can be developed out around it and you'll recognize more value as more data is connected into the system.
Host: Another thing that that you had in your documents, which was sort of an intriguing statement, was that opportunity and optimism are the value that a digital twin can bring to the infrastructure industry. I was struck by the word optimism as well as opportunity. What are you saying there?
Adam Klatzkin: We're seeing digital twins really present a new business opportunity for engineering services firms that have been exciting, exciting to us and exciting to them. And I say this anecdotally, from the many conversations I and our teams here have had with these accounts. We're talking to many that see it as a way to create new business opportunities and to deal with challenges such as an aging workforce, the labor shortage, shrinking profit margins, etc. There's an opportunity not just to do things more effectively and efficiently, but also an opportunity to create a new business model where they start delivering digital twin services to clients and therefore expand more into operations and maintenance, particularly from a data perspective. So to create that digital twin hand it over, but also maintain it into the future because it doesn't magically maintain itself.
Adam Klatzkin: There's effort involved in curating and continuing to grow the connections of information that may be accessible or pop up over time into this digital twin. So these firms are looking at the opportunity to kind of maximize the value of all of the owner's data into operations, provide digital leadership and transformation to the owner during operations. And they're really focused on following that data and maximizing the value of it over the entire asset life cycle. Pace pays dividends for the entire life of that asset. And the reality is somebody is going to do this. As I said, 33% of the penetration to date is being driven by owners. They're interested. So someone is going to do it. Who else is better situated than the engineering firms that have created the content. They understand the data best. It really distinguishes them from a run-of-the-mill systems integrator that's going to raise their hand and fill that void if nobody else is there to do it. So that is what is generating a lot of the opportunity and optimism around the value of digital twins beyond just the efficiencies that they'll introduce to existing processes in engineering.
Host: And I would think another benefit of that would be you're maintaining the relationship with that client after the project is over. And that maintaining that relationship opens you up for potential business opportunities with that client in the long term.
Adam Klatzkin: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.
Host: For firms looking to use a digital twin, Bentley recommends being flexible. What do you mean by being flexible in this context?
Adam Klatzkin: There are certainly multiple perspectives from which to look at flexibility. One is we have to recognize that digital twins are emerging technology. This is not a mature solution that's been in the market for years. This is something that is being developed at cloud speed at the moment. And that comes with the recognition that change is going to happen quickly. The services that Bentley is pushing out, this isn't an old school product that's going through monolithic releases once a year. We're pushing out new functionality on a regular basis, fixes and new functionality. So there has to be flexibility from an organization's perspective in how to keep on top and to learn and to increase their maturity with this technology as new capabilities are introduced. So flexibility to learn and pick up quickly what's coming out.
Adam Klatzkin: The second aspect I'd say for flexibility is in the use cases, scenarios and connections that you may establish and use. The digital twin is a Swiss army knife of sorts, so there are different things that you could consider and benefits that could be recognized and you should have flexibility in continuously evaluating those and your benefits over time. The third is, as I said earlier, we have an open-source platform for digital twins that we call iModel js. It's a development platform. Many engineering firms have their own in-house development teams, and if you do, so you should have the flexibility in those teams, evaluating the platform, leveraging how you might develop out automation integrations to bespoke systems or other systems if you have them, and new tooling you could add, even creating your own IP around the digital twin using this platform.
Adam Klatzkin: And then the last thing I'll say about flexibility is it's great to have a vision and a long-term plan, but don't focus on conquering the world from day one. You can get started quickly and easily with a digital twin on some scenarios and use cases that will bring immediate benefits. Find those lighthouse projects, get started, and understand the technology. And the long-term plan will certainly come out of that. But as this technology is emerging, things are going to change and you have to have the flexibility to adapt.
Host: In talking about this technology changing, you used the term "cloud speed." It's a rapidly changing technology. Where do you see it going in the next few years, beyond growing rapidly?
Adam Klatzkin: I'm most excited about is the potential, if I hone in on one, is the potential for machine learning. The amount of data that will be collected within the digital twin, due to all of the changes, everything that's being connected into the digital twin is going to make it very easy to take some things that may previously have required a lot of manual effort and to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to do those. Particularly I'm interested in the lessons learned that can be gleaned from a portfolio of projects and applying those to future projects. Identifying trends and patterns that resulted in mistakes or cost increases or safety incidents and leveraging machine learning to flag future projects as those types of scenarios come up again and to flag those in advance and provide early indicators.
Adam Klatzkin: But there is tons of opportunity for machine learning against this technology. That's certainly an area where I see this going in the next few years and it's going to add tremendous value. And the last thing I'll add there is, going back to the previous question on flexibility and where this is moving, it is incredibly important to get started quickly. Because there are many organizations that have already adopted. And if you have concerns and decide to let others lead the way and figure it out before you do, you're going to be left behind. And the potential business implications and benefits of changing business models around digital twins, if you miss the mark there, it could be catastrophic for your firm. So I really encourage everyone to start taking a look at digital twins, find that low hanging fruit, find those lighthouse projects and get started now.
Host: Well, I would agree with you after having listened to what these are and learning so much. It seems to me to be the future. I really appreciate your taking the time to speak with us. Thank you so much.
 

ACEC Coalitions Update

Engineering Influence sat down with Matt Murello and Kevin Peterson to get an update on ACEC Coalitions.
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a Podcast by the American Council of Engineering companies. Today we are very happy to bring you an coalition update and to give us an update on what's happening in coalitions we welcome coalitions Chair, Kevin Peterson. He's president and CEO of P2S Incorporated out of long beach, California and coalition Chair-elect, Matt Murello, president of Louis S. Goodfriend and Associates. He's out of Chester, New Jersey. So welcome to you both and one of who, kind of start off with a update on advocacy and the coalitions, what's happening in advocacy.
Kevin: Thank you, Jeff. This is Kevin. And currently we're developing our 2020 coalition advocacy agenda in consultation with the ACEC advocacy and external affairs department. We're happy to report that our coalitions continue to be strong contributors to the ACEC PAC. Last year we were represented 55% of the total PAC dollars from our members, up a couple percentage points from the previous year.
Host: And that's really good news. The PAC is one of our strongest tools to advocate our position so that is good news. From the membership side of the coin, where are things looking at coalitions?
Matt: Thanks Jeff. This is Matt Murello. And so every year, one of our coalitions or sometimes too, we have a recruitment drive, which is steered by the the ExCom of that coalition. And this year we started a new drive for the geo professionals coalition in November, netted 16 new members. And we also implemented a recruitment drive for both CAMEE, COPS and Land Development, which got us six more community volunteers. So we're looking forward to continuing to increase our numbers. I believe we're up by another 2% this year. And continuing to spread the word of the value of coalitions.
