An Intention for AEC Industry Innovation

Creation. It’s the heartbeat of engineering. But creating the same thing, repeatedly, doesn’t achieve progress. For that, you need a constant influx of innovation.

For more than 100 years, Gannett Fleming has been fueling engineering innovation:

• We developed the first Detroit People Mover in 1985.
• We hold the patent to a web portal (IRRIS®) that transformed how the United States military manages global surface cargo movement.
• We’ve made noise with our transit and rail solutions and reduced noise in communities through ground-breaking techniques.
• We’re always creating for the future, as demonstrated by our Uber SKYPORT design.

We do it with a push from within. Innovation requires intent. That means we provide the tools, resources, and incentives to drive and support new ideas. This includes our Innovation Challenge and President’s Innovation Award competitions, both of which are open to all employees.

The thought leadership displayed in all these projects demonstrates how our employees carry the spirit of innovation through their work each day. They are constantly evolving to find the next solution to help our clients solve their complex problems.

The Innovation Challenge recognizes concepts that are ripe for industry adoption and geared toward solving the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Winners receive leadership support and funding for development. An Innovation Jumpstart Program helps interested employees to hone their ideas and improve their applications for the competition.

2021 winners included: 

Dam Monitoring, developed by Stacy Vorster, PE, and Matt Buche, PG 
The safe operation of dams and their related structures is of paramount importance to the communities they serve; however, there are known vulnerabilities not meeting the current state of practice that increase the risk of failure, such as aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and design and construction. Geotechnical Data Acquisition & Monitoring is a combined hardware/software solution that gives dam owners easy access to all their dam data in one place, peace-of-mind knowing they are heavily protected against cyberattacks, and significant maintenance and opportunity cost savings.

E-Fleet Application, developed by Joseph King, PE, PMP; Ohan Oumoudian; and Sam Brazil 
Driving range is a key issue when developing a battery electric bus (BEB) program. In the near-term this innovation will allow Gannett Fleming to partner with agencies to evaluate their bus routes for BEB adoption. However, the principles of this innovation can be expanded to apply to all forms of battery electric mobility systems. This includes evaluation, adoption, and growth.

The President’s Innovation Award (PIA) recognizes positive impacts to our everyday work or ideas our employees implemented within the last year to:

• Increase efficiency
• Develop new opportunities
• Reduce costs
• Create value for our clients and the company.

Sam Brazil and Brian Rudolph, GISP, the 2021 PIA winners, developed an innovative way to improve the capture process of veterans’ data on a project that is helping the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration. The goal is to ensure highly accurate records of:

• Veterans’ burial locations
• Service records
• Personal information.

It ultimately could enable family, friends, and visitors to obtain locational information when paying respects at a VA cemetery.

Help us create the future! Join our talent community and apply to our open positions today.  To learn more about Gannett Fleming’s history of innovation, read this article.