XLr8

• 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.

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.