Fall 2010 - Maryland Society of Professional Engineers
Transcription
Fall 2010 - Maryland Society of Professional Engineers
MARYLAND Fall / Fourth Quarter 2010 Professional Engineer a publication of the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers A Bridge to Cross the Chesapeake... Marylanders originally had to rely on boats to cross the Chesapeake Bay to and from the Eastern Shore. But as the population grew and automobiles became a more popular means of transportation, people began to call for a bridge that would cross the Chesapeake. The first plan for such a bridge was developed in 1927, but was quickly forgotten with the 1929 onset of the Great Depression. In 1938, under mounting pressure, the State legislature authorized a roadway crossing the Bay, but this time World War II postponed the effort. (Continued on page 10) INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 A Bridge to Cross the Chesapeake... 2 MDSPE Signs New Management Firm 3 President’s Message 3 $5,000 MathCounts Challenge to MDSPE Members: Grant Will 7 H.C. Harclerode II Named Double Your Tax-Deductible NSPE Fellow Contribution 8 Our NLE Sponsors 4 Mead Semiretires: SMSG 9 Meet Your MDSPE Officers: Working With the Baltimore President-Elect Chapter 9 Engineering Tip 5 Westminster Man Guilty of Faking PE Credentials 18 MDSPE Associates 6 Harrowing Life Story: 20 MDSPE Application Complaints Laid to Rest 21 Associate Membership at The With Death of John Elder, PE Engineers Club Application MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Fall / Fourth Quarter 2010 MDSPE Signs New Management Firm MARYLAND SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS A state society of the National Society of Professional Engineers Clemons & Associates, Inc., has been selected as the new society management company for the Society. Since reevaluating the strategic focus of the Society, the number one priority for MDSPE was the proper selection and implementation of a management firm. “We made the decision to work with Clemons & Associates after an enthusiastic and thorough search of alternatives,” said Bill Ryan, MDSPE President. “We found a management team that has the experience and expertise to handle the complexities of our Society.” Clemons & Associates is a top-rated organization that brings over 33 years of experience to the table. They were among the first association management companies to become accredited by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). As a charter-accredited company, they subscribe to the 15 high standards of practice of ASAE. Amanda Lee will serve as the MDSPE Executive Director. She will play an instrumental role in the transition process and guide MDSPE’s future direction. Lee has a background in the nonprofit sector and solid experience with supporting a Amanda Lee Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She is currently pursuing an MBA from Loyola University in Maryland. Cal Clemons, founder and current Chairman of Clemons & Associates, will serve as Managing Director. “While working with Clemons & Associates, MDSPE plans to stabilize and standardize its internal functions, improve services to its members, and expand its visibility and influence,” said Lee. “I truly look forward to serving the engineering community in the State of Maryland.” The offices of Clemons & Associates are located in White Marsh. PRESIDENT William K. Ryan, MS, PE 301-360-9534 [email protected] PRESIDENT-ELECT Edward A. Hubner, PE 410-668-8000 [email protected] SECRETARY Eduardo Acevedo, PE, FMDSPE 410-296-4732 [email protected] TREASURER Michael L. Viscarra, PE 410-608-1073 [email protected] VICE PRESIDENTS Brian R. Olson, PE 301-870-4530 [email protected] Bruce C. Cranford, PE 301-340-0052 [email protected] Karen L. Moran, PE 443-224-1656 [email protected] IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT William L. Mehaffey, PE 301-475-0406 [email protected] NSPE DELEGATE Manoj Jha, PhD, PE 443-885-1446 [email protected] EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW Amanda Lee 410-933-3453 [email protected] NEWSLETTER COORDINATOR Susanne Viscarra MARYLAND SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS Maryland Professional Engineer is a newsletter for our members. Look for the next issue midwinter. 5024 R Campbell Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21236 410-931-8100, fax 410-931-8111 [email protected] www.mdspe.org 2 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE $5,000 MathCounts Challenge to MDSPE Members by William K. Ryan, MDSPE President I’d like you all to join me in welcoming our new management company, Clemons & Associates, and Executive Director, Amanda Lee. As you know, we reevaluated our strategic plan to focus more directly on organizational development. Clemons & Associates will play an active role in remodeling the organization’s structure to better adapt to an everchanging environment. Working with Clemons & Associates, here are a couple implementations we have already undertaken to steer MDSPE into the right direction: • Improving communication paths with our members. We are currently redesigning the MDSPE website to reflect a more accurate brand image of our prestigious Society. The website will be updated on a regular basis in order to provide members with the most current information and easy access to supporting documents. • Refining internal functions. We are in the process of transitioning MDSPE to an advanced CRM system, which provides a 360degree view of a member’s history, relationship, and interaction with the Society. This will improve the accuracy of our data and streamline organizational processes. We are looking forward to working with a management company that has the resources and specialized skills to reengineer the organizational structure to better support our mission. Grant Will Double Your TaxDeductible Contribution A $2,500 challenge grant from D.S. Thaler & Associates, Inc., will double the contributions from MDSPE members to our MDSPE Foundation 2011 MathCounts Fund. For a number of years, our MDSPE MathCounts competition has been funded primarily through a grant from Lockheed Martin Corp., which is no longer providing support. Now we have to make up the difference. We need to raise $2,500 by February 1, 2011, to qualify for the DST matching grant. Send your tax-deductible contribution to: MathCounts Fund, MDSPE Foundation, c/o Jonathan Blasco, PE, Treasurer, PO Box 2450, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Do you have suggestions on how to improve our Society? Email them to MDSPE President Bill Ryan at [email protected] MDSPE is working for you! 3 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth Mead at the June 2009 MDSPE Board Meeting Mead Semiretires SMSG Working With the Baltimore Chapter the group’s numbers from 75 members to over 1,000. SMSG corporate clients for 12+ years have included Black & Decker, Ryland Homes, Lockheed Martin, Teledyne Isotopes, The Rouse Company, and the stone products company now known as Lafarge. SMSG’s PR arm is a two-time winner of the Silver Anvil Award, the highest honor by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), for excellence in marketing communications. One of the Anvils was for work done for the Greater Baltimore Committee’s campaign to place retrained, economically disadvantaged people in privatesector jobs. The other Anvil was for a U.S. Department of Labor effort to increase female enrollment in Job Corps Centers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Mead began his PR career as a PR officer for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, serving eight years as a Coast Guard reserve officer, achieving the rank of full lieutenant. He held key PR management positions for a major corporation and an advertising agency before creating SMSG. He also served as adjunct assistant professor teaching upper-level courses in Towson State