MV22B Osprey with USMC VMM-263, Ridley Park, PA
Boeing V-22 Program Management, Philadelphia

The V-22 Osprey is a joint multi-role combat aircraft that will enhance the U.S. Marine Corps' expeditionary warfare and U.S. Air Force Special Operations performance, while improving the overall war fighting capabilities of the U.S. Armed Forces.  The Osprey combines the vertical takeoff, landing and hover characteristics of a helicopter with the speed and range of a turboprop airplane.  These features provide operational improvements far beyond those of conventional helicopters.

The V-22 is versatile, survivable and joining the fleet. The first operational Marine Corps squadron deployed to Iraq in October 2007, and the first Air Force Special Operations squadron will be ready for deployment in 2009.  In 2008, the Air Force will complete CV-22 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in preparation for squadron readiness.  At this time, the Marines have established three combat squadrons in addition to a training and test and evaluation squadron, all of which are currently based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina.  The Marines plan to convert two helicopter squadrons each year until V-22s replace its entire combat assault support helicopter fleet.  The Air Force training squadron is based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Nevada and the first special operations squadron is based at Hurlburt Air Force Base, Florida. 

Bell Boeing is completing negotiations to implement a five-year procurement program, with expected contract date by January 2008 (FY2008). Current terms call for the multi-year effort will involve 167 aircraft (141 USMC MV-22s and 26 USAFSOC CV-22s). Completion of the multi-year in 2012 will involve deliveries of about half the current full program requirement of 458 aircraft. A follow-on multi-year procurement, to complete the program around 2017, is likely.

A partnership between Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing manages the V-22 program.  Boeing Rotorcraft Systems in Philadelphia, Pa., is responsible for the fuselage and all subsystems, digital avionics, and fly-by-wire flight-control systems. Boeing partner Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., is responsible for the wing, transmissions, empennage, rotor systems and engine installation at its completion facility in Amarillo, Texas.

In addition to its work on the V-22 program, Boeing Rotorcraft Systems produces the CH/MH-47 Chinook for the U.S. Army and Army Special Operations Command and a variety of international armed forces.  Approximately 5,000 engineers, production specialists and technical and administrative personnel in suburban Philadelphia are engaged in the design, development, production and support of these rotorcraft and several research programs that will contribute to future rotary wing developments.  At its production facility in Mesa, Arizona, Boeing Rotorcraft also produces the AH-64D Apache Longbow, the world’s most effective attack helicopter.

An Air Force Special Operations CV-22 conducts flight training near Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.  The aircraft is optimized for high-speed, low-level flight. Photo by James Darcy, NAVAIR.

Paratroopers exit a USMC MV-22 during flight. USMC photo.

CBS-3 High Definition Studio, Philadelphia, PA
CBS-3 Engineering and Operations

CBS-3 television broadcast headquarters located at 1555 Hamilton Street in Philadelphia, PA is the nation’s first television station to be built as an entirely high definition station.  On April 2, 2007, immediately following the conclusion of the Final Four Championship game, an exhausted but jubilant team at Philadelphia’s KYW-TV broadcast its 11 o’clock news from the stations new 120,000 square-foot quarters in the old Smith Kline factory building at the 16th and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia.  The engineering team had good reason to be happy.  The broadcast, which went off without a hitch, marked a historic occasion: It was the nation’s first television station built from the ground up to be all high definition. The new facility had been designed and constructed in less than 10 months.

KYW-TV is a CBS owned and operated station.  The facility is a duopoly, also home to WPSG-TV, Philly’s CW station.  KYW-TV produces about five hours of news a day in addition to sports specials and charity fundraisers.  It had been located across the street from the Liberty Bell at 5th and Market streets, but the lease was up, even a short extension to the lease was not an option, necessitating the move.  The KYW-TV engineering team saw the crisis as an opportunity to “do HD right”; to build an efficient, scalable, enduring facility that would also be a pleasant place to work.  That meant that all aspects of the television product had to be reexamined.  A new workflow had to be designed otherwise the CBS team ran the risk of their employees being overwhelmed with the additional data storage that high definition requires.  The challenge was that there was so little time to design a new plant.  A television station is a complex mixture of several engineering disciplines.  The first requirement was that the television station had to operate independently of the existing building.  This is often referred to as a building within a building.  CBS-3 has their own mechanical, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and fire protection.  All of those systems operate independently of the building’s utilities.  All of those services had to be designed and constructed concurrent with the television station’s electronic and communications facility.  The electronic design of the station’s facilities began in May of 2006 immediately after the annual National Association of Broadcasters’ convention in Las Vegas.  The highly compressed timeframe meant that the product research, design, vetting, wiring and construction had to be completed concurrently.  That was a major challenge since all of the systems are inter-related.  The additional Challenge was running an existing television station while all of the construction was taking place.

New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Langan Engineering and Environmental Services

The proposed New Meadowlands Stadium is an 82,000-seat open-air stadium to be constructed within the Meadowlands Sports Complex, opening for the 2010 season. The site is complicated by poor subsurface conditions, numerous existing site utilities, proximity to the existing stadium and racetrack, and the need to construct the proposed Stadium while operating the existing Giants Stadium and utility infrastructure that serves the Meadowlands Sports Complex.  

The expertise of several Langan disciplines has been called upon to facilitate design of the stadium and maintain the project schedule. Langan is providing geotechnical, site/civil, environmental, surveying, permitting, and landscape architecture services for the New Meadowlands Stadium. Working with a diverse team of architects and designers, Langan’s detailed design and engineering responsibilities have included: subsurface investigation and foundation design, site layout, grading and utility design, environmental remediation design, boundary and topographic survey, and landscaping design. Langan is also responsible in assisting the client in obtaining all necessary permits and approvals.

