PS&S is pleased to be a Gold-level sponsor of AIA Newark & Suburban Architects chapter, where Vice President and Civil Engineering Principal, Lisa DiGerolamo, PE delivered a compelling presentation titled “CIVIL DISCOURSE: What Architects need to know about Civil Engineering & Site Plan Approvals” to over 70 Northern New Jersey architects. Also attending the May 24th AIA event, held at The Madison Hotel in Morristown, NJ, were Fred Mundt from PS&S’s Civil Engineering group, and Ron Weston, PS&S Vice President who is also serving as the 2018 President of AIA Newark & Suburban Architects.
PS&S Employees Mentor in Yonkers
Two PS&S Yonkers-based architects spent the 2017-2018 school year mentoring a group of Yonkers High School students, volunteering their time by participating in the ACE Mentor Program.
Leonardo Afanador and Michael Calvi worked with ACE, a national program for high school students who are interested in Architecture, Construction, and Engineering. The ACE Mentor Program looks for mentors who are practicing professionals in their respective fields to share their professional experience and expertise with high school students.
In addition to working in Yonkers, both Leonardo and Michael are Yonkers residents who believe in giving back to their community. Michael, who also grew up in Yonkers, participated in ACE as a high school student, and the program was instrumental in his becoming an architect. Leonardo was born in Colombia and came to the United States at the age of nine. He agreed to mentor to help introduce minority students to potential professional opportunities they may not have considered otherwise.
The PS&S professionals worked with the students on a project where they took a former industrial building and turned it into a sports complex and theater space for the community.
Volunteering on Long Island
PS&S Vice President and Principal-in-Charge of our New York Offices Keith Samaroo pitched in to help out Long Island-based Moonjumpers on May 11. The day-long event helped support the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County with site improvements, building repair and landscaping at Camp Sobaco in Yaphank, NY.
Supporting the Waterfront Alliance
“Cities on the Edge” is the theme for this year’s Waterfront Conference on May 8th, hosted by the Waterfront Alliance. PS&S’s work on the Saw Mill River daylighting project will be a focus of a panel discussion on urban restoration and waterfront development featuring Executive Vice President Joe Fleming. PS&S is a sponsor of the event which will take place aboard the Hornblower Infinity.
PS&S Supports NJIT’s Newark College of Engineering (NCE)
The PS&S team was happy to support and participate in NCE’s 20th Annual Salute to Engineering Excellence. PS&S was honored with NCE's Outstanding Industry Partnership Award recognizing its long and proud history with NJIT.
Nearly 15% of company employees have a degree from the Newark-based school including Executive Vice President Joe Fleming who was one of the evening’s featured speakers. General Counsel Renard Barnes was also appointed to serve on the NCE Board of Visitors.
PS&S Supports the Cooper Red Hot Gala
PS&S is proud to once again support The Cooper Foundation’s Red Hot Gala, helping to raise a record-breaking $2.1 Million to support Women’s health.
More than 1,000 people attended the eighth annual event on April 27th in Philadelphia. The PS&S team in attendance included Kyle Rutherford, Kris McCool, John Sartor, Marge DellaVecchia and Steve Ewing.
2018 Engineers Week
For the second consecutive year, the PS&S team helped celebrate National Engineers Week, a yearly event designed to raise awareness and showcase the marvels of engineering. PS&S helped sponsor the event at the Liberty Science Center which was hosted by The North Jersey Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Over the two days at the LSC, more than 300 children aged 5-13 participated at the PS&S table working on an augmented reality sandbox. This interactive table uses sand and 3-D visualization applications to create a virtual topography which is projected on a large screen so the kids could watch their experiments come to life.
Erika Bocian led the PS&S team and was joined by Rita Exposito, Brian Liebeskind, Pietro Di Tillio, Chris Zuidema, Kristin Baltadonis, Leonardo Afanador, David Marko and Gregory Ranft. Special assistance was provided by Erika’s son Ethan who helped make the PS&S table the place to be!
PS&S Welcomes Camila Israel
Camila Israel has joined PS&S as a Project Manager in the company’s Yonkers, New York regional office. She brings nearly 20 years of professional experience in environmental engineering and consulting services in both the United States and Latin America and specializes in site investigations, remedial action plans and environmental permitting and compliance.
Camila was raised in Bogota, Colombia and came to the United States in 2000 after obtaining her degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad America in Bogota. Once in the States, Camila worked for an international engineering and consulting firm in West Palm Beach, Florida supporting the water resources and civil engineering group. In 2005, Camila moved to NY to work for Nova Consulting and since has provided environmental and engineering consulting services to a variety of clients that includes small and large developers, property owners, major oil retail and insurances companies.