Host: That's fantastic. That's, that's, that's key because membership into the coalitions, it's easier than people think. And we need to get the word out there for ACEC members that it doesn't take much to join. And recruitment efforts like that, recruitment drives are critically important to start getting more people involved. And one of the benefits one of the benefits once you are a member is education which is another big area that we're looking to work on. So what's happening with education sessions with coalitions and events?
Kevin: So let me, let me update you on what we did in the 2019 fall conference in Chicago and coalition sponsored seven education sessions. We had also had five member round tables during that conference. In terms of, in between conferences. At the end of this week we have our 2020 small firm coalition winter meeting, taking place in Dallas focusing on leadership at all levels. We expect that to be a very successful event and later this month we'll have our 2020 coalition winter member meeting that's going to be held February 27th and 28th in New Orleans. And it really will be exploring the future of design software technologies. And a lot of our coalitions are also doing ExCom meetings. At that meeting. So it should be a very successful event right after Mardi Gras.
Host: Ah, that's, that's a perfect time to be down there right after the party stops. When you can actually move around and registration, I understand us is now open for that winter meetings, is that correct?
Kevin: It is. And, and they can find the registration link on, on the ACEC website.Host: Fantastic. Publications are another area that we really focus in on. It's, it kinda builds off of the education piece. Have there been any updates on publications in the coalitions?
Matt: Yeah, there has. And you know, you hit the nail on the head when you talk about one of the distinct advantages to being a member of the coalitions and with all the coalitions being in one group a membership to any one of the coalitions allows you access to all of these documents. And if anyone from ACEC were to purchase them and were not a member of the coalitions, it would cost thousands of dollars. And the, the documents are constantly being updated since July 1st we have a seven new or seven documents, four that have been updated and three new ones. The new ones are come from our CASE and new Geoprofessionals Coalition on lessons learned as well as commentary of the ASCE design procedures and health and safety plan checklist. So this is a process that's always going. We usually have between five and 10 updated or new per year and we're continuing moving in that direction. We also have in November-December Engineering, Inc., we featured our coalition leaders talking about prospects in resiliency, changes in leadership and climate change. So we're, we're out there our leaders are out there and talking about industry trends.
Host: Yeah, that's a really good point Matt, because like you said, if you went off and you tried to source these publications on your own and you tried to buy them or, or just find them somewhere it would get expensive really quickly. And being a member of the coalitions gives you that amazing library of content that if you are a sole practitioner or a small firm and you're trying to get your leadership educated and you're trying to figure out, you know, different business strategies or contracts, you know, the coalitions just gives you a treasure trove of material that you can just get access to, which is just so beneficial.
Matt: Yeah. And Jeff, I mean, most of our most of our publications that come from the coalitions may be practice oriented. So you know, if they're for structural engineers or for the mechanical electrical group but a good chunk of them, I would say probably close to a quarter of them are business centered. So if you are, like you said, a small firm and you're looking for that HR document or you're looking for a basic on how to basic contracts and setting up a new office or some employee handbook issues, chances are somebody has already spent the time and capital in putting something that you might be able to at least make as a starting point as opposed to trying to reinvent the wheel. And it's, it's an invaluable resource for coalitions we find.
Host: And then I guess the last part is operations and how everything's being structured. Have there been any operational changes within the the coalition structure to note?
Kevin: One thing to note is when we started out coalitions years ago, some of those were councils to begin with. And we decided late last year that we wanted to have our, a consistent branding across our coalition. So the ones that had council in their name, we've, we've officially now renamed them to coalitions. So coalitions will appear everywhere in our branding and counsel is now being put to put the rest. We also last year recognized Mike Snyder from Dewberry as a recipient of our sixth annual Coalition Distinguished Service Award. That's something that we give out every year at the fall conference.
Host: All right. So that was kind of the top list of materials and things going on with coalitions. Is there anything else going on you guys want to add? A kind of free fire zone here about coalitions or, or anything you want to get across to our audience? Being our, our the leaders of our ACEC coalitions?
Kevin: This is Kevin and I, I would just recommend that anyone who's a member of ACC and especially new members who join, if they have any questions related to coalitions that they please reach out and they can find our contact information on the website. They can also contact Heather at ACEC headquarters. We're more than willing to share some of our personal experience in dealing with coalitions and how it's benefited our own organizations.
Host: Wonderful. Well, I want to thank you both for taking some time out of your day. And thanks again for giving us an update on ACEC Coalitions. It's all good news across the board and we're looking at growth and expanding our footprint of our coalitions in 2020. And thank you for being on the show and look forward to having you on again soon.

An Interview with Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17)

 
Engineering Influence had the privilege to sit down with Representative Cheri Bustos, who represents Illinois' 17th Congressional District this week to discuss the newly announced House blueprint on Infrastructure, the importance of investing in rural America and her focus on workforce development and economic development.  
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a podcast from the American Council of Engineering Companies. Today we're very pleased to welcome to the show Representative Cheri Bustos, who represents the 17th congressional district in the House of Representatives. The 17th stretches west of Chicago from Dubuque in the North all the way down South to Peoria. Representative Bustos serves on the all-important Appropriations Committee and the House Ag Committee, and is also the Chairwoman of the DCCC, the political arm of the House Democrats. Representative Bustos, welcome to the show.
Rep. Bustos: Thanks for having me.
Host: Today is an exciting day. I think that we can kind of cover this a little bit in in our conversation that House leaders came out with a blueprint for an infrastructure bill. Of course, that's going to be focused a lot on economic development and workforce development. And I know those are two issues that you're extremely active on. And you actually do have two pieces of legislation that you have introduced on those two issues specifically. Can you tell us a little bit about those two bills? I believe it's the Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce Act and the Rebuild Rural America Act.
Rep. Bustos: Of course, I'm happy to. Have you laid out the framework at all for a what was announced today or do you want to -Host: We can jump into that. We kind of looked at it and of course we took a more, you know, encouraging step that we're actually moving forward on infrastructure. But I think that, you know, from the engineering industry's perspective, the two things that are of course most pressing are reauthorization of the FAST Act, but then also getting a WRDA done, which is absolutely necessary.
Rep. Bustos: Well and, and you described my congressional district, but let me just offer a little more context to that. We have more locks and dams in the congressional district I represent than any congressional district in the country. And that's because the entire western border of my district is the Mississippi River and then the Illinois River runs through the southern part of our congressional district. So any kind of water infrastructure means a lot. And when you look at the depression era locks and dam system, now, you know, I'm 75-ish plus years old. You know, we've got to look at investing in that. But the reason I answered your question with a question is, you know, today's a pretty momentous day. And I was at our caucus meeting earlier where we had the Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Peter DeFazio.
