Representatives of CMA will attend the ASCE Broward Branch Bowl-A-Thon as a sponsor on August 21 from noon to 4pm at Sawgrass Lanes in Tamarac. https://broward-asce.org/
August 13, 2021
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: This past week, I was listening to a piece on NPR that was hosted by two writers from the Miami Herald. They were still talking about the tragedy in Surfside. I normally would have switched it off, since as a leader in most engineering societies in Florida, I know that there has been no definitive opinion authored yet, but I kept hearing the authors refer to “our engineers say” and “our engineers think.” If I can be of any public service, please note that no engineer worth their license would be speaking before analysis is done. Don’t believe the hype.
Looking ahead: As someone that owns a business that consults for infrastructure, I want to let everyone know that I’m incredibly concerned about the next week as the House considers the Senate bill related to more than $1 trillion in infrastructure. As a business owner, I know I’ll be hit with a lot of taxes. As an infrastructure designer, I know we’ll make some money. To me, it’s likely to be a wash, but for my fellow non-engineering business owners, I want to remind everyone that the multiplier for other businesses is 3-8 times the investment. Reliability is the key.
CMA staff attended the FES conference August 4-7 at the Breakers Palm Beach. Patrick Kaimrajh, P.E. graduated from the 2020 Florida Engineering Leadership Institute (FELI) class and Jennifer Smith, P.E. and Robert Best, Jr., P.E. graduated from the 2021 FELI Class. The FES Broward Branch won First Place in Recruitment, First Place Retention, and Best Overall for the large branch category. Teresa Lewis, E.I. accepted the awards on behalf of the Broward Branch as the President-Elect. Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP was honored as an FES Fellow Member and Shahin Hekmat, P.E. presented several of the awards as the ACEC-FL President.
Happy Professional Engineers Day to all of our engineers at CMA! We thank you for your hard work and dedication to our profession.
CMA President Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP and Director of Water Resources and Senior Engineer Brent Whitfield, P.E. recently contributed articles relating to ‘Legislative Recap’ and ‘PE Days’ respectively that were published in the June 2021 issue of the Florida Engineering Society (FES) Journal. Congratulations Peter and Brent!
Representatives of CMA will attend the SEFL/Caribbean ULI Oakland Park Real Urbanism in an Emerging City on July 12 from noon to 2pm at the Funky Buddha Brewery. seflorida.uli.org
CMA Associate Engineer Nick Karpathy, E.I., ENV SP presented on limitations of the CN Model and Comparisons to the ɸ-Index Model at the ASCE Florida Section Conference on July 8. https://www.fla-asce.org/
CMA Senior Engineers Dan Davila, P.E. and Patrick Kaimrajh, P.E. and Richard Crow from Murphy Pipeline Contractors Inc. presented on trenchless technology work in South Florida at the ASCE Florida Section Conference on July 8. https://www.fla-asce.org/
Congratulations to the following CMAers who were recognized at the Annual ASCE Florida Section Conference July 8-9: Senior Engineer Jennifer Smith P.E. for winning Region 5 Young Engineer of the Year and for being inducted as District 1 VP for the Section, Associate Engineer Teresa Lewis, E.I. for receiving an award for her work in starting the Region 5 Young Members Committee, and Senior Engineer Patrick Kaimrajh, P.E. for being inducted as Section Treasurer and who also moderated a student panel at the event. We are proud of all of you!
July 2, 2021
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: As (I believe) the only licensed engineer in the South Florida 100, I must say that the tragedy in Surfside very much hit home. Everything we do is for public safety, health and well-being, and to see such a tragedy unfold is our worst nightmare. Unfortunately, I’ve seen several professionals weighing in with their opinions. That’s not how engineers do things. We base our work on facts, and conjecture ought to be the opposite of our nature. I know those that felt loss want closure, but forensic engineers will get to the bottom of this. Until then, just pray.
Looking ahead: One of the most significant revenue increases in many years for the state of Florida was the online sales tax. An estimated $1 billion in revenue would come from the new enforcement of sales taxes technically already owed. Right now, few Floridians pay in-state sales tax on purchases made from out-of-state sellers, in part, because they are required to send a separate check to the Department of Financial Services after they make their purchase. It’s about time that we leveled the playing field for our brick-and-mortar retailers. Let’s see how it helps in the coming weeks.
