The Fierce Urgency of Now
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- Parent Category: Experience
- Category: self
My Career Drivers
Innate
Love of Learning
Knowledge is Power. There is Safety in Power.
There is also comfort in that the world is orderly and that the orderliness can be known.
And the whole thing is grandly wonderous.
Compulsion to Serve
There's always been a need to be of service, of value.
Career
Utility/Application
Career is about application. What can you do for somebody?
What knowledge can you convert to valuable action?
Learn while you do (recursive). Apply!
Impact
Scale your effort.
Oklahoma DOT - MicroStation & InRoads Migration
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- Parent Category: Experience
- Category: Projects
Project: MicroStation/InRoads Comprehensive Migration from MicroStation/J
Client: Oklahoma DOT (ODOT)
Prime Contractor: Bohannan Huston, Inc. (BHI)
Primary Collaborators: Janet Griffen (ODOT) and Brad Adams (BHI)
Work Scope: Precursory Education, Needs Assessment, Standards Development ("integers to names"), Software Setup
2002-2003
Driven to Drive Innovation
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- Parent Category: Experience
- Category: self
Our past shapes us all.
I grew up with my dad running his own General Construction Company (I also grew up with my brother and I as his ever-available full-gamut laborers).
Homes, subdivisions, office parks.
Recessions. Retreats. Rebuilds.
Decades-long high-impact high-stakes entrepreneurship.
A family business. A business family.
Nature and Nurture.
Civil Engineering was an logical extension of my upbringing.
My first job was for a for three-person Survey and Engineering Design office (The Owner/Principal Engineer, an Engineer four years my senior, and me). We did it all, from Topo Surveys to running the design plans down to the airport for the contractor. Effort with clear direct impact.
As the economy was shrinking, we even got on the phone cold-calling developers.
Founding my own business was inevitable. Nature/Nurture.
What I've Done
- Details
- Category: XLr8
What skills and attitudes do I bring to the table?
- My dad built businesses (and subdivisions and office parks).
- My first job as an EIT was with a three-person office. We surveyed, designed, and staked out. I even cold-called developers seeking work (thank you, Recession 1990-1991).
- Packed up and left Florida for a three-month consulting contract in San Diego. Turned into a five-year engagement.
- Founded Civil XLr8 to “Go National”. Not wanting to hire staff, I instead took a local job at CalTrans, before ultimately working directly for Bentley Systems for 13 years.
Upon sending my kid off to college, I restarted Civil XLr8.
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To maximize firmwide uplift, it starts with your communication systems.
Your communications systems must
- maximize the scalability of your value and
- maximize the synergy of your people.
It should be
- Manageable from the top
- Engaging across the base
- Value-Harvestable
- Manageable and Managed
Those in need must be able to find what they need when they need it.
- Just Enough, Just in Time, at their Fingertips
How do we do this better? Are our limitations valid? Do we really have to wait?
Tools. I'm happiest when I'm bringing order to chaos (see The Six-Ball Juggle). Some processes are near impossible without tools that simplify them. Engineers can work wonders with a spreadsheet, but at some point they themselves get too complex and breakable (without reliable ways to tell if they're broken). If I could make a living programming, I'd do it. My scope is different.
I have freely published some software programs.
- FlowMonster is/was a hydraulic normal depth calculator that the City of San Diego used for over twenty years - saving them hundred(s) of thousands of dollars.
- Ini Manager - I wrote this so to make the InRoads enterprise-wide Standards Management possible. Community Involvement (and Quality Practices in general) require contribution to be easy - or it fails.
I tend not to program anymore, but I do customize XSL/T reports. OpenRoads Configuration/Administration is complex to the point of absurdity - and the primary way to review in bulk (and import/export for mass manipulation) is via Exporting/Importing XML files. XSL/T transforms to and from those standard formats into formats you can actually use.