Rep. Bustos: We had the Chair of Energy and Commerce Frank Palone, and then we had the Chair of Ways and Means Richie, Neal all talk about the various components. And I think it's important that we look at, you know, it's going to take all of that coming together and it's not just it's not just horizontal construction. It's the vertical construction as well. And I think that we as at least as House Democrats want to take a look at this as being a very encompassing piece of legislation.
Rep. Bustos: Are the couple bills that you reference in particular Investing in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act - it's something that I introduced last October along with Senator Durbin, but that looks at really the future of America as it pertains not just to infrastructure, but as, as it pertains to how people work. We are going to be seeing increased automation and we want to make sure that as a nation that we are ready for that and that people aren't going to be losing their jobs and not having anything to go to.
Rep. Bustos: So it helps prepare workers for the jobs of tomorrow with a with a major investment in that. The other is the Rebuild Rural America Act also. We introduced that last October and that calls for a federal funding investment in rural and small town economic development projects. Again, further context. In my congressional district, 85% of the towns in the district I serve are 5,000 people or fewer and 60, about 60, 65% are a thousand people or fewer. So and we have to look at, you know, our while we have our coastal big cities like, you know, New York and LA, we have our Midwestern big cities like Chicago, but there are a whole lot of small towns in between and we've got to make sure we're investing in that. This new bill that we rolled out today calls from major investment in rural America and then the two bills that we just talked about that are out of our office address that as well.
Host: Absolutely. I mean, coming from my experience with former chairman Shuster and his district, middle of Pennsylvania, you know, you have Philadelphia you've got Pittsburgh and then you have the rest of the state.
Rep. Bustos: Yeah, very similar to Illinois.
Host: Yeah. So You really need an economic development. You need the workforce training. You need to be able to prepare those workers for, you know, the effects of the ripples and the economy that are coming from automation. But then also getting the training and understanding of opportunities that might come if you're able to get an infrastructure package done and actually build out some of these massive projects that need to happen that attracts economic development into the districts, attracts these new companies that might be high on automation, for example, Amazon and the like. And I guess the same from the engineering industry is that, you know, our member companies are going to be the ones who are going to be building a lot of those structures, whether it's going to be the roadways that lead you into the new opportunities or the vertical structures, the warehousing or the data centers or the social infrastructure, the schools, hospitals that are actually going to be in those areas.
Host: And everybody's going to benefit from so it was all tied together. It's in no way is it, is it, is it separate. And I think you've raised a good point because a lot of our members might not understand exactly how intricate it is to get something like an infrastructure package done because it's just not T& I, it's also a Ways and Means, it's also Energy and Commerce. Can you talk a little bit about the interplay in your experience in Congress about how a piece, a big bill like this comes together with all those different chairmen and the individual constituencies they have to serve?
Rep. Bustos: Yeah, I think that's a great question because in the end, if we don't figure that out, we don't pass anything, right? I mean, you might be able to pass something out of the House, but as we all know from our civics lessons that it takes more than just passing it out of the House. We need the Senate, we need the White House to all agree. Why don't we use an example that is very much also out of today. Today, the President signed the USMCA, the trade deal, the United States, Mexico, Canada Trade Agreement. And the way that came together, I think is a blueprint for how we ought to look at our transportation bill that we're going to pass. And think about this from a political perspective. And even from a governmental perspective, in the end, we had the House, the Senate get together on this.
Rep. Bustos: You had Democrats and Republicans, you had the White House, and even in the end you had your farmers and AFL-CIO, organized labor all say that this was a good deal. That let's use that model. And I will throw out trade ambassador Lighthizer who's in the Trump administration as really someone who was ready for this moment in that I can't think of any meeting that we asked for or anybody asked for that he wouldn't participate in. And so I think it's going to take that same view of bipartisanship and the House and the Senate working together. And then in the end we can't just pass this without having a pay for.
Host: Yeah. And if the White House comes in.
Rep. Bustos: That is where the White House comes in. And Richie Neal who's the Chair of Ways and Means this morning out of our caucus meeting said that we are not going to get into the specifics of how this will be paid for until we all come together and have an agreement.
Rep. Bustos: You know, anybody who wants to look at the political side of things knows that you know, you're not just going to have one side of the aisle say, you know, this is how we're going to pay for it without having the other side of the aisle have buy into that as well. I mean, things like the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund have, are brought up in pretty much every discussion because we have the money in there that we need, but the general fund keeps robbing from it. That can't keep happening. But this investment is absolutely critical. I know firsthand from looking at, for example, at the Chicago Rockford International airport, which is in the northern part of my congressional district. Okay, the economic impact of that airport. We'll close in to probably about $2 billion a year soon. Why? Because they have turned that into the fastest growing air cargo hub in the world.
Rep. Bustos: And so we need our engineers. I want to do a shout out to the how important the engineers are to making sure that we are looking at things like air cargo hubs and improving our airports. If anybody saw the 60 Minutes segment from a couple months ago we've gotta improve our airports to be competitive on the world stage. We are falling behind. You know, when in the Eisenhower era what made us this powerhouse is that we could move our goods to market more efficiently than anybody else. We could move our people more efficiently than any, anything else. We could move our information faster than anybody else. And we're falling behind on that. And that's what this is all about.
Host: Yeah. And that's a really good point. I think that there's a common theme in the House and I think for our listeners who are focused on what's happening on the major news channels to realize that behind the scenes, especially in the House, that there's always going to be some bipartisan agreement on infrastructure and there's always going to be that desire to move the ball forward and to really address things, I think that one of the issues that as a of increasing importance also, and I think, you know, I heard in the last Congress the same, which is the issue of resiliency of dealing with the environment that we have and what we're going to be inheriting on the next couple of years. And the fact that engineers have to deal with the world as it is and have to design for the future so that the bridges, the buildings, the roads are going to last there for 20, 30 years. And the issue of resiliency and dealing with sustainability and issues related to climate change and the changing environment was also a theme of what was rolled out today. From a rural district, from an agricultural district. That's also important. How important you see the issue of resiliency in terms of infrastructure and economic development in your district?
Rep. Bustos: Oh, I think it's critically important. And, and it was I would say of the one hour presentation that we had this morning that took up a good part of it. Everything from chairman DeFazio talked about an electric spine or an electric backbone to this project. And that is, you know, building out the infrastructure of if we're increasingly going to no emission vehicles or electric vehicles you can't just have this without having the infrastructure to support it. And it's even the materials that we're using and certainly your engineers who are in the practice of building roads and bridges and improving rail and all that, know a lot more about that than I do as we sit here. But that will be very important that we are, as you said, getting ready for the future. We're building things now or we'll build things next year, but you're right, they have to be resilient through the next, you know, 20, 30, 40, 50 years.
