The GMS Team celebrated the summer season with our annual summer party, hosted this year at Arlo NoMad’s rooftop venue. Our full-time staff, interns, and even some GMS alumni gathered after work on August 16th to chat and enjoy a lovely view of the Manhattan skyline.
GMS was honored to receive one of Anchin’s Construction, Design, & Real Estate Industry Impact Awards for 2023. The award was presented by Anchin Accountants and Advisors, as well as their partners: the New York Building Congress, the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York, the Subcontractors Trade Association, and The Real Deal.
This coming Thursday will be a big day for GMS!
Jose Mendoza, AIA will be speaking at The Architect’s Newspaper’s Façade+ Conference of 2023 on March 30, 2023. The event will go on for two days, with the symposium being held on March 30th from 8 A.M. to 7 P.M. at the Metropolitan Pavilion located in 125 West 18th Street, New York, NY. The second day will consist of workshops that will be held on March 31st at the New York Law School located at 185 West Broadway, New York, NY. You can register to attend the event here.
Principal Forensic Engineer Dan Eschenasy was invited to present at ASCE – Metropolitan Section’s 9th Annual RA Lecture on Thursday, March 30, 2023 from 6 P.M to 7 P.M EST. Dan will discuss building code requirements for Foundation Design and outline his views on the need for a published standard of care for geotechnical engineering, and the risks posed by the delegated design. You can register to attend the online webinar here.
On March 3, 2023, Jonathan Hernandez and Mark Beltramello served as presenters at APT Northeast’s 2023 Annual Meeting & Symposium at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA!
During their presentation, Jonathan and Mark discussed the structural restoration and renovation of terracotta materials, which included the implications and challenges that they have encountered in the terracotta buildings that have been restored, renovated, and repurposed. As they explained, the buildings containing terracotta arches and flat terracotta arch slabs utilize terra cotta as a load-bearing structural material. Also discussed was the history of these floor slab systems, and how much they’ve changed over time since being developed in 1871.
A few of their more recent case studies that were covered during their presentation included Manhattan Eye, Ear, & Throat Hospital (MEETH), 2 Bryant Park, the Flatiron Building, and 230 Park Avenue South, all of which contain flat terracotta arches.
You can read the full program here.
Yesterday GMS Partner Jessica Mandrick was named one of ENR New York’s 20 Top Young Professionals. She was cited as “An advocate for sustainable structures in a changing environment.”
GMS was thrilled to participate in the Facades+ Conference, held in New York City on April 13-14, where Senior Building Envelope Consultant Sara Gonzalez gave a presentation on 130 William Street. The façade of this unique 66-story building in Lower Manhattan is made of pre-cast panels with arched windows and loggias on the top floors. GMS was the façade consultant on the project, working with developer Lightstone Group, Adjaye Associates, and Hill West Architects.
Last month, GMS was thrilled to attend the in-person National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) Structural Engineering Summit.
Typically by Thanksgiving, we can look back on our CANstruction sculpture competition and know that we have helped to feed our fellow New Yorkers. This year, of course, is different. We cannot build our designs in person, but GMS is still supporting @canstructionny and @CityHarvest online.
CANstruction New York has donated nearly 2 million pounds of food to City Harvest through an annual design/build competition where design professionals compete to design and build giant structures made entirely out of canned foods. This year because of COVID-19, teams will be competing by fundraising and submitting digital designs of canned food sculptures.
Check back soon to see our digital design, and in the meantime, please donate if you can.
At GMS we are thankful for the continued support of our clients and colleagues, and we look forward to building more structures, facades and canstructions in the future.
On Friday, November 6, 2020, GMS Associate Partner Jessica Mandrick, joined several prominent structural engineers to present ASCE 7, Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures at the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) Structural Engineering Summit. NCSEA in partnership with its Member Organizations supports practicing structural engineers to be highly qualified professionals and successful leaders.
Eugene Kim, GMS Associate Partner, was inducted as the President-Elect for the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) for 2020-2021. The ceremony occurred during SEAoNY’s Annual Meeting, held virtually on September 22, 2020.