Innovative Communication. There is nothing really innovative in using websites to communicate. Except in managing civil engineering projects. We tend not to do that. The first project I used a website to educate the stakeholders about the decisions they would be making and the results of our discussion was Oklahoma DOT - MicroStation & InRoads Migration). Amazing results and surprise contributions from across the state (because they had access to all the information). Today I document as I go; I can provide instantaneous access to all project stakeholders: Fast, Lean, Secure Project Websites
Agile Implementations made possible by Constant Communication (Live documentation)
Vision and Effective Communication are critical to moving organizations. I led the City of San Diego's Engineering Application Services programs in the late 1990s. I led the technical aspects of Oklahoma DOTs migration from MicroStation/J and InRoads to v8. I have designed training programs for large corporations. I have helped shape expectations and culture. I have consistently improved communication and sought to develop a culture of Uplift Everybody and Shared Expertise. I know the value of injecting energy and instilling confidence.
US-183 North Mobility Project, Austin, TX, $612 million. Drainage Modeling and Sheeting in OpenRoads Drainage and Utilities on ProjectWise. Parsons Corp.
JFK International Airport Redevelopment Program, New York. $1.24 billion. Drainage Modeling and Design using Civil 3D/SSA on AutoDesk Construction Cloud.
Valley Line West - Edmonton Light Rail (Utilities) in Edmonton, Alberta. Subsurface Utilities using OpenRoads Drainage and Utilities on ProjectWise.
- I made extensive use of ORD BIM capabilities, integrating data from disparate sources into the utilities data model.
- I then used View Display Rule technology (my favorite new platform tech behind Item Types) to streamline the review process. In-project ROI!
- Watch The Six-Ball Juggle for my thoughts on simplifying complex processes.
Drainage/hydraulics has been the most ever-present discipline in my career. Fresh out of school designing and permitting drainage systems in rainy Central Florida.
In what would be typical throughout my career, deep drainage experience in the Roadway Software ecosystem (InRoads, GEOPAK, Civil 3D, OpenRoads) means you're most valuable leading in that role. At Intergraph, I helped develop the algorithms for full-flow/surcharged HGL calculations (this was before HEC-22). Even most recently, when added to Multi-discpline Mega Projects, my expertise is more rare and valued in the Drainage and Utilities realm than in the roadway scope (a video perspective).
The OpenRoads Drainage and Utilities software is really two complicated technology verticals grafted together. Elite expertise in BOTH those verticals is rare. My career has largely been about intergrating those two verticals (and otherwise blurring barriers).
Drainage Engineering: a summary
Intergraph Corporation: While primarily focused on InFlow (drainage) and InSewer (sanitary) development, certification and support, InRoads was the Civil behemoth. It’s impossible to work the periphery without a good competency of the core. I also certified the InSpan (bridge) software package.
- Highway Interchange Design: I-4/Conroy, Rural Highway Design, Bridge Geometry support (HNTB Orlando).
- Foothill Transportation Corridor - South Alignment Studies with full templates and complicted end-conditions. (PBS&J, Irvine)
- I-15 Managed Lanes Direct Access Ramp geometry modeling and drainage (CalTrans).
- I-805 Managed Lanes (Kimley-Horn, San Diego).
Highway Engineering: my history.
I started my career with a full-services Topo-to-Stakeout Site Engineering company. A PE, an EIT and me. Lots of responsibility right away.
- Job 1: Full project responsibility early site engineering including drainage in very rainy Florida (Spring Creek Square - 30-acre shopping center working directly with the developer and contractor).
- Job 2: Site and drainage design and permitting for Orange County Public Schools Improvement programs
- Job 3: Intergraph InSite certification lead.
- Site grading course design at Bentley, including InRoad, the InRoads (GEOPAK)Site Modeler import/graft, and first OpenRoads Site Grading Courses.
- Here's some valuable training on grading: CivilHelp.com: Site and Drainage Grading
First Job: On the rod or the Leitz Set 2 for topo or stakeout surveys.
Most currently, agency-level configuration of OpenRoads Survey, including Custom Operations and Annotation setup and import/process QC.
Quick Links: YouTube Channel JeffMartinPE | My Resume | About this web
Drainage Engineering
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- Parent Category: Experience
- Category: Skills
I had a consulting manager at Bentley say to me once, "I had no idea that you knew roadway." I KNOW Roadway really well, but when I'm pulled from my Bentley "day job" to provide consulting services, it's for drainage "hot projects" or to consult with leadership teams to plan OpenRoads Drainage Implementations.
