Industry and business news 10/17/18

Southern Company selects Skyward for drone program expansions

Oct. 3, 2018—Southern Company, a leading producer of clean and affordable energy, announced that it will be expanding its drone program through a partnership with Skyward, a Verizon company advancing drone fleet management solutions and research and development. Southern Company and its affiliates were among the first energy companies to use drones across its business to aid in remote inspection, wire transport and damage recovery assessments, among other tasks. Southern Company has been employing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology since 2015. Operating a self-dispatched model, Southern Company maintains a fleet of more than 50 aircraft and 60 remote pilots across its business units with use cases in generation, distribution, transmission and storm damage assessment and response.

Industry titan Pete Ruane honored with ARTBA award

Oct. 2, 2018—Dr. T. Peter Ruane, the three-decade president and chief executive officer of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), is the 2018 recipient of the group’s highest honor—the “ARTBA Award.” It was presented Oct. 1 during a special session at the ARTBA National Convention in New York City. Established in 1960, the ARTBA Award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions that have advanced the broad goals of the association. Ruane, who is set to retire Nov. 1, is the longest-tenured head of the 116-year old organization. Once called the “dean of transportation lobbyists” by Congressional Quarterly, Ruane has been a leading force in federal transportation investment policy and politics in the Nation’s capital. He has been a fixture witness at congressional hearings and provided counsel to administrations from both political parties.

GSSI announces new technical applications specialist

Oct. 2, 2018—GSSI, the world’s leading manufacturer of ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment, is pleased to announce the hire of Brett Caldwell to the position of Technical Applications Specialist supporting the geophysical, geotechnical, environmental and academic markets. Brett is a GPR Technician with a diverse background in geosciences and construction. After serving in the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division Core Air Defense Element as an Assistant Operations Sergeant, Brett worked in a variety of customer facing positions, including sales, coaching, and management positions in the automotive and athletic apparel industries. Brett then studied geology at Towson University before beginning his work for Penhall Technologies, first as a GPR analyst and then as a field supervisor, in which he managed all aspects of GPR activities for Penhall in the Central U.S. Region.

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Volvo Construction Equipment, Design Engineer II, Stephen Lanahan, receives SAE/AEM Outstanding Young Engineer Award

Oct. 1, 2018—Stephen Lanahan, Design Engineer II with Volvo Construction Equipment in Shippensburg, Pa., has been awarded the SAE International/AEM Outstanding Young Engineer Award. The award recognizes an outstanding young engineer in the off-highway or powerplant industry. Established in 1996, the award was proposed by senior engineering executives and is administered under the auspices of the SAE Engineering Meetings Board in cooperation with AEM. During his five-year tenure with Volvo, Lanahan has played a part in various cost reduction, product maintenance, and product development projects focused on compaction machines. Starting out as a part of the Mechanical Engineering team, he worked on both soil and asphalt compactors with an emphasis on hoods and exteriors, designing parts with plastics and sheetmetal. Over the past three years, he has been part of the cross functional team responsible for design of large soil compactors.