Engineering a Stronger New Jersey

by Madeleine Maccar | Jan 28, 2025

As Joseph Fiordaliso puts it, engineers are naturally problem-solvers. Whether that means working within a client’s prescribed parameters, arriving at a solution that considers multiple perspectives’ input, or delivering on projects that marry immediate solutions with long-range viability and minimal intervening repairs, navigating thorny issues to arrive at the best possible resolution plays to the strengths of engineering professionals.

Fiordaliso is the president of the American Council of Engineering Companies of New Jersey, a trade organization that represents more than 5,500 individuals employed by 115 engineering firms statewide. In his role, Fiordaliso’s privy to the kind of collaboration that propels impactful engineering projects toward a meaningful, sustainable final product that not only reflects the best of what today’s capabilities can deliver but also considers the needs of an ever-evolving tomorrow.

“As a project advances through various phases, there are so many factors to consider,” Fiordaliso says. “It starts with just coming up with a problem statement, like ‘We’ve got a crumbling bridge’ or ‘We’ve got a power plant that can no longer meet the needs that people have.’ Then you go through a whole concept development phase before you can even begin to do that hard design and engineering work. Think of it as a pipeline: The concept development is at the front of the pipeline, then it advances to preliminary engineering, then final design, and then ultimately onto construction and then operations and maintenance. But the early work in that concept-development phase is really where a lot of the issues get unpacked, and one of the most important things we can consider—and that we need to consider—is how a project will address the needs of all populations, particularly marginalized and vulnerable groups.”

Those exhaustively scrutinized engineering projects include, but certainly aren’t limited to, reinforcing aging infrastructure, respecting a long-standing structure’s historical or societal significance, anticipating a changing climate, accounting for future technological advancements, minimizing environmental impact and prioritizing human safety—all while operating with a project’s budget and timeline in mind. Given all the areas of expertise that guide a project through its inherently multiple phases, it’s imperative to cultivate teamwork, trust and rock-solid relationships among all the parties providing thoughtful, forward-thinking insights along the way.

To ensure that all those boxes and more are ticked and accounted for, tagging in a team of consultants, advisors and experts representing an array of specialties is a crucial part of a project even before its preliminary phase. Environmentalists, architects, construction workers, strategists, regulatory experts and community representatives are all among the crucial and varied perspectives weighing in before ground is even broken to offer their insights into ensuring that cumulative benefits outweigh any disruptions, inconveniences or, in some extremes, outright consequences.

In addition to ensuring that any construction, expansion or modernization is minimally impactful on its environment and ecosystems, the potential disruption to the local population’s quality of life needs to be first heard and then carefully weighed and respectfully considered.

“An engineering firm will build out these teams to include experts in community engagement,” Fiordaliso explains. “People who will sit with the community and talk to the community, say, in order to understand what people’s commuting patterns are like. Where do you need to get to? How do you get there? Do you have a population that doesn’t have cars, that relies disproportionally on bikes and walking to get to where they need to go? You’re not necessarily going to know that just as an engineer sitting in front of your software designing a bridge: You’ve got to have teams of specialists that are sitting there engaging with the community, understanding what their needs are.”

Diversity and equity are key considerations internally, too. Both Fiordaliso and Michael Regan, CCM, SVP New Jersey Operations at engineering firm T&M Associates, are enthusiastic about doing what they can to help ensure that demographics long underrepresented in the field, especially women and those from historically disadvantaged communities, have a fair chance at claiming their seat at the table to not only ensure a robust pool of talent but also tap into perspectives that can help make sure that each and every project is truly considered from all angles and potential areas of impact.

“There’s a real need to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields,” Regan affirms. “Supporting STEM is a big part of what I do with [the company’s charitable arm T&M Foundation]. I really focus externally on driving STEM education to promote STEM opportunities for women and to reach other underserved portions of the community that are underrepresented in the technical fields. Just the visibility of what their opportunities are with something like early high school engagement with the field are making a big difference.”

The need for engineers is continuing to rise, which can become problematic considering Fiordaliso’s observation that “there’s a constant demand for finite talent,” especially when that talent is molded by accumulating the specialized education and applied experience that take time to refine. Both he and Regan note that a focus on STEM education certainly does help ensure that the education pipeline directing prospective talent to a field badly in need of it doesn’t dry up.

And the field will be navigating new challenges, he says: “If the data is correct, we’re going to experience a certain amount of sea-level rise over the next 100 years, and how does an engineer incorporate and factor that into his or her design?” As Fiordaliso explains, that includes adequate drainage systems, using materials intended to withstand severe weather events and referring back to “the process that the engineer goes through to develop a solution.”

Fortifying fixtures already ingrained in local life and geography, like existing structures and transportation infrastructure ranging from roads to bridges, is at the forefront of today’s biggest engineering concerns, as Regan explains how “infrastructure failures can lead to cascading effects that disrupt local economies and, in extreme cases, endanger lives.” Massive undertakings like the joint New Jersey and New York Gateway Project—which comes with a $16.1 billion price tag underscoring just how costly it is to finally bring neglected infrastructure up to operational expectations and safety standards—demonstrate just how necessary it is to deal with outdated models before they become less of an inconvenience and more of a veritable danger. Tending to those projects to both improve their performance and resolve any threats they pose also promise to bolster both efficiency and the greater economy.

“New Jersey faces an urgent need to modernize its aging infrastructure, from bridges and roads to water infrastructure to public buildings and facilities,” Regan points out. “Our state’s public entities—including municipalities, counties, regional authorities and state agencies—are constantly faced with having to make balanced decisions between maintenance-level repairs versus design and construction of future-ready solutions that can handle increased demand and environmental challenges. … We support both the high-volume transportation systems that ensure that goods move efficiently across the state, supporting New Jersey’s diverse economy, and also remain heavily engaged at the community level, where well-maintained infrastructure reduces commute times, improves quality of life, and prevents accidents or health risks associated with failing systems. T&M’s engineers recognize that safe infrastructure improves quality of life across the state while also supporting both physical and economic resiliency.”

While any successful project accounts for a plurality of future outcomes and hurdles, there’s still no way of knowing exactly what tomorrow will look like. But there’s always patterns to anticipate, while an inherent respect for adaptability and foundational sturdiness is advantageous in building a project intended to withstand the decades to come. The world is always changing: Today’s best thinking and technology will be obsolete one day, but they’re also stops along the way to a more sustainable future that’s prepared to take on the problems that those driving the engineering industry are eager to solve.

“Sustainable design aligns with what clients are looking for … they want their buildings to be designed with the most advanced LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certifications,” says Fiordaliso, noting that both market demand and policies are also well-aligned these days. “You’ve got professionals saying, ‘We need the most sustainable products and projects that we can have, in addition to having the most resilient,’ and those two things are not mutually exclusive necessarily. You can achieve both … and that is one of the challenges that our clients typically present to us: ‘I want all of these things, I don’t want to have to choose so come up with a solution. Problem-solve for me.’

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Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 14, Issue 11 (November 2024).

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Author: Madeleine Maccar

Engineering a Stronger New Jersey

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