parametrix inspired people blog

International Students Visit Parametrix

5-17-2022

By Asa Reyes-Chavez, EIT

A group of students and staff with the University of Washington Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS) visited Parametrix’s Seattle office on Friday, May 6. The group included international students from China and India majoring in Communications, Civil Engineering, and Computer Science.

FIUTS is a nonprofit organization that was founded at the University of Washington in 1948. The organization focuses on promoting international understanding and community with a vision of a global community tied to the Pacific Northwest in which people are connected through friendship, mutual respect, and a commitment to international understanding. Learn more about FIUTS here.

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Seattle DEI
 

Landscape Architecture Month: Bringing Ideas to Reality

4-26-2022

By Palmer Sandeno

Palmer is currently a Junior in the Landscape Architecture program at Washington State University. He has been interning with the Puget Sound Community Building and Landscape Architecture group at Parametrix for the last year.

3D modeling and photo-realistic visualizations can take a project from concept to reality. Showing stakeholders what a project will look like can help in the decision-making process and generate community support.

As part of my internship at Parametrix, I have helped several clients create renderings by taking a CAD base into a 3D modeling software such as Rhino or Sketchup. Which program we use depends on site-specific needs such as structure design or large open spaces. From there, I use a rendering software, such as Lumion, to apply texture, vegetation, and entourage to the site to breathe some life into it. We can use existing site imagery as a backgr... (more)

 

Get Outside this Earth Day by Visiting these Trails

4-21-2022

Volunteers plant trees and shrubs at East Lake Sammamish Trail on Earth Day in 2015.

Trails and non-motorized paths weave our communities together, improve livability, and promote healthy lifestyles. Parametrix employee-owners are passionate about designing safe spaces for people that offer a seamless connection to places where they live, work, and play. This Earth Day, get outdoors and celebrate by enjoying one of these trails!

East Lake Sammamish Trail North Sammamish Segment 

Sammamish and Redmond, WA

People riding bikes along a paved trail

The East Lake Sammamish Trail is an 11-mile urban trail connecting downt... (more)

 

Unique Habitats of Lake Chelan: Parametrix Employee-Owner Josh Wozniak Volunteers with Rare Care Program

4-19-2022

Josh Wozniak, an Environmental Scientist at Parametrix, was recently featured in Douglasia, Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society. He discussed the rare plants occupying an equally rare geological niche of Lake Chelan. Click here to read the full article (pages 10-12).

Josh volunteers with the University of Washington’s Rare Care Program. The program “builds partnerships with federal, state and local agencies to provide critical information needed in the conservation and recovery of our state’s native rare species. Citizen scientists and students participate in rare plant monitoring, ex situ conservation, reintroduction and education.” Josh got involved in 2018 after hearing about the... (more)

 

World Landscape Architecture Month: Honoring Landscape Architects Who Inspire Us

4-13-2022

By Jason Ceralde, PLA

Each year, April is declared as World Landscape Architecture Month with many states, including Washington, making official proclamations. The landscape architects of Parametrix would like to thank everyone who is taking the time to observe and honor the history and the role of our profession. No matter if we are engineers, architects, landscape architects, planners, builders, construction managers, designers, drafters, scientists, etc.; we are part of an ongoing legacy of shaping the world’s environment. Each of us plays a role in this collaborative process to bring human experience in touch with natural ecosystems for the public health and safety of our communities.

In honor of Landscape Architecture Month, we are paying homage to landscape architects of history who have influenced us i... (more)

 

New Culvert Improves Street for Fish and Community Members in Beaverton, OR

3-30-2022

By Irina Lapina, PWS

Southwest Butner Road is now better for fish and the community alike, thanks to a new culvert.

Washington County Department of Land Use and Transportation completed improvements on a section of the Southwest Butner Road crossing at Johnson Creek in Beaverton, Oregon. The failing culvert was replaced with a new fish-passable concrete box culvert and Southwest Butner Road now features a wider roadway with bike lanes, sidewalks on each side, and a pedestrian crossing.

A crosswalk with signage on a residential street

Parametrix provided design, a natural resources assessment, waters delineation report, fish passage plan, environmental permitting, construction support, and post construction compliance services for the project.

Today, residents enjoy safe walks to the Commonw... (more)

 

Surveyors Week 2022: Kael Martin

3-25-2022

Kael joined Parametrix as part of the addition of Pacific Geomatic Services in 2021. He is based out of our Mukilteo, WA office and has 7 years of industry experience.

What inspired you to become a surveyor?

My inspiration to become a surveyor stemmed from my love of the outdoors and the natural world. I am passionate about water resources and hydrology, specifically catered towards habitat restoration including salmon habitat improvements, dam removals, and dechannelization efforts of floodplain management. Hydrographic surveying allowed me to contribute to those causes while spending more time physically in and around rivers, lakes, and the ocean. I was enchanted by the avenues for exploration and the opportunities to travel to unique places for work. I greatly enjoy logistics and problem solving, which mapping and surveying provide on a daily basis. I spend a great amount of my spare time whitewater... (more)

 

Surveyors Week 2022: Camden Beeghly

3-24-2022

Camden recently joined Parametrix as a surveyor based out of Parametrix’s Portland, OR office. He has 8 years of industry experience.

What inspired you to become a surveyor?

I’ve had a love for maps ever since I was a little kid. Before the days of Garmin and smartphones most folks had road maps/atlases stashed away in their cars somewhere. I used to sit in the backseat on family trips and stare at those maps for hours. I sort of fell into the survey profession following an educational background in GIS and a restlessness unsuitable for an entirely office-based job. My desire was always to travel for work and after college I landed a gig as a survey technician for a large remote sensing company which sent me to project sites all over the country. The fieldwork has had me hooked ever since.

What is your favorite part about being a surveyor?

My fa... (more)

 

Surveyors Week 2022: Kristy Allinson

3-23-2022

Kristy is a Senior Surveyor leading our survey team in Bremerton, WA. She has 24 years of experience and has been with Parametrix for over 4 years.

What inspired you to become a surveyor?

It was more that I fell into this profession at first. I started out as a grade checker at 18 years old and slowly worked my way into running the instrument. The ability to grow in this profession at all stages is very engaging and it’s that continual learning that has kept me in the profession.

Kristy wearing a beanie and holding a survey instrument

 

What is your favorite part about being a surveyor?

My favorite part about being a surveyor is the different places I have been able to explore. My kids always roll their eyes as we cross the T... (more)

 

Surveyors Week 2022: Lonnie McKnight

3-22-2022

Lonnie is a surveyor based out of Parametrix’s Albuquerque, NM office. He began his career in 2014 and has been with Parametrix for over a year.

What inspired you to become a surveyor? 

I started my career in the Engineering field as a Subsurface Utility Engineering tech but was always intrigued by the company’s surveying group.  I remember watching the surveyors roll into the shop after long days in the field, tired but always in good spirits, and I admired their strong work ethic and overall care for their craft, not to mention I thought the GPS equipment looked cool. I was fortunate to be recruited into their ranks and enjoyed it enough to decide on Surveying as my career. 

What is your favorite part about being a surveyor? 

I grew up in the mountains outside Albuquerque, NM, where hiking, camping, and generally roughing it is... (more)