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The commemorative last steel beam was put into place recently at the UofA Health Sciences Innovation Building (HSIB) project in Tucson, a world-class center designed to be the vanguard for inter-professional health education in the US. The $165 million facility broke ground in 2016, and is expected to be complete by Fall 2018. Designed by CO Architects with Tucson-based Swaim Architects, the 10-story, 220,000 square foot building is located on the west side of the Arizona Health Sciences Campus. The project is envisioned to foster collaboration among multidisciplinary teams of students and faculty in four colleges: medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Classrooms can accommodate as many as 150 people in flexible “flipped classroom” format, which prioritizes group work over lectures. The building also includes a special events space that allows for more than 1,000 people. JAMA’s team includes Kurt Clandening, Greg Orozco, Scott Willard, Mike Brown and Art Padilla. Construction

JAMA always celebrates the holidays in a big way, but this year brought the competition (and cheer) to new levels. An in-office decorating contest started off the season and was an opportunity for staff to showcase their creativity, especially considering that the pending move to the other side of our building meant this was the last holiday celebrated in our current space. Marketing Director Evita Oseguera received an honorable mention, while Ryan Meier earned Most Creative for his “Office of Misfits.” Partner Barry Schindler’s office was lovingly decorated by Adena Nik, Jennifer Cheng, and Heryang Lee, and their work paid off as they took home honors for the Tackiest Office. Finally, the Best Decorated honor went to Partner Kal Benuska’s office, which was adorned by Jesse Plasmyer, David Sorier-Sammut, Matt Michnewich, and Mike Brown. JAMA also celebrated the spirit and fun of the holidays during our monthly Happy Hour celebration. Thirteen children of staff joined the party, helping

Since 2005 Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has been working to improve research and treatment facilities and achieve the required seismic upgrades to meet OSHPD standards. JAMA was retained in 2012 by CHLA to outline scope and cost related to SB1953 requirements to remove acute care services from the two SPC-1 buildings (totaling approximately 410,000 square feet) on their Hospital campus. During this evaluation, JAMA recommended that the hospital consider evaluating the feasibility of retrofitting one of the buildings, the McAlister Building, via Voluntary Seismic Improvement (VSI), to achieve an SPC-2 rating and thus allow the building to retain acute care services until 2030. The Hospital agreed to this evaluation which resulted in retrofit plans that were more cost effective and less disruptive to operations of the hospital than to remove the acute care services. JAMA developed the construction documents and obtained OSHPD approval for construction, which started January 201

JAMA’s BIM Director Marcello Sgambelluri authored an article for AutoDesk on the future of Virtual Reality (VR) within the design industries. The article is a powerful acknowledgement of the changes coming to the design and construction industry, and JAMA’s capabilities in this technological arena. Through a dedicated VR station and Marcello’s assistance, teams use virtual environments and gaming technologies to visualize and explore designs in ways that they can more easily detect structural irregularities and design issues. The firm is also preparing for the next wave in exploiting VR’s potential: creating structures and products from scratch in VR. Doing so – without the use of 2D computer screens and tedious commands – would allow designers to create more organic shapes with a higher level of granular detail. Read more about JAMA’s process and the future of technology here.

JAMA staff are constantly evolving in terms of their professional and personal skills, including adding engineering credentials. This month several JAMA staff members passed important milestones, including Project Manager Ben Rogowski (right) passing his SE exam and David Dorier-Sammut (left) passing his CE exam. Additionally, Kent Kaewwaen, Greg Orozco and Shane Fitzgerald attended a DSA Academy Class on Structural Plan Review. The one-day course promotes consistency by teaching A/E/C professionals about submittal requirements for more complete submittals and an expedited review/ approval process.

The Caltech Karman labs have officially opened for business! The project, which was a design-build effort between MATT Construction, CO Architects and JAMA, included two main lab spaces. The first was the Solar Space Power Initiative located in the existing building’s subbasement, and the second was the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (C.A.S.T.) lab. The CAST lab (shown) is located on the ground floor and connected to a newly covered, 3-story open-air drone testing arena and observation deck. Congratulations to the project team, which included Kurt Clandening, Greg Orozco, Kent Kaewwaen, Mitch Fanning, Art Padilla, and Celia Barraza.

After three years of construction one of the largest buildings on USC’s campus in now complete. The Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience celebrated a ribbon cutting last week, marking an important step forward in cutting edge bioscience research for the University. The 190,000 square foot facility unites both scientists and engineers in bioscience research related to new drug therapies, high-tech diagnostics and biomedical devices. Undergraduate students also benefit from the new structure as the host of a Bridge Undergraduate Science program – a collaboration across multiple disciplines. Congratulations to architect HOK, contractor DPR Construction and JAMA team members Kurt Clandening, Greg Orozco and Art Padilla. Congrats!

Structural Engineer Kent Kaewwaen was named a Project Manager at JAMA this month, a recognition of his leadership skills, technical expertise, and professional participation. A specialist in the education sector, Kent brings extensive knowledge of structural design and retrofits within K-12 and university environments. Current projects include the Venice High School Comprehensive Modernization with NAC Architects and the Grant High School Comprehensive Modernization with IBI Group, both for LAUSD. Kent is also a dedicated mentor, participating in JAMA’s internal program as well as spearheading two mentoring teams with the ACE Mentor Program of Los Angeles.