GMS joins NYCares in their yearly coat drive campaign. This well-known nonprofit collects new and slightly used coats from all over the city and then distributes them to social service agencies, public schools, transitional housing, and more.
Winter temperatures can be extremely low in NYC and at the same time, the number of people in need is on the rise, so we are extending a hand to those who are the most vulnerable – this is the season to give back.
Thank you to all the staff at GMS, as well as their families and friends who have helped us gather 18 coats! These coats will help children, young adults and adults stay warm this season.
#coatdrive #actsofwarmth #nycares
GMS was honored with a Concrete Industry Board Special Merit Award for Structural Design for the Virgin Hotel project and an Award of Merit – Mixed-Use for Tangram.
Our team is very proud of how each project is turning out.
The Awards Dinner at Marina del Rey, in the Bronx was a fun night of celebration with our industry colleagues and friends.
Congratulations to everyone involved!
Congratulations to our Associate Partner, Jessica Mandrick, on being named one of five 2019 Emerging Leaders by the CTBUH New York Future Leaders Committee.
GMS is proud to have such a committed professional on our team and this award is well-deserved. Jessica started at GMS in 2007 as an engineer and has worked on a broad range of projects. Within our office she advocates for broader internal education programs, wider exposure to different project types and encourages participation in professional organizations. “It is important that engineers see hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes as more than just loads, and consider their societal impact. Engineers are well educated to take a seat at the table in the larger conversation on disaster preparedness, risk tolerance, and infrastructure investment.”
We congratulate Jessica and know this is just one of many honors she will receive throughout her professional life. And we thank her for her contributions to our industry.
The award will be presented during the CTBUH NY Regional Conference Reception on Friday, November 1, 2019 at The Penn Club in New York City.
The IASS 60th Anniversary Symposium (IASS SYMPOSIUM 2019) and 9th International Conference on Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures (STRUCTURAL MEMBRANES 2019) have merged into a joint international conference, FORM and FORCE 2019, aiming to provide a forum for state-of-the-art contributions and fruitful discussion in the broad fields of shell, spatial, tension and inflatable structures. The 2019 conference was held in October in Barcelona, Spain and it covered concepts related to material, design, computation, construction, maintenance, history, environmental impact and sustainability of shell, spatial, tension and inflatable structures in all fields of application.
Miguel Lopez of GMS presented a paper, Lateral Load Resisting Facades, co-authored jointly by the GMS Structural Engineers and Building Envelope consultants Miguel Lopez, Joseph Blanchfield, Philip Murray, David Kazibwe, Carolyn Bai, Ramon Gilsanz. The paper’s abstract follows:
Simple modifications to traditional curtain wall slab anchors allow designers to incorporate a structure’s building envelope system into its lateral system, leading not only to improved structural performance, but a reduction in the building construction’s carbon footprint. This approach of integrating architecture with structural design to optimize building performance and construction embodies the principles of efficiency, economy, and elegance championed by the late Princeton Professor David Billington. In this paper, the potential benefits of utilizing façade members to contribute to the building stiffness is studied by reanalyzing 510 Madison Avenue, a 2012 Class-A steel high-rise office building in Manhattan. The building’s lateral system is comprised of moment and braced frames. The building’s façade is a unitized aluminum curtain wall system that utilizes traditional curtain wall anchors designed to prevent the transfer of loads between the façade and the structure.
GMS Partners Philip Murray, Ramon Gilsanz and colleagues Zoe Champion and Helena Ariza also attended the conference, noting the networking opportunities and planned workshops to learn about new software applications, among other things. For more information, click here.
Last Tuesday, September 24 SEAoNY celebrated their Annual Meeting of 2019.
We are happy to announce GMS is joining Queer Advocacy and Knowledge Exchange (Qu-AKE) in the 2019 World Pride March on June 30th!
With our sponsorship, we will have 20 GMS employees march with Qu-AKE. Come join us!
