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Communication: Using Social Engineering Techniques in Everyday Life – Security Boulevard

When I first started in the social engineering field, I had no idea how much it would impact my everyday life. Namely, my communication skills. What exactly is social engineering? How does it change my day to day? And how can you benefit from the same techniques Ive learned in your own life? Lets dive in together.

What is social engineering? We define it this way Any act that influences a person to take an action that may or may not be in their best interest. Like most things, it can be used for good or bad. Today we will discuss how to use social engineering techniques for good in your everyday life.

When used for good, social engineering can have profound effects on your communication skills and your relationships. How so? Many of the techniques we use in social engineering are used to build up common interests and trust, both of which are vital to building rapport and thriving relationships. So, what are some of these techniques?

Lets discuss three social engineering techniques that stand out to me:

A reliable human trait is that people like to be right. One technique you can use for helping someone to be more open to your requests is to suspend your own ego, so they do not view you as a threat to theirs. This could mean anything from not correcting someone to not proceeding to share your own greater knowledge. This is arguably one of the hardest techniques to put into practice. We naturally like being right and sharing our knowledge with others. And ego suspension doesnt mean always being wrong or not sharing your knowledge, it just means greater awareness of when it is appropriate to do so.

Have you ever been in a discussion where someone keeps correcting you, even if youre just sharing an opinion? How did it make you feel? Likely, you felt annoyed and maybe even slightly defeated. We surely dont want to make others feel that way. I have noticed that when I implement ego suspension, even when difficult, my interactions with people go more smoothly.

Quid Pro Quo is Latin for something for something. It means you give a little to get something back. Think of throwing a ball back in forth. Each time it exchanges hands, a little information is given. Another way to picture it is by imagining the feeling of buyers remorse.

I recently attempted to save money on my hair appointment by cancelling it and ordering a color depositing conditioner. I ended up using it incorrectly and dyeing my hair the completely wrong color! Now I not only have to go back to my stylist but am stuck with this conditioner that I will never use again. Buyers remorse! You can make the person youre talking to feel that same way if you end the conversation and they know nothing about you. This doesnt mean you have to tell them your life story. Rather, think about what you want to know and offer them something of equal value. For example, if you want to learn someones middle name, offer them yours first, and so on.

You may be wondering how validation is a social engineering technique. Think through the effects of validation, though. If you make someone feel heard, seen, understood, they are going to trust you more.

Just the other day I made a vishing call where the lady I was speaking to was frustrated about some computer issues. As I was pretexting that I was calling from her IT department, I was supposed to be able to help her fix these issues. In reality, I know nothing about IT work. So instead, I apologized for her trouble and told her how frustrating I know it must be. She responded so well to this that she didnt even mind I didnt know how to fix her computer! I was able to gain her trust to the point where it made her feel better for having talked to me. In my everyday life I enjoy using this technique for one simple reason: I like to feel validated as well. When used with good intent, validation will only yield positive results.

Why should we make the effort to utilize these techniques? They all have one thing in common; they help ensure the person we are speaking to feels good. Thats a powerful thing! Using these techniques intentionally at first will help you to put them into practice. Eventually, it will become your natural way of conversing. If we all focus on suspending our egos, quid pro quo, and validating others, communications all around would improve. Lets be a part of that.

Written by: Shelby Dacko

At Social Engineer LLC, our purpose is to bring education and awareness to all users of technology. For a detailed list of our services and how we can help you achieve your information/cybersecurity goals please visit:

https://www.Social-Engineer.com/Managed-Services/.

Images:https://cxm.co.uk/communication-with-customers-five-essential-factors/https://www.alltekholdings.com/communicate-consistently-with-customers-about-their-technology-needs-and-your-value/

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Security Through Education authored by Social-Engineer. Read the original post at: https://www.social-engineer.org/newsletter/communication-using-social-engineering-techniques-in-everyday-life/

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Seabed mining might be the next big environmental campaign … – Cosmos

Under the surface of our Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans is a seabed littered with rocks but these are no ordinary rocks.

These are actually polymetallic nodules, which are a potential mineral resource for copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, manganese, and rare earth elements. As a result of their use in electronics such as rechargeable batteries and touch screens, these metals have become increasingly important in our lives. The purpose of deep-sea mining is to extract these minerals, but it is likely that to result in widespread damage to large sections of the deep-sea environment.

While deep-sea mining seems like a more recent technological advancement, in 1994 the United Nations established the International Seabed Authority (ISA) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) to manage, regulate and control mineral-related activities in international seabeds.

But in a recent investigation of internal ISA documents, the New York Times reported that agency leadership downplayed environmental concerns and shared confidential information with companies involved in seabed mining.

One of the most complex and understudied habitats on our planet, any proposal for deep-sea mining needs to be guided by strict environmental considerations since it remains uncertain how the seafloor will respond to and potentially recover.

While mining advocates say mining is necessary for renewable energy technologies, others say scientific experts may need decades to fully understand the seabeds marine life and its ramifications from mining. In spite of these concerns, the ISA is writing a global mining code that could lead to the seabed being commercially exploited by 2024.

Scientists, governments, NGOs, and others around the world are concerned that seabed mining will have a significant, irreparable environmental impact, given the limited knowledge we have on the biodiversity and ecology there.

Palau, Fiji, Samoa, Micronesia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Panama, and Chile are among the ISA Council member countries that called for an ocean floor mining moratorium or pause.

A legal adviser for the German mission to the UN, Michael Hasenau, stressed during the Convention anniversary meeting in December 2022 that current knowledge and available science are insufficient to approve deep-seabed mining. To protect the marine environment, a precautionary pause is called for, he says.

Any proposal for deep-sea mining needs to be guided by strict environmental considerations since it remains uncertain how the seafloor will respond to and potentially recover.