Rep. Bustos: I look outside of my front door when I'm at home and Moline, Illinois. I live on river drive. And by the way, that river that's just on the other side of that road is the Mississippi. But I see this one point $2 billion bridge that is under construction from Moline, Illinois to Bettendorf, Iowa. And I count the cranes every time I walk along our little bike path and walking path there. And you know, you count as many as 15 cranes that are up and you know, you realize how important what we're talking about right now, how important your engineers are to economic growth and economic sustainability for communities. And again, to your point of this bridge is being built right now and it's replacing a bridge that was built in the '50's and one span. And I think the other span was built in the '30's. So, you know, these things have to last a long time and they the engineering is, is very, very important to this. And, and I love seeing those cranes cause I know with every one of those cranes or jobs associated with that.
Host: Yeah, absolutely. It's, it's a big economic driver and it's truly amazing what our members are able to produce and the challenges that they're able to surmount with their talent. And then also just you know, good working relationships between local, federal and state governments and the industry at large. I know that we're a little bit tight on time and we want to respect your schedule. So, or any parting thoughts that you want to offer to our audience and of course, you know the members of the of the Illinois engineering community who will be listening to the podcast.
Rep. Bustos: Yeah. so my oldest son went to Iowa state and was an engineering major. So I'm mechanical though, not, not civil. Yeah. So I just have a great appreciation for actually the brain power that engineers have and your thought process that you put into everything and really the importance to all of our communities for the work that your members do. And let me just, I probably just echo what you just said, but those working relationships are very, very important. Our office has a very close relationship with ACEC. You've been great at keeping us informed. I hope that you see our office is one that wants to make sure that you're informed and we seek your counsel. And I think a good days are ahead and, and again from a political perspective, which, you know, it, it's good, good policy is good politics and vice versa.
Rep. Bustos: But infrastructure and rebuilding America is something that we as Democrats campaigned on going into 2018. It is what President Trump as candidate Trump campaigned on going into 2016. And my, our friends across the aisle also campaigned on this. So when you've got all of those elements saying, we've got to get this done, I think that is a, that I hope that's a telling sign that we're going to be able to make something big happen that we can pass the House, the Senate, and the President will sign it into law. And we have a lot of good work ahead of us.
Host: That's great. Well, there we have it, brighter days ahead and a hopeful message to end the podcast on. Representative Bustos thank you so much for being on and we hope to have you on in the future.
Rep. Bustos: Thank you.
 

Interviews with ExCom: Robin Greenleaf

Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies coming to you again from Washington, DC during ExCom orientation to kick off 2020. Very pleased to be joined by ACEC Chair Elect-Elect Robin Greenleaf who came down from Massachusetts down from Boston. Wish it was warmer down here than in the by the end of the week is supposed to be 70. But very, very pleased to have you on the program. And for those listeners who are not aware of your work with ACEC and, and, and what you do have, you know, take a moment to kind of introduce you to the audience.
Robin Greenleaf: Thanks. Happy to. So my firm is Architectural Engineers. We are a mechanical electrical design firm exclusively in the Boston area. We've been around for, I want to say 34 years at this point.
Robin Greenleaf: So we're, we're an older firm, a very well established in the Boston higher ed markets do a lot of public transportation. We're pretty firmly rooted in both the public and the private sectors. So I can bring some interesting perspectives to my time that I'm going to be serving as chair elect and then chair. The mix between private and public is going to be interesting because our current chair, Mitch simpler is about a hundred percent private and he made a big effort to really get into our minds the amount of work in the private sector that consulting engineers do. Because when we're here in Washington and we work in advocacy in policy, our minds are always what's the next infrastructure bill? What's the next word of bill? What are the next big public infrastructure pieces that are going to be put in place? And we need to not lose sight of the fact that there is a significant amount of private sector work.
Host: So your experience bridging that gap between private and public is going to be very beneficial because it blends those two worlds.
Robin Greenleaf: I think that we are at a great moment in ACEC history where we have had enough influence and enough momentum in both the private and public sectors that our membership across the board should benefit. And one of the things I'm very excited about in my time that I'll be serving in leadership is the ability to see a broad view of the world, look for opportunities to knit together the strengths from the public side and the strengths from the private side. We are launching our strategic plan. One of the things that Charlie G ahead of me and then my year as chair will be the implementation of that plan. There's very solid goals revolving around both the public and the private pieces of what we do. You know, one of my personal goals is to make sure that we're strengthening all of it as we go and just use that broad view of the world to benefit ACEC members.
Host: I think it's going to benefit not just ACEC members but also policy makers.
Robin Greenleaf: Yes.
New Speaker: Because they have tunnel vision from time to time. They can't see the bigger picture and being able to explain to them and demonstrate how the private and the public blends together and where there are nothing works in a vacuum. Nothing happens in a vacuum and things that can be put into policy can have impacts that are unforeseen. And being able to bring that perspective to say, this is, this is what the work that we do in the private, this is the work we do in the public sectors. And holistically this is, this is the benefit that we have to, the economy is going to be very important.
Robin Greenleaf: Yeah. We represent the entire cross section of the economy and we really need to leverage that. And that's always the challenge when you look at trying to communicate. Because when you sit back and you say, you know what, what do we do? I still told somebody, go outside, close your eyes, open your eyes. There you go. Yeah. Whatever you see in front of you, the engineering industry actually had a hand in.
Robin Greenleaf: Exactly.
Robin Greenleaf: And, and when you take that into totality, it's amazing. And, and, and it's a, it's a challenge at the same time, but I think we're going to be well suited to talk about it.
Robin Greenleaf: We actually talked about this at the FIDIC meeting in Mexico city. Every slide that was put up representing a project with something that could not have been built without engineer's.
Host: Exactly.
Robin Greenleaf: And I think that ACC moving forward is really driving that message out.
Host: Yeah. And I think that strategic plan that we have that we're now in the process of developing the tactics, tools and implementation I think broadly that guiding strategic document is going to help us position ACEC in the best way possible to get that message across. And the, and to build that and then the raise the prominence of, of, of the industry as a whole looking, I guess, you know, beginning we're with the second week of January and looking into your crystal ball, you know, at the end of 2020 looking back, what do you want to be able to say? Yeah, I had a hand in making this happen for ACEC.
Robin Greenleaf: Sure. I think one of the things that, that I'm very interested in seeing is what happens during the conclusion of the election cycle that we're in right now and what kinds of things can we move ahead with no matter what's going on on Capitol Hill.
