Most mentors in engineering push kids to excel in math, science and technology so they can succeed in the field. But a Tuscaloosa, Ala., geotechnical engineering firm champions reading skills as its mentoring cause for young students in any career—and the effort is working. Photo: Courtesy of TTL Inc. Photo: Courtesy of TTL Inc. Reading incentive mentor program sponsored by TTL Inc. has boosted student performance, says President McClure. Committed employees at TTL Inc. not only have helped raise stubbornly low reading test scores in several Southern-area elementary schools, they also have sharpened their firm’s connection to local clients and

A new interface between a suite of design products used to create many of the world’s process and power facilities and an explosion-consequence prediction tool shortens the time needed to run safety analyses of plant designs from weeks or months to days or hours. Photo Courtesy Of Intergraph Corp. New interface between explosionanalysis and design software may boost safety. “The interface between Intergraph’s rules-based 3D design solution and GexCon’s FLACS explosion analysis software can help designers increase productivity and enhance safety before plant construction begins,” says Tom Fiske, a senior analyst with ARC Advisory Group, an industry analyst firm. GexCon,

A new pocket wizard developed for energy-aware homeowners may also help contractors give quick-and-easy answers to questions about an electric device’s economic and environmental impact in these energy-conscious days. Photo: Tom Sawyer Small, portable and convertible. The Conserve Insight, a $30 gadget from Belkin to be released this summer, is an in-line outlet adapter that translates electrical consumption into various measurements, including watts, dollars and pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. The adapter has a digital read-out on a six-foot cable, allowing users flexibility when trying to determine energy usage of devices plugged into hard-to-reach outlets. The small screen and simple

More rough waters lie ahead for the worldwide construction industry, according to IHS Global Insight Construction Service, Lexington Mass., which predicts further decreases in construction spending. According to first-quarter data from 69 markets, IHS predicted construction spending would remain flat in 2010. However, Laura Hanlon, the research firm’s product manager, admits that, in light of recent economic turmoil, the first-quarter outlook was a little overly optimistic. “As of quarter one, we were still optimistic for a flat 2010,” said Hanlon. “However, we just released a new forecast [on June 30], and with the information we have received through quarter two,

New York City’s Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction, a public high school, hosted its first “Iron Designer” competition on June 18 on the roof of its midtown building. Photo: James Blum Team works to determine the best use of the secret material—glass tiles. Composed of students partnered with architectural and engineering firms professsionals, 10 teams competed to build the best safe house: a life-size emergency shelter. The organizers limited each team to a handful of common materials and a threehour deadline. The school envisions the challenge becoming an annual fund-raising event. On the day before the competition, the

The Essential Element, a Hopewell, N.J.-based company, has put “off the grid” on the radar. The company’s combination of new technologies in water purification and energy generation has led to the creation of HYDRA, a 20,000-gal-per-day water purifier the company claims is the first self-sustainable, portable water filtration system. Photo: Essential Element The HYDRA features 12 solar panels that produce 2.88 kW to power the 16-ft-long assembly, which can be transported in a truck bed or on a utility trailer. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" In their regular jobs at Oil Free Now LLC, Woodbury, Conn., David Squires and

Hyper-competitiveness in the industry seems to be abating somewhat as world economies recover. However, wary customers and unclear government policies still restrain contract awards, public engineering and construction-firm executives told investors on June 3 at a conference sponsored by New York City-based investment firm Credit Suisse. MasTec CEO Jose Mas sees economic recovery generating work in its wireless business and in renewable-energy construction. “We have as much visibility in this business as we’ve ever had,” he says, adding that up to 40% of projects already bid could start work this year. Firms hope to fuel growth and fill domestic market