University’s Mass Communications Department for 10 years. Mead has also volunteered for various organizations, including stints as the president of the local American Lung Association and a board member of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, the Better Business Bureau of Baltimore, Baltimore City’s Off-Street Parking Commission, and the Baltimore Criminal Justice Commission. These experiences have awarded him a keen understanding of the needs of volunteer organizations. He has been accredited by the PRSA and awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the by Susanne Viscarra, MDSPE Newsletter Coordinator In June of this year, Robert “Bob” Mead decided to semiretire and tendered the resignation of Smith Mead Services Group (SMSG) as the Executive Director (ED) of the MDSPE. SMSG managed the Society since March 1999, and Mead will now be working closely with the Baltimore Chapter to create workshops and events to support the new Maryland continuing education requirements for PEs in the mid-Atlantic region. SMSG is a Baltimore-based firm that Mead started in 1967 when he bought out the Naomi Duff Smith Agency & Company, which was founded directly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Smith to support the American Red Cross. At its height, SMSG employed a staff of 12, large for a local public relations (PR) firm, in a four-story office building on St. Paul Street by Penn Station. Mead now runs the company on a part-time basis from his home. The firm has overseen or supported more than 40 local, state, and national nonprofit organizations, as well as corporate and commercial clients, by providing PR, management, and administrative services. SMSG develops programs that enhance organizational effectiveness and high-impact communications programs to gain visibility, credibility, and membership growth for its professional and trade clients. Association clients have included the Baltimore (now Maryland) Ravens Wheelchair Basketball Club, the Center for International Management Studies, the Engineering Society, the Independent Armored Car Operators Association, the National Lumber & Building Materials Association, the Maryland Society of Surveyors, the Maryland States Nurses Association, the Greater Baltimore Committee, the State Employees Credit Union, and the Greater Baltimore, Susquehanna Region, and Western Maryland Private Industry Councils. As the ED of the Maryland Improvement Contractors Association, Mead, alongside his staff, increased (Continued on page 8) 4 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth Westminster Man Guilty of Faking PE Credentials A Westminster man who had been posing as a professional engineer pleaded guilty on April 19 to one count of counterfeiting a public seal in Howard County Circuit Court. Lawrence D. Novakowski, 52, of the 3000 block of Nicodemus Road, pleaded guilty to using the Maryland state seal to fake credentials that enabled him to work at a Columbia engineering firm. Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Kim Oldham told Judge Timothy J. McCrone that the State Board of Professional Engineers and the Maryland Department of Licensing and Regulation’s Division of Occupational Licensing (DLLR) launched an investigation into Novakowski’s credentials in July 2009 after receiving a letter of complaint from a Sparks, Maryland, engineering firm that formerly employed Novakowski. The Sparks firm alleged that Novakowski’s credentials were fraudulent, and the firm also notified his then-employer in Columbia. According to Oldham, when confronted by his employer, Novakowski stated that his license had been suspended due to child support issues but indicated that he was about to be reinstated. Shortly thereafter, he produced a forged letter from DLLR indicating that his suspension had been lifted. Oldham stated that the person who signed the letter “does not exist.” Oldham also told the court Novakowski was not a licensed engineer and that the license number he possessed not only belonged to another individual but also had expired in 2001. A DLLR investigator subpoenaed documents from Novakowski, who produced framed college diplomas, including one from Johns Hopkins University, plus additional engineering licenses from the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All documents were deemed “fictitious,” and Novakowski later admitted to purchasing college transcripts and degrees from an online source for $500. Oldham said the deceptions forced the engineering firm to pay back clients’ fees and pull out of several projects at the last minute. The problems cost the firm more than $100,000, plus a loss of Above is one of the fake certificates obtained by Lawrence Novakowski online. Photo: Algerina Perna, The Baltimore Sun professional credibility, she said. Prosecutors declined to reveal the name of the firm. On July 1, the sentence was handed down by Judge Timothy McCrone, who said he was moved by Novakowski’s lawyer’s request to bypass a requested two-year state prison term. The shorter sentence gives Novakowski a chance to obtain work release status and provide health insurance for a daughter in college. McCrone imposed an eight-year sentence with all but 18 months suspended. He added three years probation, a $500 fine, and 100 hours of community service. “I am very mindful of the injury you inflicted on your employer,” McCrone said, adding that Novakowski would likely serve more actual time in county custody than in state prison for the nonviolent crime. Novakowski’s criminal record stretches back to 1990 for a variety of crimes of deception, Oldham said, and he has five felonies on his record, including bigamy. Defense attorney Louis Willemin blamed the crimes on “manic episodes” caused by bipolar disorder and said his client is now under treatment and on medication. McCrone refused Novakowski’s request to delay jail until August 2, so he could see off a son headed to Afghanistan with the Army. Novakowski apologized to his family, his former employer, and to the judge for his crimes. “At the time they need me the most, I do this again,” he said about his children. MDSPE is working for you! 5 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth Harrowing Life Story paid for with federal money under a program Elder said was called Building Blocks. He had Complaints Laid to Rest With also moved into the home of Michaeleen Malone, his longtime companion, in Rosedale on Death of John Elder, PE King Arthur Circle. Malone’s young adopted son, Timothy, joined them about that time, and From the Beginning Malone founded the Timothy Construction Co. John Decamp Elder was born October 7, 1948. BeWhen applying for his PE license in 1986, ginning just shy of his 20th birthday, he embarked Elder failed to report the federal conviction on on a string of criminal cases for the following 42 the application. Unaware of the false response, years, all unbeknownst to MDSPE until after many the PE Board granted him his license, plus a rehomeowners had suffered under his shoddy PE newal in 1988. work. Just the last 20 years (all that one can see online at this time) comprise a one-and-a-half page 1990s listing of Maryland cases, in most of which he was Again unaware of the false response, the PE Board the defendant. Some of these and earlier cases are granted renewals in 1991, 1993, and 1994. The Timothy Co. kept Elder in contact with discussed in this article. city officials, and in the spring of 1996 the HousElder was first arrested for drugs in August ing Authority of Baltimore City hired Elder as a 1968 in Burlington County, New Jersey. He was $40,000-per-year project manager, charged with then arrested three more times over the next five years in Maryland: twice for petty larceny and once culling the city’s overstock of dangerous, crumfor forgery of checks. He received a sentence of six bling, abandoned buildings. His criminal record months unsupervised