Professional Activities

 

 November 2007 - Melanie Kasper, PE, just returned from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she had been selected to make a presentation at the International Association for Preservation Technology's (APT) annual conference.  This year's theme was "Old World Technologies Adapting in the New World".  Melanie's paper was entitled "Adaptations of Traditional Bermudian Construction Using Modern Materials", in the preparation of which she was able to draw upon her first-hand knowledge gained by extensive recent exposure to traditional building techniques while performing conditions assessments on many of the island's schools for the Bermudian Ministry of Education.

Melanie is also now registered as a Professional Engineer in four states: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and Illinois.

 

 

 

 

 

 September 2007 - Jessica Senker's paper entitled "Pennsylvania Stone Arch Bridges: Evaluation and Assessment", was published in Arch '07, the Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Arch Bridges, which was held in Madeira, Portugal, in September 2007.

 

 

May 2007 - Melanie Kasper  traveled to Richmond, Virginia, in April to attend the American Institute of Conservation's annual conference, where she delivered an abstract entitled "Structural Conservation Using Articulated Reinforcement at the Lewis Store", the text of which will be published in the Institute's Proceedings shortly.  Her paper highlighted the design and installation of a unique steel support system to reinforce the structural system of one of the oldest surviving urban retail buildings in the United States, the 1749 Lewis Store in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  This system proved to be successful because it was disguised from the public’s eye and did not require the removal of original fabric. 

 

February 2007 - Sam Harris, together with Andrew Ferrell and Michael Henry, conducted a seminar at the Colorado State Preservation Conference held in Denver whose theme was "Saving Places 2007: Planning, Growth, and Presentation".  This seminar, conducted on behalf of the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in Natchitoches, Louisiana, was entitled "Diagnostics and Intervention Strategies" and examined different types of mechanisms that affect brick walls taking into account all the various intervention methods available.
 

 November 2007 - Sam Harris went halfway around the world to New Delhi, India, to participate in the Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions Conference held there.  He delivered a paper to the members on "Roofing as an Essential Element of Structural Integrity".