IMEG virtual designers help make projects reality. Here are some of their favorites.
IMEG’s team of virtual designers across the U.S. and India are experts at creating immersive designs to help owners, designers, contractors, and subcontractors collaborate in a virtual environment—testing options, materials, and sequencing for their impact on the design and budget, all before a shovel goes into the ground.
In honor of Virtual Designer’s Week, several of IMEG’s virtual designers talked about their favorite recent projects.
Dilip Adecha is a virtual design coordinator in IMEG’s Ahmedabad office in Gujarat, India. He has worked at IMEG since 2015. One of his favorite projects is Grace City Church, a new, 86,200-sf, two-story church in Lakeland, FL. IMEG provided structural engineering services for the building made of concrete, precast concrete, concrete masonry unit, and steel. Why it’s a favorite: “Grace City Church has nearly 880 seats in the balcony, so we used a 10-foot-deep joist girder with 11 feet of joist span—I had never done that before. We modeled slabs and roofs at different levels, which was interesting and challenging to execute.”
Fadi Alkhouri is a senior virtual design coordinator in IMEG’s Farmington Hills, MI, office. He has 34 years of experience preparing structural contract documents, coordinating structural drawings with other disciplines, and reviewing shop drawings. His favorite project is the State of Michigan Public Health and Environmental Science Laboratory in Lansing, a $326 million, 300,000-sf facility that will consolidate laboratory spaces for three state agencies. IMEG provided structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and technology design for the project. Why it’s a favorite: “This project will have a significant impact on public health and environmental research. One unique element of this project was the integration of slanted steel columns and the use of multiple structural systems. These features not only contribute to structural integrity but also showcase our ability to innovate within a 300,000-square-foot facility. We faced a significant challenge ensuring the seamless incorporation of diverse materials and structural systems while maintaining the building’s functionality. This required precise coordination and creative problem-solving.”
Tom Dabrowski is a senior virtual design coordinator in IMEG’s Chicago office. He works with IMEG engineering teams to implement building information modeling (BIM) innovations that facilitate better designs using REVIT and AutoCAD programs. His favorite project is Barstool Sports, a sports and entertainment creative content firm that fitted out a “fantasy factory” concept for its two-story, 40,000-sf Chicago office. The office features nine podcast studios, three broadcast studios, a commercial kitchen, and basketball court. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology services. Why it’s a favorite: “It’s a unique and cool project for a client/end user of B- and C-list celebrities in the sports personality world.”
Trevor Grover is an electrical project designer in the Reno office. He’s been with IMEG since 2021. His favorite project is Liberty Dogs, a new, 27-acre campus in Reno, NV, that will breed, train, and pair service dogs with veterans. The facility will offer immersive three-week programs where veterans will live on campus to get to know and train with their service dog, free of charge. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, and technology design. Why it’s a favorite: “This project was one of the first I set up as a virtual design coordinator and was quite a challenge and learning experience. There was a change in the architectural design team which resulted in the project model being reconstructed; the old site plan was CAD, and the new one was a Revit model with actual levels and elevations.”
Katie Rosenkranz is a senior virtual designer in IMEG’s St. Louis office. She has eight years of experience with IMEG, focusing on BIM management, coordination planning, design, and construction of labs, schools, hospitals, and commercial buildings. Her favorite project is Nestle Project Dynasty, a new, $675 million, 630,000-sf factory in Waddell, AZ, that will produce creamers for its Coffee mate, Coffee mate Natural Bliss and Starbucks brands. IMEG provided mechanical construction drawings for installing pipe drops from racks and some equipment-to-equipment piping. Why it’s a favorite: “Nestle provided AutoCAD 3D files and Clayco provided a coordinated Navisworks model. We produced our drawings in Revit, which came with challenges, such as importing the AutoCAD files and creating isometric views that showed dimensions, sizes, and labels for all processing piping in our scope of work. While this project was extremely challenging, I learned a lot and am very proud of the work my project team and I were able to accomplish.”
Tony Walz is a structural designer in IMEG’s Minneapolis office. He has more than 29 years of engineering experience and specializes in structural modeling and field administration.
His favorite project is V3 Sports Center Phase 2, Minneapolis, which will offer affordable community swimming lessons to reduce drowning disparities among people of color. The nonprofit sports center will include a community center with a 25-yard teaching pool, the Olympic-sized 50-meter competition pool used at the 2021 U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha, a locker room, running track, parking garage, and potential rooftop deck recreation space. IMEG provided structural design. Why it’s a favorite: “I really had to be creative when modeling it. The architects wanted an open space design, so this needed to be modeled so all the disciplines could coordinate and hide as much structural framing, mechanical ducts, and conduit as possible. We used multiple curves and sweeps for the wandering path that ties all levels of the building together; landings needed to be added to satisfy code requirements for the ramps.”
Winny Wang is a senior virtual design coordinator in IMEG’s San Francisco office. She has more than 37 years of experience working on projects ranging from residential and government renovations to new multi-story mixed-use developments, office buildings, educational facilities, and industrial/aerospace ground support projects. Her favorite project is Adobe’s pedestrian bridge from its existing campus to its North Tower in San Jose, CA. IMEG provided structural design for the bridge and North Tower. Why it’s a favorite: “It was a fun and challenging job, especially in modeling it in Revit to meet the client’s requirements.”
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