probation for one of the lar- was apparently overlooked. In this position, he was a key liaison to demolition contractors in the ceny charges. city’s $400-million demolition and revitalization On New Year’s Eve 1974, he was arrested in Baltimore and later convicted on three counts: re- initiative to replace dangerous, outdated public housing with better, less-concentrated projects and ceiving and concealing interstate stolen property oversaw the implosion in 1996 of the Lexington (sailboat), interstate transportation of said stolen Terrace highrises under Mayor Kurt Schmoke. property, and aiding and abetting. For these In February 1997, Elder was criminally charges, Elder was sentenced in October 1975 to three concurrent sentences of five years in federal charged in District Court for Baltimore County prison. When City Paper reporter Edward Ericson, with theft of less than $300. In January 1998, he was granted 18 months’ unsupervised probation Jr. questioned Elder about 30 years later on this federal case, he acknowledged knowing that the 35′ before judgment and charged $205 to cover the fine and court costs and fees. boat he bought was stolen. In September 1997, a civil case was filed 1980s against Elder and Timothy Construction Co., for Elder said that he began working for the Housing which the judge assessed the defendants for apAuthority of Baltimore City, mostly as a demoliproximately $3,000 total plus postjudgment intertion specialist, for about 10 years beginning in the est. After appeal, a settlement agreement was late 1970s or early 1980s. The Housing Authority reached in May 2000, but the records do not show seems to have hired him very soon after his release the settlement being paid, settled, and satisfied unfrom federal prison. til May 2007. In June 1979, Elder was arrested for conAgain, unaware of Elder’s false response on tempt of court, then in 1988 he drew a 60-day his license renewal application about his criminal suspended sentence plus a year’s probation for history, the PE Board granted him the renewal in slashing someone’s tires. By then he was work- 1997, 1998, and 2000. ing for the Baltimore City Housing Department, (Continued on page 12) assessing derelict rowhouses for demolition to be 6 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth H.C. Harclerode II Named NSPE Fellow Drawn back to his home state, Harclerode accepted a position as a project engineering manager with Lever Brothers in Baltimore supervising the plant engineering department, powerhouse opera-tions, and the pollution control department. Next he was promoted to maintenance manager, responsible for the 150-man maintenance department, including packaging machinery mechanics, then to sulfonation plant project manager, responsible for the design and construction of a $13 million sulfonic acid production facility. Harclerode next moved on to W.R. Grace & Company, based in New York, as the senior project engineer/manager for five years for the Davison Chemical Division in Baltimore, for which he was responsible for large capital project spending involving catalyst production facilities at the divisional engineering level for plant facilities both inside and outside the continental United States. He moved up to become the director of engineering and facilities for two years for the Corporate Research Division in Columbia. In this position, he supervised a staff of three managers and 72 employees in the departments of engineering, purchasing, maintenance shops, security, hazardous waste management, yards and grounds, warehouse services, reproduction/graphics, and janitorial with a $7-million capital budget and a $5-million operating budget. During this time, he cofounded Harwel Construction Company in Phoenix, Maryland, in 1984 as a side to his full-time position at W.R. Grace. He worked as the vice president for seven years, then as the president for two years until the company closeed in 1992. Harwel was a mechanical/general construction contractor with projects budgeted between $5,000 and $1.5 million, primarily involving HVAC building systems, wastewater treatment plants, water filtration plants, underground utility piping and sitework, thermal ice storage systems, booster pump H.C. “Skip” Harclerode II, PE, had the distinction of being named an NSPE Fellow in June for demonstrating prominent, long-term service at the chapter, state, and national levels of NSPE to the profession, the Society, and the community. He is the first MDSPE member to receive this honor since 2005. Harclerode is a chemical engineer with extensive mechanical/electrical, structural, process design, and project management experience, including 15 years of increasingly responsible management experience with three major chemical process industries, eight years of management experience operating a $3.5-million mechanical/ general contracting business, 23 years of experience operating an environmental/mechanical/ electrical/structural consulting engineering company, and professional experience in governmental and private sectors. Harclerode received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He also took additional courses at the University of Maryland University College and Johns Hopkins University. Harclerode is a registered PE in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He is also a licensed master plumber in Maryland and a first-grade stationary boiler engineer. While in college, he worked summers as a junior engineer for the Celanese Fibers Company in Cumberland, drafting, conducting metier speed trials, and evaluating dye degradation tests for colored yarn in the process pilot plant. After receiving his master’s degree, he moved to Morristown, New Jersey, to work for Allied Chemical as a project engineer responsible for determining process bottlenecks involved with increasing production capacity of a caprolactam monomer Nylon 6 plant. After one year, he was promoted to senior project manager and was responsible for air, water, and internal hygiene pollution reduction projects totaling $5–6 million for the chromium manufacturing plant in Baltimore for three years. (Continued on page 11) 7 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth MDSPE would like to thank the following for sponsoring our 2010 Fall Awards Ceremony for Newly Licensed Engineers, which was held on October 21 at The Engineers Club of Baltimore: Gold Sponsor EBA Engineering, Inc. Silver Sponsor Silver Sponsor Please join us in February for our 2011 Spring Awards Ceremony for Newly Licensed Engineers. times. Over the past decade, NSPE has lost nearly one third of its membership, while MDSPE has maintained about 90% of its members. For several recent years, MDSPE was one of only four state societies to increase its membership. Moreover, SMSG has helped MDSPE manage its highly successful legislative relations activity, thanks to the work of our lobbyists at Public Sector Consulting Group. SMSG expanded MDSPE’s education program, establishing the Society as a highly regarded resource by related technical societies. The firm improved our relationship with the Maryland Board for Professional Engineers and its staff, and created the semiannual Professional Engineer Recognition Event, recognizing newly licensed PEs, distributing annual awards, and inducting esteemed MDSPE members into the Society’s College of Fellows. Mead and von Briesen are pleased with the many good friendships they have made over the years with members and leaders of the Society. In turn, the Society looks forward to working with SMSG in its new, evolving capacity with the Baltimore Chapter. (SMSG—continued from page 4) MDSPE. Mead was also elected to the PRSA College of Fellows, the first person from a Maryland private PR firm to receive this honor. According to Joanna von Briesen, his longtime business partner, “He has had a lot of respect from his peers, those who worked in the same field.” Von Briesen