NEWSLETTER: July 2020

iENGINEERING has redesigned the MnROAD data portal, which has been hosted on the FHWA LTPP InfoPave website. MnROAD is an accelerated pavement testing facility made up of various research materials and pavements owned and operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The MnROAD data portal provides access to part of the pavement monitoring and testing data collected under the MnROAD program. This data includes pavement structure, field monitoring data such as ride quality, deflection measurements (falling-weight deflectometer), surface noise, macrotexture, and visual distress surveys, materials testing data such as aggregate testing, hot mix asphalt tests, binder tests, Portland cement concrete tests, climatic data from weather stations and NASA’s MERRA database, and traffic data. The redesigned data portal provides a seamless user experience to select sections, check data availability, view data through various visualization features, review maps and library documents, and download required data.

iENGINEERING has the utmost responsibility of ensuring that the health and safety of our employees and partners are not compromised. We have continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and are adapting our internal policies to respond to this rapidly-evolving situation. Our goal is to reduce the risk that anyone at iENGINEERING might contract or inadvertently spread the virus. It is important that we take these proactive steps to protect ourselves and others, and eventually minimize the spread of COVID-19.

We have established a work-from-home policy for the employees where all employees are instructed to work from their residences. iENGINEERING has instructed all employees to immediately notify the concerned department if they are displaying any flu-like symptoms or experiencing the onset of potential sickness, and take necessary sick leaves until they fully recover. To cater for this, we always have technical resources on the bench who can be assigned the tasks and duties of the employees on sick leave.

iENGINEERING also recognizes the fact that constantly working from home can be a challenging switch for some people. Hence we have provided resource guides and documented procedural documents to help our employees continue to be productive from their homes. Regular online meetups are arranged between teams to make sure that all teams are well-connected with one another, and so that people can share if they are facing any difficulties related to work. Our project management office (PMO) and human resource (HR) teams are also tracking employee’s productivity and the overall tasks at iENGINEERING, in an effort to ensure equal and logical distribution of workload among all employees. In a nutshell, the iENGINEERING team is giving its best to make sure that the COVID-19 situation will have no negative impact on any of our services for our customers.

iENGINEERING is pleased to announce that the iWrapper solution has been delivered to Home Ventilating Institute (HVI). HVI will use iWrapper to securely publish and distribute their digital content and publications in PDF file format to their customers. iWrapper is a DRM software solution (Digital Rights Management), offered by iENGINEERING, that allows secure management and distribution of PDF documents. This solution enables the publishers to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information by right-protecting their critical files against unauthorized access. The latest version of iWrapper is developed using an HTML-5-based rendering engine technology that renders all kinds of publications safely in the web browsers of the website visitors. iWrapper is ideal for the distribution of secure digital publications within and outside enterprise networks as it protects documents against unauthorized access.

ASHRAE Handbook Online is a web-platform allowing ASHRAE members and non-members with a valid subscriptions to get access to the latest volumes of ASHRAE Handbook Online. The ASHRAE Handbook is published in a series of four volumes which are “HVAC Systems and Equipment”, “HVAC Applications”, “Refrigeration”, and “Fundamentals”. One of the four volumes is revised each year, ensuring that no volume is older than four years. Each volume is available in IP (Inch-Pound) or SI (System International) units of measurement. The latest volume “HVAC Systems and Equipment” publication has been released in June this year. This volume discusses various systems and equipment (components or assemblies) that comprise modern HVAC systems and describes their features and differences. This information helps system designers and operators in selecting and using the most suitable equipment for their specific requirements

Mr. Muhammad Azim has played a vital role in multiple projects at iENGINEERING through his 14 years of experience related to software and database development. He has extensive hands-on experience of working with multiple programming languages and a specialist command on database design and development. As the Development Manager, he is responsible for leading the design and development of applications architecture using Microsoft .NET, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle. He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design.

Mr. Azim had a lead role in designing and developing the backend data warehouses for the LTPP InfoPave, LTBP InfoBridge, and FHWA InfoMaterials websites developed for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). He developed workflows for efficient data packaging of huge data-sets for InfoPave, developed metadata for better understanding of the end-users, and created generic data classification models for LTPP and LTBP data based on the input from Subject Matter Experts. Mr. Azim conducted the Extract Transform Load (ETL) processing of huge raw data files from NASA’s MERRA database, developed aggregate (daily/monthly/annual) data, and integrated it into the InfoPave and InfoBridge websites. He is also experienced in pertinent documentation of data models and metadata. He is currently leading the teams responsible for the upgrades, enhancements, and data updates on the InfoPave and InfoBridge web portals.