The Queer Advocacy and Knowledge Exchange (Qu-AKE) is a national, nonprofit, inclusive network for professionals working in the fields of civil engineering, architecture, urban planning, geosciences and construction. We exist to ensure visibility and protection of LGBTQ+ professionals in our fields, by facilitating networking opportunities, providing a forum for mentorship, and fighting discrimination against members of our community in the workplace.
For more information, email info@qu-ake.org
We are proud to announce that our founding Partner, Ramon Gilsanz has received the Concrete Industry Foundation’s Humanitarian Fellow Medal Award for 2019. This award celebrates esteemed members of the industry “for dedication to the industry, community, and society (resulting) in outstanding benefit to future generations”.
April 24 through 27, 2019 GMS Partners Ramon Gilsanz and Karl Rubenacker, as well as Associate Partners Eugene Kim, Jennifer Lan and Jessica Mandrick will travel to Orlando, Florida to attend this year’s ASCE/SEI Structures Congress.
Jessica will be moderating Innovation in Software and Technology for Structural Engineering (Session 508025), Thursday April 25 at 9.30 AM. Ramon will present on Optimal Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures (496799), Friday April 26 at 1.30 PM. Jennifer will present on Findings from the ATC Mexico City Earthquake Reconnaissance (507867), Friday April 26 at 1.30pm (with Ramon as co-presenter) and Ramon and Karl will present different chapters of the ASCE/SEI Design Guide Alternative Load Path Analysis Guidelines for Disproportionate Collapse (504616), Saturday April 27 at 11am.
On Wednesday April 24, Ramon and Karl will meet with the ASCE Standards Committee on Disproportionate Collapse Mitigation and Jessica will chair the SEI Board Young Professional Committee meeting.
Drop us a line if you will be attending, we would love to have a chance to catch up with you while we are there!
Click here to learn more about the Congress http://www.eventscribe.com/2019/STCONG19/ Or follow on Twitter #Structures19
GMS Partner Achim Hermes will be presenting at the 2nd Annual Design Build Excellence Spring Symposium on Friday, April 26th of this year.
Achim will present on “Building Facade Essentials: Acoustical Design, Implementation, and Quality Assurance” together with AKRF.
Click to learn more and register http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-design-build-excellence-spring-symposium-registration-59106774955
GMS Partners Joseph Basel, PE and Gary Steficek, PE will travel to Shenzhen, China later this week, for the CTBUH 2019 Tall + Urban Innovation Conference.
Basel will present on The Future of Tall Building Renovation, and Steficek will chair the Jury for the 2019 CTBUH Renovation Awards.
Join GMS Senior Structural Engineer Hannah Garfield, PE, along with architects from Gensler and builders from Structure Tone for a panel discussion at the March Chapter Meeting 3/13 of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Metro NY Chapter. Architectural Metal and Glass: A Powerful Combination will explore a recent project featuring a glass and metal guardrail for a multinational consulting firm’s offices in Midtown Manhattan.
For more information https://lnkd.in/dQ8cNsj
ICYMI, or were not able to make it to the Chicago Architecture Center last month, GMS’s Ken Oen, P.E. (second from right) participated on a panel (from the left) with CTBUH‘s Antony Wood, Mark Anderson, of the John Buck Company, and Benjy Ward, of Gensler shown here with Lynn Osmond of the CAC (center). http://www.ctbuh.org/Events/CTBUHRelatedEvents/CACBuildingTallLecture/tabid/8117/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Please join GMS’s Associate Partner Ken Oen, P.E. at the presentation and discussion, “Too Big To Fail: Revitalizing Our Iconic Skyscrapers” at the Chicago Architecture Center on November 29, 2018. More information here: https://www.architecture.org/programs-events/detail/too-big-to-fail-revitalizing-our-iconic-skyscrapers/
“My Kingdom for a CAN,” a structure of cans of sardines, designed by engineers and architects at GMS, is on display at Brookfield Place at the 26th annual Canstruction competition. This structure’s 5,076 cans will feed 1,275 New Yorkers.