joined SMSG in 1976 and became a full partner in 1983. For a number of years she managed the firm’s association management business practice as Director of Association Services. She also served as President of the firm for several years. When SMSG first partnered with the MDSPE, she was its ED for the first three years. Over the course of her career with SMSG, she has also served as the ED for the 1,000-member Maryland Improvement Contractors Association and the Baltimore Cosmetologists Association. Additionally, von Briesen served as PR Account Executive for the Southeast Baltimore Community Development Corporation and the Department of Labor’s Job Corps, among many other duties. Under SMSG’s management, MDSPE has maintained membership levels during difficult 8 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth Meet Your MDSPE Officers President-Elect design of direct digital energy management and control systems, and central plant design. In addition to serving as President-Elect of the Maryland Chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers, Hubner is active in numerous professional associations, including the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, for which he chairs the chapter’s Refrigeration Committee, the American Consulting Engineers Council, the Maryland Council of Design Professionals, and the Society of American Military Engineers. He also serves as a captain in the Engineering Corps of the Maryland Defense Force, for which he is the officer-in-charge of the Maryland Engineering Emergency Response Team and the liaison officer to the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. Hubner and his wife Mary, also a Penn State architectural engineering graduate, have three children, one in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary. The family is very involved in their community. Hubner has served as a board member of the Fire Museum of Maryland, coached soccer and lacrosse for the Fallston Recreation Council, and been a volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America since 2002. His wife is very active with the local schools in addition to being a troop leader for the Girl Scouts of America. Edward A. Hubner, PE, was born and raised in northern New Jersey. He received a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering with a specialty in environmental systems design from The Pennsylvania State University in 1985. Upon graduation, he relocated to Maryland to begin his professional career. He has been a registered PE since 1990 and is currently licensed to practice in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. Hubner has worked as a consulting engineer for EBL Engineers, LLC, since 1987. He is the current principal-in-charge of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, as well as their construction management group. He has extensive experience in the design of HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing, industrial ventilation, thermal storage, process piping, geothermal, energy management systems, and consideration for construction phasing to maintain operations during renovation and expansion of existing facilities. Hubner is highly regarded for forensic engineering in the field of remedial energy analysis. His specialized areas of expertise are analysis for energy conservation and life cycle cost analysis, Engineering Tip In an effort to provide additional information that will help professional engineers in their daily work lives, we provide a hyperlink to an online white paper, webcast, video, or discussion in the newsletter. Below is information on a free white paper on the Eng-Tips Forums website: PC and server downtime. Protecting computer systems with Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) hardware is part of a total solution, but power management software is also necessary to prevent data corruption after extended power outages. Various software configurations are discussed, and best practices aimed at ensuring uptime are presented. Preventing Data Corruption in the Event of an Extended Power Outage Despite advances in computer technology, power outages continue to be a major cause of You can access this white paper through the hyperlink or by copying the following URL into your browser: http://eng-tips.nethawk.net/ registration_dynamic.php?id=61 9 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth (Bay Bridge—continued from page 1) In 1947, under the leadership of Governor William Preston Lane, Jr., the Maryland General Assembly directed the State Roads Commission to build a bridge across the Bay, and the first shovelful of earth was finally turned in January 1949. The bridge’s two-lane original span, which today carries eastbound traffic, cost $45 million and was, at the time, the world’s longest continuous over-water steel structure—an amazing engineering triumph. It opened to traffic at 6 p.m. on July 30, 1952—at the same moment that the Kent Island– Sandy Point Bay ferry began its very last run. It was the end—and the beginning—of an era. Construction of the bridge’s $148-million second span, which currently carries westbound traffic across the Bay, began in 1969 and was completed on June 28, 1973. J.E. Greiner Company, Inc. designed both bridge spans, and numerous companies contributed to the bridge’s construction. John W. Greene, Sr. Phone: (410) 773-8323 E-mail: [email protected] John W. Greene, Sr. is a registered representative of and offers securities through MML Investors Services, Inc. Member SIPC (410) 785-7654. Insurance offered through Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and other fine companies Text and photos compliments of the Maryland Transportation Authority Lee & McShane PC 1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 425 Washington, DC 20036 www.lee.mcshane.com 800-493-3483 10 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth (Harclerode—continued from page 7) stations, reinforced concrete, and specialized industrial process piping systems. In 1986, he also formed KBD Engineering Company, Inc., in Phoenix, a position he still holds. He performed engineering on a part-time basis until operating full time as a consulting firm in 1992. KBD is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in the environmental abatement arena as well as mechanical/electrical/pro-cess and structural design for commercial and industrial facilities. From 1981 to 1982, he served as the NSPE Congressional Fellow to the U.S. Senate as a legislative assistant on the personal staff of Senator Pete Domenici. He oversaw all legislative matters for five congressional committees: Armed Services, Commerce, Science and Transportation, Governmental Affairs, Small Business, and Veteran’s Affairs. Chairman of the Maryland Board for Professional Engineers since 2008, he has been a member of the Board since 2003 and vice-chair of the Board and chair of the Complaint Committee from 2005 to 2008. He was unanimously elected as the new chair of the Maryland Joint Design Boards in February, which oversees five boards including the PE Board. He is a fellow and life member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, for which he is a member of the Licensing Advisory Subcommittee and has served on the Professional Development Committee since 2004 and the Executive Committee, Maryland Section since 2003. He served as a national officer of the NSPE from 1983 to 1985 and served on its Legislative and Government Affairs Committee from 1982 to 1985 and 2004 to 2005, plus its Critical Infrastructure and Homeland Security Task Force from 2005 to 2006. He is also a member of the MDSPE, for which he was the treasurer from 1984 to 1985, one of four founders of the MDSPE Educational Foundation, and cochair of the Maryland Engineers Week Activities Committee for five years. At our meetings, he has presented the certificates to newly licensed PEs twice a year since 2004. As a