A Farewell to Summer 2023

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.

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Upcoming Talks: Façades+ and Building Codes

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.

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Jonathan Hernandez and Mark Beltramello Present at the 2023 APT Northeast Annual Meeting & Symposium!

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.

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GMS Presents at the Facades+ Conference

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.

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Magic 8-ball 2018

CANstruction in 2020

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.

Click here to donate.

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Panel Discussion - ASCE 7-22 loading changes

Jessica Mandrick presents at NCSEA Summit

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.

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GMS Coat Drive

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

 

 

 

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CIB Awards

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!

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CTBUH Emerging Leader of New York Award

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.

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Form and Force – IASS Symposium

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 MurrayRamon 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.

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2019 Qu-AKE World Pride March

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

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2019structurescongress

Meet us at the 2019 SEI Structures Congress!

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

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Hermes to present at the 2nd Annual Design Build Excellence Spring Symposium

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

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Construction Specifications Institute (CSI)

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

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Chicago Architecture Center

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

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The Sky’s the Limit?

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.”

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9/11 Memorial & Museum 5k Walk/Run

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.

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ATC-NIST Presents Blind Prediction Contest Findings at NASCC

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.

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Jennifer Lan Presents in EERI Webinar

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.

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Holiday Wishes

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.

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Jonathan Hernandez – President-Elect of SEAoNY

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.

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GMS Attends EERI 69th Annual Meeting

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.

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“Tales of Our Time” Exhibit Opens at the Guggenheim Museum

“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.

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CANctuary Wins at 24th Annual CANstruction Competition

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.

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GMS Presents to SEAoNY about Global Trends in Earthquake Resilience

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.

 

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GMS Presents at 2016 SEAOC Convention

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.

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GMS Provides AIA Continuing Education

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).

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GMS at International Workshop on Connections in Steel Structures

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.

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GMS Presents at International Tall Buildings Conference in Milan

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.

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GMS Attends 2016 Geotechnical & Structural Engineering Congress

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).

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GMS Hosts Students from Buffalo with EERI

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.

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Ramon Gilsanz Celebrates Professor Kausel at MIT

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.

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Tour GMS Projects in “Archtober” 2015

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.

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GMS Projects Featured at Open House New York 2015

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.

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GMS Wins Award for Outstanding Public Service

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.

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