Robin Greenleaf: So one of the things that I became aware of in my current, you know, put the, the Chair of the Business Insurance Trust hat on is MOs are different across the country and I think there's an opportunity to spend some time really understanding what the differences are and then working to establish relationships with some of the MOs that may have been less involved over the last few years. Really see if we can't get everybody to show up at the conferences and be much more fully engaged than they are. I think that's, that's potentially something easy. It's not attached directly to political stuff or legislative stuff. It's really more of an internal focus that I'm very interested in moving forward with.
Host: That would be great.
Robin Greenleaf: And that really plays into the goals about diversity and inclusivity. And you know, one of the things I think would be great is what if we went to the fall conference and there were 3000 people there instead of 1200 or 1500 let's double the number by increasing the number of people who show up.
Host: Yep.
Robin Greenleaf: That'll be a very exciting moment.
Host: Absolutely. A well congratulations and travels back to Boston and hopefully not snow.
Robin Greenleaf: No, I think we're having the same warmup you are this weekend - looking forward to it.
Host: And I look forward to inviting you back on the show and working with you in the in the year to come.
Robin Greenleaf: Thanks, Jeff. It's a pleasure.
Host: Thank you, Robin.
 

Interviews with ExCom: Michael Cooper

Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. Continuing on with our series of interviews during ExCom orientation and we are very pleased to be joined by Mike Cooper who is in DC this week for that orientation and came to us from, I guess, I don't know if it's snowy Detroit, but you know, I know it's cold right now in Washington. It's like 20 degrees. So I would imagine it's cold out there. Wish we could actually provide you with warmer weather, Mike. But welcome to the show and, and if you could take a minute to kind of introduce yourself to the audience, those who might not be aware of your involvement ACEC in what you do. You know, let the world know who you are.
Mike Cooper: Sure. Well, Jeff, thank you. So Mike Cooper. I am the president of Harley Ellis Devereaux. We are a full service architecture and engineering design firm. We've got offices in California four of them. Detroit, Chicago, Boston and Dallas. As I said, full service architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, mechanical, electrical, structural engineering, really in terms of markets, healthcare, science and technology, education corporate and commercial, mostly vertical infrastructure, buildings, facilities and really trying to create a positive impact for our clients, helping them to get the most value out of their facility assets that they can. It's the most costly thing. Most businesses, institutions have to make sure we can get the most value out of those and they're working for us.
Host: That's, that's, that's an important point that you raise. And, and also just the fact that you are really involved specifically wholly in the private sector. So it's, it's, you know, all of the, either, you know, privately owned social infrastructure, we'll say the hospitals and schools and things of that nature, but corporate and private sector work, which was a very big part of the industry. And of course in Washington, we're so focused on the work that happens in Congress that, you know, we can't lose sight of the significant contribution of private sector engineering. One question for you off the top in the past year or two, just in your experience in your market sector, what's been the biggest area of growth for you?
Mike Cooper: Well, I think we've been fortunate over the past few years. We've seen a growing economy and I'll tell ya, all of our sectors are growing. That's good. We've seen growth in healthcare. We've seen growth in the R&D space, certainly in, in the, in the commercial space we've seen a lot of growth across the country. Education has been growing and one of the newer markets we're in the mission critical data center market that has been growing as companies are figuring out and they know this how dependent they are on data and on their network infrastructure. And as we continue to move forward with technology innovation we become more dependent. It's, it's a, it's a productivity thing for most businesses. We can actually bring greater value. We can be more responsive, but we're more dependent on data, more dependent on, in, on that kind of infrastructure. And so that market also has seen growth. We'll see moving forward. What it looks like, but but the economy has been quite healthy and, and fortunately all of the markets have seen the benefits of that.
Host: Now, hopefully that continues into 2020, I mean, yeah, there's no question that the amount of data that's being stored - used and then also stored and then, and the rules that companies have to follow in data management and data storage and just the, the collection and use of that data requires a lot of housing, a lot of storage and the infrastructure to allow that to happen. So I'm not surprised that's a growing area of the marketplace. Is that in, in large scale data centers or is that also in helping clients design their facilities existing facilities to, to better handle their IT needs?
Mike Cooper: I think it's both. I think certainly we're involved with the large scale data centers, you know, both for a singular, you know, owner entity and also more retail based where, where people will come in and they'll they'll carve out a piece. They don't want to build their own data center. So they'll come in almost as a tenant. And, and they'll become part of a larger scale development, but then you've got institutions that have to manage data and it might be an insurance company. It could be a university or a healthcare system that has to have onsite infrastructure as well. And so we're seeing all of the above, we're seeing the institutions needing to provide data management, storage and security, and then we're seeing the need for the larger scale projects so that everybody who needs it has access to it. Not everybody can afford their own data center, but they do need to manage their data effectively and appropriately and safely. And there are folks out there who are, who are able to help them do that and we're helping those folks to build those facilities.
Host: Yeah. And that's a, you know, it's interesting because one topic that's come up in the conversations I've had with the one of your colleagues as been, you know, of course the issue of commoditization and, and just that promoting the intrinsic value of engineering. It kind of, if you have a client that has realized, Oh my, I need X amount more space, or I need to restructure the way that we actually handle our data storage, it kind of goes to the value of a consulting engineer to be able to say, here's your challenge and here's a solution that fits your requirements specifically, which is something which is not, you know, it goes to that anti-commoditization argument of saying that you need to have that trusted advisor to help your client reach that goal. And it's might be something that they know they have to do, but they have no idea how to do it. You know, what are your thoughts on that kind of relationship that, that, that kind of goes into things?
Mike Cooper: Yeah. Design is, it's really the opposite of a, of a commodity. Everything is a prototype. Every project, every facility structure is a unique one of a kind entity based on a certain set of parameters and a certain set of conditions in a situation that in itself is unique. The challenge that one business or one institution has that drives them towards a project is going to be different than every other instance. So the idea that there would be a one size fits all or a one approach fits all solution really defies logic. I think. It's a more of a subjective field. There is more than one way to address an issue, but there are optimal ways of doing it. There are ways that lead to higher efficiency and higher productivity and lower costs. And so the trusted advisor, the, the truly qualified expert, those are the ones that can give you the better solutions, the optimized solutions that will give you the payback that will give you higher return on investment. So you know, sometimes, and I think we see this in all walks of life, you pay perhaps a little bit more for the expert, but the return on investment comes back and pays itself back time and time again. I think the design industry is no different.
Host: Yeah, exactly. Especially as technology changes in, in that area of, of course the day is as things change, you're going to need to modify and you can't say, yeah, this is going to be perfect for the next 20 years. You need to have that, that design process is always ongoing and always has to to adopt or, or adapt to changes in the marketplace.
