A2H

A2H Wins TSPE-Memphis's Outstanding Employer of the Year & Engineer of the Year Award

2012-02-27T15:16:00.000-06:00

It was a good night for A2H last Thursday at the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers - Memphis Chapter Engineer's Week Banquet!

Mark Askew, President of A2H, won the Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award, and A2H as a company was proud to take home the Outstanding Employer of the Year Award.

Above: From left to right, Logan Meeks, Ed Hargraves, Mark Askew, & Pat Harcourt proudly display our new award certificates

Above: A2H employees enjoy dinner together at the banquet

Above: A good night to be an A2H employee!

Kudos

2012-01-19T16:11:00.002-06:00

A2H welcomed Stewart Smith, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB to the firm as a Senior Project Manager back in September of 2011. Stewart received his Bachelor’s Degree from Kansas State University and his Master’s Degree from Virginia Tech. He brings with him 24 years of experience in the industry. In addition to his role as a Senior Project Manager, Stewart also assists with business development efforts. A2H is pleased to announce that Stewart recently passed the Evidence-based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC). The Center for Health Design’s internationally recognized EDAC program awards credentials to individuals who demonstrate a thorough understanding of how to apply an evidence-based process to the design and development of healthcare settings, including measuring and reporting results. Congrats, Stewart!

A2H is also pleased to announce that Jack Griffith, P.E. recently passed the Professional Engineering Exam and is now a Mechanical Engineer for the firm. Jack received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Christian Brothers University in 2001. Jack has over 4 years’ experience in mechanical engineering design services with a strong emphasis on building energy modeling to achieve energy conservation and sustainability. He has helped design HVAC systems for a wide variety of facilities, including outpatient diagnostic centers, laboratories, educational facilities, warehouses, office buildings, community facilities, and government facilities. He has been with A2H since January of 2011. Congratulations, Jack!

Finally, we would like to mention that one of our Landscape Architects, Jay Easter, R.L.A., has recently passed his test, and is well on his way to becoming a certified planner. According to the AICP website, "certified planners use their skills to find solutions to community problems and carry the community toward its desired long-term goals". For those of us who know Jay, this description fits his priorities perfectly; Congrats to Jay for making big things happen!

Welcome New Hires!

2012-01-19T14:58:00.004-06:00

Hired in October, 2011:

Daniel Longserre - Plumbing Designer

Daniel received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Memphis and has two years of experience in the industry. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys softball, golf, and camping.

Yutian (Tim) Shao, P.E., S.E., PhD – Senior Structural Engineer

Yutian is originally from China, and received his Bachelors Degree from Tsinghua University in China, his Masters Degree in Singapore, and his Ph.D. from North Carolina State at Raleigh. Yutian has twelve years of experience in the industry.

Kim Leonard - Marketing Coordinator

Kim is a graduate of Mississippi State University. An award-winning Creative, Kim has over 14 years of experience in creative and technical writing, publishing, research, public relations and marketing strategy.

Chet Winstead – Landscape Architect

Chet received his Bachelors Degree from Mississippi State University and has 7 years of experience in the industry.

James Barrett – Construction Field Inspector

James is a member of the International Code Council (ICC) and has 28 years of experience in the industry

Hired in November, 2011:

Brian Tenkhoff, P.E - Civil Engineer

Brian is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and has 6 years of experience in the industry.

Patrick Mullins - Marketing Director

Patrick is a graduate of Mississippi State University and has 3 years of experience in marketing and graphic design.

Hired in January, 2012:

Emma Campbell – Civil Designer

Emma is a native of Savannah, Tennessee. Emma received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 2007 from The University of Memphis and has 4 years of experience.

We would also like to take this opportunity to showcase one of our newer hires, Arran Addington. Arran is our Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Local Programs/Business Development Specialist, and currently heads up A2H’s newly opened Nashville location. Arran received his Bachelors in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University and has 18 years of working experience. 4 of those years were spent working for TDOT in the Office of Local Programs. Arran will be assisting A2H with Business Development in Middle to East Tennessee, and has already begun a campaign to support many municipalities with their locally funded projects. Arran’s tireless contributions out east are remarkable, and we are proud to have him on our team!

Memphis Park Opens a Skateboarding Area

2012-01-04T15:55:00.000-06:00

Our wonderful new Marketing Coordinator Kim Leonard recently wrote an article for the Tennessee Public Works Magazine that gets into great detail about the construction aspect of Memphis's own Tobey Field Skate Park. Pretty intricate stuff! Here is a link to the Tennessee Public Works Article.

Safe Spaces

2011-12-16T10:26:00.001-06:00

The DeSoto County School Board just approved a proposal to build safe rooms at 6 different elementary schools. At only 5,000 square-feet, each of these safe rooms costs over $1 million dollars a piece. But why so expensive?

These safe spaces can double as multi-purpose facilities and community centers, but undeniably their most important role is as community storm shelters. These simple buildings can hold and protect 800 people from 250 mph winds. Keys to these safe spaces will be distributed to the local fire departments as well as other emergency officials, offering after hour accessibility to the community.

According to our engineers, although the structures themselves may not have as complex a layout as other buildings of equal value, these safe spaces are specifically designed to withstand extreme conditions like severe storms and tornadoes.

