Salas O'Brien

The FAR process works for most federal procurement. But when requirements are undefined, funding is unclear, or speed matters, there are other tools available. Harry Kleiser, Hillary Bassett, Debra (Bahr) Edwards, and John Broughton break down how non-FAR approaches are helping federal clients move stalled facility programs forward. #EngineeredForImpact

Federal agencies like NASA manage hundreds of thousands of equipment assets across every center. Keeping that portfolio running at scale has to go beyond scheduled maintenance. It takes a framework for deciding where to focus. Salas O'Brien's Aaron Thompson, writes in Federal News Network about how reliability-centered maintenance helps agencies align maintenance strategy to their mission. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/gYf24asM #EngineeredForImpact

This month in The Impact, we're focused on what it takes to modernize manufacturing operations across industries. Whether it's a food production line, a chemical processing facility, or a consumer goods plant, manufacturers are facing the same pressures: aging equipment, rising energy costs, tighter compliance requirements, and growing expectations for sustainable operations. The teams gaining ground are the ones pairing practical upgrades with smarter use of data, simulation, and maintenance strategies.

What does sustainability look like for a modern film studio? At Electric Owl Studios, it meant setting ambitious goals and building a practical path to achieve them. Our team supported sustainability consulting efforts that helped shape a high-performance, lower-impact production environment with LEED-Gold certification. Highlights: • A studio designed with sustainability in mind. • Practical strategies to reduce environmental impact. • A project that reflects where the industry is heading. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gPhHtm7p #EngineeredForImpact

Sharif Jones didn’t take a traditional path into the AEC industry, but he’s built one with a lot of success. Starting out in mass communications, Sharif found his way into the lab and into a role where learning, hard work, and discipline matter. Today, as a laboratory manager, he wears many hats, supports those around him, and helps create opportunities for the next generation. Outside the lab he’s a walking dog breed encyclopedia, a talent he’s had since childhood. Learn more about Sharif in the video below. Find where you can fit on our team: https://lnkd.in/d_tYShk #EngineeredForImpact

Hospitals love to lower utility spend, but they can’t simply “use less energy.” Patient care, infection control, and nonstop operations all depend on reliable power. Our latest guide looks at how on-site power generation can help healthcare facilities strengthen resilience, manage risk, and support improved long-term performance. Inside: • Why this matters for hospitals now. • The role of microgrids in managing power. • Comparison grid for on-site generation options. Read the guide: https://lnkd.in/eRAGGwqm Thank you to Salas O'Brien's contributors on this guide: Duc Bui, Josh Cartwright, Jeff Cichonski, Eric Miller, Henry Pramono, Bill Scrantom, Khaja Hussain Syed, Alan Watson, and Alan Vanags #EngineeredForImpact

Fred Miller, alongside colleagues Creighton Couch, and Patrick Sweeney, wrote for Data Centre Review on how higher-temperature liquid cooling is reshaping data center economics from the ground up. Read to find out: • How NVIDIA's Rubin platform, designed to run on 45°C warm-water supply loops, is changing what operators can ask of their cooling infrastructure. • What multi-tier thermal architectures look like in practice for campuses supporting mixed rack populations above 200 kW per rack. • Why warmer primary loops can reduce required chiller tonnage and lower the electrical infrastructure dedicated to cooling. • The case for thermal strategy as a financial lever, not just a mechanical one. • How scalable thermal design enables density growth without proportional increases in mechanical plant size. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gVgjyG_A #EngineeredForImpact

A spec life science building can have clean finishes, generous ceiling heights, and a leasing brochure that lands every pharma prospect in the region, but it can also need 18 months of infrastructure work before a cGMP operator can run a single batch. Salas O'Brien experts, Josh Morton and Dominic Pion break down the MEP decisions that separate life science buildings from pharma-ready ones. The article unpacks: • How a standard spec package (domestic water, plant steam, basic compressed air) leaves a compliance tail most developers never underwrite. • Why process drainage is the most consistent offender, and the slab-cutting math that follows when floor drains get added after the pour. • What Grade A through Grade D classifications actually require of HVAC zoning, air handling, and pressure cascades. • The flow geometry decision that shifts the compliance burden from the facility to the tenant, and how to avoid it. • Why distribution systems for purified water and clean steam should be sized for full eventual load from day one, even when production capacity gets phased. Read the full piece: https://lnkd.in/gPf-9F4P #EngineeredForImpact

The Cotton Bowl has hosted the Dallas Cowboys, the SMU Mustangs, and the annual Red River Rivalry since 1930. Updating a National Historic Landmark for 21st-century performance, without touching what makes it iconic, is a different kind of engineering challenge. For the 2024 and 2025 renovation phases, Salas O'Brien provided technology, acoustics, and safety and security design for the Cotton Bowl Stadium rehabilitation at Fair Park in Dallas, partnering with OVERLAND Partners on the $140 million project. We provided a full AV, telecom, and security overhaul of the West side inside a 277-acre historic park with an active event calendar, designing systems for a new press box, new suites, and a new club, with complete makeovers of all three concourses while preserving the landmark's National Historic designation. Read the full project profile: https://lnkd.in/g8jzh3h9 #EngineeredForImpact

Lifelong creative. Competitive equestrian. Alexia Reilly, director of marketing for technology and acoustics, has always found a way to carve her own path—and she brings that same curiosity to how she leads, learns, and experiments with what's next. Watch below to hear about her journey into marketing, why intention shapes everything she does, and the magic of a team scattered across every time zone that somehow still feels like one office. Join our team: https://lnkd.in/d_tYShk #EngineeredForImpact