Mike Cooper: Well, there's two things there. One is adapting to changes in the marketplace. So making sure that what we design can be adaptable. You know, you look at in terms of research or today we are, we are going down one path, but a year or two or three years from now we may be going down a completely different path that we couldn't envision today. So the fact that we have to be adaptable and we have to know how to design that way is one aspect. The other is simply to be able to look out into the future and see what's coming and recognize trends. There is a lot of disruption happening in a lot of industries including the design industry. So our ability to understand where technology is going and understand how, how delivery methods and how collaboration between the industry, you know, the industry players is happening, will enable us to be able to talk to our clients about not just what's happening today, but what's happening tomorrow, next year, a year from now. So that we can plan for that, anticipate that, take advantage of it. 
Host: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, that's that that kind of goes to the thought leadership role that ACEC and its members play of really being experts in these fields and be able to provide that perspective about potential future trends and things of that nature. Of course, you're here today for the orientation. You sat through a number of PowerPoints from our different business units. We kicked it off this morning with advocacy and went from there. What, what kinda got you to this point as an engineer getting involved, ACEC, what, what led you to get involved with volunteer leadership and to executive committee?
Mike Cooper: Well. So it started really at the state level in Michigan and I became involved in the state of Michigan in the Michigan chapter, you know, to, to build my personal network to improve my growth as a professional to be able to, to just, you know, to be able to be better and offer more value to engage with the experts and to be able to be a bit more collaborative and understand what's going on and, and, and truly it's been it's been a wonderful experience. So I think having gone through a lot with the state organization, the national organization seemed like a natural extension for me. We work on a number of things that I think don't just apply in Michigan, but apply nationally. And so there are a number of things we talk about awareness and we talk about the disruption and we talk about the need to increase the number of folks who are going into the engineering industry and into that profession. And it certainly is a focus in the state of Michigan, but it's a focus nationally. And I'd love to bring the energy and the passion that I have to the national stage.
Host: Yeah. And that, that kind of leads me to my next question of, of we're right now in the first, actually the second week of the new year and the new decade, you know, looking ahead 12 months where you're ending out 2020, you look back and you say, you know what, this is, this is something that I was able to help ACEC push forward. What's one of your big goals?
Mike Cooper: Yeah, I think the first one is to build awareness of the impact of the profession on a, on a broad, on a global scale, you know the impact that engineers have on society, the impact that they have on really all things that we use, whether it is the cell phone in our pocket or whether it's the vehicle that we're driving or clean air or clean water or, you know, basic community needs. It's engineers who are really behind all of those things. If we want more people to go into the engineering professions, if we want people to understand the professions, get behind it so that we're driving innovation so that people are flooding our profession so that we can continue these kinds of advancements. We have to start with making people aware of what engineers are doing what they're having and get them excited about careers in engineering.
Mike Cooper: It's we don't have this many engineering graduates as we need. And I think that the start of turning that around is letting people know what we're doing. Some of the most important things that are going on, the most important initiatives from a technology and, and from a, from a advancing society perspective are happening within the world of engineering and R&D and to be a part of that and to, you know, to see that more people are interested in the profession and applications are going up and the number of graduates is increasing. That to me is going to be a signal number one, that our communities and our society are going to be well taken care of. And number two, that our, our organization here is doing what we need to be doing.
Host: Absolutely. And I think that there are number of opportunities to help get that mission accomplished.
Mike Cooper: Absolutely. One of the things that I see with people in my own firm they're most excited about purpose-driven work, you know, work that has significance, that has impact, that that is really helping people out, making the world a better place. And I think when we talk about what engineers are doing, that is what we're doing. The results of our work are literally doing those things. And when people are brought into the fold and they understand and they see all of the opportunities, as you say, to be able to do that, to be able to impact people and impact our communities in all sorts of ways in ways that we're personally passionate about, then it's not about work. It's about, you know, more of a life's mission than it is about a job or work. And I, and I see it everyday when people do what they love to do, right? They never work a day in their life.
Host: Yeah, exactly. That's, that's a great, that's a great way to end this. Mike, I think Mike, Mike Cooper, ladies and gentleman is probably one of the best evangelists we have for engineering right now. I think. I don't think I've heard that put in such an eloquent way. And it's exactly the kind of message that we have to get out there. So I really look forward to working with you over the coming months and into the future. I think we've got a lot of opportunity in front of us and really wish you success in all the markets that you work in and hopefully 2020 is as good as 2019 was. And congratulations and safe travels. I guess back to back to Michigan. Hopefully it warms up.
Mike Cooper: Well, thank you very much. It will warm up. Maybe not until March or April, but it will well, but well I, I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to working with you. It's going to be a great year.
 

Interviews with ExCom: Gary Raba

Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another addition of Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. Continuing with our series of interviews with ExCom members who are in Washington today for orientation for the New Year. And I'm very pleased to be joined by Gary Raba of Texas. Gary, if you want to kind of introduce yourself to the audience out there who may not know you - where are you from and what do you do?
Gary Raba: Well, thanks. Very happy to be here. Gary Raba, like you said Raba Kistner Incorporated. We're about a 50 year old - well we started off as being a family owned business in Texas, doing geotechnical work, construction materials, engineering and testing and now branched off and doing some environmental work as well as owner's rep and some other really cool project related stuff on the environmental side.
Host: And you're in town of course, for the orientation. What made you get involved with the volunteer leadership portion of the association. And how did you kind of approach that, you know, as, as, as a member of ACEC?
Gary Raba: Well, when I first started I was in Austin, Texas actually starting in my career, we just bought a company. I was put into a leadership position and I looked around and I said, where do I need to go to meet the guys that really know how to run an engineering company? Cause I needed a little bit of mentoring and training and ACEC had an Austin chapter. So I got actively engaged in that chapter and, and have been hooked since the early eighties on this, on this organization.
Host: That seems to be the common factor of people I talk to. They, you know, they go to a conference or they get involved and then all of a sudden they're hooked in and, and they just keep on moving up.
Gary Raba: Well, what's, what's, what's so cool about the organization and you see it across the country now, is that you have a peer group that is already probably experienced what you've experienced and, and in, in the light jokingly way, they can steer you out of trouble and out of the fire. But there's no competitive nature with respect to good advice.
Host: Yeah. Another commonality is the idea that, you know, coming in a leadership position having that opportunity to talk to your peers who may have faced the same situation or, or, you know, in a different area of the country, but they might be able to provide some insight that you otherwise wouldn't get not having that exposure to a larger group.
Gary Raba: Oh, yeah. You know, Texas and the nation had just come out of a recession. Guess what was facing us further down the line. And about four or five years after that, in the late eighties was another recession, another turndown in economy. And I was awfully blessed to have some, some, some guys more tinted or more used to dealing with that, having already gone through one. And that was my first. So being able to pick up the phone and say, Hey, how in the heck do I keep the spirits up? How do I, how do I keep clients? Which is totally invaluable.
