Case Studies Engineering

Under the best of conditions, a painstakingly long and expensive process—on average, 10 years and $2.6 billion—awaits any prescription drug seeking to achieve regulatory approval. There are the research and discovery phases, the preclinical testing, the initial application to the Food and Drug Administration, several rounds of clinical testing, final new drug application and follow-up […]

Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) have gained popularity in the last 20 years, in part because favorable tax regulations have made them an excellent way for retiring leaders to set up succession plans that reward their team, and because by passing profits and losses to ESOP trusts, which serve as shareholders, certain corporations can avoid […]

As companies grow larger, there is often a danger that employees will feel disconnected with upper management. “I think everyone needs something that motivates them to come to work and be part of an organization,” says Stan Sugden, president of Ruekert & Mielke Inc. (R/M), a 71-year-old civil engineering firm with offices throughout Wisconsin and […]

Standing on the manicured lawn of the Brightview senior living development in Canton, Massachusetts, it’s hard to imagine that just a few years ago, the same plot of land was a pit of sand and gravel. Today, a stately, three-story, 167,000-square-foot building stands there, surrounded by carefully landscaped grounds, courtyards and a quarter-mile walking path […]

When the military has a project involving construction or engineering, it’s not swayed by low bid alone. The stakes are too high, the margin for error practically nonexistent. It takes a contractor with a track record to impress the brass. All the better if it’s a company known for completing work on time and within […]

It takes one to know one, as kids on the playground often cry. But for civil engineering firm, ADR & Associates, the phrase isn’t derisive and, in fact, it describes the firm’s relationship to general contractors. Founders, civil engineering students and business partners, Doug Mill and Russ Krock, started the firm in Newark, Ohio, in […]

“Five hundred twenty four people in church last Sunday,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s a personal thing; you quantify things. It’s good for background in buying land and figuring out the sewer lines and everything else. Even though we have engineers on-site, it helps to be an engineer to oversee everything.” Given how well […]

A tour of David Shuldiner Inc.’s glass and metalwork portfolio would be a pretty comprehensive tour of New York City’s most iconic buildings. Since 1888, the family-owned company has been installing glass and metalwork throughout the city. It’s responsible for the interior glass at Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium. It built the original iconic […]

When altering landscapes for development in the Southeast, little things can add up. Case in point: the tiny silt particles that aren’t supposed to be discharged into waterways without treatment. Blake Thomas, the 32-year-old project manager of Reel Neet Erosion Control, remembers filling a jar with such water and setting it on a shelf in […]

When John W. “Jack” Somerville sold his architecture and engineering firm, Somerville Inc., he wanted to preserve the reputation his family had built over 50 years. He wanted to avoid selling to a large firm that might gut Somerville Inc. of its legacy or its longtime employees. Converting the firm to an ESOP, or employee […]