Engineering firms and engineering/architecture firms—those that earn more than 50% of their revenues from engineering—have their sights set on foreign shores. Many are jumping headfirst into international waters.
“Instead of overseeing projects from New York, our firm has established offices in Mumbai, Moscow, and other cities outside North America, aiming to overcome the challenge of navigating the local landscape or hiring practices, tax law, and business practices,” says Thomas Z. Scarangello, PE, CEO and Chairman of EA Giant Thornton Tomasetti.
Other firms are just dipping their toes into foreign waters, still looking for international business but choosing not to establish additional offices. Brad Harmsen, AIA, Chairman/CEO of BRPH, says that although his firm is actively working in locales across the globe, they’re partnering with domestic firms to do so, partly because of “the learning curve that comes when working with different currencies and legalities.”
SCROLL DOWN FOR GIANTS 300 ENGINEERING & ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE FIRM RANKINGS
Shanghai and Dubai are hot spots for E and EA Giants these days. Glumac, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, and Syska Hennessy Group have opened or expanded their offices in Shanghai. KJWW and Syska Hennessy opened new offices in Dubai. Thornton Tomasetti bucked the trend and opened offices in Beijing and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while Arup Americas opened new offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, just in time for soccer’s World Cup in 2014.
Establishing an office abroad is one thing; getting the business is something entirely different. Referring specifically to the Middle East, Paul VanDuyne, PE, president of KJWW, says, “It takes approximately two years to develop the appropriate relationships, name recognition, and reputation to be successful in obtaining projects in this region.”
Despite the difficulties, an increasingly large share of engineering Giants’ yearly revenue is coming from international projects. Magnusson Klemencic President Ron Klemencic, PE, SE, says that 20-30% of MKA’s gross revenue comes from international business, while KJWW anticipates that 10% of its 2013 revenue will come from international projects. Syska Hennessy Group’s goal is to beef up its international activity by 25% over the next five years.
KEY ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Beyond establishing an international presence, technology is also a crucial differentiator for E and EA Giants firms.
Syska Hennessy Group’s new Information and Communications Technology group is offering an expanded scope of services for organizations looking to upgrade their IT platforms with the latest technologies. “Our new offerings include tools and expertise to apply virtualization of existing client environments, data center relocation management, disaster recovery and IT security services, and network and Internet/intranet design and implementation,” said Co-CEO/Co-president Cyrus J. Izzo, PE.
Thornton Tomasetti launched a new Building Sustainability practice in January and now offers LEED consulting and administration, energy and daylight modeling, and sustainable business strategies. The firm also has an advanced computational modeling team; it leverages new technologies by developing custom digital tools that utilize generative and parametric modeling, which enables its engineers to collaborate more effectively with architects in the early phases of design.
HELPING CLIENTS FIND THE MONEY FOR PROJECTS
New financing solutions are also playing a part in E/EA Giants’ business strategies. With the U.S. construction market still in recovery, alternative financing methods are being sought out to help clients put together the dollars they need to complete projects.
At Syska Hennessy Group, public-private partnerships are on the radar. “We are observing an increase in P3 projects across geographies and market sectors,” said Syska Hennessy Group’s Izzo. “The first building being delivered as a true P3 is the Long Beach courthouse in California, which will top out this summer.”
Others are bringing on experts to find the money. Graef hired an economic development specialist, Ronald Van Straten, who has more than 25 years’ experience in helping mostly municipal clients seek grants, low-cost loans, and other funding streams for their capital projects, including tax increment financing.
