October 14, 2016 - As part of our commitment to the community Karins has been participating in DelDOT's Adopt-A-Highway for over 5 years. Friday 10/14 was a beautiful day to go out and remove trash from Papermill Road. Many thanks to Marni Sklodowski, John Mascari, and Dave Bradley for participating and Roger Stanley for organizing the event once again!

Dottie Bellissimo is the new receptionist at Momenee, a Karins Company’s, Bryn Mawr office.  Dottie has over 25 years of experience as a receptionist and accountant at engineering consulting firms.  

August 2016 - In July, Karins decided to retire a truck used in the field for survey and construction review services.  Still in good working order we first looked into selling it outright. 

Earlier in the year, however, Karins’ staff had voted to support the Food Bank of Delaware as its “2016 Charity of the Year.”  This gave us pause for thought as we decided what to do.  Not knowing if there would be a need for this “gently used” truck, we reached out to the Food Bank to see if there was interest in Karins donating it to them. 

The timing was perfect.  The Food Bank is in the middle of relocating to new office space so they jumped at the opportunity to add the truck to their fleet.  The truck will be used to help them move and then later for food deliveries and other operational transportation needs. 

On August 1, Karins transferred the truck to the Food Bank of Delaware.  They are already putting it to use!

September 22, 2016 - Karins and Associates is pleased to announce it has received Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certifications from the State of Delaware and City of Philadelphia, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification from the Delaware Department of Transportation.  The MBE and DBE certifications allow Karins to compete on State of Delaware, City of Philadelphia and federally funded contracts that have small or disadvantaged business requirements or set asides.  These certifications cover all of Karins’ service offerings including engineering, planning, surveying, and 3D high density laser scanning.   

“Clients consider many factors when choosing an engineering consulting firm including the quality of work performed, expertise of the consultants, and client service,” said Dev Sitaram, president.  “We fully expect that clients will continue to choose Karins for the quality of our work and our exemplary client service and not merely for our status as a certified MBE or DBE.  We are pleased to receive these certifications and take very seriously our responsibility to serve those organizations who participate in the MBE and DBE programs.”

July 8, 2016 -  Karins and Associates is excited to announce that we have been awarded a Zweig Group Fast Growth Award. This award means that we have outpaced the industry significantly with growth in excess of 20% from 2012 to 2015. This is the first year we have submitted on this award and are thrilled to have received recognition.

May 26, 2016 - The Town of Whitehall hosted 12 students from St. Georges High School’s Technical Drafting and Design Program for a day of community service and career information.  The students and their teacher walked from St. Georges to Whitehall, picking up trash along the way, and received a tour of the Whitehall models and welcome center.  At the conclusion of the tour, local professionals presented information about engineering, computer aided design (CAD), and construction to the students.

Jim Curran, a project manager with Karins, was one of the presenters at the Whitehall “Day of Community Service and Career Information.”  Jim is currently designing Whitehall’s Hamlet 4 (324 single family residential units), and was asked to share with the students what goes into preparing engineered plans for large subdivisions like Whitehall.  Jim discussed with the students how New Castle County’s code, natural and environmental features, and topography all play a role in how a site is designed and how we work together with both the client and the reviewing agencies to design a layout that is code compliant and amenable to the client and agency.  He also spoke about how many agencies (DelDOT, DNREC, Special Services, Fire Marshal, etc.) have to review the plans before the plans can be recorded and construction can begin.

Jim was joined by Darrick Hayman & James Thompson from DLHCAD, LLC, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) firm headquartered in Wilmington.  Darrick and James, both Hodgson Vocational Technical High School graduates, spoke about using BIM models for building construction and provided a great example of the transition from vo-tech to successful careers in building design services.

The Town of Whitehall, located on 1,555 acres of undulating landscape overlooking the C&D Canal in New Castle County, Delaware, delivers a modern take on a traditional town. Rich in walking trails, wetlands, and canal vistas, the walkable streets mix residences with compatible uses to make for active lifestyles. Clustering development preserves significant natural amenities and rural character.  The Town’s founders include The Welfare Foundation, EDIS Company, and Eastern States Group.  For more information, please visithttp://whitehallde.com.

back to our staff in appreciation of their hard work,” says Dev Sitaram, president of Karins.  “It also gives them an opportunity to socialize in a non-work environment.  This was a particularly wonderful event in that it was the first time some of the folks from our Newark, DE, and Bryn Mawr, PA, offices have met.  The Philadelphia Zoo was a great location for both offices and it offered activities for all generations.”

