SSOE has appeared in the news quite a bit lately. Here are a few of the places you can find us. Visit www.ssoe.com/news for links to these articles. ENR In her article, “Modeling Pathfinders Impatient to Have a Much Fuller Digital Toolbox” Nadine Post discusses some of the challenges of BIM and highlights how SSOE’s size has helped it overcome some of these challenges. Food Engineering Magazine This article highlights Pearl City Food Port, an SSOE-designed project in India that enables food manufacturers to gain faster, easier access to the Asian consumer market. Food Manufacturing Magazine In this recent article, “Conducting Excellent Energy Audits,” SSOE Senior Project Manager Dan Messinger discusses strategies for saving costs and conserving water and energy that apply across multiple industries. PE Magazine In this piece, SSOE Senior Vice-President, Vince DiPofi, PE, explores the politically charged issues surrounding biofuels and how these issues impact the professional engineer’s call to adhere to the principles of sustainable development. Continue Reading →

Looking out the window of SSOE’s world headquarters in Toledo, Ohio on a gray January day, one might wonder why publications like the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek recently cited this city as a center for the solar industry. But the designation isn’t based on the amount of sunshine; rather how to put it to work. Toledo, long considered a “rustbelt” city, is applying the strengths it acquired in its manufacturing heyday to new markets, solar energy for one. It’s doing so by forging partnerships with local businesses, higher education, and government. SSOE is undergoing a parallel transformation as it enters its 60th year. It’s redirecting the manufacturing capabilities that led to robust growth in the past to take advantage of new opportunities. Here’s a look at how a global company and its community are reinventing themselves as leaders in emerging alternative energy markets. For years, Toledo was home to big players in the glass industry, earning it the moniker, the “glass city.” Along with glass, Toledo had been a hub for the automotive, manufacturing, and energy industries. As with the rest of the country, Toledo suffered a steady decline in manufacturing sector jobs over the last several decades. Continue Reading →

SSOE has had substantial revenue growth, posting upwards of 25 percent each of the last three years. Despite the struggles of the nation’s industrial base and unemployment rates on the rise, we have continued to excel. Here is the low down: 25% revenue increase for 2007 Nearly 20% projected increase for 200 Over 200 new employees hired since January 2007, a 20% increase in staff 93% employee retention rate, which is 18% higher than the national average 85% client retention rate Opened 8 new offices around the world in the past 3 years, including offices on the east coast, mid-west, west coast and one in the Far East! Our Shanghai, China office has grown to be our 3rd largest office Yearly technology upgrades, including $4.5M in 2007 Thank you to our clients and staff that helped make this possible! Go to the SSOE press release page to view the announcement in its entirety. Continue Reading →

For manufacturing companies, worker safety issues are a constant. Avoiding hazards and accidents is complicated since it involves controlling machinery, human behavior, and power in various forms---factors that are continually subject to change. This article focuses on four critical areas where proper procedures and equipment are central to the health and safety of workers in industrial environments. It references experiences of SSOE’s engineers in helping clients avoid common hazards in and around plants. Protective Facilities Due to recent catastrophic loss of life in explosions occurring in the refining industry, refiners and other chemical manufacturers are developing and implementing procedures to protect employees and contractors who work close to hazardous processes. Currently, revisions to existing governmental regulations for employee protection in blast zones are under development but not yet complete. Faced with no precise legislative standard in place for compliance, a major oil company called in an SSOE team of engineers and architects to develop a Protective Facilities Siting Plan for its refinery. Continue Reading →

No disputing that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” When companies and institutions promote their latest building projects they do so with striking photography, knowing it will make an impact. The contributions of the project’s architects, civil, process, mechanical and other types of engineers; contractors and the construction crews can all be captured by the camera. However, some efforts that can make or break those projects aren’t as tangible—specifically, the scheduling, cost estimating, cost control and procurement functions that support accurate and effective project management. At SSOE, those activities are called project management services and they are the job of skilled professionals who excel at collecting, organizing, analyzing, updating and, ultimately revealing data in useful formats using various Primavera, Microsoft and Sage applications. Continue Reading →