CMA sponsored the 10th Annual FES Race for Relevance, held February 1 at the at the Autobahn Indoor Speedway in Jacksonville. The Race for Relevance is a fundraising event created to encourage youth to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). All the proceeds raised from the event go towards the Chapter’s scholarship fund. Team CMA racers included Freeman Bass, P.E.; Brad Wilson, P.E.; Chris Gearhart, P.E.; Devon Cox; Maddie Batey, E.I.; Alex Farfan, E.I.; Phuoc Nguyen and grandstand attendees were Jennifer Smith, P.E. and Floyd Fasking, P.E.

CMA ranked 13th in the South Florida Business Journal Top 25 Engineering Firms List! The list includes the top 25 engineering firms located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties ranked in order by number of licensed engineers. Congratulations! https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/

CMA staff members Brad Wilson, P.E.; Jason Sutton, PLA; Mike Bell, P.E.; and Ben Lehr, P.E., LEED AP participated in the 5^th Annual Northeast Florida Construction Career Days Clay Shoot on January 25th at Jacksonville Clay Target Sports. CMA served as a silver sponsor for the event.

CMA Principal Engineer Jennifer Smith, P.E. and Director of Energy Freeman Bass, P.E. attended the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University/Florida State University College of Engineering Career Fair on January 23 in Tallahassee. https://eng.famu.fsu.edu/

CMA attended the FES/ACEC Professional Engineer Legislative Days throughout Florida.  The events were held January 10 and attendees met most of the legislators and/or staff that represent Florida. Our CMA representatives were: Ben Lehr, P.E. (Tampa), Freeman Bass, P.E. (Jacksonville), Brent Whitfield, P.E., ENV SP and David Cowan, P.E., ENV SP (Palm Beach), Shahin Hekmat, P.E., F.FES, FACEC and Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE (Miami Dade) and Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, FACEC (Broward).

CMA is proud to recap our participation in community service events from 2023 and we look forward to how we can help our communities more in 2024! Our projects from 2023 include:

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – staff prepared care packages at Provident Park in Fort Lauderdale.
• Give Kids the World – staff joined the local FES chapter at GKTW serving dinner to the children and their families.
• Shared Meal Event hosted by HOPE South Florida – staff prepared and served approximately 150 hot meals to homeless individuals at Vision of Hope Family Worship Center in Fort Lauderdale.
• Waterway Adventures Kayak Intracoastal Cleanup – staff collected six bags of trash in Hollywood.
• Food Drive for Feeding South Florida (Boynton Beach)- staff helped by cutting and prepping onions, red peppers and celery for meals to be distributed in the South Florida area.
• Sleep in Heavenly Peace (FES Palm Beach Branch)– staff were responsible for building, assembling, and delivering top-notch bunk beds to children and families in need.
• Broward Education Foundation (BEF) School Drive – staff raised $500 to go toward supplying bags of supplies to the Adopt-a-School program in Broward County to support BEF’s mission for the 2023 new school year.
• International Coastal Cleanup – staff collected a total of 70 pounds of trash in Miami and Hollywood beaches.
• Broward Education Foundation School Drive – staff passed out free backpacks with school supplies to children attending Castle Hill Elementary School. These backpacks were purchased with the $500 raised by CMA in July.
• Habitat for Humanity of Broward, Fort Lauderdale – staff assisted with painting the interior of a single-family home.
• Food Drive – Fort Lauderdale staff donated over 100 items to Ruth Ministry.
• November Coastal Cleanup – staff participated in a coastal cleanup at the John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.
• Feeding Florida Holiday Drive – staff donated over $500 to Feeding Florida.
• Adopt-a-Family of the Palm Beaches – staff collected gifts for the holiday season and donated to selected families in need.

CMA’s Dames Point Bridge Electrical and Lighting project for the Florida Department of Transportation – District 2 was named an Honor Winner in the Energy Category by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Florida. ACEC Florida will present award winners with their Engineering Excellence Awards during the February 23, 2024 ACEC Florida Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet in Orlando. CMA was the lead consultant and Engineer of Record for the design of the project.

CMA staff Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE, Shahin Hekmat, P.E., F.FES, FACEC, Patrick Kaimrajh, P.E., Gregory Mendez, P.E., Yulet Miguel, P.E. and Laura Vogel, Ph.D., P.E., ENV SP attended the Joint Engineering Holiday Dinner on December 5 at the Doral Cultural Arts Center. The event was hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers Miami Branch; the Florida Engineering Society Miami Branch; the Cuban American Association of Civil Engineers; and Florida Water Environment Association. The event also featured a toy drive which benefited Toys for Tots.

CMA is providing landscape design and permitting services for the Blue Road Park improvements project in Coral Gables, which will include new landscape and hardscape elements, playground, walking paths, a shoreline viewing platform, and a kayak launch. This video was prepared by the City of Coral Gables to document a benthic resources survey we recently performed at Blue Road Park. The City interviewed CMA’s Senior Environmental Scientist, Brian Voelker, M.S,, SWPS, C.A., CLI and asked him to describe the process and our findings to create an educational video for their residents. [Video created and produced by the City of Coral Gables]

Link to YouTube video: https://youtu.be/K4R0oogzrsY