Thornton Tomasetti

Before the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles take to the gridiron on Sunday, Feb. 9, Super Bowl LIX is already one for the record books. It will mark the eighth time a National Football League (NFL) championship will be held at the Caesars Superdome, giving the New Orleans icon the title of hosting the most in league history. The venue, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year, recently underwent an extensive five-year renovation. Thornton Tomasetti provided structural engineering services to Trahan Architects and the New Orleans Saints organization for the $560-million project (https://lnkd.in/ewuh2GVS). The work included the addition of a 4,000-square-foot end zone field-level club and two 40-yard bars, ADA-accessible viewing decks, four corner and two sideline atriums, escalators, 16 elevators, wider concourses, new locker rooms, a team store, and technology upgrades. The modernized venue is set to deliver a winning big game-day experience, which is one thing both Chiefs and Eagles fans can surely agree on. #SBLIX

Happy Lunar New Year! Thornton Tomasetti offices globally have been welcoming in the Year of the Snake, which symbolizes wisdom, prosperity and transformation. Our teams have been busy decorating workspaces, participating in group activities and meals, and learning about traditional dance from a troupe of larger-than-life lions. In Philadelphia, staff explored their creative skills through Chinese calligraphy and ink painting while enjoying Asian cuisine. The San Francisco office welcomed the West Coast Lion Dance Troupe, which performed a traditional lion dance and provided a brief lesson on its cultural significance. Other offices, including London, hosted celebrations to honor the occasion, with staff wearing the lucky colors red, yellow and gold and participating in games, including Chinese New Year bingo. Our firmwide Mosaic employee network group distributed red envelopes—a tradition across East and Southeast Asia symbolizing good luck and prosperity—into which staff added gifts to exchange with one another. Wishing you great luck in the Year of the Snake! #LunarNewYear #ChineseNewYear #YearOfTheSnake

The most vibrant part of any city is its streets, and addressing needs of its diverse users while keeping congestion in check can be a something of a challenge. However, there are a number of effective strategies for optimizing traffic flow. “Even in cities as dense as New York, smart street design can keep vehicles moving efficiently while providing great spaces for people to walk and bike safely,” Vice President Roger Weld, said. Roger, who has more than 30 years of experience in the planning and design of efficient and sustainable infrastructure and public spaces, recently joined our Transportation practice in New York. As team leader for the civil engineering group, he is responsible for both new projects and modernization programs involving highways, streetscapes, public plazas, transit hubs and utility systems. His areas of expertise include highway project staging optimization, bus and bicycling facilities design, utilities for public right-of-way and site, exterior lighting analysis, drainage and site grading design and ADA compliance. Roger has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in business administration, both from the University at Buffalo. He is a licensed professional engineer and a member of the Transportation Research Board, American Society of Civil Engineers, Project Management Institute and the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Roger spent most of his career working for the New York City and State departments of transportation. Welcome to the team, Roger! #civilengineering To learn more about our civil engineering services, go to https://lnkd.in/ezxnQzYr

Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors a leader who championed justice, equality and peaceful change while inspiring action for creating a better world. Thornton Tomasetti staff have embraced this spirit of service in observance of the holiday by volunteering in their communities. Our Fort Lauderdale team today joined forces with HandsOn Broward at the Martin Luther King Jr. Montessori Academy. The group worked to beautify the school’s MLK Monument Garden by planting flowers and greenery, helped paint an MLK-themed mural, built outdoor benches and participated in other creative activities. “It was a truly successful day of teamwork, giving back and celebrating unity,” Engineer Aji Fatou Sey said.   In San Francisco leading up to MLK Day late last week, staff helped distribute food to more than 1,000 community members at the SF-Marin Food Bank's North Beach pop-up pantry. “This is our second year volunteering with the pantry, and we had just as much fun as last year,” Corporate Responsibility Specialist Sondra Abruzzo said. “Not only does it get us outdoors in the mild January weather, it’s a rewarding way to connect with the community while spending quality time with colleagues.” Using the firm’s volunteer day benefit, the effort was a collaboration between the office’s Green Champions and Women@TT and Mosaic employee network groups. #MartinLutherKingJrDay #MLKDay

