Engineering Ventures

On Sunday September 29, 2019 the sun was shining and the air was crisp in the mountains around Stowe, Vermont. The early fall foliage was rustling in a light breeze. All was calm and peaceful. But, not for long! The field behind the Stoweflake Mountain Resort was preparing for a bombardment of epic proportions.

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Building and Testing

A team of Civil Engineers and Admin at EV got together to build and fine-tune a trebuchet for the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival. Over the course of two weeks, Tyler Barnard, Julia Ginorio, Paul Boisvert, and Katherine Rudzki built a “walking arm” trebuchet. A physics teacher in Vermont, Mr. Jonathan Stapleton, developed this style, and he competes in this festival with his son every year using his design. Though the walking arm trebuchet looks almost nothing like what might have been used centuries ago, it is effective at flinging pumpkins farther than most other styles of similar weight classes.

Team EV developed a few modifications to the original trebuchet design including enforcing the corners of the triangle with struts and staggering the weight towards the rear of the arm. These modifications would ensure the triangle wouldn’t break easily upon impact and the arm would have more power during its follow-through swing. Other than that, it was just a matter of fine-tuning the angle of impact and the weight before the competition.

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Contest Day

On the day of the festival, the team arrived to set up their trebuchet and scope out the competition. There were the usual suspects – Mr. Stapleton and his son both sporting their walking-arm trebuchets, and a few others who have competed in years past. Despite the walking arm trebuchet endorsement in the official Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival blog, there were plenty of other wild designs on the field!

Team EV decided on a name on the fly: Walker Texas Flinger, paying homage to the name of the trebuchet design. The first two throws were decent. The first went 160 feet, and the second flew into a stand of trees off to the side 220 feet. But, the last throw put EV on the map! After shuffling around weight on the arm more towards the rear, the projectile flew an incredible 290 feet!

At the end of the day, EV won 2nd Place in their weight class, and 3rd Place overall!

Will Team EV fine-tune their design for next year’s competition and beat their own record? Stay tuned!

Schenectady, New York – Engineering Venture’s office in Schenectady is expanding twofold. Mark DeCrescente, P.E. is moving from our Burlington location down to the New York State Capitol Region. He will be assisting Michael Dussault, P.E. with projects in and around the Capitol.

Mark has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware and contributes 15 years of civil engineering experience. Mark is from the Philadelphia, PA area and worked for most of his career in that area in private engineering consulting. Examples of Mark’s projects range from commercial and institutional developments to residential subdivisions. Mark has experience in land development and with providing stormwater management, erosion and sedimentation control, site grading, sanitary sewer, and site plan preparation and other utility design for various types of developments.

He has worked on projects for the Town of Peru, New York, Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, Elizabethtown Community Hospital campuses in Ticonderoga and Elizabethtown, health clinics throughout the Adirondack Region for Elizabethtown Community Hospital, and various other commercial projects.

He joins Michael Dussault, P.E. who became a Principal of the company in January of 2019. Mike has 20 plus years of progressive experience in engineering design including lead engineer roles in management and execution of projects. He focuses on environmentally sustainable design through responsible development and smart planning. He enjoys partnering with designers and clients that showcase environmental consciousness through their projects.

Though they have worked together in the past, we look forward to seeing the outcome of this merger and their subsequent collaboration.

Engineering Ventures is an experienced consulting engineering firm operating in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Our staff are licensed and practicing in the Northeastern states, as well as other areas of the country. Select, qualified professionals and technicians provide a broad range of civil and structural engineering services.

Engineering Ventures’ offices are pet friendly to say the least. Not many days go by without seeing a dog roaming the halls or lounging beneath their owners’ desk. Even if someones’ pet stays at home, they are still a part of EV’s extended family! Because May is National Pet Month, we wanted to highlight the many furry friends that make up our honorary staff.

Hannah Wingate – Walter Whitcomb Wingate
With six toes on each paw, Walter has more to love! He is a ~1 year old kitten who was adopted from Craigslist as his previous owners couldn’t keep him due to their lease. Walter loves going outside and running around – his extra toes make him look like a bunny as he hops through the grass. He hasn’t made the trip to EV just yet, but Hannah is planning on bringing him along for field work some day.

Julia Ginorio – Night Queen
Night Queen was adopted from Chittenden Humane Society in South Burlington, VT two years ago, and she hasn’t stopped destroying her toys ever since. She will play fetch with her humans, and expects to play even in the dead of night! Even though she can’t see very well, she can track her toys with her ears and will knock them out of the air mid-flight. She hopes to come into the office someday, as she is falling behind on rent and needs to put in some hours.

