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PSPE 2020 Conference Agenda (Virtual)
September 24 – 25, 2020

Schedule of Events

Thursday, September 24, 2020

8:30 am – 9:30 am
Coffee Chat with Colleagues

Coffee Chat: Public Meetings – The Case for Permanent Virtual Meetings
Join this zoom meeting to talk with colleagues about virtual public meetings. John Nawn, PE, will facilitate discussion.

or

Coffee Chat: Ethics and Workplace Etiquette
Join this zoom meeting to talk with colleagues about experiences with ethics and workplace etiquette. Susan Sprague, PE, will facilitate discussion.

10:00 am – 11:00 am
Tools to Ensure Effective Litigation Preparation and Testimony as an Engineering Professional
Nicholas Albergo P.E., DEE, FASCE, DAWWRE | Senior Engineer, GHD Services

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Keynote: Leading in Uncertainty with an Eye to the Future
Melissa J. Batula, PE | Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration, PA Department of Transportation

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Airport Terminal Restroom Planning & Design
Api Appulingam, P.E. | Deputy Director of Aviation, Capital Development, Philadelphia International and Northeast Philadelphia Airports

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Peeling Back the Layers of Construction Bid Documents
Kurt V. Leininger, P.E.

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Bingo and Happy Hour

Friday, September 25, 2020

8:30 am – 9:30 am
Coffee Chat with Colleagues

Coffee Chat: The Most Important Issues Facing the Future of the Engineering Profession
Join this zoom meeting for discussion on the most important issues facing the future of the engineering profession. Jennifer Nolan-Kremm, PE, will facilitate the conversation.

or

Coffee Chat: COVID, Working Remotely, and Quarantine Bingo
Join this zoom meeting to discuss with colleagues the challenges of COVID, working remotely, and some light-hearted quarantine bingo. Brian Palmiter will facilitate the discussion.

10:00 am – 11:00 am
The Statute of Repose – Does it apply to you? What are the limitations?
Rebecca A. Bowman, Esq., PE

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Order of Engineer Ceremony
Susan Best, PE, Moderator

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Incorporating New Technologies into Civil & Environmental Infrastructure
Lisa M. Clementoni; Walt Stout; Heather J. Heeter; and Brian Palmiter Jr. | Borton Lawson

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
A cross-disciplinary approach to innovation – Applying new technologies for Smart Transportation
Girija Subramaniam, PE | Founder and Technical Consultant, Forcing Function LLC

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Installation and Awards Celebration
David Williams, PE, | PSPE Awards Committee Chair, Emcee | Senior Transportation Engineering Manager at L.R. Kimball a CDI Company


 

Abstracts

Thursday, September 24, 2020 | 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Tools to Ensure Effective Litigation Preparation and Testimony as an Engineering Professional
Nicholas Albergo P.E., DEE, FASCE, DAWWRE
Senior Engineer, GHD Services

Litigation in connection with engineering projects and services continues to be on the rise. The vast majority of testimony by engineers is offered through deposition. Preparation is key to successfully offering deposition and/or trial testimony. Although these services are less frequently needed when compared to others provided by engineers, when such services are desired (or required) as a function of litigation, it is extremely important that engineering professionals understand both the process as well as desirable traits associated with effective testimony.

This presentation will offer a brief overview of the factual and procedural information about litigation, but primarily provide guidance from the engineers’ point of view in the areas of:
• What makes a credible witness?
• How to perform a resume checkup to ensure accuracy and emphasize knowledge, experience and training
• Managing your time
• Preparing opinions and the substance of your testimony
• Writing and defending your expert report
• File management (email, document retention, etc.)
• Strategic deposition preparation and tips to success
• Strategic trial preparation and tips success

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Thursday, September 24, 2020 | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Airport Terminal Restroom Planning & Design
Api Appulingam, P.E.
Deputy Director of Aviation, Capital Development
Philadelphia International and Northeast Philadelphia Airports

Airport restrooms are often one of passengers’ first stops upon arriving at the airport and their last stop before departing. As part of PHL’s commitment to improving the guest experience, the Restroom Renovation Program focuses on upgrading existing restrooms to modern standards, improving quality and comfort, accommodating more passengers, and increasing energy and water efficiency.

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Thursday, September 24, 2020 | 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Peeling Back the Layers of Construction Bid Documents
Kurt V. Leininger, P.E.

An overview of the various types of bidding formats and documents available for public works projects. Particular emphasis will be on how major equipment can be bid, with the associated benefits and risks for the owner.

This slideshow summarizes the multiple layers of bidding documents including bid items, bidding methods and formats, and coordination among the various contract documents. The last part will focus on the integration of major equipment into the bid documents to clarify various responsibilities of the owner and contractor. The presentation should be a “refresher” for veteran PEs and a broad introduction for younger engineers. It includes the following topics with several “pop quizzes” interspersed throughout.

Introduction & Definitions

Bid Document Components
Invitation
Instructions to Bidders & Bid Form
General Conditions & Supplementary Conditions
Specifications
Drawings
Addendums

Bidding Methods
Invitation Only or Public Bidding
Design-Bid-Build (Conventional)
Design-Build
Equipment Procurement, followed by conventional bidding
Program Management with multiple contracts for bidding

Bid Items
Lump Sums
Unit Prices
Alternatives
Allowances

Bidding Formats
Conventional Format
Conventional with Task “Parts” or “Phases”
Conventional with “Alternative Bid Items”
Conventional with “Installation of Owner-Furnished Equipment”

Document Coordination among various Specification Sections, with emphasis on Division 1-General Requirements for clear definition of project scope.

