Richard George Weingardt is the founder of Richard Weingardt Consultants, Inc., a Denver, Colorado-based consulting engineering firm specializing in structural engineering. Weingardt is past president of the American Consulting Engineers Council, headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Richard G. Weingardt Structural Engineer, PE, FACEC, Hon. M. ASCE 9725 East Hampden Avenue, Suite 200 Denver, Colorado 80231 USA Phone: (720) 248-3003 Fax: (303) 671-7379 E-mail: rweingardt@aol.com
Education and Honors
Weingardt is a registered professional engineer in 29 states and has both a Masters and Bachelors in civil-structural engineering from the University of Colorado. He is the recipient of numerous community and professional awards and accolades, including the University of Colorado's Norlin Medal (its highest alumni award), ASCE's Edmund Freidman Award, and AAES's National Journalism Award, 2003.
Author and Speaker
Richard lectures internationally and is the author of seven books and more than 500 published papers on engineering, leadership and creativity. His two latest books Forks In The Road and RAUT delve into the image and leadership aspects of professional engineers.
Industry Activist
An outspoken activist challenging engineers to step forward to be heard, Weingardt has long served in leadership roles in both engineering and community groups. He coined the adage, "the world is run by those who show up." As the national president of the American Consulting Engineers Council, he instigated an in-depth, industry-wide study resulting in the publication of ACEC's I-Book: Seeing Into the Future, an in-depth analysis of engineers as societal leaders. (Weingardt was editor-in-chief and authored several chapters in the book.)
Weingardt was the US representative at UNIDO's First Consultation Conference on Consulting Engineering , July 4-7, 1995, Vienna. (UNIDO = United Nations Industrial Development Organization.)
Representative speeches and presentations include world conferences of FIDIC (the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) in Cape Town, South Africa, Istanbul, Turkey, Sidney, and Australia, as well as at CNEC (Camara Nacional de Empresas de Consultoria) conferences in Guadalajara and Mexico City. His lectures at national industry conventions include those for AIA, ASCE, PSMA and ACEC. He has lectured on engineering design and practice at universities in Peking (China), Taipei (Taiwan), and Brussels (Belgium); as well as at the universities of Denver, Texas, Nebraska and Colorado.
Weingardt has chaired engineering advisory boards for several universities and was a member of Colorado's Long-range Planning Subcommittee and the state's Historic Preservation Review Board for six years. He is currently a member of the Colorado State Electrical Board.
Artist
In addition to engineering, writing and lecturing, Weingardt's talents include painting. His preferred medium is oil painting and his favorite subject is the American Indians and the Western landscape.
Writings
The following is a partial listing of the published writings including Books, and Articles & Papers by Richard George Weingardt. (Copies of them may be obtained by writing the author at any of the above addresses.) Weingardt authors a monthly column in Structural Engineer magazine, and a quarterly column in ASCE's Journal of Leadership and Management in Engineering.
Paintings A brief history and partial catalogue of original Oil Paintings by Richard George Weingardt.
Typical RWC Project: Marriott Hotel Pusan, South Korea
Forks In the Road by Richard Weingardt
Summit Springs Battle Site Indian Village on the High Plains Oil Painting by Richard Weingardt
Richard Weingardt Receiving ASCE Award, October 21, 2000 Seattle, Washington
Typical RWC Project: Concourse B Denver International Airport Denver, Colorado
Richard Weingardt Delivering Keynote Address Cape Town, South Africa
Comments on the Engineering Profession
"Excitement reigned whenever engineers would come to my dad's construction site. They would check on the project's progress and answer questions concerning whatever building or bridge my dad, a prominent general contractor, was constructing at the time. He had a lot of respect for engineers and, because I greatly admired my father, engineers became my heroes at an early age."
"Later, a couple of summers before I entered high school, my family went on a vacation in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. We stopped along the way to see the famous Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge, majestically spanning a half mile above sheer rock cliffs of the Arkansas River Canyon. When my father told me structural engineers were responsible for its design, I knew what my life's career would be -- I was hooked. Luckily, math and science were both strong subjects for me in school."
"I have never regretted that choice. Becoming a structural engineer has allowed me to fulfill a lifelong dream. I now design great structures, see them built and point to them with the sense of pride that comes with being responsible for creating something significant and useful. That, in essence, is what engineering is all about -- building, improving and contributing to making everyone's standard of life better."
"When looking at important man-made improvements on this planet, it is quickly apparent they would not be possible without the input of engineers. Throughout history, this has been the case. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for example, are all structural engineering feats. Indeed, the history of engineering is the history of civilization. As engineering skills and techniques advance, so does the progress of society."
"Increasingly, the world will become more technologically complex. Major public decisions will need meaningful input from those with a solid knowledge of engineering and technology. Because of this, large numbers of engineering leaders will be needed, not just in the engineering industry, but in the public arena and communities as well. The demands of tomorrow's engineers requires they develop both their technical and people skills to the highest level possible."
"In a perfect world, it would be wonderful if engineers could be community leaders and top engineers at the same time. This is not always the case. An engineer's years in college are so short it is impossible to fulfill all the technical course work needed and still adequately study art, history, literature and the humanities -- those subjects that broaden a person's education."
"If engineers truly want to impact the world around them and help set public direction, they must committee to lifelong learning. Taking courses and attending seminars to stay on the leading-edge of the field, while at the same time, developing their interpersonal and communications skills."
"Because we live in a global marketplace,developed and developing countries both dependent on their engineering base--the demand for engineers and engineering leaders will continue to remain high, now and into the future." "Confucius said, 'Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.' Engineering was my choice, and Confucius was right."
Richard Weingardt at DIA RWC was structural engineer on all threeaireside terminals- Concourses A, B, and C.
Quick Links to:
--Rich Weingardt
"Engineers
mostly make
things run and
rarely run things.
That's a shame
because many
have the right
stuff to be
leaders."
--Rich Weingardt
"Leave an impacting legacy for those who will follow after you." --Rich Weingardt
"It's only a mistake if you don't learn from it." --Rich Weingardt
Weingardt's White Paper "Step Forward and Be Heard" for MIT's CEE New Millennium Colloquium may be reviewed at the following website:
Richard Weingardt, March 8, 2001 Co-Chair Advisory Council for 2001 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card at the National Press Club Washington, DC