PS&S is delighted to add Camila to our outstanding team in Westchester, where she can add her expertise to a wide variety of projects including major redevelopments in New Rochelle, the Yonkers waterfront and Phase 3 of the Saw Mill River Daylighting.
South Jersey Biz Names Dr. Emily Cooperman as one of "2018 Women to Watch"
Congratulations to PS&S’s Dr. Emily Cooperman on being named one of South Jersey Biz’s Women to Watch for 2018.
PS&S Receives ACEC Engineering Excellence Award
The American Council of Engineering Companies of New Jersey (ACECNJ) recognized PS&S with its Distinguished Award in Engineering Excellence at its 47th Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet. The honor was awarded for PS&S's work providing design and engineering services for the renovation and addition to building B9 at Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Hopewell, NJ campus. The project consisted of 40,000sf of renovations and a 13,000sf addition to an existing R&D laboratory building. Along with architecture and mechanical, electrical, and piping design, PS&S also provided the geotechnical reporting and the structural engineering.
The project is an example of architectural and engineering design that is “inspired by the science."
PS&S Wins Landscape Architectural Design Award
PS&S’s work for “AVE at Florham Park,” recently received a Merit Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (NJASLA) in the Landscape Architectural Site Design category.
The “AVE at Florham Park” is a 265 unit flexible-stay rental community situated on 11 acres on the former home of Exxon’s engineering division in Florham Park, NJ. Craig Cartmell was the project lead for our Landscape Architecture team which provided schematic design through construction administration and project close out for the latest development at The Green at Florham Park, a 268-acre master-planned development.
Proud to sponsor the New Jersey Future Redevelopment Forum
PS&S was proud to sponsor the New Jersey Future Redevelopment Forum on March 9 in New Brunswick as experts discussed how municipalities should plan for our state’s future growth.
WINTER 2018 NEWSLETTER
From the Corner Office
Doug Conant, the former Chief Executive Officer of Campbell Soup Company, is a business leader known for his focus on people. His motto has faithfully been, “To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.” We completely agree with Doug’s “people-first” approach, and so to kick off our first newsletter of 2018, we are focusing on our company’s most important resource: our employees.
We are always particularly happy when we get to recognize the people who have earned promotions by spotlighting them in our newsletters. We want our community to know who is moving up and succeeding in our company and this month, you will read about 11 stand-out employees who are becoming senior associates and associates. These 11 men and women are a large part of the reason we are so confident now and for the future of our companies.
We will also shine a spotlight on our new Senior Director, Rich Crane. Rich brings his wastewater expertise to our Water Resources team expanding our capabilities in that crucial area.
We are clearly growing and expanding as 2018 begins, and we look forward to watching these talented professionals help our company strengthen and prosper.
For more information, please contact Anthony Sartor at asartor@psands.com, or John Sartor at jsartor@psands.com.
Focus On: Employee Promotions
We are happy to announce the following promotions in our family of companies at our Warren HQ and at our regional offices. Eleven professionals have been recognized for their outstanding work and dedicated service for our clients. All promotions took effect on January 1, 2018.
Promoted to Senior Associate:
Kristin Baltadonis – This is the second promotion for Kristin who joined PS&S in 2011. She is an environmental scientist with more than 14 years of experience in many aspects of environmental and remediation investigations. She works mostly in the Environmental Sector and handles some licensing and permitting in the Science and Tech Sector. Kristin, who grew up in Massachusetts, went to college in North Carolina and lives in Morristown, works mostly with New Jersey’s public utilities. Her favorite project has been uprating a pipeline in northern NJ for a utility client.
Helena Dimitrov – Helena has held multiple roles in her 20+ years at the company. Currently, Helena is the Senior Business Analyst at AJS BIS, where she analyzes projects and works with clients on project workflow management, strategy and consultation. Her roots are in information technology, where she maximized profits for the company by helping to implement the conversion of the financial project control systems. A Hillsborough, NJ resident, Helena earned a BA in Political Science from Rutgers.
Dennis Fox – In his 10+ years at PS&S, Dennis has served as a Project Manager/Structural Engineer for the design of a wide range of projects from small renovations to large commercial, educational, institutional and industrial facilities. A Rowan University graduate, Dennis handles a variety of responsibilities including project management, design support and mentoring junior engineers.
Adam Lazer – Adam joined PS&S after graduating from the University of Rochester in 2002 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He left briefly to join a client’s firm but returned in 2015 and now serves as the Client Lead for that same company. Adam is a project manager supporting design and construction services for PS&S’s pharmaceutical clients.