Meanwhile, Brazil, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Ecuador, Italy, and Switzerland have indicated that they will not approve mining contracts until adequate environmental protections are in place. A similar position was taken by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC), and during the UNs climate change conference in Egypt in November 2022, French President Emanuel Macron also asked for a complete ban on deep-sea mining.

In Australia, seabed mining is still considered an emerging industry. In the first three nautical miles offshore, referred to as coastal waters, each state governs mineral exploration and recovery. Commonwealth law governs the area adjacent to the continental shelf beyond the first three nautical miles. Currently, CSIRO is leading a consortium of organisations in creating what it calls: a blueprint for responsible, low-impact deep-sea mining, which it says is: to highlight any potential impacts of a deep-sea mining proposal from The Metals Company (TMC a North American mining company.)

Initially, we will work with other experts to understand the entire ecosystem and how the different parts interact with each other, says Dr. Piers Dunstan, a researcher with CSIROs Oceans and Atmosphere.

That approach will allow us to begin identifying the parts of the ecosystem that are vulnerable to impacts from different activities because clearly not every disturbance will have an impact on every part of the system, Dunstan says.

They then develop indicators that they believe are likely to be informative for monitoring, and if the operations are permitted, they set up a monitoring program that is a companion to them. The consortium will work on this analysis for the next two years, and TMC will submit to the ISA an Environmental Impact Statement based on the final report.

As of today, 30 contracts for exploration have been approved by the ISA, involving 22 countries and covering more than 1.3 million square kilometres of ocean floor. These studies are aimed at gathering information on where and what minerals are present on the seabed as well as collecting environmental data; thus far, mining operations have not begun anywhere in the world.

Following the historic collector test and monitoring campaign, in which we and our partners lifted over 3,000 tonnes of nodules to the surface and also collected over 200 terabytes of environmental data, TMC continues to hit milestones and establish the strategic partnerships we need to continue delivering on our capital-light approach to developing the NORI-D Nodule Project, Gerard Barron, CEO & Chairman of The Metals Company said in a TMC press release.

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The successful trials werent just about proving our offshore technology but also gathering real world data on the potential environmental impacts of our project. And with this monumental effort safely under our belts, our research teams are now sorting through the massive set of data and biological samples to build an overall picture of the expected impacts of nodule collection in NORI-D.

The question TMC hopes to answer with this dataset is that yes, it is possible to do mine our seabeds responsibly. But is it really? Up to a point, according to some scientists.

Speaking at the annual Blue Solutions Summit in Sydney, United Nations scientist Dr Sandor Mulsow, a marine biogeochemist and expert in deep seabed mining, said: explore to protect first.

Mulsow, former Head of the Office of Environmental Management and Mineral Resources at the International Seabed Authority, is raising awareness of the dire need to slow down, or better yet completely halt, the commencement of deep seabed mining.

Independent research, not linked to the contractor, thats something that we need to do, Mulsow toldCosmosat the event.

The model should be to explore to protect, not explore to exploit. If we manage to explore to protect, maybe in 100 years we might be able to intervene without destroying [the deep seabed environment].

Dunstan says the question isnt for scientists. Deep sea mining doesnt involve digging up and shifting millions of cubic metres of soil, so theres certainly potential for it to be a lower impact operation but it will have some level of impact on the seabed.

The question for all of us globally is are we willing to accept some impact to extract minerals from the sea floor as a trade-off for decarbonisation and developing alternatives to fossil fuels?

Whether we are willing to accept that, is not a science question, its a question for society. What science can do is provide a robust evidence-based risk assessment to help with answering the question and thats exactly what we are doing.

However, former CSIRO oceans expert Dr. Tony Worby says this is a false premise: It is just plain wrong. There are more than enough minerals available from land-based mining, if we extract them properly, recycle them properly.

The question for all of us globally is are we willing to accept some impact to extract minerals from the sea floor as a trade-off for decarbonisation and developing alternatives to fossil fuels?

Worby currently leads campaigns on marine issues for Australian miner and philanthropist Andrew Forrests Minderoo Foundation, who committed his company, Fortescue Metals Group, to a moratorium on mining the ocean floor. As part of Minderoos campaign, it calls for better regulation and enforcement, building on some of the progress made in fighting overfishing and illegal fishing.

[The deep sea is] an integral part of the oceans. And if, on a massive scale, we start to knock them over when theyve taken thousands of years to establish, then we could be causing extinctions, we could be causing untold damage to fragile ecosystems that we know precious little about. Weve got an opportunity to stop something destructive before we start, Worby says.

Just because the seabed might be out of sight and out of mind, that does not mean that the regulatory environment that you should have to step through should be any less stringent than the requirements on land.

A meeting of ISA delegates which finished last week, discussed deep sea minings future with observers saying, it remains unclear whether regulators will allow it to commence in the near future.

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Mom, Dad, I Want To Be A Prompt Engineer – Forbes

the new reality

MidJourney

A new career is emerging with the spread of generative AI applications like ChatGPT: prompt engineering, the art (not science) of crafting effective instructions for AI models.

In ten years, half of the world's jobs will be in prompt engineering, declared Robin Li, cofounder and CEO of Chinese AI giant, Baidu. And those who cannot write prompts will be obsolete.

That may be a bit of big tech hyperbole, but theres no doubt that prompt engineers will become the wizards of the AI world, coaxing and guiding AI models into generating content that is not only relevant but also coherent and consistent with the desired output.

So, what exactly is prompt engineering?

Getting generative AI to do what you want is no easy task, as anyone who has tried image generation systems like Dalle-E or MidJourney or language models like ChatGPT. While successful creations are dazzling, an untrained users results are likely to be deeply flawed or, with ChatGPT, even wrong. The same is true for AI code-writing generators.