GMS understands tall buildings. Our engineers and architects are experts in not just the skyscraper’s “bones” (the structure), but its “skin” (the envelope) as well.
On October 22nd, Achim Hermes will travel to the annual Middle East Conference of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) in Dubai to participate in a panel discussion about “skinning tomorrow’s skyscrapers.”
Joe Mugford presented lessons learned from the column transfers designed by GMS for 75 Rockefeller Plaza at the 52nd annual convention of the Structural Engineers Association of Arizona (SEAoA). The top-to-bottom overhaul of this landmark, built in 1947 includes new double-height glazing and upgraded entry. A reconfigured lobby required the transfer of four existing building columns.
Several of our engineers traveled to Fort Worth, TX, to attend the 2018 Structures Congress, where engineers are inspired, connect with leaders in the profession, and learn from experts. The congress is organized annually by the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
On Sunday April 22, GMS will field a team of 14, along with family and friends, for the 6th annual 9/11 Memorial & Museum 5k Run/Walk and Community Day in Battery Park City. The event supports the 9/11 Memorial & Museum as a place to learn the history of 9/11 and honor this National Day of Service and Remembrance.
At this year’s NASCC Steel Conference, organized by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) in Baltimore, the Applied Technology Council (ATC) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) presented modeling techniques, quality assurance techniques, challenges and engineering decisions involved in the recent blind prediction contest held to advance knowledge on design and modelling of deep wide-flange columns.
700 consulting engineers and clients attended the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York’s (ACEC New York) 51st annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala in New York. The ACEC Engineering Excellence awards recognize the skills and innovation of New York’s consulting engineering firms.
Jennifer Lan was a panelist on an EERI Technical Case Studies Webinar, during which speakers who conducted reconnaissance following the September 19, 2017 Puebla-Morelos earthquake presented geotechnical and structural case studies. Jennifer’s presentation described the reconnaissance methodology and provided an in-depth analysis of building performance, using two buildings that were damaged during the earthquake as case studies.
Ramon Gilsanz presented at the Structural Engineering Talks in Austin, TX. This event hosts speakers with atypical, non-technical presentations that are lively, philosophical, inspirational, thought-provoking, and/or make engineers re-think the approach to structural engineering.
Ramon Gilsanz, Cathy Huang and Joshua Peng attended committee meetings at this year’s American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Convention and Exposition in Salt Lake City, UT. The convention provides the industry with a professional environment where individuals from across the globe come together to share new ideas and discover innovative ways to use concrete.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy, prosperous New Year!
— from all of us at GMS
Flatiron Reflection by Future Expansion is the 2017 winning design for the Flatiron Holiday Design Competition, a collaboration of the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership and the Van Alen Institute. GMS is proud to work with Future Expansion and The New Motor, to deliver this holiday gift to our neighbors. Special thanks to GMS team members Cathy Huang, Amanda Eldridge, Isaac Epstein, Dana Saba and Bryan Torres. Photography courtesy of ©Noah Kalina
Please visit Flatiron Plaza at East 23rd Street & Broadway, New York, now until January 1, 2018.
Jonathan Hernandez, GMS Partner, was inducted as the President-Elect for the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) for 2017-2018. The ceremony occurred during SEAoNY’s Annual Meeting, held at the Center For Architecture in New York on September 14, 2017.<!–more–>
The purpose of SEAoNY is to advance the art of structural engineering in New York by improving the flow of ideas and building the community of colleagues. SEAoNY also reaches out to other professionals, outside the engineering community, who work in related fields with common interests. The association sponsors workshops, panel discussions, lectures and seminars with the aim of addressing topics of interest and concern to structural engineers. SEAoNY is a member organization of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA). Jonathan is also a member of the NCSEA Board of Directors.
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s (EERI) mission is to reduce earthquake risk by advancing the science and practice of earthquake engineering; improving understanding of the impact of earthquakes on the physical, social, economic, political, and cultural environment; and advocating comprehensive and realistic measures for reducing the harmful effects of earthquakes.