I think I defensively answered "I'm roadway first" (because Bentley Civil is roadway first), but upon reflection I'm not sure that holds up to scrutiny. In the three-way split between Roadway, Site, and Drainage Engineering, Drainage does, in fact, get the edge.
I may be the same sized Big Fish, but the Pond of Drainage Experts is much smaller than the Great Lake of Roadway Experts.
OpenRoads Drainage (currently called "Drainage and Utlities") is a full implementation of StormCAD and CivilStorm within the OpenRoads Designer environment. I've been deeply involved in its development and rollout since its early days at Bentley. The Product Manager and I developed most of the training (until recently when I moved to promoting all Engineering Applications).
After getting a full complement of Drainage Training published, I started with Virginia DOT extensively. I developed additional training material per their needs and delivered multiple weeks of training at their headquarters and regional offices. I worked with hydraulic managers to address their concerns (they were less about the software than being able to assure the quality of projects submitted by staff and consultants. StormCAD and CivilStorm are considerably more sophisticated than the software they were replacing. We worked to develop customizations of in-software tools to help flag issues and automate review).
I most recently spent weeks with the Hydraulic Leads at ALDOT, TxDOT, OrDOT, and WSDOT, and a top 5 Design Company going over details of the product's spatial and hydraulic capabilities and how to meet their detailed design criteria (see The Surprise Barrier to OpenRoads Drainage Acceptance).
The last drainage course I authored prior to my current position was Placing a Ditch and Culvert Networks. A direct result of writing that course is a series of enhancements to the software to allow easy layout of ditches whether the terrain reflects the ditch or not. This is an example of where the code was sufficient for "standalone" Haestad workflows, but required enhancements because of the level of spatial accuracy one expects in the OpenRoads BIM/Digital Twin-ready modeling environment.
This is actually a major consideration when implementing OpenRoads Drainage: because you can be extremely accurate spatially (even photorealistically), how much do you let that capacity "distract" you from your contracted deliverables. There is a tendency to chase spatial perfection even though it is not required hydraulically or even contractually. What is the balance? Balancing this question is especially true for agencies setting up their standards.
I've worked on multi-discipline, live-collaboration Mega-Projects both in OpenRoads Drainage (US-183 in Austin, TX) and in Civil 3D Storm&Sanitary Analysis (JFK Airport Redevelopment)
Innovation - Walking the Walk
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- Parent Category: Leadership
- Category: Leadership-Organizational
"Innovation is our Differentiator"
Are you driving it or are you merely hoping for it?
When selling services, from the individual level all the way up to the MegaProject level, there are a couple different marketing strategies:
- "We will help you make more money by helping you with your current core business."
- "We will help you make more money by helping you expand your business."
Offer your clients something your competitors don't (innovation): the ability to offer their clients a differentiator (innovation!).
"Innovation" can differentiate both the quality of service and the perception of those services.
But...
is your innovation a lingering legacy or are you committed to a culture of Innovation?
Do your services inspire a Culture of Innovation?
Does your Culture change Culture?
You've talked the Innovation talk, are you walking the Innovation walk?
You have Innovators on your staff. You have "uplifters" on your staff.
Can your innovators innovate?
Can you uplifters lift up?
Does your culture empower them or does your culture inhibit them?
It starts with your business model.
Professional Experience
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- Category: Experience
Civil XLr8 (the Connect Edition)
As much as I was enjoying banging on Civil3D (and its Hydraulic extensions), it was clear that I was never going to be truly bi-lingual. I'm happy to have had a deep dive back in the other half of the duopoly, but Bentley solutions is my home. It was time to resurrect Civil XLr8.
I've been doing a lot of workspace development (particulary Survey, Sheet Seed development, Annotation - filling in subscopes I had neglected), some training, and business development (see CivilXLr8.com).
My primary focus in the Bentley Ecosystem is helping organizations grow by adopting better practices and broadening internal and peripheral integration with the tools they already own. The greater efficiency and expanded services footprint = succe$$.
Parsons Corporation (2021-2023)
In November 2021, I accepted a position at Parsons Corporation as a Supervising Drainage Engineer. My goal was to get back into industry that had changed so much in the thirteen years I had been watching a remote vantage point at Bentley (involved, but not embedded).
Parsons is known for their expertise in Multi-Discipline Live-Collaboration MegaProjects.
