AUSTIN, Texas, USA (March 06, 2013) – Morgan Stinson, Principal at EEA Consulting Engineers (EEA), was recently awarded the Top 20 Under 40 designation by ENR Texas & Louisiana Magazine. More than 80 entries were received from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.

Mr. Stinson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and joined EEA in 2001 as an Engineer in Training.  He has broad engineering and project management experience, including new and retrofit construction for institutional, commercial and industrial clients; large utility infrastructure projects; science and engineering labs; and campus-wide energy audits.  He has commissioned over 3.5 million square feet of LEED or Austin Energy Green Building Certified projects, and designed over 1 million square feet of certified projects.  He has managed over $3 million in engineering fees for design and construction projects over the past 5 years, and has taken responsibility for growing EEA’s commissioning and energy conservation business.

Mr. Stinson has demonstrated outstanding leadership, drive and commitment to EEA, its employees, and clients while exemplifying the core beliefs and attitudes that differentiate EEA from other firms.  Mr. Stinson’s leadership roles in the company led to his recent promotion to Principal at the age of 35.

To read the full list of ENR Top 20 Under 40 awardees in alphabetical order, click here.

Attila Horvath teaches girls about exhaust fans at the Introduce a Girl to Engineering event at UT Austin.

As part of National Engineer’s Week, EEA employees Attila Horvath and Sadie Wilson presented to a group of girls at UT’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering event held on campus Saturday, February 23. Mr. Horvath and Ms. Wilson volunteered through the local ASHRAE chapter.

The UT event is geared towards getting 1st-8th grade girls interested in math, science, and engineering. The EEA station featured an exhaust fan provided by Jeremy Smith of Texas Air Products.   Mr. Horvath demonstrated how each part of the fan is engineered so that we can install them in places such as restrooms to keep them from smelling. The main point of the presentation was that engineering is simply using your imagination to create solutions. Over 2,600 children attended the event.

Todd Schmitt presents HVAC design fundamentals to senior UT engineering class.

EEA employees Todd Schmitt and Sadie Wilson were asked to present to the Integrated Design class at The University of Texas at Austin on February 11 and 12, 2013.  The class is a senior level design course in the Architectural Engineering program with the focus of preparing students for entering industry jobs.  The students are divided into three teams:  Mechanical, Structural, and CEPM with the professor acting as the architect.  Each team prepares the design for a building and learns to coordinate with the other disipline teams and architect.  Schmitt and Wilson presented to the Mechanical team about HVAC design basics and gave a brief description of what consulting engineering is like.  The goal was to help the students create better, more realistic designs and to give them an idea of the responsibilities they will have when working for a consulting company such as EEA.  Wilson, a UT Architectural Engineering graduate from the class of 2010, said, “It is difficult to transition from academics to profession.  Getting a glimpse of what the industry will be like can help guide career decisions and create better prepared graduates.  I would have found having a resource for feedback, ideas, and questions quite helpful.  It is fun to be able to provide that for other students.”

Schmitt and Wilson are assisting in the grading process in order for the students to receive design-specific comments on their projects.  They will return to the class the week of February 25, 2013 to discuss the students’ schematic designs, offer additional feedback on comments, and answer any other questions the students may have.

Susan Andres, event organizer, climbs the Hill of Life.

In January, EEA employees begin training for the Hill of Life Challenge organized by employee Susan Andres.  With a strong desire to encourage physical fitness in her coworkers, Andres first organized the event in 2010 as a means to help a friend quit smoking.  The Hill of Life Challenge is simply a personal fitness challenge in which employees and friends of the company record their times travelling up a steep hill which is nicknamed the Hill of Life and located in the Austin greenbelt.  The course is .4 miles in length and progresses over a 279 ft elevation gain.  The terrain is very rocky and is estimated to have a 13% grade incline.

The day of the event, Challengers arrive at 9:00am and decide how brave they feel that day.  After walking to the bottom of the hill, teams of two are released two minutes apart to begin the challenge.  Challengers may walk, run, or bike their way back to the top—whichever method they wish to record over time.  Individual times are written down so that challengers may beat their own times from year to year.

The 2013 Hill of Life Challenge will be held on Saturday, April 6 at 9:00 am with a rain date tentatively scheduled for the following Saturday, April 13.  The event typically lasts up to an hour.