Jimmy Hoepker – Lorenzo and Sofia
These two pups were a package deal when Jimmy started dating his now-wife! Both Lorenzo and Sofia are Shih Tzus around the same age, but that is where the similarities end. Lorenzo will bark at anything, and Sofia is quiet and contemplative. Instead of barking, Sofia will groan at things, when she’s not sleeping. She will assist in terrifying her brother Lorenzo – who hates helium balloons – by running around the house with a balloon tied around her collar. Lorenzo has been in the office, but Sofia has yet to come in!

Jessie Johnson – Blue
Instagram star Blue (@mrbluesyblue) is the star of the EV Burlington office, too! He takes it upon himself to sneak around the halls, coming back to the admin quarters for pets and treats. When he’s not roaming, he can be found lounging near Jessie’s desk, longing for peanut butter and bacon! He was adopted from Passion for Paws, a Vermont rescue agency, in summer of 2015. You couldn’t tell, but he’s a mix of Beagle, Pekingese, and Cocker Spaniel, with the DNA test to prove it! Like a true Vermonter, he’s a fan of being active: taking long walks and running… on a doggy treadmill!

Julie Reilly – James and Adhara
Another set of similar pups, James and Adhara are both Miniature Schnauzers. They love to run around and snuggle with each other, and they are also avid mountain climbers! One time climbing Mt. Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont, they zoomed past a group of VT National Guardsmen who were struggling to climb the rocky slopes. The commander of the group yelled (perhaps jokingly) to his troops: “Get it together! Are you guys going to give up and let those little dogs beat you up the mountain?” Both dogs have been in the EV Burlington office, chilling in Julie’s space or on Bob’s couch in his office.

Katherine Rudzki – Cinder and Penny
Cinder and Penny are opposites in every regard. Cinder is a pewter morph ball python who loves nothing more than sleeping under a rock in his enclosure, and Penny is a calico cat who loves chilling with her humans and playing fetch. Penny is also quite fond of “watching TV” (a tank of fish) and knows when they are about to feed by the sound of the fish food container opening. She will loaf next to the tank and watch them intently, sometimes tapping the side of the tank. Neither Cinder nor Penny will come to EV any time soon, Penny hates car rides and it’s doubtful that anyone would want to see a snake in the office.

Matt Ernst – Clementine
Quite the world traveler, Clementine is originally from Korea. She was found by an acquaintance of Matt’s, who was studying to be a veterinarian there. There are a lot of strays in Korea, so they took it up on themselves to rescue as many animals as they could, and find them homes in the United States. Clementine was one of those lucky kitties. She is an indoor/outdoor cat, but her favorite thing is to curl up on her human’s lap on the couch (preferably under a blanket) while watching TV.

Paul Hobbs – Phinney and Tuna
Phinney (age 3) was a rescue from the Joshua Fund Lab Rescue in Jay, NY, and his sister Tuna (age 14!) came from our very own Trish Densham! Not many days go by without a visit from Professional Stress Reliever Phinney Hobbs, M.D., who is often seen lounging under Paul’s desk eagerly awaiting head pats. He has a deadpan expression, but he’s quite the comedian. He loves to snuggle (and snore while he’s at it)! Tuna makes appearances in the office as well, and will wander the halls meowing. Don’t let her age fool you, she has taken the lives of many, many rodents, and is still hunting fiercely to this day!

Shannon Harrington – Murphy
Murphy, King of the Road, loves nothing more than making friends with the folks who walk or bike down his street. He will lay down and roll over, providing a belly to be rubbed by the many people who wander into his realm. In typical Labrador Retriever fashion, he loves to get wet, year-round. When wandering his homestead, he will bring a stuffy toy along with him. He doesn’t come into the EV Lebanon office; if he is to sit all day, he is much happier at home!

Tyler Barnard – Minou
Party Cat Minou loves hanging out outside with his human and their neighbors! He partied too hard once, and disappeared for 10 days. Wherever he had gone, he was very happy to be home, and is much more careful about straying far. Other than that, he loves sitting on the windowsill, watching the world go by as his human goes about his morning routine. Minou is not a fan of car rides or dogs, so it’s unlikely that he will be seen in the halls any time soon.

Here’s a good one: how many engineers does it take to get out of an Escape Room in 60 minutes?

The Engineering Ventures crew, representing all three offices, took a day from our usual work for a company retreat. Not only was it a celebration of our 25th year as a company, but it encouraged a different kind of thinking than what normally goes on at our desks. We gathered at the University of Vermont Alumni House, where so many of our team went for their degrees, and began our discussions.

The retreat was an open forum for ideas to improve workflow and to renew our drive to make EV the place to be! Everyone discussed so many brilliant ideas, and our committees are excited to start making them a reality.

