Fdh Tech Talks

FDH Infrastructure Services got its start in the same way so many other solutions-based companies do -- solving across a critical problem. On this new episode of FDH Tech Talks, host Tyler Kern sat down with company co-founder Darrin Holt, a civil engineer from North Carolina State University who developed the proprietary nondestructive test (NDT) method the company is known for, and vice president of foundations infrastructure and nondestructive testing, Amir Rakha, a computer science engineer from Iowa State University, who is commercializing the company’s proprietary methods for new markets.The two pivotal figures shared FDH's university research roots and discussed in depth how it was launched as a partner to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to identify a means for determining the length of timber bridge piles."Determining how deep a timber piling is in the ground without digging it up is not a very easy thing," Darrin said. "It'd never been done before with a bridge still on top of the pi

    What is the state of women in STEM today? Are enough women being mentored and encouraged to pursue STEM careers during their secondary and college years? The consensus is, there is a need for women and young people to pursue STEM jobs. With plenty of opportunities out there, women must play a crucial role in filling STEM jobs. At FDH Infrastructure Services, that's a top priority. Vanessa Hatcher, Civil Engineer, Klarissa Ramos, Project Engineer 1, and Nicolette Egan, Project Engineer II, join today’s FDH Tech Talks podcast to share their engineering stories, challenges entering the industry, and what individuals and companies can do to get more women into STEM jobs. "STEM is one of the base educational aspects that we have. It's one of the best ways of learning how to think," Hatcher said. Hatcher discovered civil engineering through her love of water parks. Egan became interested in STEM during high school, and later, she pursued engineering in college. Ramos’ love of engineering cam

The sky's the limit for this tower technician position with FDH Infrastructure Services. On this new episode of the FDH JobCast, we sit down with Jerry Folk, Director of Broadcast Operations and Don Doty, Business Development Manager, to discuss the open role of Tower Technician II, III, and Tower Crew Lead, all essential pieces to the larger tower operation and inspection puzzle. These positions will help maintain and construct broadcast towers, operate and interpret various technical instruments and documents, and most importantly, have a penchant for safety and instinct as they climb heights up to 2,000 feet. While most people will never experience what it's like to scale a sky-high communications tower, professionals in this industry know the unique role this position fills. "Being up in the air... it's exhilarating," Folk said. "Once you've been aloft, just there with a light wind and a beautiful blue sky day, there's nothing better. It's very comfortable, almost calming, once you get used to where you'r

As cities across the country slowly adopt 5G wireless and broadband technology, and as the FCC's broadcast repack continues on, tower inspections are getting more attention. These inspections are a necessary step to ensure that these critical broadcast assets are safe, durable, and able to deliver the performance necessary for a frictionless transition; but are tower operators properly educated on what to look for?On this episode of FDH Tech Talks, FDH Infrastructure Services’ Don Doty, director of broadcast services for the Stainless division, and Gregg Fehrman, vice president of field operations, return to share their insights on an essential but little-discussed component of the 5G rollout.Fehrman informed listeners that a general inspection is a high-level examination of a tower that identifies obvious damage or issues, while a condition assessment is a more thorough, in-depth review of the structure and all its components. Conducting these inspections takes special skills, or as Fehrman put it, “Experien

Many of the roads and bridges Americans use every day were built just after World War II. While technical marvels at the time of their construction, our nation's critical infrastructure assets are pushing 60, or even 70 years old, and nearing the end of their service life. On this episode of FDH Tech Talks, we sat down with Dr. Armita Mohammadian, a research engineer at FDH Infrastructure Services [https://www.fdh-is.com/] who shared some news that may come as a shocker. Every four years, a government agency grades America's critical infrastructure systems, and in the latest 2017 report, the infrastructure we rely on daily received a dismal D+. It's no surprise why the infrastructure scored so low; replacing bridges, tunnels, roads, and power turbines is a costly proposition that is challenging to garner financial support. But Dr. Mohammadian laid out that her company provides a lower cost alternative; FDH performs non-destructive testing (NDT) and applies proprietary methods to assess the conditions of

America is just under 250 years old — relatively young as far as countries go. But the infrastructure and buildings that make up our civic networks are reaching old age. This spells danger and a shrinking lifespan for older structures we still use every day. Luckily, there is a way to test foundations without harming the infrastructure using electromagnetic and dispersive wave propagation (DWP). This form of testing is referred to as nondestructive testing of critical infrastructure (NDT). On today's FDH Tech Talks, we continue our conversation on NDT practices with Rakesh A. Khan, PE, CWI, director of nondestructive testing services for FDH. Rakesh’s experience as a geotechnical engineer shines as he explains the application and value of NDT. Buildings aren’t the only structures in American communities nearing the end of their lifespan. Power grids, dams, and bridges also need to be reinforced and evaluated for aging. This monitoring can all be done with NDT. Catching these instabilities before they become

Several years ago, a student and some professors at NC State were discussing current methods of bridge testing, and they realized that, scientifically, there was a much better way to see if piles were damaged. FDH Infrastructure Services was born, and from the beginning, prided itself on finding creative and top of the line solutions for nondestructive testing of critical infrastructure. On this episode of FDH Tech Talks, we're joined by Laura Guy, director of infrastructure and nondestructive testing at FDH, who breaks down the company's proprietary form of dispersive wave propagation for NDT, and how their technology improves on the general industry standard. NDT can pick up anomalies in infrastructure foundation including voids, cracks, changes in density, or any other small abnormal detections. This is a much better alternative to destructive testing, which can tear up the slab or foundation to assess the situation (a costly and time-consuming burden). “It does negatively impact the foundation, and no

Cell phones have become more than just a valuable tool; they have become a way of life. But what happens when our national broadband use becomes more than what our tower infrastructure can handle? Recently, the FCC put forward a repack to re-assign several broadcasters to different channels. This transition, which began in November 2018, is moving most down into the lower groups to free up channels 51-83 for the National Broadband Plan, which allows more 5G and broadband access for wireless carriers. On this episode of FDH Tech Talks, host Daniel Litwin, the Voice of B2B, interviews Don Doty, Business Development Manager, and Gregg Fehrman, Vice President of Field Operations, for the Stainless Division of FDH Infrastructure Services. Doty and Fehrman unpack everything related to this repack, including how the government allocated $1.7 billion to move these channels, the three-stage process that took place to reverse-auction each network’s “spectrum” of channels, and the fiscal impacts for these networks a