We have an opportunity for an associate to join our Façade Engineering team in London. This applicant will be responsible for project running and managing more junior members of staff across multiple projects simultaneously. Must be a creative, detail-oriented professional with attentiveness to client communications. #JobsAtThorntonTomasetti #ThorntonTomasettiTogether #LondonJobs #FacadeEngineer

We are starting to collect employee applications for our sixth build with Bridges to Prosperity this spring. Here’s a look back at our 2024 volunteer effort with the organization. As part of the Thornton Tomasetti Gives Back initiative, our team of 10 traveled to Rwanda to construct the Makurungwe trail bridge over the Musogoro River. The 64-meter-long, cable-suspended bridge now provides more than 3,000 community members with safe, year-round access to markets, schools, healthcare and new opportunities. You can find the full-length video here: https://lnkd.in/eEd4YMWT. Check out Instagram in the spring to meet our 2025 Rwanda team: https://lnkd.in/eAiXP5XB #bridgestoprosperity

Most projects commence with shovels hitting the dirt. Work on the Penn State University Beaver Stadium renovation kicked off with a bang. The stadium’s press box was felled by a series of explosive charges to make way for major upgrades at the 64-year-old venue. Thornton Tomasetti, the structural engineer behind the three-phase renovation (https://lnkd.in/e3uNwhEV), joined project partners A&F ENGINEERS INC. and Stahl Sheaffer Engineering as well as Penn State Nittany Lions football fans at the January 4 celebration. “What an exciting way to kick off construction on a snowy day in Happy Valley!” Senior Associate Eric Grusenmeyer, pictured left, said. “It’s great to see construction start after working through the design with Populous over the past year. We are looking forward to watching the project come to life.” With a seating capacity of 106,572, Beaver Stadium is currently the second largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth largest in the world. The existing press box and seating bowl, portions of which were originally constructed at a different site in the 1930s and moved to the current location in the late 1950s, will be replaced with suites, club seating, a new press and broadcast facility, and four tiers of seating. Stadium-wide improvements will include wider concourses, enhanced amenities and concessions, increased accessibility, and improved circulation with new stairs, escalators and elevators. Other upgrades include winterization and enhanced infrastructure for multi-use functionality, and the addition of a new Welcome Center, advanced videoboards and ribbon boards. The lower bowl will be replaced with upgraded seating over locker room and club spaces. Temporary seating will minimize disruption to fans during the renovation, which is expected to wrap up in time for the 2027 football season. 

Congratulations to Bob Smilowitz, who is the latest recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Ernest E. Howard Award. The award recognizes an ASCE member for their contributions in advancing the field of structural engineering. A leader in Thornton Tomasetti’s Protective Design and Security practice, Bob is a recognized expert in blast-resistant analysis and design. Over the course of his 47-year career, he has been involved in the design of numerous government facilities, including U.S. embassies, federal and state courthouses and office buildings, as well as air terminals, financial institutions, hospitals and a NATO Command Center. He also served as the principal blast engineer for redevelopment of the former World Trade Center site, including Freedom Tower and the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum. Bob, who is an ASCE Structural Engineering Institute Fellow, was honored by the organization for his “international leadership in protecting lives from acts of terrorism through structural design and public policy and for teaching protective design to the next generation of engineers.” Bravo, Bob! What a well-deserved honor!

While an increasing number of AEC firms are looking to artificial intelligence and machine learning to speed basic tasks and create efficiencies, experts caution that quality control and human oversight should factor into any AI-generated workflows. “Our industry is based around life-safety issues, so the stakes are significantly higher than, say, Instagram, Facebook,” or companies that use AI mostly for advertising, Chief Information Officer Robert Otani said in a recent interview with American Society of Civil Engineers' Civil Engineering Source. You can read the article here.

Here's to building a more resilient and sustainable future together. Happy 2025!