HEAVY CONCENTRATION AT THE TOP 10 FIRMS
As is true of most of the categories in our Giants 300 rankings, there is a great deal of concentration at the highest level in the E and EA markets. The top 10 engineering firms generated 47% of total revenue for the category, while the top 10 engineering/architecture Giants generated a hefty 85% of the dollars in their group. +
ENGINEERING FIRMS
| Rank | Company | 2011 Total Revenue ($) |
| 1 | Fluor Corp. | 220,674,900 |
| 2 | Arup | 140,324,134 |
| 3 | WSP USA | 98,900,000 |
| 4 | Syska Hennessy Group | 98,744,701 |
| 5 | Affiliated Engineers | 92,815,000 |
| 6 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 89,000,000 |
| 7 | Henderson Engineers | 61,266,000 |
| 8 | AKF Group | 58,100,000 |
| 9 | TTG/TMAD Taylor & Gaines | 56,820,300 |
| 10 | Smith Seckman Reid | 53,497,000 |
| 11 | R.G. Vanderweil Engineers | 49,823,500 |
| 12 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 43,784,892 |
| 13 | Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers | 40,100,000 |
| 14 | Coffman Engineers | 37,200,000 |
| 15 | TLC Engineering for Architecture | 36,387,033 |
| 16 | Degenkolb Engineers | 35,398,917 |
| 17 | Sebesta Blomberg | 35,120,000 |
| 18 | ESD/Environmental Systems Design | 34,465,000 |
| 19 | Rolf Jensen & Associates | 34,300,000 |
| 20 | Walter P Moore | 34,231,775 |
| 21 | RMF Engineering | 34,005,000 |
| 22 | Glumac | 33,010,927 |
| 23 | Magnusson Klemencic Associates | 32,306,973 |
| 24 | RDK Engineers | 30,882,000 |
| 25 | Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch | 28,836,967 |
| 26 | Aon Fire Protection Engineering | 28,200,000 |
| 27 | Birdsall Services Group | 27,500,000 |
| 28 | Interface Engineering | 25,938,485 |
| 29 | M/E Engineering | 25,915,000 |
| 30 | ccrd partners | 24,100,000 |
| 31 | H.F. Lenz Co. | 22,799,000 |
| 32 | Heapy Engineering | 21,402,816 |
| 33 | Sparling | 20,589,847 |
| 34 | ThermalTech Engineering | 19,890,000 |
| 35 | KCI Technologies | 19,761,000 |
| 36 | Newcomb & Boyd | 18,454,021 |
| 37 | Henneman Engineering | 18,000,000 |
| 38 | Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Eng. | 17,650,492 |
| 39 | GHT Limited | 17,363,705 |
| 40 | Eaton Energy Solutions | 16,694,769 |
| 41 | Rutherford & Chekene | 16,538,000 |
| 42 | Dunham Associates | 15,500,000 |
| 43 | Joseph R. Loring & Associates | 15,000,000 |
| 44 | Wallace Engineering | 13,780,000 |
| 45 | James Posey Associates | 13,500,000 |
| 46 | KLH Engineers | 12,559,382 |
| 47 | Lilker Associates Consulting Engineers | 12,500,000 |
| 48 | Karpinski Engineering | 12,343,996 |
| 49 | P2S Engineering | 11,896,229 |
| 50 | RMH Group, The | 11,864,683 |
| 51 | Peter Basso Associates | 10,400,000 |
| 52 | Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering | 10,039,000 |
| 53 | French & Parrello Associates | 9,782,762 |
| 54 | Bala Consulting Engineers | 9,360,000 |
| 55 | Allen & Shariff | 8,610,036 |
| 56 | Wick Fisher White | 7,821,928 |
| 57 | Brinjac Engineering | 7,342,166 |
| 58 | CTLGroup | 6,030,000 |
| 59 | O’Dea, Lynch, Abbattista Consulting Engineers | 5,900,000 |
| 60 | FBA Engineering | 4,000,000 |
| 61 | Kamm Consulting | 3,681,775 |
| 62 | Apogee Consulting Group | 2,485,000 |
| 63 | G&W Engineering | 2,058,000 |
ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
| Rank | Company | 2011 Total Revenue ($) |
| 1 | Jacobs | 2,699,100,000 |
| 2 | AECOM Technology Corp. | 1,487,000,000 |
| 3 | M+W U.S. | 1,015,199,252 |
| 4 | Stantec | 463,300,000 |
| 5 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 311,300,000 |
| 6 | URS Corp. | 294,100,000 |
| 7 | exp | 205,000,000 |
| 8 | Science Applications International Corp. | 185,390,000 |
| 9 | Merrick & Co. | 111,000,000 |
| 10 | Day & Zimmermann | 109,909,604 |
| 11 | SSOE Group | 107,819,740 |
| 12 | STV | 104,876,000 |
| 13 | Thornton Tomasetti | 98,017,214 |
| 14 | Burns & McDonnell | 94,711,826 |
| 15 | Dewberry | 89,282,766 |
| 16 | Michael Baker Jr., Inc. | 80,730,000 |
| 17 | Middough | 75,750,000 |
| 18 | Clark Nexsen | 68,424,208 |