Thats because generative AI models respond to natural language and natural language is notoriously imprecise. The same sentence can have different meanings depending on the context, making it difficult for the AI model to understand what the user wants it to generate. And natural language prompts may not provide enough context for the AI to understand the user's intent fully. This can lead to the AI generating responses that are not relevant to the user's needs or expectations.

Also, generative AI models are typically trained on large amounts of text data, but the training data may not contain examples that match the specific intent of the user's prompt. This can limit the AI's ability to generate responses that accurately reflect the user's needs.

And, finally, generative AI models are trained to generate responses based on patterns in the training data, so they may not be able to generate responses that are truly creative or innovative.

So, talking to a generative AI model is a bit like speaking to an idiot savant you need to understand what they respond to if you hope to get the results you want.

Already, prompt engineering experts are popping up all over the place, startups are offering prompt engineering services and companies are starting to list prompt engineer as a job title. Trainers and educators are fanning out to help industries train workers on how best to use the generative AI, and video lecture sites like Udemy are already offering many courses on formulating effective prompts. Whether or not the importance of the job grows to meet Robin Lis expectations, it is likely here to stay for a while.

Meanwhile, with the increasing sophistication of AI algorithms, it is becoming more feasible for AI systems to take over the role of coding, leaving software engineers to focus on higher-level tasks such as formulating intent and logical sequences to guide the code generator. This shift will likely require software engineers to have a more profound understanding of AI algorithms and how they operate. As a result, they will be able to craft prompts that can direct the AI to generate code that meets the desired specifications accurately.

The role of software engineers will evolve into one of guiding and overseeing the AI's work, providing input and feedback, and ensuring that the generated code meets the project's requirements.

Prompt engineering will be critical in using automated code generators as prompts must be carefully crafted to accurately capture the intent of the desired code. Additionally, prompt engineering can help ensure that the generated code aligns with industry best practices, standards, and guidelines.

Already, we are seeing the compilation of prompt libraries, like libraries of pre-written code or software components that can be reused in different programs or applications. Just as a code library contains components designed to be reusable, allowing developers to save time rather than creating new code from scratch, prompt libraries will do the same.

There are also prompt specializations emerging for code generation, output testing, text generation, and art generation. Ultimately, prompt engineering is all about knowing what to communicate to an AI model to produce the desired output, empowering users to optimize communication for accurate outputs.

There is a flood of startups and new tools to help engineer prompts, including PromptPerfect and PromptingGuide. Online schools are beginning to offer courses in prompting and PromptBase is an online marketplace for buying and selling high-quality prompts. The list goes on and on and will undoubtedly grow.

Startup Anthropic, whose mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems, is offering a salary of up to $335,000 for an experienced prompt engineer. The position involves figuring out the best methods to prompt AI for various tasks, documenting these methods, building a library of tools, and creating tutorials for others to learn prompt engineering.

Ultimately, prompt engineering can help improve the usability and reliability of automated code generators, making them more accessible to users who may not have a strong background in programming. This emerging class of skilled human operators who know how to interact with AI models effectively will bridge the gap between the human and the AI worlds.

Craig S. Smith is a former correspondent and executive at The New York Times. He is host of the podcast Eye on A.I. (www.eye-on.ai)

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Southwest Construction Views – Engineering News-Record

Last year's Southwest Design Firm of the Year, EPS Group, was among the numerous firms that reported increases in revenue during 2022.Photo courtesy of EPS Group

ENR Southwest's annual Top Design Firms survey has officially closed, with the 2023 regional ranking publishing in the upcoming May 1st edition. While readers will have to wait to see how well individual firms fared in 2022 and where they landed in this year's ranking, we can certainly report that the survey results confirm that, overall, Southwest architectural and engineering firms kept busy during the preceding year.

For example, in ENR Southwest's Top Design Firms ranking of a year agobased on 2021 revenuethe top-25 companies collectively reported regional revenue of $1.04 billion, just edging out the 2020 figure of $998 million. By comparison, this year's 2023 ranking will show a sizeable jump in overall revenue, with the top 25 firms collectively reporting more than $1.4 billion in revenue during 2022.

In addition to the ranking, ENR Southwest's May 1 print edition will provide perspective and comments from regional firms, not only about the year that was, but how business activity appears to be trending for the future. For now, here's our preview of this year's ranking, listed alphabetically.

AECOMAffiliated Engineers, Inc.Atkins, member of the SNC-Lavalin GroupAtwell, LLCAZTEC Engineering Group, Inc.Bohannan Huston, Inc.Bowman (Bowman Consulting Group)Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers, Inc.Burns & McDonnellCobbFendleyCorganCTA Architects EngineersDekker/Perich/SabatiniDeSimone Consulting EngineersDLR GroupElectrical Consultants, Inc.EPS GroupGannett FlemingGeo-Logic AssociatesGreeley and HansenHDRHorrocks EngineersHuckabeeIMEG CorpJCJ ArchitectureKimley-HornKleinfelderManhard Consulting, Ltd.Merrick & CompanyMichael Baker InternationalNinyo & MooreParametrixPGALPSOMASRyan Companies US, Inc.Schneider Structural EngineersSMASmithGroupSolomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)Stanley ConsultantsStantecStrand Associates, Inc.Sunrise EngineeringSWCA Environmental ConsultantsT2 Utility EngineersTerraconThe Korte Co.Walter P MooreWilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & ArchitectsWood Rodgers, Inc.WSP USA

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.

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Southwest Construction Views - Engineering News-Record

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Intel lost 13 points to AMD and ARM, but that’s not all, says Liftr … – PR Newswire

Intel lost 13 percentage points over 3 years in a high-growth workload type: memory-optimized workloads.

AUSTIN, Texas, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Liftr Insights, a pioneer in market intelligence driven by unique data, shows that Intel lost 13 percentage points over the three-year period ended December 2022 within the memory-optimized workload category.