Tom Maleski – Tom rejoined PS&S in 2016, returning to take a position as a Building Information Modeling (BIM) Manager. Tom is being promoted to Senior Associate in the Building Services group, working on a variety of projects, specifically training and mentoring on BIM technology. Tom received his degree in Civil Engineering from NJIT and previously worked at PS&S as a structural designer.
Promoted to Associate:
Scott Caporizzo – Scott joined PS&S in 2013 after graduating from Lehigh University with a degree in Environmental Engineering. Based in PS&S’s Yonkers office, Scott works in the Environmental Department, providing services for projects requiring site assessment/remediation and regulatory compliance. As a field supervisor, Scott observes and documents various remedial action implementations such as in-situ soil and groundwater treatment, sediment excavation, and engineering controls installation. He enjoys playing an integral role at a regional office, contributing to a close-knit group of people.
Fred Chen – Since 2015, Fred has been an integral member of the PS&S MEPF team. He has more than 10 years of experience in the engineering consulting industry and has served as Lead Engineer in charge of electrical engineering and design quality control of the department. Fred was born in Queens, NY, and now lives in Middlesex Borough, having graduated from Union College in 2007 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. His most memorable project was a resilience project for the Bergen County Utility Authority focusing on water pollution. PS&S was instrumental in obtaining federal funding to fix equipment damaged by Superstorm Sandy so that the base could be replaced from the bottom up to avoid future damage.
Agnes Dzierzanowski – Agnes is the heart and soul of the PS&S Land Project Controls Group. Since joining the company in 1993, Agnes has been responsible for the project opening and billing procedures, working with all of our Land project managers. Agnes’ dedication and attention to detail for our billing and budgeting processes have been essential to the success of this group.
Angela Gonzalez – For the past four years, Angela has been an architect in the PS&S Building Group after working as a sole proprietor and consultant. Currently, she is the project architect for Millville High School, a multi-phase renovation and addition in Millville, NJ. Angela earned her undergraduate degree in Environmental Design from Miami of Ohio and a Masters of Architecture from Virginia Tech. Originally from Ossining, NY, Angela now lives in Mendham, NJ.
Adolf Montana – A 20-year PS&S veteran, Adolf is a LEED accredited Civil Engineer who is responsible for design work related to all aspects of site development. In particular, Adolf is responsible for site layout, roadway design, grading, storm and sanitary design. In one of his early projects, he helped develop the roadway design for the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. A CCNY graduate and resident of Monroe, Adolf is currently working on the design-build Hudson County School of Technology set to open later this year in Secaucus.
Darlene Silva – Darlene is a member of our Wall regional office where her responsibilities include performance of environmental feasibility analyses, wetlands delineations and permit applications. Her experience includes projects subject to the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act as well as projects subject to New Jersey Pinelands Commission jurisdiction. Darlene also prepares Environmental Impact Statements for submission to New Jersey municipalities. A graduate of Paul Smith’s College with a degree in Ecology and Environmental Technology, Darlene has been at PS&S since 2014.
Employee Spotlight: Rich Crane
Rich Crane has joined PS&S as a Senior Director in the company’s Water Resources Department. He will be based in the Company’s Wall, New Jersey, regional office.
Rich has 37 years of experience in feasibility studies, planning, process mechanical design, contract administration and project management for wastewater treatment plant and pump station design and related construction projects. He began his career in the wastewater field by working on various projects for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection including several large treatment facilities which treated between 125-350 million gallons of wastewater per day. Rich was involved in the design, startup, training and construction administration of wastewater treatment facilities in all five NYC Boroughs.
Rich was hired to strengthen PS&S’s wastewater capabilities, and the decision is already paying dividends. He has a long and successful relationship with the South Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority (SMRSA) having designed both their original cogeneration system installation and the cogeneration system upgrade. PS&S was just recently awarded a construction phase services contract for the system upgrade project. The PS&S team is proud to continue that relationship.
“I have known about PS&S and its capabilities for years,” Rich commented. “I wanted to join this team not only because of the strength of the company’s water resources group, but because of the level of talent throughout the company. Add in the wide variety of projects and the diverse client base, and the decision to join PS&S was a no-brainer.”
Rich and his wife Alberta have three adult sons and reside in Freehold Township. Outside the office, Rich believes in giving back by working with the next generation of engineers. He has served as an instructor for Rutgers University helping recent graduates study for the hydraulics portion of the PE exam.
“Rich brings PS&S’s wastewater capabilities to a new level,” said John Vena, PS&S’s Associate Principal in charge of the company’s Wall Regional Office. “His expertise increases our opportunities to secure larger and more significant projects in the area of wastewater treatment, pumping stations, solids handing facilities and cogeneration.”