| 19 | Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates | 64,080,000 |
| 20 | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 59,170,000 |
| 21 | AKF Group | 58,100,000 |
| 22 | H&A Architects & Engineers | 39,064,020 |
| 23 | Walker Parking Consultants | 34,422,898 |
| 24 | BRPH | 31,500,000 |
| 25 | Bergmann Associates | 30,700,000 |
| 26 | Shive-Hattery | 28,192,943 |
| 27 | Atkins North America | 23,620,537 |
| 28 | Ross & Baruzzini | 20,377,769 |
| 29 | Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon | 20,100,000 |
| 30 | Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor | 18,300,000 |
| 31 | Guernsey | 18,293,701 |
| 32 | L.R. Kimball | 17,759,000 |
| 33 | GRAEF-USA | 16,770,180 |
| 34 | Zak Companies | 12,335,494 |
| 35 | CJL Engineering | 12,228,000 |
| 36 | Stanley Consultants | 10,892,000 |
| 37 | Spectrum Engineers | 8,828,890 |
| 38 | GRW | 6,290,216 |
| 39 | Davis, Bowen & Friedel | 4,680,714 |
| 40 | Vintage Archonics | 1,972,220 |
Related Stories
| Oct 4, 2013
Sydney to get world's tallest 'living' façade
The One Central Park Tower development consists of two, 380-foot-tall towers covered in a series of living walls and vertical gardens that will extend the full height of the buildings.
| Oct 4, 2013
Nifty video shows planned development of La Sagrada Familia basilica
After 144 years, construction on Gaudi's iconic Barcelona edifice is picking up speed, with a projected end date of 2026.
| Oct 4, 2013
Mack Urban, AECOM acquire six acres for development in LA's South Park district
Mack Urban and AECOM Capital, the investment fund of AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM), have acquired six acres of land in downtown Los Angeles’ South Park district located in the central business district (CBD).
| Oct 4, 2013
CRB opens Atlanta office
Georgia’s status as a burgeoning hub for the life sciences industry has fueled CRB’s decision to open an office in Atlanta to better serve its clients in the market. CRB is a leading provider of engineering, design and construction services for customers in the biotech, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.
| Sep 27, 2013
NYC releases first year-to-year energy performance data on commercial properties
A new report provides information on energy performance of New York City's largest buildings (mostly commercial, multi-family residential). It provides an analysis of 2011 data from city-required energy “benchmarking”—or the tracking and comparison of energy performance—in more than 24,000 buildings that are over 50,000 square feet.
| Sep 27, 2013
ASHRAE/IES publish first standard focused on commissioning process
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process.
| Sep 26, 2013
6 ways to maximize home-field advantage in sports venue design
Home-field advantage can play a significant role in game outcomes. Here are ways AEC firms can help create the conditions that draw big crowds, energize the home team to perform better, and disrupt visiting players.
| Sep 26, 2013
Literature review affirms benefits of daylighting, architectural glazing
The use of glass as a building material positively impacts learning, healing, productivity and well-being, according to a white paper published by Guardian Industries and the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The findings highlight the significant influence daylighting and outside views have on employees, workers, students, consumers and patients.
| Sep 26, 2013
Mobilizing your job site to achieve a paperless project: fact or fiction?
True mobility in the field has rapidly evolved from lock-box kiosks on each floor to laptops on rolling carts to tablets and iPads loaded with drawings sets stored in the cloud. And WiFi-ready job sites have gone from “nice to have” to “must have” status in just a little over a year.
| Sep 26, 2013
Leading in the face of change
As AEC firms navigate toward an uncertain future, the most effective leaders are those who eagerly adapt to change. Here are three attitudes that drive leaders who are of most value to their firms.