Intel losing market share in key workloads according to Liftr Insights data

Cloud providers identify ideal workloads for their different configurations. Standard workload groups include compute-optimized, storage-optimized, high-performance, accelerated, general purpose, and memory-optimized. Among all these types, memory-optimized has been the largest area of growth according to Liftr Insights data. Examples of specific workload types within memory-optimized include data mining, distributed file system, real-time analytics, and SAP HANA. Memory-optimized configurations increased 332% over the three-year period ended December 2022. The next closest workload increased 245%.

"The overall growth of the cloud and semiconductor space has hidden the internal dynamics," says Tab Schadt, CEO of Liftr Insights. "Intel and AMD can each show quarter-to-quarter growth while still losing market share. AMD has made a notable cut in that share of the overall market, but both Intel and AMD have been affected by growth of ARM."

Expansion of ARM-based processors, such as AWS Graviton (used by Amazon) and Ampere Computing (used by the other major cloud providers), accelerated over the past few years. Their growth has eroded the share Intel might otherwise have made in this space. Both ARM and Ampere Computing are IPO candidates in large part because of this disruption.

"What we see in the memory-optimized workloads is one of many signals derived from Liftr data," says Schadt.

Changes in workloads is one type of signal. Signals also come from changes in specific generations of processor, shifts in which brands are dominating the newer regions, and tracking which brands dominate recent deployments.

"This isn't just about Intel losing share. We see changes affecting AMD and ARM on the processor side and more changes on the accelerator side," says Schadt. "Objective data is a critical part for market intelligence analysts making informed investment decisions."

About Liftr InsightsLiftr Insights generates reliable market intelligence using unique data, including details about configurations, components, deployment geo, and pricing for:

As shown on the Liftr Cloud Regions Map at https://bit.ly/LiftrCloudRegionsMap, among the companies tracked are Amazon Web Services,Microsoft Azure,Alibaba Cloud,Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud,and Tencent Cloudas well as semiconductor vendors AMD, Ampere,Intel, NVIDIA, and Xilinx. Liftr Insights subject matter experts translate company-specific service provider data into actionable alternative data.Market intelligence consumers can easily ingest this timely,standardized,andoperationally-compliant information into their predictive financial models.

[emailprotected]Liftr and the Liftr logo are registered service marks of Liftr Insights. The following are trademarks and/or service marks of Liftr Insights: Liftr Insights, Liftr Cloud Components Tracker, and Liftr Cloud Regions Map.

The following are registered intellectual property marks, trademarks, or service marks of their respective companies:Amazon Web ServicesMicrosoft AzureAlibaba CloudGoogle CloudOracle CloudTencent CloudIntel CorporationAmpere ComputingNVIDIAAMDARM

SOURCE Liftr Insights

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Ginkgo Bioworks Strengthens End-to-End R&D Capabilities in Gene … – PR Newswire

Platform includes large library of existing capsids, which have been optimized for performance and targeting across a range of application areas through validation in large animal models

The addition of StrideBio's structure-guided AAV engineering capabilities combined with Ginkgo's already extensive assets make Ginkgo a unique one-stop shop capable of providing R&D services for gene therapy manufacturing across capsid, payload, and cell line optimization

As part of the transaction, Ginkgo also receives IP and data for StrideBio's lead preclinical asset for Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy, a rare genetic heart disease, which Ginkgo plans to sell or outlicense to a commercial partner

BOSTON, April 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced the acquisition of StrideBio's adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid discovery and engineering platform assets with a secondary close scheduled upon the transfer of certain additional in-license agreements to Ginkgo. Ginkgo will incorporate these capabilities and IP into its end-to-end AAV gene therapy development platform, allowing Ginkgo's customers to leverage new tools to effectively target many different tissue types, and potentially to improve the safety profile of their future gene therapies. Ginkgo is also receiving StrideBio's existing library of capsids, which includes advanced candidates extensively tested in large animal models, and which are now available for licensing and broader partnership. Additionally, Ginkgo receives the IP and data for StrideBio's lead preclinical asset for Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a rare genetic heart disease, which Ginkgo plans to sell or outlicense to a commercial partner. The acquisition is focused on the enabling platform IP of StrideBio and does not include any real estate. One employee of StrideBio will transfer to Ginkgo as part of the transaction, joining Ginkgo's mammalian engineering team.

AAV remains the preferred viral vector for gene therapy, used in hundreds of active clinical trials. However, pharmaceutical developers focusing on AAV still face challenges pertaining to limitations in targeted biodistribution, pre-existing immunogenicity and manufacturability. StrideBio's STRIVE platform which uses a structural-engineering approach for generating novel AAV capsids to address these limitations has produced a library of candidates that includes mature assets with strong evidence demonstrated for both performance and targeting across multiple animal models.

StrideBio's platform generates capsids that are designed to overcome current limitations of first-generation gene therapies, including reduced seroprevalence, improved tropism for cell types beyond the liver such as those in the central nervous system and muscle tissue, and increased gene transfer efficiency, with the potential for improved safety and reduced doses in the clinic.

"The StrideBio team has built a deep pipeline of AAV capsids and libraries to address critical challenges facing clinical gene therapy with a focus on reducing vector dose and improving safety by limiting off-target biodistribution," said Aravind Asokan, Ph.D, who co-founded StrideBio with Pat Ritschel and the late Mavis Agbandje-McKenna. "With Ginkgo's expertise and scale, we hope to amplify this effort and deploy this platform to the gene therapy industry and ultimately, patients."

"Combining Ginkgo's engineering and discovery capabilities in enzymes, regulatory elements, and capsids enables a holistic approach to designing an AAV gene therapy, so that we can support our partners across the entire process of designing the viral vector," said Narendra Maheshri, Head of Mammalian Engineering at Ginkgo. "We are thrilled to integrate the STRIVE platform and know-how into our foundry to augment our capabilities in capsid engineering, and we look forward to continuing to expand our existing end-to-end capabilities in AAV discovery and manufacturing."

