Dec 30, 1998

Rock mechanics symposium

The American Rock Mechanics Association will hold the 37th U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium on June 6-9, 1999, at the Marriott Mountain Resort in Vail Colorado. This year's theme, Rock Mechanics for Industry, is of interest to engineers and geologists who deal with the properties of rock in large and small-scale construction projects, environmental projects, and waste disposal -- especially those involving drilling, tunneling, mining and quarrying. The program includes field trips to the front range of the Rocky Mountains, workshops on nuclear waste repositories, industry-government-university partnerships, hydraulic fracturing, grouting, coal pillar mechanics, and three days of technical sessions. Immediately preceding the symposium at the same location is the Third International Conference on Analysis of Discontinuous Deformation, June 3-4. Conference information will be updated regularly on the World Wide Web through the ARMA site. or contact Mark Cramer, events

Skyview High School

"American School and University" Magazine has announced that Skyview High School, Vancouver, Washington, has received a citation for outstanding design. Judges describe Skyview High School as "light, bright and very interesting." It was designed by LSW Architects, also of Vancouver. Academic houses at Skyview contain flexible spaces with moveable walls to allow individual study, collaborative projects and large-group instruction. They also include areas for staff planning, conferences, decentralized administration student services and counseling. The ground level contains a marketplace, credit union, electronic arts studio and food court. Student work and partnership exhibits are displayed in a large gallery. Upstairs is a news bureau, information center, and print production center. The physical education center promotes lifelong fitness and health. The performance auditorium seats 1,150.

Dam failure talk at ASCE

The Seattle Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will hold its monthly dinner meeting on Wednesday, January 13, beginning at 5:30, at the Yankee Diner in Ballard. The cost is $16. Charles Voss of Golder Associates will discuss the failure of Boliden Dam in Spain. Reservations must be made by noon on Monday, January 11, be calling (425) 990-4164.

Urban design competition

Phyllis Lambert, founding director and chair of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) has announced the creation of an international competition to encourage innovative contributions to the design of cities. Offering a prize of $100,000 U.S., the competition will be held every three years, focusing each time on a different site in one of the world's major cities. The jury will meet in New York City in February to select five competitors, and projects will be submitted and judged by July 1999. Participants will be asked to envision dynamic future developments for the West Side of Manhattan, a tangle of railyards and traffic tunnels roadways and subways, overpasses and underpasses between the Hudson River and Eighth Avenue and between 30th Street and 34th Street.

Perteet project recognized

The City of Port Townsend received an "Award of Excellence" from the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for improvements to San Juan Avenue. The project, designed by Perteet Engineering of Everett, included street widening, the addition of a bike lane, a pedestrian path, transit stops and drainage and safety enhancements. Lakeside Industries was the construction contractor.

HWA

Paul Grant has joined HWA Geosciences as principal. He will be principal-in-charge of the geotechnical group and will lead the firm's earthquake engineering efforts. Grant has performed and directed seismic studies for a number of key projects in the Puget Sound area, including Columbia-Seafirst Center, the West Seattle Freeway Bridge and Seattle's new Benaroya Concert Hall.

Coffman

Jill Connell has returned to Coffman Engineers as a mechanical engineer. She has over 16 years of experience in the engineering and management of mechanical systems design for health care facilities, office buildings, and retail facilities. Her current clients include Swedish Medical Center and Safeco. Scott Stevenson has joined Coffman Construction Management as construction manager, with over 15 years of experience. His current projects include Norse Home Retirement Center in Seattle and Pacific Torque in Burien. Loree Speirs recently joined Coffman Construction Management as accounting administrative assistant.

BOORA

BOORA Architects of Portland has promoted three staff members to the level of associate. Joan Jasper has completed NikeTown stores in San Francisco and Seattle as well as a medical office building and private residence. She is currently at work on a medical office building in Tualatin. Chris Lee is the marketing coordinator for the 90-person firm. She has worked within the architecture industry for nine years. Michael Montagne is the CAD manager of BOORA's 90-workstation office. He practiced architecture for nine years before going into business as a computer consultant specializing in CAD system management.

Cary Kopczynski

Panos Trochalakis has joined Cary Kopczynski & Company of Bellevue as a design engineer. Trochalakis is currently working on the Avalon Hotel, Portland, and Metropolitan Park North an 11-story office building in Seattle. Rolando Mario has joined the firm as a CAD designer/drafter. Mario has over twenty-two years of technical design and drafting experience. He is currently working on Westlake Tower, a 31-story residential building starting construction this month in downtown Seattle.

W&H Pacific

Rebecca Slick has joined W&H Pacific as telecommunications planner and project manager, currently serving as project manager for the Sprint Spectrum wireless project in the Seattle area. Prior to joining W&H Pacific, Slick worked for Koll Telecommunications Services in Portland, where she was responsible for managing site development projects dealing with acquisition and zoning issues.

Hutteball and Oremus

Calvin Tam has joined the staff of Hutteball & Oremus Architecture in Kirkland. A recent graduate of the University of Washington, he is assisting with several capital projects for the Monroe School District, including Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades and re-roofing.

Horton Dennis

Neil S. Cabbage has rejoined Horton Dennis & Associates as principal surveyor. He has 29 years of experience in the field, 11 of which were with Horton Dennis.

TranSystems

G. Scott Williams has joined TranSystems Corporation of Bellevue as project manager in the highway, roads and bridges sector of the company's Bellevue office. He has over 16 years of experience with the Washington State Department of Transportation where he managed large Interstate 405 projects. Patrick Li has joined the firm as a structural engineer. He previously worked on a variety of bridge projects in the Chicago area.

Interface

Scott D. Gore has joined Interface Engineering of Kirkland as an electrical designer. He has over 10 years of experience in the industry and is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers.

Squier/HGI

Jerry Jacksha has joined Squier Associates as a senior geotechnical engineer, managing projects related to industry, transportation, water, wastewater, ports and harbors. He has geotechnical and civil engineering experience on large environmental projects. Elson "Chip" Barnett has joined the firm as a staff geologist. He was previously a research and development consultant for Mutual Materials, identifying raw sources for a brick plant. He is currently participating in instrumentation and monitoring of landslide related projects for Lane County and communities along the Oregon coast, and has co-authored several geology articles.