Today, we hosted a  FIRST® LEGO® League team, and it was so much fun!  FIRST® LEGO® League introduces young people (grades 4-8), to the fun and excitement of science and technology. Teams of up to ten children, led by two screened Lead coaches, participate in a challenge tournament. Teams and events are all over the world.

By designing challenges around topics, participants are exposed to potential career paths within a chosen challenge topic, in addition to solidifying the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) principles that naturally come from participating in the program. Team members also learn valuable life and employment skills which will benefit them no matter which career path they choose.

Many thanks to Nathan Moore, Jason Ellis, and Brad D’Agnillo, for giving awesome presentations with visual demonstrations to the kids. You should have heard the incredibly good questions the kids asked: How does the point cloud show measurements? What do the different colors in the scan mean? What kind of education/degree did you get to do this?

After visiting several job sites, the kids will select a project. If the topic is something they learned here, we have committed to being available to answer questions as they begin the project. We can’t wait to hear if we piqued their interest in something related to engineering, 3D scanning, or sports fields.

What an awesome opportunity to expose young kids to things we do here and encourage them into the survey and engineering professions. The presentations were so good that I could see us taking this show “on the road”….to local middle and senior high schools!

The Kleingers Group is proud to be both a sponsor and to help plan the 2016 Safe Routes to School National Conference.

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and the National Center for Safe Routes to School recently announced that the 2016 conference will be held April 5 to 7 in Columbus, Ohio.

Since 2012, The Kleingers Group has served as one of just a few Safe Routes to School Statewide Consultants to the Ohio Department of Transportation and has worked on more than 4 dozen Safe Routes to School (SRTS) projects throughout the state.

The Kleingers Group is a leader in creating both school travel plans and infrastructure design, creating safe and convenient opportunities for children to walk or bicycle to school.

According to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, the conference will bring together program representatives, state departments of transportation, planners, elected officials and community members to provide an opportunity for individuals, agencies and organization involved with Safe Routes to School to network, engage in educational opportunities, become inspired, and form partnerships.

The Kleingers Group is proud to sponsor the partnership’s goal of creating safer and more walkable communities and to share its traffic safety expertise.

More information about the conference is available at www.saferoutesconference.org.

The Kleingers Group’s commitment to site accessibility goes beyond the design. The Kleingers designers take unique measures to get a better understanding of how the end-user benefits from their design.

Recently, members of The Kleingers Group transportation team spent an afternoon with visually impaired residents and their guide dogs in the Columbus area. The team was split into two groups and paired with a blind individual, their sight dog, a cane, and blindfolds. Team members were then given the opportunity to experience the end-user. Members were blindfolded and given simple instructions to utilize their given tools (guide dog or cane) to navigate around a city block. Through the experience, team members were able to gain a new perspective about how end-users experience their design in real life and how everything in the design from curb ramps to accessible pedestrian signals to street conditions is important. This experience has helped our transportation engineers become more mindful of their design and how it impacts daily users.

For the Leblond Regional RecPlex project, our engineers were given the opportunity to design a recreation facility for individuals with and without disabilities. The team looked for opportunities to exceed ADA requirements for the project. The end result was a facility with accessibility to nearly everything from nearly everywhere in the parking lot. Designers found the solution by removing the reveal at the curb/pavement connection, this, in turn, saved money on the curb, bringing the cost in line with the budget, all while creating a ‘flush’ connection to all sides of the site.

“We put in extra ADA spaces, but it’s as if the whole lot is ADA accessible because people can spread out and park wherever they want and cross the lot and access everything without a ramp. With the baseball field on one side, the basketball court and playground on the other side, and the building on a separate side of the lot, [users] can park wherever and get to all three easily. Good call.” – Doug (Cincinnati Recreation Commission)

The Kleingers Group is proud to look beyond the ADA requirements on projects. Ultimately, it is about the end-users experience in our designs, why not make it a stress-free encounter.

The recently opened Beavercreek Trebein Elementary and Coy Middle School project is a state-of-the-art educational facility showcasing many sustainable and interactive site elements incorporated into the design. The 90,000 square foot Trebein Elementary School and 175,000 square foot Coy Middle School will house 1,850 students combined.

The Kleingers Group provided the site civil engineering, surveying, and landscape design services for the project. The site features joint-use amenities such as an outdoor amphitheater and outdoor learning space. Colorful playground elements such as a rainbow trail and the color-themed playground design welcome the kids as they take a break from class.

A goal of the project was to incorporate sustainable site design principles into the final construction plans for the school project. Kleingers created numerous Bioretention opportunities throughout the site. Bioswales were located throughout the parking lot areas and other areas of the site to remove contaminants and sedimentation from stormwater runoff.

Check out a cool Prezi presentation on the new school site.