Ginkgo has significantly expanded its work and capabilities in gene therapy in recent years by acquiring Circularis' proprietary circular RNA and promoter screening platform, partnering with Biogen to improve AAV manufacturing, and partnering with Selecta Biosciences to develop AAV capsids with altered tropism and immunogenicity. Ginkgo has developed several capabilities which enhance its ability to leverage assets like those in this acquisition, including its ability to efficiently and quickly generate a massive set of candidates for testing, its scaled approach to protein engineering, and its ability to apply sequencing and computational pipelines to accelerate the analysis of capsid effectiveness in tissues of interest. To discuss how you can benefit from Ginkgo's biopharma and life science R&D capabilities, sign up for Ginkgo Office Hours to speak with our team today.

Foley Hoag LLP is providing legal counsel to Ginkgo, while Ropes & Gray LLP is serving as legal advisor to StrideBio.

About Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and concentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as Twitter (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), or LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the acquisition and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (iv) the unpredictability of the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for COVID-19 testing and the commercial viability of our COVID-19 testing business, (v) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vi) our ability to realize the expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions, (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings against Ginkgo, including as a result of recent acquisitions, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, and (x) the product development or commercialization success of our customers. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 13, 2023 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:[emailprotected]

GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:[emailprotected]

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks

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Ginkgo Bioworks Strengthens End-to-End R&D Capabilities in Gene ... - PR Newswire

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W&L Engineering Professor Publishes Articles in Two Renowned … – The Columns

By Emily InnesApril 4, 2023

Jon Erickson, professor of engineering at Washington and Lee University, recently published two papers regarding advances in non-invasive gastrointestinal electrical mapping techniques.

The first paper, Validation of noninvasive body-surface gastric mapping for detecting gastric slow-wave spatiotemporal features by simultaneous serosal mapping in porcine, was featured on the cover of the October 2022 issue of The American Journal of Physiology. The second paper, co-authored with Emily Hassid 22 and Elen Stepanyan 22, is titled Comparison of dry and wet electrodes for detecting gastrointestinal activity patterns from body surface electrical recordings and was published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering in January 2023.

Erickson is an expert in the field of signal processing with applications to gastrointestinal motility. Validation of noninvasive body-surface gastric mapping was written in collaboration with the Auckland Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Comparison of dry and wet electrodes stems from research conducted at W&L.

I feel very fortunate to have worked with such an exceptional group of surgeons, doctors, and biomedical engineers as well as outstanding undergraduate research students during this process, Erickson said. With a multidisciplinary team, everyone brings their own angles and backgrounds that are crucial to make projects like this work.

The purpose of Ericksons research is to develop non-invasive biomedical tools to monitor motility of the stomach and colon, which may facilitate the diagnosis and phenotyping of gastrointestinal abnormalities. When Erickson began collaborating with the Auckland Bioengineering Institute in 2009, very little was known about the electrical conduction system of the stomach. Over the course of a decade, the research team developed the instruments, technology, and algorithms to successfully detect the electrical waves that move through the stomach, first using surgically implanted electrodes and then with non-invasive electrode arrays placed on the skin surface like a big band-aid. Ericksons primary role in the project was developing the signal processing techniques to pluck out the microvolt-level signals generated internally by the stomachs electrical waves.

The next phase of research, explored in Comparison of dry and wet electrodes, addressed the time limits on studies because of peoples potential sensitivity to the wet electrodes. The study found that dry electrodes are just as effective at recording gastrointestinal electrical signals, which opens the possibility of being able to study gastrointestinal activity over multiple days, instead of just in three- to four-hour increments. W&L students made valuable contributions to designing and conducting the study with human subjects, as well as providing unique insights during the analysis phase.

Its exciting to work on something thats brand new, and the student insights are so important, Erickson said. It has been a delight to work with students who are deeply engaged with the research and helping pioneer this field. Their roles have been crucial to our recent contributions and collective success, and it is very rewarding to see their skill and confidence rapidly grow in the lab.

I was delighted to have so many students interested and deeply engaged with the research. Their roles have been crucial to making this work, and I hope theyve had a good experience with it, too.

Ericksons collaboration with students is representative of the hands-on and personalized education W&L provides. In addition to conducting real-world research, they also participated in the academic journal review and publication process. Both Hassid and Stepanyan have carried their research experience to postgraduate opportunities, with Hassid pursuing a masters degree in chemical engineering at Columbia University and Stepanyan pursuing a masters degree in engineering and management at Dartmouth University.

For Erickson, the next step in this ongoing research project is to begin conducting overnight studies of the gastrointestinal system using dry electrodes and continue advancing the diagnostic capabilities of the technology.

In the near future, we plan to apply this technology to compare and contrast motility patterns in healthy people versus those with a known gastrointestinal abnormality. This is a magical moment in the research field because we finally have the research tools in hand to attempt this study for the first time, Erickson said.

Erickson joined the W&L faculty in 2009 and currently serves as the faculty advisor for the Engineering Community Development club on campus. He received his bachelors degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College and his doctorate in bioengineering from the California Institute of Technology.

If you know a W&L faculty member who has done great, accolade-worthy things, tell us about them! Nominate them for an accolade.

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The tale of the ‘ubiquitous’ Stanford Bunny | Stanford University … – Stanford University

In the early 1990s, Stanford professor Marc Levoy and his postdoc, Greg Turk, created the worlds first seamless 3D computer model of a complex object using a range-finding laser scanner. Their object of choice, a terra cotta garden decoration, is now known worldwide as The Stanford Bunny. Computer graphics researchers still use it today. Approaching Easter, we talked to Levoy about what has kept his bunny going even three decades later.

