About the author  ⁄ David W. Mykins, P.E.

David Mykins is the President of Lynch Mykins Structural Engineers PC and a former Chair of CASE. (dmykins@lynchmykins.com)

Connecting Old and New

In response to growth in the region, the vision for Slover Library in Norfolk, Virginia, was a state-of-the-art public space that would serve the 21st century needs of the community and learners of all ages. The challenge: renovating a 115-year-old historic building, renovating a mid-century commercial building, and connecting the two with a new, modern addition. The result is the 135,000-square-foot Slover Library complex that redefines how a public library is used.

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A few years ago, shortly after I had moved into our founding partner Roger’s office, I sat down to start my day. As I was looking at my busy calendar (meetings, reviews, financials, etc.), I noticed a small piece of paper taped to the wall where Roger might have seen it every day as he sat down at his computer. On it was this simple message, “All professionals owe a debt of time and talent to the enhancement of their profession.” For a moment, I stopped focusing on the company’s bottom line and began to recall the many ways in which he embraced this message and encouraged the rest of us to do the same.
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Taking Control of Business Expectations

Just the other day I was talking with a client and said, “I will fax that to you in a few minutes.” That might have been one of the first “senior moments” of my life, or at least the first I remember. I caught the mistake right away, and we both had a chuckle about how far technology has come in the course of our careers. However, the incident got me thinking about our use of technology.

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In early August of this year, hot on the heels of both major political parties’ national conventions, a meeting took place in a secluded hotel conference room in downtown Chicago that, despite including many high-ranking officials from national organizations, has received distressingly little coverage in the mass media. I’m referring of course to the summer meeting of the leaders of CASE (Council of American Structural Engineers), NCSEA (National Council of Structural Engineers Associations) and SEI (Structural Engineering Institute).
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Imagine that, one day, you and some of your friends decide to go out and play a game of softball. You don’t have enough players, so you go to the local park and find a friendly group and ask them if they’d like to play. They have never played before, but you assure them it’s a lot of fun. After a cursory explanation, they agree and you take the field to start the game.
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Some time ago, one of our project engineers came to my office late in the day and asked if I had a minute to talk about something. “Sure,” I said, and he came in and quietly closed the door behind him. Now, I’ve learned that when someone wants to talk to you and then closes the door, whatever is coming is probably not good. So I took a deep breath and braced myself…
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“Luck favors the prepared mind”. This adaptation of a quote by Louis Pasteur is one of my favorites because it very succinctly describes the ingredients that make up what many of us consider our good fortune. The truth is, we are presented with opportunities for success all the time. Luck happens when we are prepared to take advantage of those opportunities. And most of those opportunities don’t just happen to us. They are really the result of hard work, combined with careful, thoughtful planning.
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I remember when I was a kid, I remember riding in a car with my family and my grandma. As were nearing a local cemetery, she quietly said to me “You know, you need to hold your breath when we pass the cemetery. There are restless ghosts there that want to haunt you, and the only way to keep them away is to hold your breath”. That was pretty scary stuff. Needless to say, I did as I was told. I often feel the same need to hold my breath when I hear about a structural failure. What’s your response when you learn problems caused by the unfortunate errors of others?
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STRUCTURE magazine