Page 10 - CEGE Magazine Spring 2017

MARCUS THOMAS CONT...
ing for ways to contribute, to support people. They come out of college ready to pay it forward, and they want to make a difference. I see that attitude in a lot of the younger engineers, and it matches perfectly with what we as civil engineers do. Infusing their passion into our projects will help raise aware- ness and garner the support we need to renew city infrastructure.
Biggest Challenges for Industry
Public awareness about infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges for public works. A generation ago, civil engineers working for cities took pride in being invisible, in the fact that people could move through their days without being aware of all that engineers were doing for them. Unfortunately, through inattention, priorities shifted to the point where people have forgotten the level of effort and funding needed to sustain these endeavors.
Our challenge is to bring positive awareness to infrastructure and what
it takes to keep it safe and functional. One way that can be done is by getting better at how we as professionals relate to the public—developing a diverse workforce that reflects our communities is part of that. Another way is to make infrastructure more visible and attractive.
We can transform infrastructure from
a minimal solution for basic needs to something more like an amenity. There is room for aesthetics and art in what we do. If infrastructure could become more of an experience, people would be more aware of it, would value it more and be more willing to support it.
One example of visible and attractive infrastructure is the Artery Project that Bolton & Menk is working on with the City of Hopkins, related to the South- west Light Rail Transit expansion. The Downtown Hopkins station will be two blocks from Hopkins’ Mainstreet. Bolton & Menk is working with Hopkins to design the corridor connecting the light rail stop with downtown Hopkins. The city wants the Artery corridor to be a
“pedestrian-seductive corridor,” a space where people want to walk. Passengers will be enticed to follow the corridor to downtown. The Artery’s infrastructure will be integrated with streetscaping, vertical gateway features, public art, and interactive displays. The Artery is
a more extreme example of bringing awareness to infrastructure and what it can provide, but not every project needs to be elaborate.
Through design, engineers can add form to function through vertical elements, creative gathering spaces, colorful pavements, vegetation, and identifiable character, versus a plain black street with white sidewalk that goes on and on. Bolton & Menk’s land- scape architecture staff brings good practical ideas that help raise the bar a little bit in our designs.
It takes a long time to change people’s perspectives about infrastructure, but we cannot give up just because it takes a long time. In a lot of cities, the public works directors and city engineers are trying to help their city councils under- stand the importance of aesthetics. Some are proposing, for instance, that a percentage of each project budget be
FAMILY
I met my wife, Nicole, in the marching band. She played flute; I played saxophone. We have a lot of nostalgia about our time there—it was the beginning of us.
Now we have two children, a boy and a girl. My wife and I hope they will be future Gophers! We exposed them to the U from an early age and had them singing the Rouser by age 2! They both play instruments, saxophone and trombone. My daughter wants to go to a school with a great marching band, so that will be an easy sell for UMN!
Neither of them are definitive about what they want to do long term. Both are excellent in math and science and would be excellent engineers. I encourage them both to find their passions and align them with their strengths.
I’m very proud of the relationship I have with my kids. I love to impress them in the right way. Civil engineers do grand projects. We can show our families the things we have built and boast about that. I like to show them, not only the end product, but also how to work hard to get there. I tell them see the value of your work, see what you can create, see how you can help the people around you. My family inspires me to do my best work.
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