I was a new professor at Stanford. Three-dimensional scanning seemed like an interesting problem, trying to get the shape of an object accurately recorded in a computer. There were scanners at the time that could do some modest range scanning like the front of your face or one that could go completely around you and build a crude model of the surface of an object, but not a complete one, with a top and a bottom and interstices and all that. My postdoc at the time, Greg Turk, and some grad students started to work on this. Its hard to scan an object all at once, so you do it in parts, little meshes, like pieces of fabric, from all around the object. Greg created an algorithm called Zipper that could take a bunch of these meshes and stitch them together to create a seamless, three-dimensional model. We needed a test object. It was around Eastertime, and Greg was out shopping and saw this bunny on a store shelf a terra cotta garden sculpture. It was about the right size. So we scanned it. It was the first model of its kind. It became a popular computer graphics model for people to render on to add fur, or melt, or break, or whatever you can imagine doing to a 3D object.

It was the first detailed polygon mesh model of a very complicated object with lots of little nooks, crannies, and crevices. There had been models of complicated stuff before, but it was all built by hand airplanes and things like that. The idea of just taking an object, sticking it on a platter, and being able to scan it more-or-less automatically and produce a model was new. We put the data online and we made it freely available. It just became ubiquitous; one of the standard models for computer graphics researchers to practice on. If you page through the proceedings of any computer graphics conference today, maybe a third of the papers use the Stanford Bunny. Just Google Stanford Bunny. Youll see.

The bunny replaced what was the iconic computer graphics model, the Utah Teapot. The Computer History Museum approached me a while ago wanting to put the bunny in their museum. So theres a spot for it next to the Utah Teapot, but not yet. The original is still in my office at Stanford. One of the reasons the bunny is popular is because theres no IP associated with it. It was just a simple garden decoration, and anybody could just do anything with it. Its also kind of innocuous, not a religious icon that people could desecrate. And its just the right size to do a lot of experiments on. It just became really popular. Its fun to see the stuff people have done with it. Adding fur. The breakages. The textures.

A lot of people think its LIDAR, the technology used in autonomous vehicles, that measures distance using time of flight how quickly a laser light bounces back to a sensor after striking an object. The technology we used was different. The laser and the sensor are separate, allowing you to triangulate distance like a range finder. The problem was, at the time you could only do one side of an object or a specific area, not an entire object. What we brought to the table were the algorithms for combining multiple scans to make a seamless object. We scanned the bunny all over the place and created mathematical triangles between the measurements. Gregs algorithm was able to match up the edges of these meshes and stitch them together or zip them, as he called it, hence the name Zipper. Those triangles represent the surface of the object and animators can use the data to render pictures. There are exactly 69,451 triangles making up the Stanford Bunny.

Yes, there were several projects after that and some very sophisticated models of very complicated objects. The best known is probably the Digital Michelangelo project where we traveled to Florence to scan Michelangelos David in situ. Our model of the David has a billion polygons which is a lot. That required many, many sweeps, but used a more complicated laser scanner. Our approach not the bunny per se was used quite a bit in the entertainment industry. We made models for Industrial Light & Magic in the making of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. We scanned their models in our lab. That was kind of a dramatic day at Stanford where they came in this van with these sealed boxes. They didnt want anyone getting a sneak peek. We had to disconnect our computers in the graphics lab from the internet. We had curtains across all the doorways. They put burly guards at the entrances. And, for a whole day, we scanned their models of various objects and creatures for The Phantom Menace. Then, we gave them a copy of the disk and they watched while we wrote zeros over our data, and that was that.

Related:Marc Levoy, VMware Founders Professor of Computer Science, Emeritus

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Patients’ perspectives on, experience with and concerns about … – BMC Gastroenterology

Health and disease belong to the category of biomedicine but also involve social, political and economic dimensions [22]. Our research summarized posts in the Crohns disease bar over the previous 12years and conducted a comprehensive analysis through two methods: grounded theory and the LAD topic model. In contrast to previous interview studies with small sample sizes, this study analyzed Chinese patients with Crohn's disease from the perspective of social media. An enormous and comprehensive dataset identified the prominent concerns of patients with Crohn's disease. This study provides novel insight into patients experiences with Crohn's disease and identifies actionable needs that may improve their quality of life.

The need for shared decision making in IBD has become a consensus among IBD physicians worldwide [23]. However, there is a large gap between doctors and patients in their knowledge and information about diseases. Apart from online consultation, Crohn's disease patients seem to have few ways to acquire such knowledge. Our study confirmed that 56.9% of Crohn's disease patients urgently want more information about the disease, including diagnosis, symptoms, pathology, complications, surgery, new therapies and professional treatment support. This need is more urgent for patients who have symptoms but have not been diagnosed or have difficulty in diagnosis. Consulting patients who have been diagnosed is the most common method. For instance, some people described their symptoms and indicated that they have undergone some physical examination (but had not received feedback). They were very afraid, especially after they searched for information about Crohn's disease on the internet. Some low-quality answers often have this effect. Patients' consultation of social media negatively influenced the diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. For example, some posts mentioned that the anesthetics used in painless enteroscopies would damage the memories. This misunderstanding has always existed in China and has negatively affected many people, causing them to suffer needlessly by refusing to undergo anesthesia during an enteroscopy. In addition, some posts mentioned consulting experts and hospitals with experience in treating Crohn's disease. Some patients find their disease progressing because of misdiagnosis, untimely treatment and nonstandard treatment.

Encouragingly, many Crohn's disease patients in China had shared their experiences through video platforms, such as the Chinese Tik Tok and Bilibili video platforms; some self-media medical accounts also disseminated Crohn's disease knowledge through popular science articles and videos. In recent years, the Chinese Crohn's and Colitis Foundation (CCCF) [24], a large nongovernmental public welfare organization that is committed to improvingthe quality of life of IBD patients in China by providing social resources, has made great contributions through patient education, public awareness, helping to train IBD specialists, etc. In addition, an increasing number of hospitals are actively training IBD specialists and establishing multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) [25].