Directions:  Take 360 S. from 2222 to Scottish Woods Trail/Westbank Drive – the stoplight across the highway from Westlake High School.  This is the third stoplight south past 2244, or Bee Caves Road underpass.  Turn right onto Scottish Woods Trail.  Go to the end of the road and park along Scottish Woods Drive.  The trail entrance is to the northwest from the junction of Scottish Woods Trail and Camp Craft Rd.

EEA would like to invite others to join the Challenge.  To sign up, please visit the Event page on Facebook.

Article updated April 10, 2013

The Challenge has come and gone leaving 25 participants feeling better about their health.  EEA employee Luke Yantis beat the previous running record with a personal best of 3 minutes 46 seconds.  This record was set after he did the hill on his mountain bike, setting another personal best in that category of 3:58.  Sadie Wilson broke the previous women’s running record of 6:40 with her time of 5:40.

Appearing on the list at #93, EEA highlighted the University of Texas at Austin Tower Air Handling Unit Replacement project.  The project consisted of replacing the air handler on the top floor of the historic tower while the building was fully occupied.  The project was awarded the 2011 Excellence in Construction Award by the Associated Builders and Contractors Central Texas Chapter.

For the Consulting Specifying Engineer project profile, click the MEP Giants logo.  To read more about EEA’s services and latest news updates, visit our website at www.eeace.com.

The conference begins Wednesday with a dinner reception in Brownsville.  Thursday’s sessions include topics as varied as analyzing furniture inventory, LEED on a budget, architectural heritage of campus buildings, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), occupied building renovations, as well as presentations on methods used to increase student learning via building management.

Distribution pumps are similar to the heart organ, pushing fluids throughout the system.

The conference ends Friday at 12:20 pm after presentations that morning.  The sessions on Friday cover additional topics including preparing for natural disasters and high-performing and sustainable building design.  At 9:00, EEA Consulting Engineers presents “How Healthy Are Your Campus Thermal Systems? Campus Utility Modeling and Master Planning” in conjunction with Rick Dempsey, Associate Vice President for Administration, Facilities Management at The University of Texas at Dallas.  The presentation will cover an overview of campus distribution systems, the symptoms of poorly-running systems, prescriptions for maintaining and improving system health, and the importance of getting a physical for your system (hydraulic modeling) in order to have a baseline from which to plan.  The presentation will provide a case study on the University of Texas at Dallas campus where EEA recently completed an analysis of their current central energy plant, modeled two systems, and designed a new 6000 ton satellite utility plant.

If you would like additional information about the conference, see their website at http://www.t-cuf.org/.  If you would like to know how EEA is able to assist you with your campus thermal systems, find a representative at Booth 31 during the conference or contact Morgan Stinson at 512-744-4400 or MorganStinson@eeace.com.

Most recently, EEA created the Director of Retail Engineering position hiring Jeff Michna, PE, in 2011.  Mr. Michna, has the primary responsibility of developing new retail clients and strengthening current client relationships with EEA.  A former EEA employee, Mr. Michna left in 1997 for the sunny skies of California.  In 2000, he joined GAP, Inc. as an Engineering Manager and invited EEA to respond to an RFP for engineering services.

EEA began performing MEP design for GAP, Inc. in 2000, under the leadership of one of EEA’s Principal Engineers, Bill Klock.  That year, EEA renovated the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in 12 Banana Republic stores.  Over time, EEA’s GAP, Inc. projects increased and additional retail leaders were added, such as Fossil, Coldwater Creek, Quicksilver, The Buckle, Forever 21, and Ross.  By 2003, a retail-dedicated design team was formed specifically to handle the work for EEA’s retail clients.  In 2008, Sara Hamill became responsible for daily management of retail projects and for interfacing with the architects and owners.  Mrs. Hamill continues to develop and improve the group’s project management procedures as they apply to the fast-paced retail environment.

Since joining EEA in March 2011, Mr. Michna has been integral in developing relationships with big-name retailers such as H&M, Verizon, Jared’s, and Golfsmith, as well as continuing EEA’s relationship with the GAP brands such as Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta.  Today, EEA has over 200 active retail projects and continues to increase its project volume.

The typical work performed for retail clients includes design of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.  The mechanical engineering is most often in the form of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).  EEA has designed HVAC systems for various stores that include water source heat pumps, split DX, packaged roof top unit, VAV and chilled water systems.  EEA also designs the lighting and power systems from both 208V and 480V services.  Plumbing design may include restrooms, janitor’s closets and kitchenette areas.  EEA’s work varies between tenant finish out of existing spaces and ground up new construction across the United States as well as in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada.