member of the National Council of Examiners of Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), he served as a member and subcommittee chair of the Uniform Procedures and Legislative Guidelines Committee from 2004 to 2008 (committee chair, 2006–2008) and as a consultant to the committee since 2008. Harclerode has served on the Engineer- ing Education Task Force since its inception in 2008 and the Chemical Exam Development Committee since 2005. He was also an ex-oficio member of NCEES’s B+30 Task Force from 2007 to 2008 and a member of the Fire Protection and Design-Build Task Force from 2003 to 2004. Additionally, he was the Northeast Zone assistant vice president from 2007 to 2008 and received the Northeast Zone 2008– 2009 Distinguished Service Award (ENNY). In August, Harclerode was awarded the NCEES Distinguished Service Award for his dedicated service to the engineering profession. The award was presented at the annual NCEES meeting, which was held in Denver this year. Harclerode’s professional members also include the American Society of Safety Engineers and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and AirConditioning Engineers. He received the Order of the Engineer in 1995. He was also named to Who’s Who in the East. He and his wife Judy, a practicing attorney, have been married for 39 years. They live in Phoenix and have three children: Kristin, 34, is a practicing attorney; Brent,31, is an electrical engineer; and Drew, 28, is a chemical engineer. Active with the Central Presbyterian Church, Harclerode served in the vice president and president positions of the Church Trust Committee for 10 years, is a member of the Mission Projects and Building Committee, sings in the adult choir, and has participated in numerous mission trips. He is equally active in the Boy Scouts of America, for which he has been an assistant scoutmaster and scoutmaster for Troop 444 since 1992, a campmaster at Broadcreek Memorial Scout Reservation for over 10 years, and is a merit badge counselor for over 30 merit badges. Additionally, he is a vigil member of the Order of the Arrow and a graduate of the Wood Badge NE IV-88 Leadership Program. He has also coached girls’ softball, lacrosse, soccer, and boys’ basketball for his local recreational council. 11 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth doubled his sentence to 18 months in state prison. He was sentenced May 1, 2001. Neighbor Harassment Meanwhile, in December 1999, Gini Lovell But while Elder managed legal demolitions for the was granted a divorce from Elder, which she had city, court records show that he destroyed the prop- previously filed for unsuccessfully in 1991. erty of his neighbors in the Kings Court subdivi2000s sion. “My husband is African American and I am Shortly after his release from prison in February white—that was what most of the problem was 2002, Elder enrolled in alcohol treatment. about,” said Joyce Washington, who at the time In 2002, the PE Board again granted him his lived two doors down from the Elder–Malone famPE license renewal without knowledge of his ily with her son and husband, Reginald Washingcriminal history. ton, who was her boyfriend at the time. After making 75 calls to the Elder–Malone The dispute began after Washington’s son and home between July 2002 and July 2003, Baltimore Elder’s girlfriend Michaeleen’s son Timothy left a County police searched the house on July 24, 2003 skateboard under one of the Elder family’s cars, and seized drug paraphernalia, Oxycontin, and which damaged the car. Washington said that Elder $41,000 in cash from Elder’s basement bedroom. demanded $1,700 from her for the damage. “When Elder, his longtime girlfriend Michaeleen Malone, I wouldn’t pay the whole thing, he just started torand her adopted son Timothy Malone were all arturing me,” she said. “He would pop my tires—I drove a Camaro Z-28, so every time he did that, it rested. On July 29, 2004, Elder was convicted on a would cost me $228.” Elder—and a boy he enlisted single count of drug possession and fined $500 plus $250 in court costs. to help—then moved on to Washington’s boyLater, Elder insisted that his criminal history friend’s Geo Storm. They threw a chemical on both “has nothing to do” with his life as an engineer cars that ruined the paint, and when the couple and pleaded with a reporter to omit it from his started parking their cars elsewhere and walking story. Clients, colleagues, and even opposing lawhome, Elder would telephone them, Washington yers apparently knew nothing of Elder’s criminal contended, and chant, “Hide hide hide, seek seek record. seek, destroy destroy destroy!” Elder’s job was a source of menace to Wash201 E. Gittings St. ington: “I was told by police that he had a weapon After this latest drug arrest but before sentencing, and that he was an implosion specialist. I was Elder stamped and sealed a drawing dated Novemafraid of being blown up.” ber 26, 2003, for a project officially labeled At Christmas, when Washington set a Nativity “Underpinning at 201 East Gittings St.” The drawscene in her front yard, Elder “painted Joseph’s ing was part of a contract that Gregory Szczepaniak face black, so [Mary and Joseph] would be an inhad with contractor William E. Connolly. terracial couple,” she said. In April 2003, Szczepaniak’s house was apReginald Washington was arrested for assault praised for $245,000. Connolly estimated a comafter he verbally confronted Elder’s accomplice in plete renovation, including a gut rehab, adding a the harassment campaign. “My husband had aprooftop deck, and digging and finishing a new plied for police academy at the time,” Joyce Washbasement and foundation, at $88,920. In his estiington said. She further claimed that the pending mate, Connolly reassured his client that he was in charges delayed his becoming a police officer over professional hands: “Contractor will also consult the next two years. with John Elder, known as ‘Engineer,’ on all maAfter many court delays Elder, who blames the ters [sic] involving permits, building code, etc.” boy who was convicted as his accomplice for the With Elder’s excavation plan on hand, Conwhole ordeal, was convicted on three counts of manolly hired a subcontractor, Sheckells and Sons licious destruction and three counts of racially moConstruction Company Inc. of Baltimore, to dig tivated harassment. When Elder appealed his sen(Continued on page 13) tence of nine months in the county jail, the judge (Elder—continued from page 6) 12 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth (Elder—continued from page 12) out the basement. According to a lawsuit filed by Szczepaniak, the company started digging on December 4, 2003. Four days later, the house dropped into the hole, levering up the sidewalks around it and ripping the back wall off of a neighboring structure. On December 9, Baltimore City’s building inspections superintendent pronounced the sagging house a danger to public safety and called in HABCo, the Housing Authority’s in-house demolition crew, to tear down the house. They billed Szczepaniak $6,426 for the demolition. In his suit, originally filed in March 2005, Szczepaniak claimed that Connolly was “negligent in failing to apprise Sheckells of the appropriate method of excavating the basement (as directed by the engineer, Elder), in hiring an excavator without sufficient training or experience, in failing to supervise the excavation and otherwise negligent.” Szczepaniak also claimed Sheckells neglected to follow Elder’s professional plan and tried to dig out too much too fast. His suit demanded $300,000 from each of the contractors and $200,000 from State Farm, his insurance company. He retained Elder as an expert witness to press his case against the defendants. However, Sheckells and Sons found its own expert engineer, willing to testify that Elder’s plans “may have been inadequate and/or led to the condemnation or damage to the subject property,” according to the company’s answer to the lawsuit. In his answer to the complaint, Connolly claimed that “all necessary parties have not been named in this lawsuit.” Lawyers for the other parties agreed and sued Elder in an amended complaint. Nearly a year after filing his suit, Szczepaniak was suing his own engineer and expert witness. “In drafting plans which were internally inconsistent and inapplicable to the plaintiff’s property, and in authorizing the excavation that actually proceeded, Elder failed to adhere to the accepted standard of care applicable to licensed professional engineers and caused or contributed to the collapse of the building,” according to the complaint, which was served December 14, 2005. Sheckells, State Farm, and Connolly then sued Elder, too, blaming the engineer for the collapse. 