Host: Yeah. Again, you know, the focus being on, on the business of engineering, you know, a lot of our members are extremely good at what they do and that's engineering, but nobody really teaches it in university or you know, in apart part of the engineering degree isn't that you're getting an MBA. And having that business application is something that just doesn't come -
Gary Raba: Yeah. No, it certainly doesn't. And it is. I've, I'm, I'm across the mic smiling from him as he's asking me this question cause the, the throwback, the memory I always have is when my wife was actually the legislative aid for a state representative in Austin. I was living in Austin and we were dating, I went to several of the lobby sponsored parties and I remember them handing out a button at one time and the button from one of the lobby groups said, get into politics or get out of business. And that pretty much has been my motto since when we take a look at the public policies that, that impact us, our daily lives, be it with transportation development, planning, zoning or anything, anything of that nature that has a real impact upon us and has an impact upon our neighbors. And that just burned me too, quite frankly, as an engineer get actively engaged in the political advocacy part.
Host: Absolutely. I mean, that's, you, you raise a good point because I mean, the things that happen in Washington have direct correlation to investments made in the States. The States can't plan unless there's a federal, you know, a longterm hopefully, longterm bill put in place. The States can actually plan on their own investment. And as we saw at the end of the year with the fast act, rescission, Texas was going to be hit real hard. About seven point 6 billion is going to be a that fiscal cliff in the FAST Act. So having that ability in that voice to affect those changes, those critical changes in policy you can only do that by getting involved.
Gary Raba: You have to be involved and you have to, you have to be able to be a spokesman for the improvements that are needed. Be it water or wastewater or whatever it is, be able to put it in, in plain speak. So the, the public, that sector that is not part of our engineering community has not, does not have an engineering degree, can understand the ramifications of letting something deteriorate because the maintenance program is not maintained or trying to retrofit a very old treatment plant with new technology when you know that it's only going to be 50% effective. Yeah. So it's a, it's an interesting spokesperson role at the same time. And I think what ACC has been able to do is being able to collaboratively work across state boundaries to where our Federation at 52 52 member from our member organizations. And when you look at the amount of collaboration and coordination on public policy issues, it's very consistent in the consistent messages. What people are able to when they and when you can turn on any TV and listen to 28 talking heads, talking 28 different opinions. It's nice that we have been able to take a, a central focus on policy issues that deal with us and the public and, and be able to express those quite frankly, succinctly so that the public can digest it and understand it.
Host: Absolutely. And that's, it kind of goes with the whole idea also of fighting commoditization. If you can be that expert to help educate a policymaker on what the real life applications of their policy could be and to be able to bring that expertise and experience and actually make it something other than just an abstract term on a page or an a bill, then you're showing that you have value. You're showing that intrinsic value that you have, which puts in that member's mind. Wait, this person's an expert. And you know, if a bill comes in to try to treat that person as a product or a commodity, they're going to say, wait a minute now he's, that guy's the expert on this issue. And it helps increase your value overall and helps raise the profile of the industry.
Gary Raba: Well, I think it does. And, and, and I've, there's probably no profession that really doesn't have commoditization as an, as a challenge. And it in, it's our real role really to talk about how important we are in the public policy as well as the planning and the implementation of, of infrastructure, whatever it be, whatever type it be. Because in the long run, you can build something for a very inexpensive amount of money and then you're going to be spending over the lifetime of that. The maintenance costs are gonna be more probably 10, 15 times more than what it would've cost just to do it right the first time. So the idea that every, every profession has a certain sect that is going to be prone to trying to commoditize their service line. If we as spokesmans do our job well at a national platform, it'll show that there's fault within that, within that commoditization thinking. And I think we're starting to make a good point about it. And when you take a look at qualifications based selections, QBs is where engineers will love acronyms. And so QBs being one of them. When you take, when you look at how now in the public sector the elected officials understand that, they understand what that means. They're not, they they understand what the impact means, especially when you start talking to them about, yeah, that bridge was built by the low budget person and they have teenagers getting ready to drive it.
Host: It crystallizes that.
Gary Raba: I always always give the, the, the, the analogy you're going, when you have to have a stent put in, do you go around and take bids from a doctor to put a stent in, you know, I'm sure as heck not.Host: I know we're short on time cause you have to catch a plane back. Texas to a nice warmer. Just kind of last question here is, is, is a year from now since we're at red star, 20, 20, what do you want ACEC to have accomplished and what do you want to play a role on? Hoping to push? So looking back saying, Hey, I had a hand in that and we were able to get that done.
Gary Raba: Well, you know, when you look at our strategic plan that we've come up it is just something that's, it's going to be living and it's going to be breathing. But part of it is not so much the political advocacy part. I think we've got a good step and we've got good motion going there. But as the business of engineering, how can we help our members be better business of engineering rather than an engineering business? They need to understand that. And I think as we reach out and, and keep pushing the business of engineering as a profession, we're going to attract people. I think as we keep pushing the business of engineering as a learned profession, we're going to get to that status of being the trusted advisor and we're going to get away with the commoditization. It all ends up debating. We all want to have a good growing business and we want to be able to provide for our employees. And as we, as leaders of the companies become better business people, we've become better adapted and better trained to be able to do that Over the long term.
Host: Absolutely. Well, that's, that's great insight and I look forward to working with you over next year and beyond that, and Gary, thank you for coming on the show. Thank you. Safe travels back to Texas and we'll hope to see you back in Washington soon.Gary Raba: Yes, sir. Thank you. Take care.
 

Interviews with ExCom: Matt Hirst

Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies coming to you live from Washington D C. And we're doing, Executive Committee training and orientation this week and I'm very pleased to welcome a new member of ex-com, Matt Hirst.
Matt Hirst: Hello everyone.
Host: Matt, welcome onto the program.
Matt Hirst: Thank you. So, so grateful to be here.
Host: So give the audience an idea of you know, who you are and what you do and and kind of your path to ExCom right now at ACEC.
Matt Hirst: Absolutely. So I'm thankful to be here and really a big fan of ACEC big advocate love all the work that ACEC National and then the local member organizations do. So I'm the president and CEO of a local engineering firm in salt Lake city. We're a 120, no, 115 years old this year. 1905.
Matt Hirst: And my path to ACEC ExCom started when I was just a young man in college. My father was a MO president in 1997. ACEC came out to Utah to do the national conference last time they've been in Utah.
Host: We'll have to fix that then.
Matt Hirst: Yeah, '97. And I had an opportunity to participate with a lot of the national folks from here in DC. Got to know them and just really had a great experience. 10 years later an email comes out from ACEC National for the Maui conference. And I kinda thought, man, that's a great reason to talk my father who was president and CEO at the time to take a trip to ACEC in Maui. And so I submitted a presentation request. Got it. Walked into his office, perhaps a little sheepishly and said, hey, I've got accepted. Do you think I can go?
