The Future. Built Smarter.

In the final installment of a three-part series on IMEG’s 2026 Whole Carbon Action Plan (WCAP), senior sustainability and energy engineer Laura Hagan discusses how the company is tackling embodied carbon in structural systems. IMEG’s carbon reduction journey began four years ago when the firm became a signatory to SE 2050, the structural engineering industry’s initiative to eliminate embodied carb...

IMEG’s mechanical engineering decarbonization efforts take center stage in this episode, the second in a three-part series on the firm’s 2026 Whole Carbon Action Plan (WCAP). Guest Lindsey Chappelle, an IMEG senior sustainability & energy engineer, explains that the mechanical component of the plan aligns with MEP 2040 , the industry-wide mechanical decarbonization initiative. “This is the MEP...

First in a three-part series. Can an engineering firm reach net zero embodied and operational carbon on all its projects by 2050? If so, what must be accomplished between now and then? Answers to these questions and more are discussed in this episode featuring IMEG’s Director of Sustainability, Adam McMillen. Adam has been working with IMEG’s multidisciplinary Sustainable Design Task Force to issu...

Susan VanBenschoten, IMEG Director of Urban Design, Planning, and Engagement, joins host Joe Payne to discuss the expansive services and expertise of her team.   With 40 years of experience in the community planning and civil infrastructure industry, Susan previously was CEO of FHI Studio, a large planning firm in the Northeast that joined IMEG in 2024, bringing a new service line to the firm. She...

This episode is a conversation with Juan Moreno, an electrical designer at IMEG and a past recipient of the firm’s engineering scholarship program . Juan received one of the thirty $10,000 scholarships awarded when the program was launched in 2023. Born in Miami, Juan spent his childhood and teen years in Colombia. In 2021 he enrolled at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, where one o...

Considering using mass timber for the first time? IMEG’s Robert Norton provides key considerations in this episode of The Future Built Smarter. A senior structural engineer working out of IMEG’s San Francisco office, Robert has more than a decade of experience designing with mass timber. He says the material is more than a trend—it transforms how a building is experienced. “Being in a wood buildin...

Mike Walsh, IMEG Senior Director of Industrial, joins this episode to discuss small modular reactors (SMRs) and their potential for becoming an integral source of power for manufacturers and industrial campuses. SMRs typically produce 50 to 300 megawatts of power, unlike traditional nuclear plants that generate between 1,000 and 1,500 megawatts. Mike is quick to clarify, however, that the adjectiv...

This episode features IMEG civil project manager Matt Pohlhaus in a discussion on how artificial intelligence is transforming site design. Based in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Matt leads land use and civil engineering projects across Maryland and West Virginia. Increasingly, he says, AI is becoming as much a part of his toolkit as CAD software or site surveys. “We use artificial intelligence...

Armand Harpin, Director of Federal Healthcare at IMEG, joins this episode to discuss the firm’s extensive work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Defense Health Agency (DHA), and Indian Health Services. Under Armand’s leadership, IMEG has been ranked the top Veterans Affairs engineering firm by BD+C Magazine.   “We serve the VA across probably 75 percent of the campuses throughout...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter examines modern high performance computing facilities and the opportunity to use their waste heat as an energy source. “High performance facilities for computing are different than what most people would consider a data center,” says Brandon Fortier, IMEG's Director of Science and Technology. “Data centers serve general purpose IT needs for a building or a...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter explores the evolving landscape of healthcare design and engineering with guest Eric Vandenbroucke, Vice President of Healthcare at IMEG. “2025 started with a lot of optimism, but it’s definitely been a roller coaster,” he says. Despite uncertainty in the market amid potential federal reductions in Medicare reimbursements, Eric says many healthcare clients...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter features Robbie Jones, an IMEG project executive and mechanical engineer who led the firm’s design of the new Advanced Engineering Building at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas—ENR’s 2024 Best of the Best Project in the higher education/research category.  The Advanced Engineering Building (AEB), located in the university’s “Innovation Corridor,” is desig...

