Today is Mom & Pop Business Owner Day and we would like to encourage everyone to support small and local businesses today, and every day.  MC is a family-owned, self-certified small business and over almost 40 years that we have been operating, we have designed many projects for small and local businesses.  Some of our recent projects include the Cunningham’s Café & Bakery addition in Towson, Stages Music Arts in Hunt Valley, and Hayfields Country Club’s – Redwood Grill in Cockeysville. How will you be celebrating the small businesses that make up your community?

STRUCTURE Magazine recently ran a five-part series of articles summarizing significant structural code changes that the building industry will be seeing as jurisdictions begin adopting IBC 2021.  Part 2 of the series explores code changes and their significance for the following Chapter 18 topics related to building foundations:

It is so important that we, as structural engineers, are staying up to date on these changes.  You can find the article here and join us next week for part 3 of this series.

Today is National 3D Day: the 3rd day of the 3rd week of the 3rd month.  As we consider the importance of modeling structures in our engineering practice, MC would especially like to highlight the advantages that 3D BIM modeling offers within our projects.  

When Morabito Consultants is on your design team, you’ve gained a partner who can seamlessly collaborate with architects and other inter-disciplinary project team members to articulate a vision and make it reality.  Our work is distinguished by our use of Revit, a 3D modeling and drafting program produced by Autodesk which allows us to combine models with other disciplines and communicate across various compatible structural design programs.  The 3D models we build in Revit can be cut at any location and viewed at any angle giving us the capability to see how our structures interact with the architecture and work of other trades.  This new workflow feature in the building design process has become vital in coordination and clash detection efforts resulting in higher quality construction drawings and fewer field issues.  

STRUCTURE Magazine recently ran a five-part series of articles summarizing significant structural code changes that the building industry will be seeing as jurisdictions begin adopting IBC 2021. Part 1 of the series explores code changes and their significance for the following Chapter 16 topics related to building loads:
• Construction Document Wind Zones
• Risk Categories of Assembly Spaces
• Load Combinations
• Dead Loads
• Snow Maps
• Soil-Caused Uplift
• Rain Loads

It is so important that we, as structural engineers, are staying up to date on these changes. You can find the article here on part 1 and join us in the following weeks as we share each of the updates provided in this series.

MC is currently seeking an Entry-Level and Experienced Structural Engineer to join our team.  The ideal candidate should possess a BSCE with an emphasis on structural design, good theoretical background, working knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit, and good oral and written communication skills. EIT Certification is desirable.  Knowledge of RAM, Staad, or Enercalc considered a plus.

Morabito Consultants, Inc. offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, life and disability insurance; profit sharing and 401K plans; and tuition assistance.

Prospective candidates should email [email protected] a copy of their resume, any sample work, and unofficial transcripts (for entry-level position) to be considered.

Morabito Consultants takes pride in the quality of our structural drawings for their code compliance, clarity, constructability, and coordination. Behind the scenes, MC uses AutoDesk Revit to manage all new and remediation construction details and standards. This allows quick and regular updating of details and notes for code changes, contractor design preferences, new industry standards, “lessons learned,” and general design improvement. Our dedicated design standards committee reviews proposed improvements on a weekly basis. The Revit template details contain colored “design notes” which point out important items our design engineers should consider when incorporating a detail into their project. Further, our Microsoft Teams engineering “wiki” is linked to our Revit template details for quick reference. This wiki allows our young engineers to efficiently self-learn from design standards developed over the nearly 40 years of MC experience. The wiki also serves as an important reference for young and senior engineers alike when starting a new project or needing a refresher on a design process or MC standard. Morabito Consultants believes that these design tools and processes significantly support our continual commitment to producing quality and consistent structural designs and drawings.

MC would like to wish our staff and colleagues a Happy International Women’s Day! 

We would like to take a second to recognize Ruth Gordon Schnapp, who is well known as the first woman, structural engineer. In 1950, she graduated from Stanford University with a degree in structural engineering and in 1959 became the first woman to receive a structural engineering license in the state of California. Ruth is just one of the many women that have helped pave the way for women to be accepted in engineering and we encourage everyone, in all fields, to join in on the commitment to #BreakTheBias

MC had the privilege of teaming up with Whiting Turner, Becker Morgan Group,  and Gipe Associates on the addition to Stephen Decatur Middle School in Worcester County, MD.  The 25,000 SF addition will house 12 new classrooms, four new science labs, along with meeting and storage areas.  This new wing will replace the nine portable trailers that are currently in use and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.  Check out this article by Ocean City Today to learn more about this month’s construction updates on this project.

MC would like to wish our staff and colleagues a Happy Engineers Week!  

Earlier this month, we had the privilege to be a sponsor for the Baltimore Museum of Industry (BMI) 2022 Wood Bridge Challenge. Local high school students competed to build the most “efficient” basswood and glue bridge to span a one-foot gap. The most efficient bridge is one that carries the most load, relative to its own weight (Load / Bridge Weight). The winning bridge weighed 3.2 Pounds and supported 110 pounds at failure! Our local schools have some excellent engineers in the making.

If you know of any aspiring engineers, BMI has other engineering challenges coming up for students in grades 1-12 which you can find on their website.  Help us build the future of engineering today! 

The BMI competition is just one local event of many across the country, and information on the rules and event history can be found here.  Check out this video if you’re interested in watching the event.