Matt Hirst: And kind of smiled at me and said, sure, let's, let's all go. And so I got to know many of the national resources, specifically the sales and marketing forum, many of the other forums, the small firm council and really got engaged in just some of the great offerings that national provides.
Host: Yeah, that's great. So it's like it's kind of a family family business and, and family history of ACEC.
Matt Hirst: Yeah. Dad has been a big advocate and kind of pass that on and we've been really, really happy with all of the resources that ACEC can provide to a local firm.
Host: Kind of shows. It doesn't take a lot to get involved quickly. You don't have to do a lot and put a lot into it. You can start small and, and really find yourself really involved with ACEC quickly.
Matt Hirst: Yeah, the depth of resources that ACEC provides firms, both those who are already in ACEC that they're not taking advantage of or those who are just not engaged in ACEC is so broad.
Matt Hirst: Everything from contracting to sales and marketing support, leadership support. I think a weakness that exists generally in the marketplace is we all went to school to be engineers. We all learned how to design. We're problem solvers, but we're not taught to be business people and ACEC bridges that gap. There is nobody else out there who looks out for the business of design. Well, specifically consulting. Yeah, no one.Host: And how did the path towards Executive Committee happen for you? You know, how long did it take and what really made your decision to kind of go towards, you know, this, this high level of volunteer leadership?
Matt Hirst: Well, thank you. So after being in the Maui conference, a couple of years later, I started attending more and more conferences at the national level, really got engaged in the CEO forums that was so powerful for me as I was moving up the ranks in our organization to hear what other CEOs were far superior in their tenure and experience.
Matt Hirst: Continued to attend. And then in about 2012, one of the pre ex-com members, Lee Cammack but he was one of the leadership members in our local member organization asked me to chair a committee, loved it, had a great time chairing our legislative committee for a few years. They asked me to join the local board, worked my way through the board, board, presidency national director. As I concluded our national director position last year, I thought, gosh, there's still so much more. I want to see happen in the consulting engineering field. There's just a number of challenges and a number of opportunities that I'd like to continue to give back to and work on. Talk to our executive director, talked to a couple of the folks I'd gotten to know over the years at the national level and said, you know, is applying for ExCom really something I should look at was encouraged to do so.
Matt Hirst: Did it, had a great opportunity, had, had a great experience interviewing for ExCom and just learning a broader scale of what ExCom does. And they said yes and it's a gonna be a great journey.
Host: So looking at a new year and start a new decade and an election year of all things. So it's going to be active. What do you see the greatest opportunity for ACEC and where do you think that it can really make a mark in the coming year?
Matt Hirst: You know, there are a ton of places where ACEC already does but can continue to make a Mark and that is continuing to advocate for consulting. There are, there are just tons and tons of, of governments and other special interests who want to see consulting marginalized. They I remember sitting in front of someone in our local licensing board and he was a member of that board and he said to me, looking straight in the eyes, you're just like a sack of concrete and I have to know what you cost and if I can't know what you cost, I don't want to buy you. And, and it really offended me. And I've continued to fight against that, that very thought, that mindset that we're not a sack of concrete. Everything we do is unique. It's thought leadership.
Host: Yeah, exactly. And that's something which I know from our perspective in, in, in headquarters is going to be on the front of our minds is going to be that thought leadership piece. It's the expertise and the value of consulting engineering. And like you said, the uniqueness of it of taking this talent, this experience, this expertise and applying it in a unique circumstance to help a client reach a unique objective. And it's not something you can cut and paste. It's not the kind of thing that you can, you know, just standardize and, and, and stamp out, like, you know, it's not a product, right. And it's not, it's not a commodity to be bought and sold.
Host: It is a special specialized professional service. That's right. It needs to be treated as such. And that's going to be our continued focus is going to be establishing in the minds of policymakers and thought leaders in Washington and beyond that that, that consulting engineering has intrinsic value and that with all of these different social and political challenges that we're facing, largely it comes down, you know, climate change, resiliency, sustainability at its core is the built environment and, and how we're positioning the built environment to actually withstand any of these changes. And it all comes down to the design and the build of those pieces. And that's the engineer.
Matt Hirst: Yeah. And I think, I think the big key is that no two parcels of land are new. Two projects are the same and they need a trusted advisor that they can work with and consult with. Gravity hasn't changed in a long time, so the solution will be pretty much similar from place to place. It's how we apply that solution and how we personalize that solution that matters.
Host: Absolutely. And that's where that unique knowledge base that a consulting engineer can bring to apply a solution to specific challenge comes into play. From I guess the position that you have now with ExCom at the end of the year a what do you want to leave as kind of your mark? Just on the calendar year, like 2020, if you hit hit December 31st, you know, looking back on the year, what do you want to say, yeah, I was able to push that forward?
Matt Hirst: I hope that at the end of the year we're able to look back and say as an ExCom committee, as ACEC national and then the member organizations that I'll be assigned to work with, I hope we're able to look back and say consulting as a financial opportunity was much better this year than we had anticipated it to be.
Matt Hirst: You know, there's a lot of questions about whether infrastructure will be funded or continue to be funded. There's all kinds of state by state. As I sit in the leadership breakfasts and the board meetings, there's really a lot of concerns about whether or not a recession is coming, whether or not there will be funding for projects ongoing. I mean the real reality of consulting is we're constantly working ourselves out of a job, therefore we need a healthy pipeline and if we don't, we marginalize the resources that are available to the consulting industry and all of the sudden all of these resources we have today will be gone forever and we'll never get them back. And so explaining to policymakers and those who need infrastructure that we've got to keep the pipeline going to continue to be a world leader, the United States speaking of.
Matt Hirst: And then also so that the consulting industry can be vibrant and strong to provide solutions when we need to is really, really important. I hope I'm a part of that.
Host: Absolutely. And we look forward to helping carry that message across to all audiences, both a national state and a broad, but to the larger audience, the consumer audience. Because there are a lot of people out there who, especially on infrastructure, it's, it's the thing that you use every single day of your life. You don't think about it unless something happens.
Matt Hirst: That's right.
Host: But if it doesn't work, you can't go to work. You can't get what you need in the store is you can't live a modern existence. And as technology improves and develops, it's going to require the infrastructure to sustain that. And that's why the pipeline so important. That's why the consulting engineering industry is critical to keeping America competitive. So look forward to your participation and part of the team. Thank you so much for coming in today for the orientation and love to have you back on the podcast whenever we can.
Matt Hirst: Thank you. I'm so excited to work this next year to two years with ACEC and it's going to be great. Wonderful.
Host: Thanks Matt
Matt Hirst: Thank You.