KEEPING THINGS MOVING. 
We are keenly aware that COVID-19 impacts every industry and facet of our daily lives. This week we took a look at what our DOP engineering members are up to and how they are using their expertise to solve today's engineering problems to move forward. Get comfy, because we've gathered a lot of good stuff.

The World of Engineering.
One of AECOM's main goals is to engage the public, which is usually done through face-to-face public meetings.  With a shift to a virtual workforce and the need to rethink how to engage the public for their comments and ideas, they launched a virtual public consultation tool.  This is how it works:

• Through the new platform, a virtual event can be personalized to show consultation materials, including virtual reality and sound demonstrations, videos, maps, plans and pop up banners.
• It allows for instant feedback so public reaction can be captured and saved for analysis and accurate reporting.
• There is a chat function, so on-hand experts can remotely answer questions as visitors look around the materials, similar to what would take place during an in-person event.

Ingenuity Engineering has been working with OBL Solutions, a local Out Patient Cardiology Surgery Center, for a new prototype surgery center. With hospitals moving towards more of a “Hub and Spoke” business model, hospital systems are relying more and more on Ambulatory Surgery Centers for there surgeries. Next week they will be hosting a webinar covering Pursuing the Shift of Cardiovascular Procedures to the Outpatient Setting.

Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. is continuously posting new articles, webinars and podcasts to their Perspectives webpage as well as sharing them on their social media. A few of the recent posts include Riding Out the "New Normal": Reviving the Transit Industry Post Covid-19 and Returning to Retail: How to Build Customer Trust While Maintaining Social Distance.

Curious about how COVID-19 is changing travel patterns and what the resulting environmental impact might be? Or, how to estimate travel demand volumes using historical data in order to help projects move forward? Kittelson & Associates has you covered. Also, coming up on June 4, 2020, they will be hosting a webinar on the core principles behind visual communication for public outreach in transportation planning and engineering projects.

RTM Engineering Solutions put together a document outlining basic measures to be used to promote health and wellness in the office. Since it is not practical for most businesses to replicate a hospital environment with HEPA filtration or negative pressure airflow, they cover how to use the heating and air conditioning systems. These are simple measures with a significant impact on health and wellness.

TLC Engineering Solutions has successfully maintained schedules on projects across the country while we are all working from home as well as studying how to best employ building ventilation systems in order to reduce the risks of COVID-19. HVAC systems can reduce the risk of infection from aspirated viruses with relatively minor modifications to existing buildings.

VHB curated a webpage covering current impacts, future trends, and considerations as they see across transportation, real estate, institutions and energy.  Beyond these insights, VHB has compiled best practices on Innovative Approaches to Facilitate Virtual Engagement as it relates to a virtual shift in planning board, town hall, zoning commission, or traditional stakeholder outreach meetings for major projects. In addition, their new COVID-19 Series focuses on moving forward, covering the Impact on Global Supply Chains and Reshaping and Influencing the Post-COVID-19 World.

Walter P Moore is offering free distance learning for industry partners, and most are eligible for AIA Learning Units (LUs), or Professional Development Hours (PDH). They have also launched YourDesk University, which pulls international industry experts together to present technical learning sessions for architects, engineers and contractors.

WSP's Insight newsletter covers articles for 'engineering a better normal'. Helping provide answers to questions such as The Post-Pandemic Office: What About The Elevators? to Can We Virus-Proof the Office?

Phew! Did you catch all that?