After nearly having to peel everyone away from discussing their amazing ideas, we headed over to Escape Room 60 in Williston. We split into 3 teams and headed to our missions…

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our retreat. We are grateful for your energy, and we are all so excited to continue making EV the very best it can be.

(Escape Room 60 photos credited to their awesome staff – thank you for hosting our company’s after-retreat party! Thank you to the UVM Alumni House staff for hosting our retreat, and to Sugar Snap Catering for our lunch.)

Feb. 12, 2019 – Burlington, VT

By: Jeff Buell, Efficiency VT (Photo Credit to The Putney School)

 Efficiency Vermont has recognized eight Vermont building professionals for excellence in designing, building, and renovating energy efficient and sustainable buildings.

Winners of the annual Best of the Best awards were announced last week at the Better Buildings by Design conference, the Northeast’s premier design and construction conference. Efficiency Vermont hosts this conference each year to help Vermont’s building professionals expand their knowledge and networks, as well as earn professional certification credits.

“This year’s winners are achieving the highest levels of building performance in a state that boasts a statewide network of highly skilled efficient designers, builders, and contractors,” said Efficiency Vermont Director Rebecca Foster. “We are proud to support and celebrate Vermont’s building professionals, who are critical to our small state’s nationally renowned success in bringing the benefits of energy efficiency to all Vermonters.”

The 2019 winners are:

Commercial Building Design & Construction

• Commercial New Construction
  • City Market–Burlington, VT
    • Freeman French Freeman, Burlington, VT
• Commercial Major Renovation
  • Maclay Architects, Waitsfield VT
    • The Putney School Gray Dorm–Putney, VT
• Commercial New Construction Partner of the Year
  • Vermont Integrated Architecture –Colchester, VT

Residential New Construction

• Best of the Best in Residential New Construction
  • RG Builders – Burlington, VT
    • Private home in Burlington, VT
• Affordability Award
  • Vermod Homes –Wilder, VT
    • Private home in Barnard, VT
• Innovation Award
  • HELM Construction Solutions – Brattleboro, VT
    • Private home in Newfane, VT
      

Efficiency Excellence Network

• Leadership Award
  • Alex Carver, North Timbers Construction –Ripton, VT
• Partner of the Year
  • Lloyd Plumbing, Heating & Gas Services, LLC – Cabot, VT

About Efficiency Vermont: Efficiency Vermont was created by the Vermont Legislature and is regulated by the Vermont Public Utility Commission to help all Vermonters reduce energy costs, strengthen the economy, and protect Vermont’s environment.

For more information, contact Efficiency Vermont at 888-921-5990 or visit www.efficiencyvermont.com

We are pleased to announce the addition of Matthew Ernst, P.E., Clark Agnew, P.E., and Michael Dussault, P.E., as Owners.

The individuals in the photo (L to R) are Matthew Ernst, P.E., Clark Agnew, P.E., Mike Dussault, P.E.

Mike Dussault, P.E., Senior Civil Engineer/Principal, leads the Engineering Ventures office in Schenectady, NY.  He has 20 plus years of progressive experience in engineering design including lead engineer roles in management and execution of projects. Mike focuses on environmentally sustainable design through responsible development and smart planning.  He enjoys partnering with designers and clients that showcase environmental consciousness through their projects.

Matthew Ernst P.E., Structural Project Engineer/Principal, is a project manager in the structural group working from the Burlington, VT office on projects throughout New England.  Collaborating with clients and managing a wide variety of projects gives him great satisfaction in his work. Matt strives to seek innovative solutions for sound infrastructure and sustainable designs.

Clark Agnew, P.E., Structural Project Engineer/Principal, is a project manager in the structural group working from the Burlington, VT office on a wide variety of projects throughout New England.   Clark enjoys leveraging emerging technologies to bring a project from design through construction.  His projects range from high end homes to iconic public buildings, decorative outdoor meteor showers, and renovations.  It brings him great satisfaction to see the projects he has designed take shape and become fixtures of the communities they serve.

Mike, Matt, and Clark joint current Principals: Bob Neeld, P.E., President, Kevin Worden, P.E., Vice President/Civil Group Manager, Paul Hobbs, P.E., Senior Engineer, Paul Boisvert, P.E., Senior Engineer, Russ Miller-Johnson, P.E., Senior Structural Engineer, Nik Fiore, P.E., Civil Project Engineer, and Bill Nourse, P.E., Structural Group Manager/Senior Structural Engineer.

Engineering Ventures is an experienced consulting engineering firm operating in Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire, licensed and practicing in the Northeastern states, as well as other areas of the country. Select, qualified professionals and technicians provide a broad range of civil and structural engineering services.