14B — July 25 - August 14, 2014 — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
A rchitects & E ngineers Urban to provide design engineering consulting services at various schools Urban Engineers selected by NYC School Construction Authority for MEP services N EW YORK, NY — Urban Engineers (Urban) has been that assists clients in comply- ing with the New York City Department of Buildings’ requirements. ciplinary planning, design, constructionmanagement, con-
and manage the design, con- struction, and renovation of capital projects in New York City's more than 1,200 pub- lic school buildings, half of which were constructed prior to 1949. Urban has been provid- ing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services for higher educa- tion, transportation, and commercial facilities for the past 40 years in New York. This experience is bolstered by a robust construction management division, and a special inspections practice
struction inspection, and envi- ronmental consulting firm. n
Crystal Window & Door Systems expands 3-D printing use... continued from page 7B
selected by the New York City School Construction Authority to provide de- sign engineering consulting services in connection with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing projects at various schools throughout the five boroughs. The contract is valued at $3 million over a term of three years. The SCA was established by the New York State Leg- islature in December 1988 to build new public schools
According to Urban’s di- rector of building systems, James Bilella, PE , “Our contract with the SCA ex- pands our design engineering practice in New York City. It also provides an opportunity to enhance the learning envi- ronments for New York City students and teachers. We’re thrilled for this assignment.” Founded in 1960 , Ur - ban Engineers is an ISO 9001:2008-certified, multidis-
plastic models can be mated with actual vinyl and alumi- num components to determine suitable fit and functionality. Any mistakes or oversights can be easily determined, the design altered and new in- expensive 3-D models made. The process is repeated as necessary until everything is perfected and optimized, then the expensive actual produc- tion tooling dies are cut. Besides reducing the prod- uct development cycle times, 3-D printing saves time for manufacturing, allowing pro- duction steps to be analyzed and refined as the actual fabrication and assembly pro- cedures are worked through. With 3-D printing technol- ogy, Crystal has been able to expand its in-house engineer- ing capabilities, and develop complex frame and component prototype designs that would be difficult to evaluate and test by traditional methods. Current 3-D printing tech- nology is significantly less expensive and smaller than earlier versions and can ac- commodate a variety of ma- terials for model building. Therefore, Crystal is consid- ering to expand investment in the next generation of 3-D printing technology that will allow metal models in addi- tion to plastic to be created. Plastic models present differ- ent physical properties than metal ones, and with new 3-D printing equipment utilizing metal material, Crystal would be able to more accurately rep- licate how metal components will fit together, snap or slide into place. Last year, Crystal’s alu- minum subsidiary Crystal Extrusions invested in 3-D printing and is now also plan- ning additional investments in this technology. “We do a lot of custom design aluminum extrusion for customers in all types of industries,” said Tom Ziegler , vice president of Crystal Extrusions. “Our 3-D printing allows us to test out designs before incurring significant tooling costs to produce a specific customer’s extrusion. It also helps our customers better visualize their finished products.” n
8 inches x 8 inches x 12 inches, making it very useful for a wide range of window-related components such as frame and sash cross-sections and acces- sory prototypes. Outfitted with window hard- ware and subcomponents (such as screws, balances, latches, locks and weather- stripping), the 3-D printed
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