“Tales of Our Time” brings together a diverse group of younger artists to offer a broader view of the next wave in Chinese contemporary art. The artists examine conditions in contemporary China through approaches that often blur the distinction between fact and fiction. Employing media from ink painting to animatronics, they conceive of China more as a concept than as an identity, eschewing easy associations and symbols.
CANctuary, a structure of cans of tuna fish, designed by engineers and architects at GMS and currently on view at Brookfield Place, as won the Cheri Award of the 24th annual Canstruction competition.
Canstruction is an international charity competition where 26 teams of architects, engineers, contractors and the students they mentor, competed this year to design and build giant structures made entirely from cans of food. At the close of the competition all of the food from the New York City competition will be donated to City Harvest.
On October 18, 2016, Ramon Gilsanz of GMS presented to the members of the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) about global trends in earthquake design and resilience.
The lecture looked at common features of buildings in a variety of regions across the world which are prone to earthquakes. Such features include weak ground stories, considerations for adding new floors, alterations and enlargement of existing buildings and the potential for soil failures like liquefaction and lateral spreading. Using his experience from earthquake reconnaissance trips to Chile, Virginia, Greece, Taiwan and Ecuador, Mr. Gilsanz then discussed the impact of resilience in structures, specifically how to apply lessons from other cultures to improve the built environment here in New York City. He concluded with a review of the NYC Building Code provisions for resilience.
Jessica Mandrick presented at the SEAOC Technical Session on the recent Taiwan Meinong earthquake.
Jessica Mandrick, SE presented fifth in the Session titled Learning from the 2014 South Napa and 2016 Tainan Earthquakes during the 2016 Annual Conference of the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC), October 12-15 in Ka’anapali Beach, Maui. The focus of this session was to highlight the lessons learned during the GMS and USGS reconnaissance trip to Tainan, which took place in February 2016 in collaboration with EERI, ATC, and NCREE. The team visited the city of Tainan and its vicinity to survey, study, and document damage and site-related observations from the recent 6.4 Meinong Earthquake. The focus of the paper/presentation included observed design and construction issues as well as the societal response to the earthquake.
Samsung 837 and Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th Street will be featured in this year’s Archtober. Archtober (ärk’tōbər) is New York City’s Architecture and Design Month, the fifth annual month-long festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions taking place during the month of October.
GMS is very excited to announce that we are now a continuing education provider in The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System.
Our first course, Understanding Resilience through a Musical Analogy can be presented in person by Ramon Gilsanz, author of the STRUCTURE magazine article upon which this presentation is based. The course is accredited for 1 Learning Unit of Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW)-related training (1LU/HSW).
Ramon Gilsanz and Akbar Mahvashmohammadi attended the Eighth International Workshop on Connections in Steel Structures (Connections VIII). Researchers, designers, fabricators and steel industry representatives gathered in Boston on May 24-26, 2016 to collaborate and share knowledge within the areas of strength, behavior, fabrication and design of connections for structural steel and composite steel/concrete frames.
Earlier this week, Gary Steficek, founding partner of Gilsanz Murray Steficek, spoke at the 6th annual IUAV International Conference on Tall Buildings in Milan. The program was divided into two sessions, one on new technologies and a second on new uses for existing tall buildings. His presentation, “Reinventing Woolworth: Adaptive Reuse of an Historic Skyscraper,” was part of the Existing Structures Session.
On March 10th, the New York-Northeast Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and the Deep Foundations Institute’s (DFI) Women in Deep Foundations Technical Committee co-hosted a Reception and Panel Discussion on Professional Women in the World of Construction.
Ramon Gilsanz, Phil Murray, Jonathan Hernandez, Jessica Mandrick, Sanaz Saadat, Joshua Peng, Mark Beltramello and John Hinchcliffe attended the 2016 Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Congress in Phoenix, Arizona. This unique Congress was a joint endeavor of two sectors within the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Geotechnical Institute (G-I) and Structural Engineering Institute (SEI).