One of the more interesting stores EEA has done recently is the wildly anticipated H&M store in The Domain shopping center in Austin, TX.  This store is the first in the Austin area and only the sixth in Texas as reported by the Austin Business Journal.  The Swedish retailer produces affordable and fashionable clothing for both women and men.  This particular location will also offer children’s clothing.

Additionally, EEA has recently designed lighting and HVAC in two flagship stores for GAP, Inc.:  the Old Navy at 4^th and Market in San Francisco, CA and the GAP at 34^th and Broadway in New York, NY.

For additional information on EEA Consulting Engineer’s retail engineering group, visit our website, or contact Jeff Michna at 512-744-4439 or at jeffmichna@eeace.com.  For other inquiries, call 512-744-4400 or email info@eeace.com.

Photo by Mike Osborne.

The bridge was designed by Andersson-Wise Architects in Austin, Texas, as part of a partnership with the City of Tacoma and the Museum of Glass. EEA was called in after the original MEP design was rejected due to its obtrusion with the design of the bridge.

To overcome the design challenge, EEA utilized pressure-temperature fundamentals of the gas law to design a simple cooling system using compressed air to the glass exhibit. The new system was able to control temperature and humidity within specifications without any traditional (and unsightly) air distribution ductwork.

To learn more about the Dale Chihuly and the Bridge of Glass, please visit the Museum of Glass Exhibition site.

Photo by Timothy Hursley.

GCON is the world’s largest, most advanced biopharmaceutical greenhouse, which grows and processes plants from seeds to harvest for use in vaccine manufacturing. The GCON facility will have the capability of producing 10-100 million doses of infectious vaccines per month, and hundreds of thousands of doses of protein biotherapeutics, such as monoclonal antibodies.

Located in College Station, TX, the 140,000 square foot biotherapeutic manufacturing facility cost $60M to build, and has plant growing areas half the length of a football field with ceilings 40 ft. high.

EEACE’s Participation

EEA provided both MEP design for the facility and process design for the project, including large-scale plant growth spaces and support systems, product harvesting processes, downstream processes, labs and general office spaces.

The facility includes a large bay with MEP and process utilities to support up to eight of GCON’s patented modular biomanufacturing cleanroom facilities (MBFs); downstream purification processes occur in these flexible manufacturing units. EEA also provided MEP design within the MBFs.

With over 1 million plants arranged in hydroponic grow trays stacked 30’ high on racks the entire area of the grow rooms, with uniform lighting and irrigation at each level, the mechanical and electrical engineering was a challenge.

Red/blue LED lighting was used to optimize the light spectrum for the plants and minimize the heat to the space, but the hundreds of kW of stacked lighting still generated a large amount of heat. Yet the temperature in the grow rooms needed to be relatively homogenous throughout so that all plants have similar growing conditions. Maintaining a relatively even temperature throughout an area 40 feet high and 50-yards long meant they couldn’t utilize traditional ceiling diffusers because these would create cold pockets.

In order to accomplish uniformity in temperature across the layers of grow trays, EEA Consulting Engineers designed a horizontal laminar flow air conditioning system, much like a semiconductor cleanroom turned on it’s side, utilizing a complex Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of each room: racks, plant grow trays, lights, and ventilation system. Plenum walls run full height and length along each side of the grow rooms, one side supplying air to the space and the other side serving as the return air plenum. Perforated aluminum plates are installed on the surface of the walls to serve as supply / return grilles; the perforation sizes vary along the height of wall, and were tuned through the CFD model to provide uniform air flow from top to bottom.

In addition to the grow rooms, EEA Consulting Engineers was responsible for design of the process systems, many of which were also the first of their kind. EEA worked closely with GCON to develop the requirements for each of the process steps, from inoculating the plants with the target antibodies, to harvesting the plants, to the downstream protein extraction processes.

From an engineering perspective, this facility was the first-of-its-kind – especially to the scale at which it was done. Additionally, the building was completed within a year by Dallas-based Beck Group with an Integrated Project Delivery methodology. While your standard pharmaceutical project is measured in years, this one was measured in months. It required each of the contractors to step up and work very closely with one another, which fostered a real “team” mindset.

The successful design and construction of the GCON project has brought other opportunities to EEA Consulting Engineers to design challenging projects, both in process and facility design, especially in complex pharmaceutical research and manufacturing facilities.