Engineering Inc. - Winter 2020 - 45

Benesch Employees and Families
Set World Record for Hot Wheels Track

enesch's Pottsville, Pennsylvania, office set the world record in
August 2019 for the longest Hot Wheels track.
Supported by the firm's corporate social responsibility
(CSR) program, more than 100 Benesch employees, family
members, and friends engineered and built a 2,176-foot-long,
2½-inch-wide track.
The project started in February 2019 when Benesch project engineer John
Knecht's son asked how long a Hot Wheels track could be. Knecht went
online and found that the Guinness World Record was 1,838 feet.
"I said, 'I think we can beat that,'" Knecht says.
As a member of Benesch's CSR Committee, Knecht floated the idea of the
firm supporting the effort to build the world's longest Hot Wheels track. Benesch embraced the opportunity to involve employees and family members in a
hands-on engineering activity.
The first step was for Knecht to calculate the grade necessary to keep the car
moving at a constant speed and then to find a suitable location for the track.
Other engineering considerations included calculating the number of pieces
needed and gauging the effects of wind and thermal expansion on the track.
Benesch held two workshops where more than 40 children, parents, and
employees assembled track, decorated track markers and building structures,
and tested the speed and stability of various cars.
The successful run took 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Benesch received official
confirmation of the new record from Guinness on August 24, 2019.
"It was a great introduction to the principles of science and engineering for
young kids," says Greg Brennan, chairman of Benesch. "It was great to see
almost 50 children there on a Saturday morning."
To view a video of the record run, go to https://tinyurl.com/rebowao.

Benesch employees and family members, including, from left to
right, Cole Meskunas, Francis Kowalonek, Aspen Tohill (at rear),
Coby Fasnacht, and Cooper Fasnacht, enjoyed setting a Guinness
World Record for the longest Hot Wheels track.

HDR Fellows Program Helps Employees
Pursue Professional Passions

ince 2017, the HDR Fellows
Program has encouraged
select employees to pursue
creative solutions for
technical and design issues
facing the firm's clients and
the industry. Each year, HDR awards three
fellowships, giving the fellows funding,
time, and institutional support to complete
their applied research.
"Our fellows have investigated a range of
topics, including cyberphysical protection
of buildings, autonomous and connected
vehicles, sustainable and healthy materials
for buildings, and a model for bridge selection," says Brian Hoppy, a co-director of the
HDR Fellows Program.
Each year, prospective fellows complete
an application describing what they want to

research and how it will benefit the firm and
its clients.
"Our collaborative culture leads to many
proposals being put forward, and the competition is fierce," Hoppy says. "The HDR
executive leadership team reviews and scores
each proposal and selects the best of the best
ideas for fellowships."
Lukas Rowland, an electrical engineer in
HDR's Portland, Oregon, office, will use his
2019 fellowship to study the role of electrical energy storage in a sustainable energy
portfolio.
"The HDR Fellows Program offers
employees a chance to dedicate meaningful time and effort to pursuing an idea
that aims to advance HDR's position in
a particular industry or area of interest,"
Rowland says. "This advancement may

come in many different forms, but the overall result gives HDR a competitive advantage in the way we serve our clients through
the direct application of the outcome of a
fellowship project and by demonstrating
HDR's commitment to R&D and progressive engineering."
Concerning the other 2019 Fellows,
Bryce Figdore, a senior wastewater process
engineer based in Bellevue, Washington,
will research advanced water treatment technology, and Tom Trenolone, a design director based in Omaha, Nebraska, will research
suburban and rural healthcare.
If your firm has an item to submit to
In the News, please contact Gerry
Donohue at gdonohue@acec.org.

WINTER 2020

ENGINEERING INC.

https://www.tinyurl.com/rebowao

Engineering Inc. - Winter 2020

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