On November 20, the NY Northeast chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) organized a trip to New York City for students from SUNY Buffalo. GMS was pleased to host the group at our office for an afternoon of insights into the structural engineering profession, innovative project case studies, and a session of “speed interviews” to help these students hone in on their career options.
The two-day excursion was organized in collaboration with Mueser Rutledge and also included a tour of the United States Tennis Association in Flushing, Queens, and the World Trade Center Memorial in Manhattan.
On October 26, 2015, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology held a Rapid-Fire Conference to celebrate the accomplishments of Professor Eduardo Kausel over 40 years in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The “Rapid-Fire Conference @MIT” was a day full of enlightening talks and intellectual discourse on important engineering and scientific issues of our times. The occasion sought to bring together colleagues Prof. Kausel had met in the academic community throughout the years that had influenced his own work.
SculptureCenter and the carousel enclosure at the Staten Island Zoo will be featured in this year’s Archtober. Archtober (ärk’tōbər) is New York City’s Architecture and Design Month, the fifth annual month-long festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions taking place during the month of October. Through special tours, lectures and exhibitions, Archtober raises awareness of the important role of design in our city and to build a lasting civic and international recognition of the richness of New York’s built environment.
On Saturday 10/17 and Sunday 10/18, the Annual Open House New York Weekend will unlock the doors of New York’s most important buildings, offering an extraordinary opportunity to experience the city and meet the people who design, build, and preserve New York. From historical to contemporary, residential to industrial, hundreds of sites across the five boroughs are open to visit, with tours, talks, performances, and other special events taking place over the course of OHNY Weekend. Through the unparalleled access that it enables, OHNY Weekend deepens our understanding of the importance of architecture and urban design to foster a more vibrant civic life, and helps catalyze a citywide conversation about how to build a better New York.
Every year the ASCE Metropolitan Section Structures Group hosts a four evening Seminar that focuses on the most interesting construction projects and structural engineering topics.
GMS staff gave several presentations at this year’s seminar.
Several of our engineers ventured to Portland, OR, last week to present their papers, studies and cases at the 2015 Structures Congress. This congress is organized by the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Several award-winning GMS projects are being spotlighted this year on Archtober’s “Building of the Day” tours, including Stapleton Library, Tavern on the Green and Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at JFK.
Our firm is honored to receive this year’s Outstanding Public Service Award, which recognizes an outstanding company who has contributed significantly to New York and its communities.
GMS participated in the Center for Architecture Foundation’s annual drawing competition and benefit at the Scholastic World Headquarters.
Jessica Mandrick presents a case study of the New York City Rescue Mission along with several other buildings.
To promote the profession to the next generation, award outstanding engineering students and help New York retain promising young talent, each spring, the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York offers scholarship opportunities for third-year students in a four-year program or fourth-year students in a five-year program.
Joseph Basel, Kristi Miro, Jessica Mandrick, Amanda Eldridge and Mark Beltramello attended the 19th Annual Scholarship Luncheon in support of the Architecture, Engineering & Construction Mentor Program.
In response to the expanding exposure of buildings to abnormal events, Karl Rubenacker uses a 30 story high-rise office building as a case study to present practical methods and verification procedures by which structural engineers can incorporate disproportionate collapse resistance into their buildings as part of an overall multi-hazard design process.
At a recent AIANY conference about earthquakes and New York City, Ramon Gilsanz, founding partner of Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP and Chair of the NYC DOB Structural Technical Committee responsible for the 2014 NYC Building Code revision, compared earthquakes to music to help explain the components of seismic design.
Our entry “Cloudy With a Chance of Tuna” wins the Best Use of Labels award at the 21st annual Canstruction NY competition. GMS is also celebrating 20 years of participation in the competition.
CAN on the Moon, our 2012 Canstruction NY entry, has been rebuilt for the lobby at 245 Park Avenue in New York for Arts Brooksfield.