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BUSINESS NEWS NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION AWARDS DESIGN SERVICES CONTRACT TO BURNS & MCDONNELL Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC, on behalf of the National Nuclear Security Administration, selected Burns & McDonnell to provide design services for the Exascale Computing Facility Modernization project. Located at the LCC B453 building (formerly known as the Terascale Computing Facility) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the project will modify the facility to accommodate increased infrastructure demands for exascale, one of the world’s fastest computing platforms. The scope for the Exascale Computing Facility Modernization project includes design upgrades to the facility’s electrical, mechanical, and structural capabilities, altering approximately 50,000 square feet of the data center floor space. This includes adding 15,100 tons of cooling capacity and an additional 40 megawatts of power through parallel 115 kV transmission lines. An accelerated schedule will prepare the facility for the first exascale machine in 2022 and the second in 2028.
“At a quintillion (a billion billion) calculations each second, exascale computing has potential to drive discoveries across the spectrum of scientific fields and have a profound impact on everyday life,” says Anna Maria Bailey, high performance computing chief engineer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “The exascale supercomputers will surpass the fastest computers in today’s world, analyze massive volumes of data and simulate complex processes and relationships.” Burns & McDonnell is teaming with members of the original Terascale Computing Facility design team for the facility, including RMW Architecture , Forell/Elsesser Engineers , and BKF Engineers . The team also includes RHAA Landscape Architects and Leland Saylor Associates. “Exascale is the next era of computing and our team is ready and committed to successfully deliver the project to help make it possible,” says Dave Barr, vice president and federal practice leader, Burns & McDonnell. “The team will use our extensive experience with the National Nuclear Security Administration
and Department of Energy, in-depth knowledge of the regional transmission and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory electrical distribution system, critical HVAC requirements and existing computing facility to help the client solve complex issues for this mission-critical project.” The ExascaleComputing FacilityModernization project is expected to be completed in 2022. Burns & McDonnell works on diverse projects and provides services for federal and military clients worldwide. Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants, and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. Burns & McDonnell strives to create amazing success for its clients and amazing careers for its employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee- owned and is proud to be on Fortune ’s 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.
GOOD CHOICE, from page 7
an afterthought as long as they are reasonable compared to those of other organizations. TZL: Tell us about the last time you named a new princi- pal from outside the firm. MH: This has not happened in the sense of specifically hir- ing someone and naming him or her a principal. We have, however, hired people that have worked other places and brought them into our culture and organization just as if they were a new hire straight out of college. TZL: What scares you about the geopolitical environ- ment today? MH: From a future of society, this could be an endless con- versation. From the perspective of how it relates to our busi- ness, the answer is not much. By and large, we are going to have to deal with the hand we are dealt, so to speak, and our clients are feeling much the same way. So for us, we need to be acutely aware of how our clients are being impacted so we can best serve their needs regardless of whether it fits our current services today or not. “Scare” is extreme in my opin- ion, but today’s environment will challenge us to be more nimble and more aware on a regular basis to make sure we are staying relevant. TZL: How are the tariffs impacting your business and that of your clients? MH: Currently, we have not noticed an effect. However, in theory, rising construction costs will affect the ability of our clients to achieve their objectives within their budgets. With fewer potential projects being designed, we will have to rely even more on developing deep relationships and pro- viding value that clients want to bring the less work they may have our way.
we also provide life coaching for our employees during work that often involves more personal life conversations than work-life conversations. Our ability to keep staff around is tied a lot to being clear about our culture, hiring around our culture, and spending time developing our employees. “Our experience is that if people can see a purpose in their work and enjoy what they do, then that is what’s most important to them. The other more traditional benefits are nice, but are an afterthought as long as they are reasonable compared to those of other organizations.” TZL: Benefits are evolving. Are you offering any new ones due to the changing demographic? MH: We aren’t really offering new benefits in the tradition- al sense of benefits. We do spend a lot of focus on evolv- ing our culture and getting clearer about our culture, which we believe is the biggest benefit we can offer to employees. If we can be super clear on what our culture is and make it clear to our employees and potential employees, then they will know whether they will enjoy being a part of our com- pany. We review our benefits every year and make sure they are in line with those of other organizations. But our expe- rience is that if people can see a purpose in their work and enjoy what they do, then that is what’s most important to them. The other more traditional benefits are nice, but are
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THE ZWEIG LETTER January 21, 2019, ISSUE 1280
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