For more information, please contact Rich Crane at rcrane@psands.com.
PS&S Welcomes Rich Crane
Rich Crane has joined PS&S as a Senior Director in the company’s Water Resources Department. He will be based in the Company’s Wall, New Jersey, regional office.
Rich has 37 years of experience in feasibility studies, planning, process mechanical design, contract administration and project management for wastewater treatment plant and pump station design and related construction projects. He began his career in the wastewater field by working on various projects for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection including several large treatment facilities which treated between 125-350 million gallons of wastewater per day. Rich was involved in the design, startup, training and construction administration of wastewater treatment facilities in all five NYC Boroughs.
Rich was hired to strengthen PS&S’s wastewater capabilities, and the decision is already paying dividends. He has a long and successful relationship with the South Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority (SMRSA) having designed both their original cogeneration system installation and the cogeneration system upgrade. PS&S was just recently awarded a construction phase services contract for the system upgrade project. The PS&S team is proud to continue that relationship.
“Rich brings a wealth of wastewater capabilities to PS&S,” said John Vena, PS&S’s Associate Principal in charge of the company’s Wall Regional Office. “His expertise increases our opportunities to secure significant projects in the area of wastewater treatment, pumping stations, solids handing facilities and cogeneration.”
January Events: PS&S In The Community
PS&S was proud to sponsor the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey’s Reception for Camden’s new Mayor, Frank Moran. Mayor Moran took the oath of office as Camden’s 48th Mayor in early January, after having served as the City Council President. The event featured speeches by U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross, Chamber of Commerce President George Sowa and Mayor Moran.
Left to Right: PS&S's Marge DellaVecchia, Mayor Frank Moran, and PS&S's Kyle Rutherford.
PS&S was also a sponsor of the New Jersey Builders Association 2018 Industry Awards held in Hamilton, NJ. Awards were given in a variety of categories including Builder of the Year, Rising Star and Hall of Fame.
Left to Right: PS&S's Marge DellaVecchia, Allura's Bill Cappuccio with wife, Lorraine
New Rochelle Project Update Featured in New York Yimby
New York YIMBY features an update on the PS&S designed project at 587 Main Street in New Rochelle, NY. RXR Realty, Brause Realty and ABS Partners Real Estate are the developers and completion is expected in late 2018.
Renowned Architectural Historian Dr. Emily Cooperman Joins PS&S
Emily T. Cooperman, PhD, has joined the cultural resource management practice of PS&S, the company announced today. Dr. Cooperman, who will work out of the company's Cherry Hill office, is a nationally-recognized expert in evaluating the historical significance of buildings, structures and landscapes and in the assessment of project effects upon such cultural resources.
Dr. Cooperman joins PS&S with 28 years of experience. Her clients have included private property owners, attorneys, colleges and universities, local governments and state agencies, architects and landscape architects, engineers, planners, real estate developers, preservation advocacy organizations, historical societies, and museums. She has worked on projects that range from studies of individual buildings and gardens and historical designations to planning for preservation for whole municipalities.
"I have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with PS&S," said Dr. Cooperman. "I have known the Director of the company's cultural resource management practice for more than 12 years, primarily working on projects that review potential effects upon cultural resources. We have worked together to mitigate any effects that are found to be adverse."
Recently, Dr. Cooperman collaborated with PS&S to survey historic buildings of a wide variety of types and dates across several southern New Jersey counties for the planned upgrade to Atlantic City Electric's powerline from the Delaware River to near Atlantic City.
"The unusual depth of Dr. Cooperman's expertise in the historic preservation arena will allow PS&S to penetrate the historic preservation market more substantially," said John Sartor, the President and Chief Executive Officer of PS&S. "We are looking forward to her providing strong support for our growing regulatory permitting practice."
Should you have any questions about our cultural resource management practice, please contact Matt Tomaso at mtomaso@psands.com or (732) 584-0635.
Delighted to be a Patron Sponsor for Operation Santa Claus
PS&S is delighted to be a Patron Sponsor for the 2017 Operation Santa Claus. This Yonkers-based organization's mission is to raise money for special adaptive equipment for children with developmental disabilities. Operation Santa Claus is a charitable bi-partisan group, and every dollar raised goes to providing this much needed equipment.
John Vena Receives Award from AEANJ
Congratulations to John Vena, the recipient of the Leadership Service Award from the Association of Environmental Authorities. John, who works in our Wall, NJ office, served on the AEA Board of Directors from 2011-2016.