Pharmacotherapy is the first step in treating IBD [26]. The main medicine for the management of Crohn's disease works by suppressing an overly active intestinal immune system [26]. Several monoclonal antibodies have been approved for the treatment of Crohn's disease, such as anti-TNF agents [27] and anti-integrin agents. In addition, the use of these biologics in combination with a conventional immunosuppressant may yield superior outcomes and improve the durability of therapy [28, 29]. In our analyses, we also found that more than 1/4 of the posts discussed the drug treatment of Crohn's disease, and seven subthemes were mentioned repeatedly. Biological agents, traditional therapeutic drugs, hormones and TCM were the drugs of most concern to patients. Other patients' medication experience (efficacy and recommendations) and side effects also affected their medication decisions. Medical insurance policies and their own financial situation restricted them from choosing better drugs.

Interestingly, Chinese patients with Crohn's disease were willing to use TCM for treatment, especially when biological agents failed. Cai et al. used semistructured interviews with 14 IBD patients using TCM and explored their reasons and experience of decision-making [30]. The results showed that patients initiated TCM treatment due to the unsatisfactory effects of other therapies. TCM has been widely used to treat IBD in China; however, systematically determining its efficacy in IBD treatment is still challenging [31].

The benefits and risks of treatment are the primary consideration of doctors, which also places huge decision-making pressure on patients. A previous network survey on Crohn's disease patients found that the acceptable risk of drug treatment for Crohn's disease patients depends on the severity of the disease and the expected benefits. Especially for patients with mild to moderate cases, the acceptance of risk is low [23]. Another study showed that when Crohn's disease patients decide to use biological agents, they will comprehensively consider the safety and efficacy of those agents. Among them, safety accounted for 54% of the attention and the efficacy only 28% [32]. Our results are consistent with these findings. Many patients posted questions about the side effects of drugs and expressed their concerns. The experience of other patients often affected their decisions about medicine.

In our study, financial burden was another important influencing factor of drug use decisions, which was closely related to medical insurance policies. A retrospective study of the medical expenses of Crohn's disease patients based on a medical insurance database in the United States showed that the average lifetime medical cost of Crohn's disease patients was $416,352 higher than that of non-IBD patients, and the younger the diagnosis age was, the higher the lifelong medical expenses [33]. One two-center study on the treatment costs of Chinese Crohn's disease patients found that by 2011, the average hospitalization expenses of Crohn's disease patients had risen to CNY25504.21, an increase of 237% over 10years ago [34]. The medical insurance policies of different provinces in China differ, and different reimbursement policies are formulated according to the severity of Crohn's disease, which also leads to different drug choices for patients.

Depression and anxiety are common in patients with IBD and are increasingly being recognized by gastroenterologists [35]. The psychological burden in IBD patients is threefold higher than that in the general population [36]. It is well documented that depression and anxiety may affect more than 25 to 30 percent of individuals with IBD [37, 38]. As expected, the results of the mixed methods in our study indicated that psychological burden is an unavoidable theme for patients with Crohn's disease. These psychological burdens come mainly from personal, family and social pressures. Some posts stated that the disease had caused many impacts on their families and made them vulnerable. These patients lived with low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Patients with stoma mentioned suicide and death in some posts. A cohort study showed that intestinal surgery and stoma formation are positively associated with subsequent antidepressant medication use [39]. Some people could not support their parents and felt that they were a burden on their family, which caused them to bear a heavy mental burden. In addition, some patients had given up their original work, lifestyle and social contacts, and some had experienced great changes in their lives, such as breakups and divorce. IBD affects women differently than men. Trutas review summarized the impact of IBD, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis on women's health, and found that women with Crohn's disease report worse psychological wellbeing less resilience than men but develop more escape and avoidance strategies to cope with the disease [40]. Our results also support the conclusion. We also found that most women with Crohn's disease were concerned about pregnancy. This is usually an important factor affecting marital happiness and family harmony, as traditional Chinese families need children to carry on the family lineage. IBD frequently affects women of childbearing age and may have implications for pregnancy [41]. Therefore, preconception counseling is pertinent to provide patient education, medication review for risk of teratogenicity and objective disease assessment.

Fortunately, we also found that peer support can play a role in encouragement. Psychological support is not incorporated into the routine care of persons with IBD. Some patients shared their successful treatment experiences, which relieved stress and gave confidence to other patients. Peer support provides a unique perspective of shared experience that can instill hope and assist coping efforts of patients and family [42]. A systematic review found that psychotherapeutic interventions can improve quality of life in patients with IBD and that early intervention after diagnosis leads to better coping strategies and quality of life throughout life [43]. Cumulatively, based on these results, we confirm that psychotherapy is necessary for IBD patients with mental stress.

