Crowdsourcing for engineering excellence

Put your firm’s best foot forward by sharing your successes and top-notch information.

By Amara Rozgus, Consulting-Specifying Engineer June 24, 2015

If you haven’t already noticed, the back page of editorial content in this publication is called the “Future of Engineering” (this month’s column "Go big or go homeis about taking professional chances). Thought leaders, engineers, forward-thinking associations, and others are contributing to this column to ensure your need for knowledge is served each month. While we provide information about new products and systems daily at www.csemag.com/products, our columnists pull out their crystal balls and outline the shape of a cutting-edge engineering technique or concept, frequently enhancing it with data or extended versions with hyperlinks online at www.csemag.com.

We rely on the expert (that’s you) to share your knowledge with the rest of the industry. We want your input on technical issues, thought leadership, best practices, and more.

In addition to working with the experts to give you a glimpse into the future, the team at Consulting-Specifying Engineer works to ensure we’re keeping on top of industry trends, either by conducting our own research, by obtaining research from third-party sources, or through qualitative conversations at conferences and events. We can’t pretend to know everything, though, which is why we rely on experts to conduct peer reviews of technical articles. Our editorial advisory board also provides information that we then share with the larger audience of more than 300,000 consulting engineers.

Where does all of this knowledge and research lead engineers going forward? Where will the next Big Thing come from? How do you decide to fund building projects? Or invest in human resources? And how do you know where to put your efforts when it comes to business development?

I now turn to you for the answers. While we do take snapshots of the industry via programs like the MEP Giants, Career Smart, the Future of Engineering column, or regular research studies, we want to hear boots-on-the-ground stories that will help everyone conduct business smarter. We want to know how you’ve incorporated some best practices into your engineering workflow. Engineers and design professionals would certainly benefit from learning about your internship program, or how you go about hiring and training young professionals. Several audience members will want to know how to specify an air-handling unit, or design an electrical room, or ensure a fire pump’s electrical system is designed correctly.

Here’s your challenge: Put your firm’s best foot forward and submit your success stories, share how-to articles and best practices, or show off recent successful projects via a case study or project profile. We’ll share the best items in print or online (or in some cases, both) and continue the dialogue on where the future of engineering is headed. Submit here: www.csemag.com/how-to-submit.