FALL 2017 NEWSLETTER
| Printer-friendly version |
|
| FALL 2017 NEWSLETTER |
|
||
|
While the importance of education remains constant, what is different now from yesteryear is how and where children learn. It’s obvious that the one-room schoolhouse has gone the way of the horse and buggy, replaced by modern technological structures built to educate children in the 21st century and beyond. PS&S designs sustainable, efficient, and cost effective educational facilities for both private and public institutions. Our goal is to translate the needs and vision of our clients into practical architecture and engineering solutions that support current and future educational needs. We are proud of our portfolio of completed K-12 education projects which include recent additions in New Brunswick, Keansburg, Newark, Paterson and Millville, New Jersey as well as the Bronx, New York. Townships and school districts are making important investments in their educational infrastructure and our architects and engineers have extensive experience designing and delivering high-performance design-build "21st century" K-12 school buildings. We are also LEED-certified specialists. With the 2017-2018 school year now in full swing, our autumn newsletter will highlight our education work and the professionals who are working to design and build the next generation of schools for the next generation of students. For more information, please contact Anthony Sartor at asartor@psands.com, or John Sartor at jsartor@psands.com. |
||
|
||
|
Ron Weston heads up the company’s Education Sector. Ron joined PS&S in 2011 and is a senior member of the Architecture & Engineering Practice where he is involved in business development and management of A/E projects. Ron is a graduate of Syracuse University and is a passionate advocate for sustainable design, environmental protection, and smart land use planning. "It is extremely rewarding to design buildings where children can learn and grow," Ron said. "I don’t mind dealing with the myriad challenges with these public projects, when at the end of the project you get to cut a ribbon on a new school. Schools are investments in the future and will be around for generations." In New Jersey specifically, PS&S offers design-build delivery expertise with several completed projects standing as proof that this is the wave of the future. If the old adage is true that time is money, this process is a win-win. The process allows for one contract and one unified flow of work from preliminary design through completion – thereby integrating the roles of designer and constructor. Design-build is an alternative to the traditional design-bid-build project delivery method and it certainly saves time...and money. In just the past year, PS&S had the privilege of helping to unveil three brand new schools.
In New Jersey, the company successfully teamed with Farmingdale, NJ-based Hall Construction on six NJ Schools Development Authority (NJSDA) design-build projects, including two award-winning schools which opened in 2016: Elliott Street Elementary School in Newark and Joseph C. Caruso Elementary School in Keansburg. PS&S served as both Engineers of Record and Architect of Record for both schools, working in close collaboration with the design-build contractors. Both projects were recognized with Distinguished Engineering Awards by the New Jersey Alliance for Action.
The new $38 million Elliott Street Elementary School, is a 137,889 square foot facility designed to educate 848 students from Grade Pre-K to Grade 8. The new $33 million Caruso Elementary School is 122,000 square-feet and is designed to educate 840 students in grades K to 4.
Both school buildings replaced previous old school structures that were no longer suitable for use and were demolished to make way for new facilities. These state-of-the-art education facilities house general classrooms, specialized instructional classrooms and labs, media center, multi-purpose/assembly room, cafeteria, gymnasium and outdoor play areas, as well as administrative and support facilities. Most recently, PS&S’s integrated A/E group, including architecture, civil, structural, MEP and Geotech teams, designed and engineered the state-of-the-art elementary school, PS 583 in the Bronx, New York. The project received a 'Gold' design award at the AIA Newark & Suburban 2017 Design Awards competition, and is now home to more than 500 students and teachers.
In addition to public schools, PS&S is pursuing opportunities with public charter schools as well. And the education group also focuses on higher education work. PS&S has partnered with many colleges and universities with competed projects at SUNY Albany, Montclair State University, Richard Stockton College, Columbia University and Rutgers University, just to name a few. One of the clear drivers of the company’s education work is the changing face of technology. Schools need to be built for the 21st Century – they need to be sustainable, environmentally friendly and encourage health and wellness. PS&S has a dedicated group that leads energy projects and collaborates with other disciplines on energy initiatives in both new construction and renovation projects. The PS&S professionals are Certified Energy Managers and/or LEED-Accredited Professionals who have experience on a variety of energy and sustainability projects. "The only definite we know of is that change is inevitable," says Ron Weston. "You can’t account for everything, but you must assume things will change. 10 years ago, the trend in schools was building with fiber cable to the desktop. Now, it’s all about wireless. No one anticipated that cabling would be unnecessary. It’s hard to predict all the technological needs of the future but we need to design with flexibility and adaptability as best we can. The health and wellness of students and teachers, who spend so much of their lives in these buildings, is paramount as we create updated and new schools." For more information, contact Ron Weston at rweston@psands.com. |
||
|
||
|