In this episode of The Future Built Smarter, Abby Coleman discusses IMEG’s use of immersive extended reality experiences, thousands of which have been provided by the firm to project stakeholders. “Extended reality is an umbrella term for virtual reality and augmented reality,” says Abby. “I essentially use those technologies to help our clients and engineers visualize their design before anything...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter—one in a series of conversations with IMEG’s market leaders—examines the industrial and manufacturing sector with Mike Walsh, Senior Director of Industrial. The teams under his leadership work on a broad range of projects from aerospace to wastewater treatment facilities. "The diversity of our work is what makes it exciting—every project has its own set of...

This episode examines the Missouri Botanical Garden’s new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center in St. Louis, winner of ENR’s National 2024 Best of the Best Project Award in the cultural category. The LEED Gold project houses an event center, gift shop, meeting spaces, restaurant, and auditorium, and included the renovation of the historic Linnean House, the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter examines the state of the hospitality market with IMEG’s Bob Winter—one in a series of conversations with the firm’s market sector leaders. Most recently serving as an IMEG client executive in southern California, Bob is now turning his full attention to the growth and continued development of IMEG’s portfolio in the hospitality sector—a market he has led f...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter features Steve Meyer, IMEG’s Transportation and Bridge Market Leader. “I try to get to know all of IMEG’s client executives and business developers to see where we can help fill the needs of our clients,” Steve says. This holistic approach, he adds, allows IMEG to provide comprehensive engineering design and services as needed for any project—from roadways...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter examines the intersection of AEC technology and artificial intelligence (AI) with guest Alice Leung, Vice President at Brick and Mortar Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that focuses on construction technology. Alice explains that the firm invests in startups that address existing productivity challenges within the industry. "We're here to inves...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter features Matt Malcolm, leader of IMEG’s newest service, IMEG Labs. “With IMEG Labs we are able to offer our clients third-party unbiased evaluation of technology as part of the design process—ahead of actual construction events or implementation on a client's site,” says Matt. The evaluations and demonstrations are conducted at the IMEG Labs testing site in...

This episode of The Future Built Smarter features Dr. Sam Zolfagharian, president of the AI consulting firm YegaTech, which helps AEC companies adapt to the era of disruption caused by the introduction of artificial intelligence into the industry. A keynote speaker and author of the forthcoming book, “Disrupt It,” Sam also holds a Ph. D. in design computing and construction management and has over...

Decarbonization of energy-intensive laboratories takes center stage in this episode featuring guests from the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL).    “Laboratories are one of the highest consumers of energy because of the needs around safety,” says Gordon Sharp, I2SL president. “We’re talking about wet labs, which typically deal with hazardous materials or chemicals and req...

IMEG’s Peter Monroe joins this episode of The Future Built Smarter to share the experiences of his recent site visit to Antarctica. A former client executive and a structural engineer for 55 years, Peter made the journey from Denver to Antarctica in early 2024 to visit a project at McMurdo Station, a National Science Foundation research facility on Ross Island. McMurdo is undergoing extensive upda...

IMEG’s Anchila Monks is featured in the third episode in a series about the firm’s refreshed Sustainability Plan. A business developer with IMEG, Anchila is also the Sustainability Plan’s champion in the firm’s office in Portland, OR, where she collaborates with her co-workers to implement the plan’s mandated and optional initiatives.   Anchila recalls what her grandmother told her at a young age:...

The second in a series of episodes on IMEG’s refreshed Sustainability Plan features Jessica Lee, a sustainability and energy consultant with the firm. Also the Sustainability Plan champion in IMEG’s Chicago office, Jessica collaborates with her co-workers to implement the plan’s mandated and optional initiatives.   Jessica’s passion for the environment began as a child growing up within an indigen...

In the first in a series of episodes on IMEG’s refreshed Sustainability Plan, Adam McMillen, director of sustainability, and Taylor Gawthorp-Cruse, senior sustainability and energy consultant, discuss key aspects of the initiative. Designed to integrate environmentally friendly practices at the firm’s offices, the updated plan builds upon the original version, released in 2018, and promotes conser...