The definition of a New Year’s resolution is a promise to do an act of self-improvement starting on New Year’s Day. Reflecting back on 2013,…
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origin: starting the conversation
Archive for 2013
A Global Experience
Very often in my dealings with clients, colleagues, or people I haven’t met before, I am asked where I am from. No one seems to…
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Watch Where You Step
PPE – Personal Protective Equipment. These small items are there to protect you, typically from making some careless decisions. I, unfortunately, have gone through more…
Read More Positively Stable
If a structural system includes an unstable element, a sudden (and possibly catastrophic) failure will eventually occur. In addition to safely resisting the applied gravity…
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Top Ten Reasons I’m Thankful to be an Engineer at Wallace Engineering
You can just imagine my delight to see the last Origin entry, ‘Be Aware of Your Surroundings’, expertly penned by our own Sam Ray, was…
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Be Aware of Your Surroundings
I have the privilege, together with my wife, of raising three daughters. They are usually eager to learn, and they also like to teach. Yes,…
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Fulfilling A Dream
Over 30 years ago, a man named Allen Sappington was called to be a missionary to the Kuna, a people indigenous to Panama and Colombia….
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It’s Vintage.
In a recent Origin post by Ron Jantz, he writes about his career of 25 years at Wallace Engineering. He recounts his progression in responsibilities,…
Read More What is an Architectural Engineer?
This is a discussion that I have had several times with relatives, friends and other engineers as a graduate of the Architectural Engineering program at…
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Structural Condition Assessments
There are several issues that arise when modifying existing structures that differentiates these types of projects from ground-up design and construction. One such issue is…
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Play Ball!
Wallace Engineering moved into the Brady Arts district in 2006 to a great historic 1920s brick warehouse. We had a small parking lot with additional…
Read More Do Your Due Diligence
Are you an impulse shopper? Can you buy something on a whim? I can’t. I think it’s due to being an engineer. I question everything….
Read More What is a Lifer?
lif·er ˈlīfər/ noun informal noun: lifer; plural noun: lifers 1. a person serving a life sentence in prison. 2. a person who spends their life in…
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Metamorphosis
It’s August in Oklahoma; hot, sticky and you still have the lawn mowing to look forward to this weekend. It can’t be helped, right? Well,…
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You Hit What You Look At
My best friend told me, “Just remember: you hit what you look at”…as he put me on a schizophrenic dirt bike that tried to kill…
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Planning Ahead for Your Children’s College Education
I am looking forward to December this year and not just because of the holidays, but this December will be the end to a decade…
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Embracing Responsibility
Often times people ask for the opportunity to take on new/additional responsibility; whether that is a kid at home, an athlete on a sports team,…
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Planning Ahead
My wife and I do a small amount of gardening and one thing we always plant are some hot chili peppers. Varieties vary depending on…
Read More Green with Envy
A while back I was perusing articles about the physical office spaces and campuses of “way out there” companies like Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon. …
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Even the Rocks Will Cry Out…
“An architect should live as little in cities as a painter. Send him out to our hills, and let him study there what nature understands…
Read More Relocation.
After owning a business or being part of the ownership team of a business for over twenty years, the economy threw a curve ball and…
Read More A Common Thread In A Small Community
Every so often I’m reminded of how fortunate I am to have a career, a workplace, and a team that allows me to play a…
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Walking the Line…
Some people say “yes” to every opportunity and others pessimistically think it can’t be done. I used to be the person who said yes and…
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Shelters for Schools, It’s Time to Start the Conversation
Growing up in Oklahoma City, you just get used to springtime weather warnings. Local news stations preempt your favorite shows or sporting events to shout…
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Overcome Fear and Declare Your Independence
July Fourth is a special day of celebration for me. Of course there are the obvious reasons for celebration that we all recognize. But, for…
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Pay It Forward
I sincerely appreciate working for a company whose culture encourages employees to give back to the community. Most have done more than I, but to…
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Get A Hobby!
Structural engineering requires a broad skill set in order to be well rounded and deliver successful projects. We have to visualize projects mentally in three…
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Analysis of Thin Plate Metals Under Uniform Loading with Large Deflections, Structural Pookie, Metal Panel Voodoo and Ozark Engineering
Many of you know that in addition to our “regular” engineering we also work on building “skins” for lack of a better term, mostly in…
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Old Meets New
Many challenges face the Structural Engineer when designing a new building that will be an addition to an existing building designed and constructed in a…
Read More Ciao Y’all…. Saddle Up!
In 2004-05 a group of local cyclists, business and community leaders began developing a vision for a locally created and owned event to put Tulsa…
Read More Structure Expressed
I was a young student of architecture at the University of Illinois when I took my first structures course: statics and dynamics. This was my…
Read More Hammer Away
While there have been many experiences that have shaped me as an engineer, I believe that the ones that have benefited me the most have…
Read More Working with Municipalities
We serve several different types of clients, one being Municipalities. I want to focus on the municipal approach and one way we help them create…
Read More Wellness In The Workplace
Wellness. We have all heard the term. But do we really know what it means? Why we should be interested in it? And how you…
Read More Raising the Bar…
The first and foremost responsibility of any engineering professional is to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public. As a structural engineer…
Read More Getting Involved!
The most effective people I know don’t just sit back and complain about the status quo. They get involved and try to make a difference….
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