CANgineering - WE WON for “Best Use of Most Needed Items!”

April, 2016 - Earlier in the year, Karins’ staff voted to support the Food Bank of Delaware as our 2016 charity of the year…a way to further involve our company and staff in the communities in which we work and live.  

The Food Bank’s CANgineering competition was right up our alley.  It’s “a creative way to collect much-needed food and create a spirited competition in Delaware’s organizations.  Participants hold food drives and compete to create sculptures out of the food items collected.”

Using Karin’s tagline “Better Communities Through Better Engineering” as a starting point, our team sought to incorporate this philosophy with the mission of the Food Bank.  “Our goal was to try and link community building aspects of civil engineering design with the community nurturing goals of charity,” says Edwin Gray, one of Karins’ CANgineering team leaders.  “This led us to a design which shows a road morphing into a fork before a newly constructed home, representing the charity work of the Food Bank as an integral part of the infrastructure of the community.  ‘Feeding our neighbors in need creates better communities’ became the basis for our sculpture.” 

Karins’ staff donated approximately 400 cans of food to the sculpture/cause.  The remaining amount needed for the sculpture was provided by Karins through a partnership with Zingo’s Supermarket.  “Our team initially wanted to support the Food Bank and then committed to the CANgineering competition,” says Dev Sitaram, president of Karins. “I’m very proud of our staff for supporting this project through donations, creativity, and collaboration.  And then, in our first year in the competition, to win in one of the categories, this project was a winner all around!”

Click here to see a time lapse video of the build

“Karins’ operations and services are so closely aligned with our business that it’s a natural fit,” says Kevin Momenee, PE, PLS.  “We will continue to provide engineering, planning and surveying services and will add 3D Laser Scanning, traffic engineering, and hydrographic surveying to our offerings.  We will be building market share by expanding our customer base but we will continue to provide the high level of responsive service to which our clients are accustomed. We’re all very excited about becoming a part of a larger organization and offering capabilities of Karins and Associates to our clients.”  

For more information, please visit momenee.com

March 19 - It was a raw blustery day…mid 40s with winds that made the temperatures feel at least 10 degrees colder.  The wind kicked up sand making beach dune planting a challenge…but that didn’t stop the many volunteers, a small army participating in DNREC’s (Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control) Annual Beach Grass Planting to create  “a natural barrier to the destructive forces of wind and waves.” 

Karins and Associates’ has participated in this event for the last 5 years as a way to give back to the community and the environment.  Undeterred by the raw conditions, staff participants included organizer Ken Reynolds, John Johnson, Bob Donaldson, Chris Biggers and Pam Nelson. 

We would like to extend our appreciation towards the family and friends who also participated and those who honorably dedicate their time, year after year, to protect the beaches and properties along the Delaware shore line.

January 27, 2014 - Karins and Associates has acquired the assets and book of business of Fair Hill Engineering, LLC, an engineering services firm in Elkton, Maryland.

Founded in 1973, Karins and Associates is a full service consulting firm that provides civil engineering, planning and surveying services in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.  With a certified staff of professional engineers, professional land surveyors, survey crews and designers, Karins and Associates offer a full service engineering solution to any project.

According to Dev Sitaram, PE, President, Karins and Associates, “This acquisition allows us to reinforce our offerings in the State of Maryland and support our client needs.  We are excited to add the experience and expertise of John M. Mascari, P.E, and Fair Hill Engineering, LLC to our team.”

Fair Hill Engineering, LLC, was established in 2005.  As licensed engineers, they provided services to clients in Cecil County and Harford County within the State of Maryland, as well as New Castle County, Delaware and surrounding areas.  They specialized in residential and commercial land development, major and minor subdivision, Environmental Site Design (ESD), stormwater management, erosion and sediment control and infrastructure improvement projects.  They also provided civil engineering professional services to property owners who needed Final Lot Grading Plans and Entrance Plans to obtain permits for their site improvement project.

“Our team is very excited to be joining forces with the experience and talent at Karins and Associates”, said John M. Mascari, P.E., President, Fair Hill Engineering, LLC, “We can now offer the wisdom of experience and diversity of services to our clients in house and both companies will expand their presence in the State of Maryland.”