In today’s economic environment many non-profit organizations have seen a dramatic increase in human capital. Many professionals who have been laid off or otherwise in between jobs are seeking volunteer opportunities to give back, keep their skills sharp, and stay engaged in their communities. Volunteering is another means of networking. And just as the major mobile phone companies indicate in their ads, you want to have a reliable network supporting you.

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(January 22, 2010) – Building a new school on an occupied campus and just a stone’s throw from an existing school is nothing out of the ordinary for Oak Contracting. In fact, Oak has built or renovated nearly one hundred schools valued well over a billion dollars and a majority of those were in an occupied setting. Building schools and keeping students and faculty safe is an everyday focus of the business. This is also the case for the state of Maryland and its local school systems, who have dedicated staff charged with managing the planning and construction process. However, for a school’s principal, building a new school is usually a once in a lifetime event.
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(January 22, 2010) – Typically when a new school is under construction on an existing school site, there are rigid measures in place to keep students safely separated from the construction site. In fact, a great deal of planning is in place long before the first piece of equipment arrives. Fences, signage, and security measures are all detailed on the construction documents and the onsite superintendent ensures that everyone stays on the “their side of the fence.” However, there are times when students are welcomed, and even encouraged, to visit the job site.
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(January 22, 2010) – Until a few years ago, the process of designing a building had not changed significantly since the French revolution, or the American for that matter. Yes, CADD came along in the early to mid eighties with promises of great change. The truth is that most architects simply put away their pencils and drafting tools and picked up a mouse, but the design process didn’t change significantly. As with hand drawing, the drawing sheets remained individual entities that were only linked in the most rudimentary fashion. Simple design changes (such as the deletion of a door) still had to follow through the set and changes had to be made on each drawing. The deletion of that single door may require changes to five or six drawings. All the changes needed to be done manually, and if one drawing was missed, it could mean a change order. Now multiply that by the thousands of decisions and changes that occur on a project and statistically speaking, even if you could be 99.99% accurate, the drawings would still have coordination issues that more often than not will result in change orders.
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(January 20, 2009) – When the high speed passenger trains roar past the 62 classrooms and three portable classrooms that comprise Edgewood High School in Harford County, Maryland, the noise can disrupt even the most studious. The train tracks – and the portables themselves – are indicative of a problem that has been plaguing the school for some time: there just isn’t enough room to accommodate the multiple educational needs with the current infrastructure. That is, until next year.
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