SAIT
Known for providing a tremendous level of training in a variety of skilled trades, Calgary, Alberta’s SAIT Polytechnic is continuing its expansion with its new Trades and Technology Complex. A three-year effort, the campus officially opened its doors to students this fall.
“We want to give students more exposure to industry than they will find at any other university or postsecondary institution,” says Boris Dragicevic, Associate Vice President of Facilities Management at SAIT Polytechnic. “We are going for that balance in what a polytechnic education offers you, as well as what it offers the world as a whole. That foundation of professionalism will attract new people to [SAIT Polytechnic] and will enlighten people to the opportunities within those areas.”
Northwestern (NMH)
Teaching, Healing And Growing Green To Benefit Their Employees
Hospitals don’t revolve around convenient opening times or casual comings and goings. On the contrary, they are fast-paced and unpredictable, almost never conforming to a set schedule. This type of environment can be difficult on the families of people working to provide the best healthcare possible, especially those with young children.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH), located in Chicago, Illinois, has distinguished itself as a nationwide leader in healthcare, due largely to the superb staff and excellent resources that the organization is able to bring into the lives of people in need. However, in order to provide continued excellence, the staff members of the largest private nonprofit hospital in the Midwest sometimes need a helping hand themselves. That’s why, in 2010, the hospital broke ground on an early childhood education center to be available to staff with young children.
Crate & Barrel
The most successful businesses are constantly upgrading their technology to keep up with the times. The Crate & Barrel stores have seen many significant technological changes since they opened their doors at the company's first location in Chicago in 1962. At that time, company owners Gordon and Carole Segal used shipping crates as shelves and displayed merchandise in overseas packing barrels.
While the unique and simple display method provided the company with a name, the design of Crate & Barrel stores has significantly evolved over its nearly five decades of operation. John Moebes, the Director of Construction for Crate & Barrel, says the design of the buildings is a larger priority than one might expect.
“Like any developer or owner, we have lots of priorities,” says Moebes. “One of the biggest priorities that we have is to design and construct buildings that are profitable, but reflect the brand.”
NCAR
Collaboration Enables Innovation And Development In Wyoming.Scheduled to be completed in 2012, construction of the $70 million National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) has focused on optimal efficiency, expandability, and sustainability.
“Our goal throughout this project is to work with the engineers, the architects and the general contractors to look at basically every element and subsystem to make sure that individually they are efficient, but that they also operate together as efficiently as possible,” says Krista Laursen, Project Director.
Located in Cheyenne, Wyoming’s North Range Business Park, the 153,000 square foot supercomputing facility will provide advanced computing services to scientists throughout the United States in order to study a broad range of disciplines, including weather, oceanography, air pollution, space weather, computational science, energy production and carbon sequestration. The NWSC will also house a data storage and archival facility for scientific data and historical climate records.
EDP
As the United States, and the world, becomes more aware of the effects of climate change and our contributions to it, renewable energy has become a hot topic. EDP Renewables North America (EDPR), based in Houston, seeks to build the relationships needed to provide the energy that will be needed to run our future.
“There are several things that distinguish us from competitors,” says Ken Ripper, Executive Vice President, Technical Department at EDPR. “The people who work at our company have a passion for the wind business, and it shows in how they interact with others and how they treat others with respect. We work very closely with our landowners, the environmental agencies and the general public. When we develop a project, we want to make sure we fit in no matter where we build.”
As a company that currently develops, constructs, owns and operates 28 wind farms throughout 11 states, the relationships that EDPR has built over the years have been essential in amassing its $7.1 billion in assets. One of the company’s latest projects, Timber Road II, adds to the 3,500 megawatts in its fleet.