Diet and nutrition are increasingly becoming matters of interest for Crohn's disease treatment, although they formerly played a marginal role [44]. Decreased dietary intake, nutrient malabsorption and weight loss are some of the nutritional challenges that Crohn's disease patients face [45]. Paradoxically, dietary intake may also trigger the symptoms of Crohn's disease patients [46]. Indeed, a Western-style diet rich in saturated fat and low in fiber has been implicated in the onset of the disease. This leads patients to seek dietary solutions for disease management [47]. However, current dietary recommendations are based largely on low-quality studies. At present, no clear indications of a specific diet are available. However, personalized nutrition is considered a potential way to treat patients with Crohn's disease [44]. One study explored the experience of dietary practices of Chinese patients with IBD and believed that health care professionals should encourage patients to report diet modification and be aware of both personal and environmental barriers to diet modification. [48]. Our study showed that patients with Crohn's disease are confused about their diet. Some posts shared menus and diet experiences with other patients. Vegetables, meat, fruits and beverages were mentioned repeatedly in posts. Malnutrition is detected in approximately 6575% of patients with Crohn's disease [49]. Enteral nutrition (EN) and parenteral nutrition (PN) are recommended by the guidelines of the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) for malnourished patients [50]. Due to the high cost and side effects of PN, EN is often the first choice for Crohn's disease patients [51], and nasogastric feeding is the main EN method. One study explored the initial factors and experiences of nasogastric feeding by Crohn's disease patients from China, and the results suggested that many patients rejected nasogastric feeding due to fear, image and activity restrictions [52]. Nasogastric feeding is also an important term in our results. As mentioned above, the appearance problem caused by nasal feeding is one of the social pressures of Crohn's disease patients. Given womens more fragile profile, they tend to be more affected by the effects of the disease than men, so it is necessary to carry out personalized nursing for female patients and improve their quality of life [40].

Weight is one of the nutritional concerns of Crohn's disease patients, who can simply judge their nutritional status by weight changes. However, 15 to 40% of patients with IBD are obese, which may lead to the development of IBD and make colorectal surgery technically challenging [53]. Recently, an integrative review suggested that physical activity can improve quality of life, mental health, sleep quality, fatigue and body weight [54]. In our study, exercise was one of the topics of concern for people with Crohn's disease. Many Crohn's disease patients do not know what and how much exercise will be beneficial. This suggests that the treatment of Crohn's disease requires the participation of nutritionists and exercise scientists to provide a more reasonable plan.

Our results reveal the poor quality of life of patients with Crohn's disease who suffer from intestinal symptoms, systemic symptoms, emotional function, etc. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) is a valuable disease-specific quality of life questionnaire, that aids in identifying clinical disorientation in patients [55]. The IBDQ has been translated into many languages since its inception [56, 57], and has been used in many ways given its good reliability and validity. It has greatly contributed to evaluating the quality of life of patients and promoting the improvement of IBD diagnosis and treatment strategies. The mainland Chinese IBDQ has proven to be a valid, discriminative, and reliable instrument for assessing health-related quality of life in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in mainland China [57].

COVID-19 has caused a global health crisis, precisely in the country that is the cradle of the COVID-19 infection. In this study, four topics emerged on social media as the ones most discussed by Crohn's disease patients. In the face of this pandemic, patients with Crohn's disease are eager to receive advice on prevention and protection measures. Some researchers have recently provided patients with suggestions on IBD management [58], but at the beginning of the pandemic, there were no suggestion to provide. In addition, patients with Crohn's disease expressed concern about the shortage of medical resources. A study from the Netherlands showed that patients with IBD showed an overall low health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the older patients, women and patients who underwent surgical procedures [59]. Many hospitals temporarily closed the biological reagent injection room for the sake of epidemic safety, which led to many patients not being treated on time. Some radical and unprecedented health policies, such as shielding, disrupted patientstreatment and lives. Mass vaccination programs provide the best opportunity for controlling transmission and protecting populations [60], but this is a difficult decision for IBD patients as no confirmed data are presently available regarding COVID-19 vaccines in this population due to their exclusion from the conducted clinical trials [61]. The good news is that some recent studies have provided some clinical evidence [62,63,64]. Drug use after COVID-19 infection has also become a psychological burden for Crohn's disease patients. A clinical study of 1439 IBD patients from 47 countries showed that combination therapy (TNF antagonist and thiopurine) and thiopurine drugs may increase the risk of severe COVID-19. No significant differences were observed when comparing classes of biological agents [65], although post-acute COVID-19 is characterized by gut viral antigen persistence in IBD [66]. More clinical and basic studies are needed to confirm the problem of drug use after COVID-19 infection.

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National structural engineering firm breaks into U.S. – Construction Canada

Stephan Kordt, founder of Kordt Engineering Group, is now serving as the president of U.S. operations with RJC Engineers. Photo courtesy RJC Engineers.

Operating from 14 locations in Canada and specializing in structural engineering, the design consultant, RJC Engineers (RJC), has acquired the U.S. firm, Kordt Engineering Group (KEG) from the latters Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, offices.

The move will help RJC gain a foothold all over North America and endow its experience, capabilities, and depth of services to help KEG better cater to their clients. Both firms will continue offering services in structural, facade, structural glass engineering, and more.

KEG has clients in structural engineering all over North America and Europe, in various domains, from commercial buildings sector to landmark structures. The firm is well-known for its exceptional client service and both firms cultures match in relation to prioritising their employees and customers.

Stephan Kordt, KEGs founder, has been appointed as the president of U.S. operations at RJC. As a reputable engineer and reliable leader, Kordt has earned recognition for completing high-quality projects under strict time constraints. His extensive technical expertise, industry connections, and skill in devising sophisticated and fitting structural solutions have made him a highly sought-after professional in the U.S. Kordts notable undertakings comprise The Watermark, Project 63, Crystals at CityCenter, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino expansion, Venetian Casino Resort, Venezia Hotel Tower, and the World Market Center.

RJC is excited to further establish ourselves in the U.S. through acquiring KEG. Our firms and people have worked together for over a decade and share a history of successfully delivering projects throughout the U.S., says Mike Moffatt, executive principal of RJC. Our strategic expansion into the U.S. allows RJC to bring its expertise in many building sectors and service offerings to a broader client base.

We are thrilled to join forces with RJC and look forward to working with an even wider group of clients across the U.S., says Kordt. We will continue to deliver the high-quality client service and innovative structural engineering solutions we are known for, while bringing the expanded depth of expertise, resources, and services offerings now available to us as part of RJC.

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National structural engineering firm breaks into U.S. - Construction Canada

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