201 E. Gittings Street during its demolition by the city after its collapse: Elder drew up the basement underpinning plan and obtained the necessary permits. Photographer: Frank Klein, City Paper Elder answered the complaint himself, without a lawyer, on January 24, 2006. He claimed that the statute of limitations barred suit against him, as he had not been served until two years and 10 days after the event. He also claimed that Szczepaniak was solely negligent, noting that Connolly was unlicensed by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. Elder said neither Connolly nor Sheckells ever contacted him for advice about the excavation and that, had his plans been followed, “the work would have been successfully completed, without the alleged ‘imminent harm or threat of severe personal injury or death,’ so as to render this defendant liable to the plaintiff.” In an interview with Ericson, the City Paper reporter, at the city’s permit office on July 12, 2006, Elder elaborated, saying that Connolly had underbid the job. Sheckells “does neat work,” Elder said, “but he just overexcavated” because he was pressed for time. Elder insisted that he was not 13 (Continued on page 14) MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth (Elder—continued from page 13) at fault: “I had no obligation to do any inspections. At that time, the engineer would do the plans, and the city would do the inspection.” Meanwhile, the PE Board again granted Elder’s PE license renewals in 2004 and 2005, since he again lied on the applications that he had no prior criminal record. 106 E. Montgomery St. Tom Bird also said John Elder never inspected his basement excavation, as required by the city’s new permitting procedure. “This gentleman gave me the permits for the place and never came out to inspect at all,” Bird told Ericson. Bird’s house at 106 E. Montgomery Street collapsed in the fall of 2005, damaging houses on both sides of it. “He just takes the check, and that’s it.” Bird’s project was much like Szczepaniak’s house on E. Gittings. Elder handled the plans and permit, and Bird hired an unlicensed contractor (who he said he could no longer locate). The excavation was rushed. On the day the house fell, Elder “was scared…he knew he was in trouble,” Bird recounted. “He kept saying, ‘It’s not my fault, not my fault.’” Mike Dominelli, PE, wrote a letter to Dr. John Hawkins in September 2005 that predicted catastrophe. Bird’s house, next door to Hawkins’s, was about to fall down, and when that happened, it could fall on the dentist’s own Federal Hill rowhouse. Three days later, Bird’s house caved in. Hawkins’s house luckily suffered only minor damage. However, the home on the other side, 108 E. Montgomery, was left uninhabitable, according to its owner, Donald Eickhoff. “So, he buckles my areaway” between the houses, Eickhoff said of Bird, the owner of 106. “He gives me a call and says, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.’ Month and a half goes by, nothing happens. I’m tied to him on the second and third floor, and he’s twisting my building. There’s big cracks appearing.” When the back and side walls on 106 finally fell, bricks rained on Eickhoff’s house. “It shifted the wall in the living room and the room in back of the kitchen,” he told Ericson, but Bird “still had people in there digging.” Elder drew up basement underpinning plans for two different locations, 3409 Harmony Court and 1600 Clarkson Street. The drawings appear identical, except for minor notations about the lot dimensions and the amount of dirt to be excavated. Both houses collapsed during basement excavations. Photographer: Frank Klein, City Paper The debacle angered other neighbors as well. Living in one of the city’s priciest neighborhoods, their block looked like a war zone. In the months following, city officials prodded Bird to make repairs and shore up his neighbors’ buildings, while neighbors hired their own experts to assess the damages. These days, “it seems much better,” Hawkins said. Bird “finally got a good contractor,” and the chances of Hawkins’s house falling down diminished. Eickhoff said the city threatened to condemn his house, but although it never was, he said he was stuck with a $2,500-per-month mortgage on a home he couldn’t renovate. Bird said Elder surprised him in civil court in July 2006 by testifying as an expert witness on behalf of the contractor who Bird originally hired for 14 (Continued on page 15) MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth (Elder—continued from page 14) his basement excavation. Bird had refused to pay the contractor because of nonperformance, but Elder told the judge that the contractor had done a third of the work when Bird fired him. Bird said that Elder’s status as a licensed engineer held great weight with the court, and his testimony led to an $8,000 judgment against Bird. Bird, who was appealing the case, didn’t know that Elder was sentenced to prison for racially harassing his Baltimore County neighbors in 2001 or that, shortly before he drew up the plans for Bird’s underpinning, Elder had been convicted of drug possession. Bird said a city inspector told him afterwards that Elder had also been the engineer on collapses on Hanover Street. Elder acknowledged that he had one on Fait Avenue as well. 3409 Harmony Ct. & 1600 Clarkson St. Elder was also hired by the owners of 3409 Harmony Court, which collapsed in February 2006, and 1600 Clarkson Street, which collapsed in November 2005. The Clarkson Street collapse resulted in the condemnation of not only that house but also the house next door, 1602, and forced the owner of the latter house, Karen Nasuta, to find other quarters. The city charged the owner of 1600, Mark Koch, with criminal violations of the city housing code and summoned him for a July 2006 trial. Braverman, the deputy commissioner for code enforcement. “His name has come up. We did have some concern,” Braverman said in an interview on July 2006. In February 2006, officials blocked Elder’s ability to pull building permits and summoned him to a meeting in which city code officials told him to be more careful—and got his signature on a promise to do so. In a letter to Dorreya Elmenshawy, the director of Permits and Code Enforcement, Construction and Building Inspection, Elder pledged to advise every underpinning client about the dangers of the work, make sure their contractors call him for inspections, inspect weekly even if no one calls, and withdraw from the project if he finds “any form of non-compliance.” Elder’s withdrawal as engineer would cancel the permit. Braverman said he knew of no other engineer forced into a similar agreement with the city. He also said that he had no knowledge of Elder’s criminal record. City Paper and PE Board Investigate Elder first came to the PE Board’s attention after Ericson’s series of investigative articles in the City Paper that detailed Elder’s criminal history, which had not been reported as required on his license renewal applications, and his involvement in four separate collapses in Baltimore City. Ericson’s first story examined