Philadelphia Zoo Life Safety, Communications & Security Systems, Philadelphia, PA
Professional Systems Engineering, LLC

What is involved in protecting America’s First zoo?

Consider that the Philadelphia Zoo is 42-acre campus that is home to approximately 1,400 animals, many rare and endangered. Consider that curious animals can be harmed by tampering with a sprinkler head, alarm, security, lighting, or other device installed within their habitat. Consider too that systems must be unobtrusive among botanical gardens. And finally, consider that this is a historic landmark visited by over 1 million people annually and is operational 365 days per year.

With all these considerations, designing protection systems for the Philadelphia Zoo presented many unique challenges. Overcoming these challenges required keen sensitivity to special conditions along with engineering innovation.

Professional Systems Engineering, LLC (PSE), which specializes in complex, site-wide systems engineering programs in the Philadelphia Region and nationwide, met the many challenges of this client. PSE provided a solution for the Zoo’s immediate protection requirements while preparing it to move into the future with modern systems and supporting infrastructure.

PSE provided the Philadelphia Zoo with technology-rich, site-wide solutions, including:

1. Provided air sampling smoke detection protecting animals in a variety of habitats. Devices cannot be damaged by the animals and, equally important, the animals cannot be harmed by the devices.
2. Provided Wireless Mass Notification/Mass Evacuation system to warn the public and communicate information in the event of an emergency occurring anywhere on the 42-acre site. Overcame the challenge of having little existing infrastructure to support a new site-wide system.
3. Provided protection for the highly visible attraction, the Zoo’s hot air balloon ride. An RF volumetric perimeter detection system detects any tampering of cables, supports, and other critical equipment. This system is completely hidden from public view
4. Designed a video surveillance system that employs IP security cameras streaming video across a data network to viewing and recording stations. This system uses the existing fiber optic infrastructure to create a security network throughout the Zoo. The video surveillance system provides a flexible and expandable foundation that is adaptive to future security challenges.
5. Participated in modernizing the Zoo’s fire protection system with engineering services for a centralized, site-wide fire alarm monitoring system complete with central command.

The breadth of PSE’s engineering services support the Zoo’s Master Plan for the rehabilitation of buildings and supporting infrastructure, preparing it for the future. 

While this project posed many challenges, completing this type of complicated and important assignment is precisely the type of work Professional Systems Engineering, (PSE), of Lansdale has specialized in for over 20 years.

Professional Systems Engineering has earned a national reputation in providing engineering, design, and consulting services for innovative and technologically advanced systems in security, communications, and fire protection. PSE performs large-scale, multi-phase engineering programs for facilities with the most critical security, protection, and communications systems requirements. These environments include corrections and justice facilities, education, government and emergency operations, utilities, and a variety of significant public places. Among the firm’s many accomplishments, PSE has become synonymous with virtually impenetrable fencing system design, advanced security communications, multi-system integration, and systems featuring the latest technologies. The firm was founded in 1986 and is owned by Gerald Forstater, PE, Principal-in-Charge. Learn more about PSE and the firm’s innovative systems engineering solutions at www.profsyseng.com.

North Branch Correctional Institution Security & Communications Systems Engineering, Cumberland, MD
Professional Systems Engineering, LLC

Professional Systems Engineering (PSE) provided advanced security and communications systems engineering for the new super maximum North Branch Correctional Institution (NBCI) in Cumberland, Maryland. PSE employed sophisticated perimeter intrusion and computer-controlled, electronic security and communications systems. Because of its complexity, modern security technology, and phased construction, the National Geographic television program, MegaStructures, featured NBCI as one of the world’s greatest structures ever created.

The three-phase NBCI project spanned eight years with construction costs totaling over $125 million. Prior to PSE’s involvement, over two dozen escapes had occurred on the 60-acre site where the new NBCI is co-located with an existing facility. Following perimeter security updates, the new fencing design easily foiled the last attempt and no escape has occurred since.   

NBCI’s electronics include dual redundant high-speed networks designed to “prevent the smallest possibility of facility shutdown,” according to Jerry Forstater, PE, Principal-in-Charge on the PSE project. The perimeter is monitored and the slightest activity is displayed on interactive computer-generated maps that are shown on five-foot plasma screens.

Specially designed surveillance cameras monitor the entire site with 24/7 digital and color recording. In the event of officer or inmate attack, radio frequency “man-down” systems capture the event on touchscreen and identify the location within 20 feet of occurrence. 

Another PSE system designed to protect life at NBCI is a highly integrated fire alarm.  It sends instant notification of even the smallest fire to a sophisticated, five-story master control center. PSE’s innovation and protective measures save lives and protect inmates, personnel, and visitors at this large, super maximum security institution.

Over 1,000 justice and special facilities throughout the United States have depended on PSE for solutions to security, life safety and communications issues. This includes fencing, detention, digital automation, and life safety and communications infrastructure. Systems provide corrections personnel greater control and added safety, while reducing manpower requirements.

Professional Systems Engineering, LLC has earned a national reputation by providing engineering, design, and consulting services for innovative and technologically advanced systems in security, communications, and fire protection. PSE performs large-scale, multi-phase engineering programs for facilities with the most critical security, protection, and communications systems requirements. These environments include corrections and justice facilities, education, government and emergency operations, utilities, and a variety of significant public places. Among the firm’s many accomplishments, PSE has become synonymous with virtually impenetrable fencing system design, advanced security communications, multi-system integration, and systems featuring the latest technologies. Learn more about PSE at www.profsyseng.com.