Dec 7 2009
As a result of the economic downturn, the entire construction community is under capacity. While many companies play a waiting game and rely on constant belt-tightening, Ruby+Associates has chosen to take advantage of the time to further develop its employee talent and improve its corporate asset base.
"To be true constructability experts requires an in-depth and holistic understanding of the steel design and erection events that must occur sequentially on a given job site," said Jay Ruby, President and CEO of Ruby+Associates. "Our employees have a passion for problem solving and a desire to continue growing professionally to help influence innovative design solutions. So, we have provided them opportunities for professional growth through outside learning opportunities."
Several Ruby engineers have partaken in training courses specifically designed for iron workers. Although structural engineers typically would not participate in such training, Ruby management believes it is critical for their design experts to gain first-hand working knowledge of how its projects will ultimately be constructed in the field.
"Part of my project engineering role is to design connections for steel structures," said Chad Fox, Ruby Assistant Project Engineer. "By learning alongside of the iron workers, we can more fully understand how the design decisions we make directly impact the field and how we can best utilize various solutions to improve the constructability and safety of the project.
"This fall, after returning from the training, I had the opportunity to participate on the Ruby project team assigned to the new University of Louisville Football stadium [Papa John's Cardinal Stadium]," said Fox. "The training had given me good additional insight into the most efficient, constructible connection designs for this particular implementation as well as insight into the placement, installation and movement of necessary equipment."
Another Ruby employee, Thad Greiner, said that he hadn't seen training opportunities like this until he came to Ruby+Associates.
"Most structural engineering firms wouldn't consider this type of training practical and certainly wouldn't pay for it during difficult economic times," said Greiner. "Ruby gives its employees opportunities like this so that we may better understand how engineers can help design structures that are strong, buildable and affordable. The end result is a streamlined process that ultimately saves time and money. This is what constructability is all about and why Ruby does it better than anyone else."
"Training and experience is what good construction is all about," said Bill Treharne, P.E., Director of Engineering and Administration at Midwest Steel, Inc. "Projects are vastly improved when the entire construction group truly performs as a team. That's why this training is so important."
Ruby management would like to thank the Ironworkers Local 25 including trainers Tim Dean, Gary Montie and operator trainer Keith Smith.
Source: http://www.rubyusa.com/