One Nucleus

The City of Sherman, Texas, is in the midst of an infrastructure improvement program to support the recent growth of industry in the area. A significant element of the expansion program is the need for additional treatment of new industrial wastewater. After treatability studies concluded that a new industrial WWTP would be required, the City began the daunting task of delivering this new plant in less than 30 months with a design scarcely more than a concept. The team—including the City, Consulting Engineer, and Program Manager—sought collaborative delivery methods to bring a contractor on board. Based on Texas legal restrictions preventing the use of Design Build, the team selected Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) as the optimal method to deliver the project. With the CMAR engaged, the full team was set. To deliver this project, the team used several logistical and management tools. Tools used included early procurement of long lead equipment, early works packages to allow construction to begin while design was finalized, team collaboration in the form of regular partnering sessions and teambuilding exercises, proactive budget management to ensure funding was secured in time, schedule collaboration to adjust and react quickly to unforeseen circumstances, and detailed quality control to ensure field work matched design intent. A detailed evaluation of each of these tools is discussed. Major challenges that the team overcame included rapid cohesion of a diverse team, rapid construction pace, public bidding of all work and equipment packages, design progression after bidding, and maintaining high work quality (both design and construction). The project is currently under construction and is on target to be completed on schedule in order to serve the industrial customers.

This paper presents the investigation of heavy-ion induced Single-Event Effects, and gamma ray induced Total Ionizing Dose effect on commercial logic devices including buffers and transceivers.

Working paper reporting on a collaboration between academics and the voluntary sector that aimed to develop online relationship resources and training modules for the benefit of ‘mixed’ couples and their children, health and social welfare practitioners and support groups: ‘The Facilitating Relationship Support for ‘Mixed’ Couples and Families: A Collaborative Approach and Evaluation’ project