The best part of this story is that DeSoto county will only be paying about $350,000 for all 6 of these safe spaces. That is merely 5% of the total cost of the project. FEMA and MEMA have approved a grant that covers the remaining 95%.

At A2H we are not only knowledgeable in the field of available FEMA and state grants- we actually have experience designing projects that have been funded by such programs. The purpose of grants like these is to "reduce the risk to individuals and property from natural hazards while simultaneously reducing reliance on Federal disaster funds". Congrats to DeSoto County on obtaining these funds and perhaps serving as an example to other municipalities.

Below is a graphic from a project board we created a while back highlighting some of our involvement (especially in Mississippi) with FEMA safe spaces/shelters. They may not be the most decorative or complex buildings to design, but for us, we absolutely love obtaining the funds to design storm shelter projects. If "creating an enhanced quality of life for our clients and community" is really at the heart of our work, these are the jobs that define us as a company.

Make sure to read the full article in the DeSoto Times Tribute about the 6 new safe spaces.

A2H Parlor Concert Series: A Little Background

2011-11-14T11:25:00.001-06:00

Mr. Askew, President of A2H, has always been an advocate of the arts. In March 2008, the first of many private concerts was held at our Lakeland office, in what is known as the gallery. In a world of public venues, multiple distractions can remove the focus from the performing artist. Our mission is to provide a private venue that enables the audience to become completely submersed in the experience of the music. Join us sometime for a night of intimate and enriching musical entertainment!

Project Update: Memphis Skate Park

2011-10-05T14:18:00.000-05:00

Well, we've been out a few more times since our last post to document the progress of the Memphis Skate Park at Tobey Field. With the concrete down, you can really start to visualize how the final result is going to turn out! These wonderful photos are courtesy of Andy Reynolds, R.L.A., and Mark Askew.

As always, we shall keep you posted on the progress. Looking good!

Project Update: Memphis Skate Park

2011-09-06T17:19:00.001-05:00

Here is a visual update of the Memphis Skate Park Construction.

How do they get that concrete so smooth? Amazing. For those of you who do not know where this park is located, here is a map:

We can't wait to see this park open this fall! Stay tuned for more pictures as construction progresses.

Project Update: Memphis Skate Park

2011-08-26T09:18:00.001-05:00

Hey, it's us again. Look at these neat pictures taken Monday, August 22nd!

Wow! We will keep braving the heat to bring these exciting snapshot updates to you, because we know you're all very excited to get out there and carve these bowls ("skateboarding lingo" is a fun thing to google). Wait, you're not excited? You're scared you say? Well, look at this guy:

...if HE can do it, there should be hope for us all, right??

Project Update: Memphis Skate Park

2011-08-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

A2H is very excited to present to you some photographic updates on one of our favorite current projects: The Memphis Skate Park. But first, here is some history. We were selected by the City of Memphis to design a skate park at Tobey Fields with a very tight budget. We chose a subconsultant out of California, Wormhoudt, Inc., who specialized in skate park design and boasts a "community based approach" in all their work. Together, Wormhoudt, Inc. and A2H conducted a public design workshop with interested local skaters, community members and City Staff to help determine which skating and design elements to incorporate. The end result can be seen portrayed on our website through some awesome renderings, but what's more exciting than real-life construction photos?! Break out the helmets and knee pads, kids - this park is currently on schedule to be finished by the end of this year.

Keep checking for more picture updates of the construction progress.

Just some Tips

2011-07-26T11:38:00.000-05:00

courtesy and copyright PSMJ newsletter

Shortened texting language hits business

2011-07-14T13:45:00.001-05:00

Excerpt from
Memphis Business Journal- Friday April 8, 2011

"...I have long been bothered by businesses that take license with the English language and include random characters as a part of their name. Some of these designations make it difficult for publications such as ours to adhere to a time-honored style of capitalization. We have real problems starting a sentence with a lower-case letter.
Plenty of Memphis companies have gone to creative lengths to shorten their names while at the same time make them more catchy. I always rather liked Management Computer Control’s decision to refer to themselves as MC2, as in Einstein’s relativity theory. Pretty catchy.

And other businesses, including a few engineering and architecture firms, have adopted new names that are decidedly easier to type if a person happens to be texting about them. Architects Looney Ricks Kiss became LRK. Engineering firm Askew Hargraves Harcourt will answer to A2H, and it’s not too much of a stretch.

One might take issue with architecture firm TRO Jung | Brannon’s use of a vertical line in its name, but that’s not too troubling. A bit more disconcerting is the firm’s recent name change to brg3s. Its preferred style is, of course, all lower case. It helps to know that there is actual meaning behind this designation, which is translated into Berger/Ragsdale/Golden/Summers/Scharff/Sweeney. If you don’t know that, or know that it’s an architecture firm, brg3s probably makes you blink and scratch your head. Maybe that’s the intention. In the grand scheme of things, it really is a pretty straightforward designation for the firm.

I suppose we’re ones to talk. We unceremoniously interpose MBJ with Memphis Business Journal all the time, and it never seems to bother us. If we did the letters all in lower case, though, that would drive me batty."

Hello, Blogosphere: it's A2H!

2011-07-13T14:46:00.001-05:00

You will be seeing more of us. But for now, we leave you with some easy reading:

Yoga at A2H