why dozens of buildings fall down in Baltimore every year and City Finally Notices detailed four collapses in which Elder’s name apElder’s reputation for collapses was finally noticed peared as engineer. Elder said there were others, by city housing officials, according to Michael but denied he was responsible for any of them. On October 7, 2006, Elder responded to the PE Board’s inquiry, explaining that in each collapse, he was not responsible and could have done nothing to prevent it. Elder gave a copy of his response to the City Paper. (State licensing agencies do not report details of complaints, investigations, and hearings until after the cases are completed and their orders have passed the appeal dates. Hearings are public, however, and when MDSPE is aware of them, someone usually attends.) Ericson closely followed the Elder case, including civil suits, Baltimore City investigations, and a Baltimore City councilman’s inquiries. AcDamage at the rear of the 3400 block of Harmony cording to a City Paper article in November 2006, Court after the collapse of 3409 Photographer: Frank Klein, City Paper 15 (Continued on page 16) MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth 1600 Clarkson Street Photographer: Frank Klein, City Paper (Elder—continued from page 15) At 106 E. Montgomery St., Elder wrote that owner Tom Bird was solely responsible, because he hired unlicensed contractors who overexcavated without Elder’s knowledge. Bird has since been charged with housing violations in the matter, according to records and interviews, and that case is pending in Baltimore City District Court. The collapse of 201 E. Gittings St. was similar, Elder wrote, except that it went down at a time when ‘Baltimore City was responsible for all construction inspections and site visits,’ so Elder was removed even further from responsibility. The owner there, Gregory Szczepaniak, sued Elder for his involvement in the 2003 collapse but dropped the engineer from the suit in August. In a conversation last summer, Szczepaniak’s lawyer acknowledged that Elder—who does not own a home in his own name and says he does not carry liability insurance—is “judgment proof,” meaning that he could avoid paying monetary damages even if the court ordered them. The case appears to have been settled in late October. Calls to Szczepaniak’s lawyer were not returned. At 3409 Harmony Court, Elder wrote, the owner hired someone to dig out the basement with a backhoe—without informing Elder. As evidence, Elder cited a letter from Mike Coster of byDesign, with whom Elder has worked closely for years. The final case, 1600 Clarkson St., had collapsed before Elder was even hired, he wrote to the board. In that case, the city’s permit office had granted a vague permit for “digging out basement.” In a case that started with relentless publicity in the City Paper, John D. Elder, PE, was fined $2,000 by the Maryland State PE Board on August 22, 2007, and his license was suspended for 120 days for failure to reveal criminal convictions when applying for his PE license in 1986 and 11 subsequent renewals. This was the latest of 39 years of almost continuous court cases for Elder, stemming back to August 1968. His criminal record of cases not involving engineering issues were deemed by the PE Board to be misdemeanors related to the practice of professional engineering and/or involved drug-related offenses. Elder had not acknowledged any of these convictions on any of his PE license renewal applications. His license was due to expire on December 3, 2007, and he was eligible to request reinstatement of his license on December 15, 2007. Getting Back to Business In the spring of 2008, Elder did not pay his 2007 state income taxes. He told Ericson that he cashed in a $16,000 retirement account to pay about $12,000 in back taxes. Then, in March, he went to the PE Board to ask that his license be reinstated. “I took my application down there in hand,” Elder told Ericson. “The first time I took it down, they wouldn’t give it to me. They wanted another letter saying that nothing had happened in the interim,” meaning that Elder had not been arrested on criminal charges. He has not been arrested since 2004, according to online court records. The board agreed to reinstate Elder’s engineering license at its April 10, 2008, meeting. Milena Trust, an assistant attorney general at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, which the PE Board falls under, would not confirm that the PE Board had expected to end Elder’s engineering career. “When the license is suspended for 120 days, that’s exactly what it means,” she said, adding that there is another case pending that, by law, she and the PE Board cannot discuss. “His license was reinstated. With the ongoing case, again, I cannot comment.” Elder maintained that he bore no responsibility for the collapses and said the licensing board 16 (Continued on page 17) MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth (Elder—continued from page 16) agreed with him: “They did investigate the collapses—everything I told them turned out to be true;” Elder laid blame for the destruction on the various contractors and homeowners involved: “The people that caused all the collapses, they didn’t follow the instructions. People want to cut corners.” Elder said he could not babysit his clients to make sure they followed his plans. “I can’t be a policeman and go out there and check on people on a daily basis,” he told Ericson. “I have to rely on people to call me” for inspections. That 2007 statement was contrary to the signed promise he gave Baltimore City authorities in February 2006. Trust would not verify whether the PE Board had investigated the collapses, citing confidentiality requirements. Harry Loleas, deputy commissioner of occupational and professional licensing at the state Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, said his division had only 12 of the 16 investigators it was budgeted for, although three of those slots were being recruited. “We have a fair degree of turnover from time to time,” he told Ericson, “But I will give you an absolute assurance that any vacancy in an investigative position is totally without impact on the standing of the complaint that you’ve inquired about.” So, John Elder was back in business. when Elder died on March 3, 2010, at the age of 61. Several active cases still appear in the court’s online records, with Elder listed as the defendant. According to Ericson, Elder never took his reporting personally. He returned Ericson’s calls and even had words of encouragement. “Your article did do one good thing,” he said in their last conversation. “It woke the city up to the fact that curb-retaining walls [to hold up rowhouses with dug-out basements] are not a good idea. Mathematically they don’t work out.” Elder left a mark on Baltimore City and Baltimore County, albeit a very long, sad, and dirty one. The facts and quotes in this article were culled from several City Paper articles by Edward Ericson, Jr. from 2006 to 2010, an August 2007 MDSPE consent agreement, the January 2008 MDSPE newsletter, and online Maryland court records. The Conclusion Elder’s adopted son, Timothy, whom Michaeleen Malone had adopted prior to Elder moving in with her, died in November 2008. Elder also claimed to have had a blood infection that kept him in the hospital for seven weeks sometime in 2008. In December 2008, Elder was granted 12 months’ unsupervised probation before judgment for failure to perform contract, acting as a contractor without a license, and theft of $500 plus value in January 2008. He was ordered to pay $4,500 in restitution to the complainant, Michael Miller, plus court costs and fees. He next faced additional charges in a case involving several building collapses to be heard by the Office of Administrative Hearings in the fall of 2009. That case was heard by an administrative law judge, whose recommendation