Choices for selection of Major Equipment
Contractor selected, as compliant with Specifications
Owner selected from Bids for alternative manufacturers
Owner-furnished, with prior Owner-Procurement bidding
“Sole Source” specification in Conventional bid documents

Owner-Procurement Considerations – before deciding to have Owner furnish major equipment by separate Procurement (whether public bidding or sole-source), whereby the Owner’s contract is with the equipment manufacturer:
Scheduling equipment delivery for unloading by Contractor.
Storage of equipment prior to installation (by Contractor).
Equipment installation by Contractor, witnessed by Manufacturer.
Startup and testing by Manufacturer, with Contractor assistance.
Clear specification for Installing Contractor’s requirements for equipment.
Contractors’ interest in bidding without realizing a markup for the Owner procured equipment.

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Friday, September 25, 2020 | 10:00 am – 11:00 am
The Statute of Repose – Does it apply to you? What are the limitations?
Rebecca A. Bowman, Esq., PE

Most of us are familiar with a statute of limitations. That’s a deadline before which a damaged or injured party must file a lawsuit. It is generally subject to some extensions (like delayed discovery of the defect) that will extend that period of time. However, Pennsylvania also has a statute of repose. This is not a deadline. It means that, no matter when the damage or injury is discovered, there is a date beyond which a damaged or injured party has no right to file anything — the party actually has no rights. It’s a very powerful protection provided by statute. Most people use the word “repose” when referring to lying down to sleep. The statute does, indeed, let you sleep. We’ll talk about how it works, to whom it applies, and limitations.

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Friday, September 25, 2020 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Order of Engineer Ceremony
Susan Best, PE, Moderator

As an engineer you take deep pride in your profession. Stand with peers as you are inducted into the Order during this solemn and respectful ceremony at lunch on Thursday.

The Order of the Engineer is the contingent of engineers in the United States who have accepted the Obligation of an Engineer. The Order of the Engineer fosters a unity of purpose and honors lifelong dedication to the profession.

The Order is not a membership organization; there are never any meetings to attend or dues to pay. Instead, the Order fosters a unity of purpose and the honoring of one’s pledge lifelong.

The Obligation is a creed similar to the oath attributed to Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) that is generally taken by medical graduates and which sets forth an ethical code. The Obligation likewise, contains parts of the Canon of Ethics of major engineering societies.

Members of the Order voluntarily pledge to uphold the standards and dignity of the engineering profession and to serve humanity by making the best use of Earth’s precious wealth.

The symbol of the Order is a stainless steel ring worn on the fifth finger of the working hand. (A PE license is not required.)

If you are registered for the full conference, or the day, simply add the ceremony and your ring size to your registration. (Download a ring sizing chart courtesy of Zales.com here.) Additional instructions will be sent to participants in the ceremony.

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Friday, September 25, 2020 | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Incorporating New Technologies into Civil & Environmental Infrastructure
Lisa M. Clementoni; Walt Stout; Heather J. Heeter; and Brian Palmiter Jr. | Borton Lawson

The presentation will discuss how the incorporation of new technologies, such as laser scanning, virtual reality, and drones have benefit several civil and environmental infrastructure projects, including the Bloomsburg levee, Spring Run and Abrahams Creek stream restorations, and Mahanoy City Culvert projects among others.

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Friday, September 25, 2020 | 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
A cross-disciplinary approach to innovation – Applying new technologies for Smart Transportation
Girija Subramaniam, PE | Founder and Technical Consultant, Forcing Function LLC

As the founder and prime consultant of Forcing Function LLC, Girija has worked on both grant based research and commercial projects. This talk will focus on the ‘why and how’ of the projects that Forcing Function has undertaken using grant based research. Engineers need to be able to evolve and work with cross-disciplinary teams in order to provide innovative solutions to real world problems. The examples presented will show how new technologies like sensors, drones and Deep Learning can be applied across multiple disciplines to provide solutions in the world of Transportation.

Using 3 real world examples, I will walk the audience through the process of undertaking real world innovative engineering research and applications. The 3 projects are listed below:
1. Predicting traction motor failure – involves using sensor data under ruggedized operating conditions
2. Performing surface and subsurface analysis of concrete lined tunnels using drone mounter LiDAR and GPR sensors
3. Performing hardware and radio agnostic signal coverage analysis by applying Deep Learning to RF signals

All 3 projects involve multi-disciplinary work and signal processing of collected data using ML/DL techniques.

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Friday, September 25, 2020 | 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Installation and Awards Celebration
David Williams, PE, | PSPE Awards Committee Chair, Emcee

Join PSPE in congratulating your fellow engineers, as they assume state and national leadership roles, and accept awards for outstanding performance.

Brian Schull, PE | SAI Consulting Engineers
PSPE 2020 Engineer of the Year

Michelle Hinds, PE | SAI Consulting Engineers
PSPE 2020 Young Engineer of the Year

Walter J. Poplawski, PE, FNSPE
President’s Dedicated Service Award

Michael F. Basta, PE, FNSPE
NSPE Fellow, Class of 2020

Installation of PSPE 2020-21 Executive Committee
Tricia H. Hatley, PE | NSPE President 2020-21

Susan L. Best, PE | PSPE 2020-21 PSPE President

Jennifer Nolan-Kremm, PE | President-Elect

David J. Briskey, PE | Secretary

Thomas J. Friese, PE | Treasurer

Nicole C. Wilson, PE | Vice President Southeast Region

Marleen A. Troy, PE, PhD | Vice President Northeast Region

Kirk L. Thompson, PE | Vice President Western Region

Michael C. Poletti, PE | Vice President Central Region

Michael F. Basta, PE | Immediate Past President

John A. Nawn, PE, F.NSPE | NSPE House of Delegates Representative

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