I worked on these MegaProjects
- US-183 North Mobility Project, Austin TX: ProjectWise-Managed Roadway&Drainage Rehabilitation. I worked Drainage using OpenRoads Drainage and Utilities software.
- Edmonton Light Rail Transit, Valley Line West, Edmonton, Alberta: Light Rail Extension through downtown Edmonton. I worked modeling existing and new Subsurface Utilities using ORD Drainage and Utilities. Note this is absolutely a subdiscipline where moving chaotically-source data to the (extended) OpenRoads Data Model (Item Types) yields huge benefits in schedule, cost and quality. Utilities is so well-suited for OpenRoads BIM and Digital Twins capability.
- JFK Airport Redevelopment, New York: Multi-discipline $19 billion project. I worked drainage modeling and design in Civil3D, SSA, AutoDesk Construction Cloud and supporting programs.
Other opportunities at Parsons included
- Leading the drainage portion of a phase of a $570M highway expansion project bid (which we one). FAST detailed modeling for estimates! (It seems that the Construction firms are in an arms race to fully model a project so that they can get really precise estimates. This really increases the costs of bidding.)
- Using Teams to share new Best Practices for OpenRoads Drainage
Bentley Systems (2008-2021)
Prior to being recruited to join Bentley Systems in 2008, half of my career had been responsible engineering design and half had been developing training, implementing and training InRoads and InRoads Drainage (Storm&Sanitary). Half had been as an employee, half had been as a self-employed consultant.
My role at Bentley initially had been to extend our Training Content available for InRoads and then later to transform how we delivered training: to facilitate remote OnDemand Learning.
Additional major Learning System responsibilities included rolling out OpenRoads Technology, incorporating the Haestad (OpenFlows) drainage software, on-site training and consulting, and managing the Civil Content Development Team.
My current role at Bentley is Blueprints Portfolio Manager for the Design Integration Products (these include the OpenRoads, OpenPlant, OpenBuildings, STAAD/RAM product families and the MicroStation Platform). Our goal is to transform how the spectrum of value - from short job-aids through large Consulting projects - are consumed by Bentley users. Our goal is to dramatically facilitate the consumption of training and consulting - similar to how we transformed the delivery of training from Instructor-required to OnDemand self-service.
I have a Bentley page with more detail.
Please see sub-menus under Experience for discipline summaries and highlights, like
Why am I Here? (in front of class)
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- Parent Category: Leadership
- Category: Training
One of the first things I do when I start an on-site class is ask:
"Why Am I Here?"
- What value do I add by being here?
- Why did your company pay me money to teach you something that is available for free?
- Videos of these lectures and exercise are availble online. In fact, in many of them, I'm the narrator (unlikely now, but common at the time).
- Why Am I Here?
- It forces staff to spend the time 24, 32 or 40 hours taking the training.
- I can answer "detail" questions and provide context.
- I diagnose, triage, and curate. There is a LOT of content available, some of it is critical to you, much is not. Some has a negative consequence. The first hour I spend focused on learning your needs, picking appropriate foundational material to work through for the first day. Over the course of the day (and the next), I refine my understanding of what you need and then find the best material available. Generally if there is a day 4, I've got some new custom exercise that fill the biggest gap in the material that fits your needs.
- I can translate the generic workflow to how you do things or how you should be doing things for your projects' unique or quirky needs.
The Six-Ball Juggle
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- Parent Category: Leadership
- Category: Insight
The Six-Ball Juggle
Designing Better workflows
Summary (the Takeaway)
How do you:
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- Simplify the Project
- Speed the Workflow
- Improve Quality
- Solve Resource Issues
- Improve Morale
- Prevent my biggest regret as a Parent
Juggle fewer balls.
Do this:
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- Skeptically re-evaluate your assumptions about the requirements.
- Be skeptical that your Six Ball Juggler's workflow is actually the best workflow.
- Bring in Circus Experts, talk to Entertainment Experts, Talk to Peers.
- Design your workflow for Quality
- Design your workflow for Clarity
- Design your workflow for multiple talent threshholds
- Design your workflow to be sustainable
Here's the Powerpoint Presentation: The Six-Ball Juggle (slideshow)