This week, The Kleingers Group teamed up with the Cincinnati State student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers to build a model of the Roebling Suspension Bridge made out of 2,824 cans.

The model, which took five hours to build, is part of Canstruction 2016, an international community service project that partners with the design and construction industry to benefit community food banks.

Each year, architects, engineers, and designers create giant models made entirely out of canned foods at various locations around Cincinnati. After judges rank the best displays, all of the cans and money raised for the event are then donated to the FreestoreFoodbank.

This marks the 19th year for the Canstruction event locally.

With help from Kleingers, the Cincinnati State students designed the model and created plans for building it. It is currently on display at the Aronoff Center for the Arts downtown. Other models are on display at the Downtown Public Library, Center at 600 Vind, Macy’s Fountain Place, Hyatt Regency on W. Fifth Street, the Hampton Inn & Suites on Vine Street, and the Scripps Center on Walnut Street.

The Kleingers Group has a longstanding relationship with Cincinnati State as a co-op employer, and the firm has a history of hiring graduates, sometimes after they have gone on to other institutions to earn an engineering degree.

For more information about the Canstruction event, visit www.cincinnaticanstruction.org.

Happy Engineers Week! We spent the week reflecting on what makes a good engineer, what brought our employees to this career, how they share their passion for this kind of work and what it means to others when we do what we do. As we wrap up this week’s Engineers Week, we asked our team a few questions that we hope you find entertaining and insightful!

How do you explain civil engineering to people who don’t know?

I often present to young students on career day at various schools, and I typically keep it simple and start with “civil engineers design roads and bridges.”   If it’s a little older crowd, I often delve into what we do with site engineering and explain that civil engineers design everything on a building site outside of the building, including driveways, parking lots, sewers, waterlines, drainage and grading. If I was cool, I’d say civil engineers take a vision of a site and turn it into reality. – Steve

Everyone seems to know what an architect is, so I tend to describe a Civil Engineer as “The Architect of the Land.” We generally focus on things outside of the building, shaping the land and providing the infrastructure needed to support the buildings that architects design. – Melissa

Someone else just explained to me today the three things you need to know to be a civil engineer…

1. You can’t push a rope.

2. Water and dirt make mud.

3. $#!t (er, um, water) flows downhill.

Good advice for anyone. – Craig

When I try to describe it, and their head turns a funny angle, I fall back to:  Essentially, it’s a 5 year degree in ditch digging. – Tim

Tell us about a moment where you thought to yourself “I love what I do.” What made you think that?

I love being able to see a project come to life. To step onto a job site and see your engineering design set in motion is a really cool feeling. – Melissa

Every time that I’m involved with the planning and design of a new project, and I get to see the progression from concept, to planning, to detailed design, to and through construction…. and I get to see the final product with the end user using and enjoying the space…..I take a lot of pride.  We engineers like to be creative in our problem solving, and therefore I’m stoked any time I can use creativity to solve a unique problem in an effective and efficient manner.  – Steve

What’s the biggest misconception about engineers?

The biggest misconception about engineers is that we are all nerds!!! That is 100% false… we are all “cool nerds”!!! – Melissa

The biggest misconception about engineers is that they have no personality.  Engineers are taught to think analytically and determine the best possible outcome based on the facts.  By nature, they are conservative and have low risk tolerance.  Most engineers are quick witted, loyal and fun to be around. – Nick

That there isn’t any creativity in what we design. We often find ways to be creative when appropriate, but when it comes to designing for roadways where lives are at stake, it’s important to rely on tested design methods and know what you are doing. – Dave

That they are this odd lot of extroverts who favor form over function and have a deep seeded passion for the creative arts.  I guess people just can’t see how it is that we are actually much more into numbers, logic and have horrible tastes in fashion, style and aren’t really that good of communicators and we don’t really excel at grammar and we tend to make run-on sentences. – Greg

Who is the coolest engineer you’ve ever met?

Jim Kleingers, of course!!! – Everyone

All engineers are geeks, so from the perspective of the outside world I haven’t met any “cool” ones.  However, any engineer that can speak well in public is generally viewed by other engineers as the coolest person on the planet.

– Dave

Wow, that’s a tough one.   Isn’t “cool engineer” an oxymoron?  – Steve

What skills are most important to be a good engineer?

A good engineer has a great aptitude for math and science.  He/she understands how things work and is able to explain that to others. – Nick

Of course math skills are a must, but being able to look at one problem and provide multiple solutions is what makes a great engineer. – Melissa

Ability to focus, computer skills, and logic.  Certain types of math are important too, like geometry. – Dave

Listening and understanding the needs of a project and its owner and end users, and being able to translate this into helping the vision become a reality. – Steve

To be ‘engineereeyee’. – Tim

As a survey co-op, Kleingers’ Engineer Melissa was once awarded a plastic crown and deemed “Queen of Survey”.

Although more and more women are joining the surveying and engineering professions, seeing a girl was still surprising enough to the men in the field to make note of it.

Wednesday is Girl Day in Engineering Week, a day designed to inspire more girls to consider engineering as a future profession, a goal mirrored by many of the women at The Kleingers Group.

This Saturday, Melissa will present at the Cincinnati’s Museum Center GIRLS (Girls in Real Life Sciences) Program, which is designed to garner interest in girls in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Along with Kleingers Scanning Lead Tim Stamper and a female GIS analyst, Melissa will help the girls in the class using a 3D laser scanner, interpret the information and learn how the data gathered becomes a map.

As a civil engineer, Melissa has worked closely with the laser scanning department at Kleingers, most recently on a renovation of Northern Kentucky University’s central plaza, and will be able to help the girls understand the uses of 3D laser scanning.

“3D laser scanning is definitely a new field and having any women working in it is unusual,” Melissa said. “My advice to any girl entering a male-dominated field is to do it with confidence. Clearly, you can do anything a boy can do… probably better.”

Similarly, Kleingers’ Engineer Sarah will volunteer March 14 with WTS International, an organization dedicated to helping women advance in transportation, on a field trip to the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge.

WTS will be hosting 18 female engineering students to learn about the post-tension and compression of Ohio’s tallest bridge.  Sarah will share her experience as a transportation engineer with the girls.

“We all have unique talents and interests. Mine led me to engineering. Don’t let typical roles or stereotypes hold you back from choosing a profession that works for you,” Sarah advises young women.

The Kleingers Group recently added Sam Morton, PE to the team as a project manager in the Transportation and Public Infrastructure group.

Morton has nearly 8 years of experience in transportation and has had project management duties in the past, but will continue to grow his experience at Kleingers.

“His strong design background stood out,” said Transportation Group Leader Nick Yeretzian. “Sam is detail-oriented and will have the ability to manage complex projects.”
Yeretzian, who had previously served as project manager will continue to be involved as group leader.

Morton holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Dayton and is currently a resident of Centerville. Having worked in the Dayton market for the past eight years, Morton will also be focused on growing Kleingers’ presence in the Dayton area.

Morton has two kids, two dogs, and is a former member of the UD Varsity Golf Team.

“I’ve always heard (Kleingers) was a great company to work for,” Morton said. “It is obviously a great group of people and I’m ready to get started.”