2021 Issue

In the last five years or so, you’ve probably come across a new and exciting technology known as “3D printing.” It might surprise you to learn that 3D printing has existed in some form for around 30 years. Beginning in 2002, some of the earliest 3D printing patents began to expire. With the expiration of these patents and advances in the production of low-cost, easily programmed microcontrollers, 3D printing has exploded in popularity. Hopefully, this article will give you a glimpse of how this exciting technology can add a new “dimension” to our civil engineering designs and provide additional value to our clients and communities.

Many of you reading this article experienced the shaking from the Magna Earthquake on March 18, 2020. You may have also wondered how it compared to what we would experience in the “Big One.” During the Magna earthquake, the shaking was felt from Utah County to Cache County and beyond. If you experienced the earthquake, how would you describe the shaking that occurred where you were? Was it weak, light, moderate, strong, severe, violent, or extreme? How long did the shaking last? Each reader’s answer to these questions will likely be different depending on where they were during the earthquake.

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is a worldwide organization with over 15,000 members. The Leadership ITE program brings together transportation professionals to network, learn and grow. I was accepted into the 2020 Leadership ITE program and found it to be an incredibly rewarding experience.

On the morning of March 18, 2020, life was already a bit surreal. Due to the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic, local schools had abruptly closed to in-person learning, keeping our two elementary school-aged children home. We voluntarily sat out day care for our youngest child, and my husband’s office closed completely the day after the infamous Rudy Gobert incident that triggered the shutdown of the NBA. At Reaveley Engineers, we had a partial exodus of staff under a voluntary policy. I opted for a hybrid. With deadlines on a large hospital project looming, I intended to split my time between the office and my dining room table — not wanting to put the entire burden of taking care of three children on my spouse.

Many of us can relate to Arthur Dent (the main character in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). He is a mild-mannered guy trying to protect his house when he is plucked from the earth just before it is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. I, myself, felt like “poor Arthur Dent” while writing this article on digital engineering.

In the U.S., buildings have an average life span of 70-75 years (DOE, 2011) and represent 40% of the country’s annual energy use (Energy Information Administration, 2012). Consequently, design choices related to new buildings have a significant and long-lasting impact. In general, it is important to consider energy consumption and cost for the design of every building. However, when buildings are part of a larger campus, a single-building perspective can fall short of identifying how the buildings can interact to reduce their overall energy consumption, cost or emissions. This reduction is only achievable through a multibuilding analysis simulation. One difficulty of performing a multibuilding simulation is that each building is probably only defined conceptually during the early design phase of a large campus. This article will go through one way to simulate, analyze and optimize the mechanical system types for a campus when only building function type, quantities of buildings, and size is known.

The Utah Engineers Council (UEC) has been supporting local Utah chapters and societies for over 70 years. We are the umbrella organization for 15 local chapters and societies within the many engineering disciplines. Our purpose is to advance the art and science of engineering and to provide a forum for communication between the varying engineering societies.

Zakary Wankier Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of UtahNorthrop Grumman Scholarship Interested in prosthetics — works in the University of Utah’s Orthopedic Department doing research on percutaneous osseointegrated prosthetic attachments Co-president of a service oriented nonprofit organization called Maji Baseball fanatic and a die-hard supporter of the Boston Red Sox Bryce Cheek Electrical EngineeringUniversity of UtahNorthrop Grumman Scholarship …

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Engineer of the Year Nominee Capt. John McCrea United States Air Force Nominated by INCOSE Capt John McCrea is the Lead Engineer, Flight Destruct System on the Minuteman III Flight Test, Telemetry, and Termination (FT3) system and the Lead Project Manager/Engineer for Minuteman III Digital Transformation. In his FT3 role, John is responsible for ensuring …

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Fresh Face of Engineering Nominee Mykel Vallerga Colvin Engineering Associates Nominated by ASHRAE Project engineer Mykel Vallerga personifies servant leadership. Her technical skills, attention to detail, dedication to successful completion of projects, communication skills, and ability to work with people make her an effective and well-rounded engineer. Mykel demonstrates effective interpersonal skills with diverse industry …

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