was just about to be released 17 Would you like to contribute an article or suggest a topic for our newsletter? Feel free to email us at [email protected]. PROFESSIONALENGINEER ENGINEER MARYLANDPROFESSIONAL MARYLAND Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth Summer 2009 MDSPE Associates The Maryland Society of Professional Engineers extends our deep and sincere appreciation to these firms who support our organization as MDSPE Associates. If you are interested in becoming an MDSPE Associate and would like information about the costs and benefits, please call MDSPE Executive Director Amanda Lee at the MDSPE Staff Office at 410-933-3453 or email [email protected]. Accurate Infrastructure Data, Inc. Daft McCune Walker, Inc. 1100 Batavia Farm Road, Suite 200 Baltimore, MD 21237 Contact: Michael T. Maguire, MA, LS 410-686-5091, fax 410-686-5093, cell 443-610-2672 [email protected] www.aidatainc.com At A/I/DATA, our subsurface utility location services conform to CI/ASCE 38-02 standard guidelines for the collection of existing subsurface utility data. Subsurface utility location, test hole services, surveying and mapping, utility georeferencing and positioning services, and GOS data population. 200 E. Pennsylvania Avenue Towson, MD 21286 Contact: Kristy Bischoff 410-296-3333, fax 410-296-4705 [email protected] www.dmw.com Comprised of a team of land planners, landscape architects, civil engineers, surveyors, and environmental professionals, Daft McCune Walker (DMW) is a leading land development and consulting firm in the Baltimore region. Founded in 1970, DMW originally provided professional landscape architectural, land planning, and site design services. In 1982 the company added civil engineering, followed by surveying and environmental service in 1987. Today, with significant experience in nearly every aspect of the land development process, DMW’s employees service a wide range of clients on a variety of projects around the Baltimore region and beyond. Atlantic Risk Management, Inc. 5850 Waterloo Road, Suite 240 Baltimore, MD 21045 Contact: Michael Colonnello 410-480-4406, fax 410-465-0759 [email protected] www.atlanticrisk.com Atlantic Risk Management is a full-service insurance and bonding agency located in Columbia. We are here to offer insurance and financial assistance to the members and organizations of MDSPE. Garrison Financial, LLC The Constellation Design Group, Inc. 57 W. Timonium Road, Suite 200 Timonium, MD 21093 Contact: Cathy S. Ritter, PE 410-252-1884, fax 410-560-3632 [email protected] The Constellation Design Group performs civil highway and roadway design for the Maryland State Highway Administration, MdTA, CTA, MPA, Baltimore City, and various Maryland counties. Our responsibilities consist of storm drainage, SWM, critical area permitting, E/S control, MOT, and utility relocation. Our work also includes highway design, intersection improvements, roundabout design, park-and-ride plans and specifications, drainage improvement evaluations, reports, and bridge approach roadway complete designs. MDSPE is working for you! EP IV, Suite 200, 11350 McCormick Road Hunt Valley, MD 21031 Contact: John Greene, Sr., or Scott Schuebel, CFS 410-773-8323, fax 410-785-7655 [email protected] or [email protected] www.garrisonfa.com Garrison is a client-driven firm founded on a dedication to excellence in providing investment, insurance, and financial strategies. By listening closely and thoroughly understanding the needs and goals of every client, we ensure that they are positioned for the expected and prepared for the unexpected. George W. Stephens, Jr. & Associates 215 Schilling Circle, Suite 114 Hunt Valley, MD 21031 Contact: James A. Markle, Jr., PE 410-785-6640, fax 410-785-6647 [email protected] www.gwstephens.com George W. Stephens, Jr. & Associates, established in 1940, provides a full range of services from offices located in Hunt Valley and Belcamp, MD, and Georgetown, DE. Inhouse expertise includes highway and traffic engineering, hydrologic and hydraulic engineering, streetscaping, land- 18 MARYLAND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summer 2009 Quarter 2010 Fall / Fourth scape architecture, land planning, utilities, resource conser- Mehaffey & Associates, PC vation, surveying, and construction phase services. 41650 Court House Drive, Suite 100 Leonardtown, MD 20650 James Posey Associates, Inc. Contact: William L. Mehaffey, PE 3112 Lord Baltimore Drive 301-475-0406, fax 301-475-2822 Baltimore, MD 21244 [email protected] Contact: Stephen J. Hudson, PE Mehaffey & Associates is a civil engineering firm that spe410-265-6100, fax 410-298-9820 cializes in land use and planning of commercial, industrial, [email protected] and residential development. www.jamesposey.com Morris & Ritchie Associates, Inc. James Posey Associates has provided mechanicalelectrical engineering since 1911 to clients throughout the mid-Atlantic region. The staff of 57 includes 14 professional engineers and eight LEED-accredited professionals, as well as engineers who are lighting certified and certified in plumbing design. The firm serves a diverse client base in the public and private institutional sectors on projects for education, healthcare, medical research, and the arts, and for all levels of government. They have received numerous ASHRAE, ACEC, and IESNA design awards and are the only firm to twice be named “Consultant of the Year” by AIA Baltimore. 3445-A Box Hill Corporate Center Drive Abingdon, MD 21009 Contact: Frank F. Hertsch, PE 410-515-9000, fax 410-515-9002 www.mragta.com Morris & Ritchie Associates and Geo-Technology Associates are affiliated professional architectural, engineering, and planning firms. Their full-service team routinely provides planning, design, and construction-phase services for a wide range of projects from the Carolinas to New York State. Project types include office buildings, commercial and retail centers, industrial parks, institutional facilities, residential communities, recreational facilities, mining and land reclamation, and golf courses. They also provide infrastructure design and improvement projects to local, state, and federal government agencies. Lee & McShane, PC 1211 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 425 Washington, DC 20036 Contact: James F. Lee, Jr. 202-530-8100, fax 202-530-0402 [email protected] www.leemcshane.com Lee & McShane has over 30 years of experience representing engineers and architects in litigation matters as well as legal advice on contracts ownership transitions, employee issues, personnel manuals, mergers and acquisitions, and risk management concerns throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Stanley Martin Commercial, Inc. Little & Associates, Inc. 1055 Taylor Avenue, Suite 307 Towson, MD 21286 Contact: Dwight Little, PE 410-296-1636, fax 410-296-1639 [email protected] www.littleassociates.com Little & Associates is a civil engineering/surveying consulting firm specializing in residential and commercial land development projects. MDSPE is working for you! 7220 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 210 Bethesda, MD 21814 Contact: Fred Farshey 301-654-7000, fax 301-654-6532 [email protected] Stanley Martin Commercial, Inc., is a developer/ investment manager of commercial real estate in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan areas. The company has developed land and approximately 2,200,000 sq. ft. of office and warehouse buildings. Currently, the company manages a portfolio of 1,600,000 sq. ft. of warehouse/office buildings. Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP 1 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 300 Towson, MD 21204 Contact: Dino C. LaFiandra 410-823-2084, fax 410-339-4031 [email protected] www.wtplaw.com Whiteford, Taylor & Preston is a Maryland-based law firm that has been serving the real estate development and construction industries since 1933. 19