As Consumers Seek Affordable Housing, Developers and Builders Focus on New Solutions to Stay Profitable

Jennifer started her career at mma in 2004, making her one of our longest tenured employees. She has been with mma through many changes and has been a valuable contributor to our success across many areas of the company, including civil engineering, landscape architecture, planning and surveying. Her chosen value is “be involved” – and she shows what this means daily.

Jennifer earned her SIT certification in 2021 and has made a significant impact on that team. “I have so much appreciation for Jennifer’s efforts within the survey department,” says Jacob Sumpter, AICP, mma President. “Her level of detail can’t be surpassed, her attention to a quality deliverable is exceptional, and her organizational skills are top-notch. I have spent my entire career with Jennifer and am thankful for every minute. This award is greatly overdue, and she certainly deserves it.”

Congratulations, Jennifer, on this well-deserved recognition of your hard work and commitment to making an impact in all that you do.

We’re proud to announce that mma Principal Douglas Cooper, AICP, has been named to the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce and Arlington Today’s first-ever 40 Under 40 list.

With more than 15 years of experience in both the public and private sector, Douglas has been with mma for over nine years and leads multi-disciplinary teams on complex zoning and land development projects. He also leads mma’s business development efforts and is integral in developing the company’s long-term plans and strategies to achieve future growth and success.

“We’re so proud of Douglas for his recognition as one of Arlington’s top young professionals,” says Jacob Sumpter, President of mma. “He has such a passion for community-building, which you can see clearly in how he engages everyone from his fellow employees to clients to community leaders – not to mention the volunteer work he does outside mma. We’re thankful to have him as part of our mma family and look forward to his continued leadership.”

Douglas was previously named to the 2021 Fort Worth Business Press 40 Under 40 list and is active on several community boards of directors, including Friends of the Levitt Pavilion, the City of Fort Worth’s Urban Design Commission, and the Ryan Place Improvement Association.

Beyond his mma leadership and community commitments, you can find Douglas spending time with his wife, Katie, and daughter, Daisy. He also enjoys hunting, fishing and exploring great cities and parks around the world.

Congratulations, Douglas!

(February 16, 2022) Valerie Arruda, EIT was named the 2021 mma Impact Award Winner. Created in 2018, the mma impact award celebrates individuals who influence our company in a positive way.

What does the impact award mean? The literal definition of impact is:

• To hit with force!
• The power of an event or an idea to produce changes!
• To influence. An action exerted by a person with such power on another to cause change.

During her 3 years at mma, Valerie has grown from a civil engineering intern to the leader of TEAM PASSIONATE. Her chosen value is “be passionate”, a value she truly expresses in her day to day tasks. When asked to describe Valerie, her peers described her as the following:

• “She is a rockstar!”
• “She is intelligent, strong, capable, and a complete boss!”
• “You ask her for help and the immediate answer is yes, how can I?”

Congratulations to Valerie on winning the 2021 mma Impact Award! We’re proud to have you on our team!

Dear friends and partners,

mma’s leadership team is grateful for our clients who made 2021 one of the best years yet. This year’s project milestones included the completion of Great Hearts Arlington, Twin Hills, Idea Seminary, Levitt Hospitality Suite, The Preserve on Kelly Elliot, Sunset at Fash Place, Ashton Sawing, and Everly Plaza. We celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Burleson office, as well as the addition of several new clients and continued work with existing ones – with whom we are proud to be partners.

Of course, none of our success would be possible without our team members who power our efforts each and every day. mma was once again named to DBJ’s “Best Places to Work” as voted by you – our incredible team members. This year we congratulated the accomplishments of those who became Professional Engineers, EIT’s, and SIT’s while providing encouragement and support to those wanting to take the next step in their career. Your commitment to being passionate, accountable, creative, involved, engaged, and responsive is reflected in every project and in every interaction. The success of mma is owed to you.

As we enter the first week of 2022 with renewed energy, we’d like to encourage our team and clients to “Take it to the next level!”

Happy New Year!

Arlington, TX (August 23, 2021) – mma’s new leadership team was announced to employees at the firm’s mid-year company meeting on Friday, July 30th.

When asked about the new leadership team, mma Founder and Chief Idea Guy, Cliff Mycoskie, RLA, ASLA stated: “Successful transition of leadership is critical for any organization. We are fortunate to have these six professionals who have all demonstrated leadership and alignment with mma’s values and vision for the future. I look forward to their influence in the execution of our business at mma. Together, we are committed to navigate the right path forward for mma and our client’s success.”

The following talented professionals serve on mma’s leadership team:

Fort Worth, TX (July 23, 2021) – mma is pleased to announce Douglas Cooper, AICP has been named to the 2021 Fort Worth Business Press’ 40 Under 40 list. “We are proud of Douglas for being recognized as one of Fort Worth’s top young professionals. His dedication to building a better community shines through not only in his work, but in his willingness to volunteer his personal time to causes which help shape the quality of living for his neighbors and friends.” stated Jacob Sumpter, Chief Operating Officer at mma.

Congratulations are in order for the City of Euless and team at Tonti Properties – the Dallas-based developer behind Trinity Union Apartments in Euless, Texas.

Trinity Union is a 459-unit luxury apartment community, comprising one four-story garage-wrapped building and eight three-story garden-style buildings. The site was originally comprised of abandoned buildings and vacant land. The procurement of this property proved challenging. The project required purchasing sites from three sellers, combining land in three cities, relocating the Colleyville-Euless city boundary, moving utility mains, improving offsite City streets, and working with FEMA to revise the floodplain on which the site was to be built. Zoning was also a challenge as multifamily uses were not previously allowed. Ultimately, the team was able to overcome these challenges and build the first mid-rise project in Euless, Texas.

Trinity Union’s 2020 Awards include:

• 2020 Bala Award: Development up to 3 Stories, For Rent
• 2020 SILVER Aurora Award: Best Multifamily Housing Community Up to Four Stories for Rent
• 2020 Dallas Builder’s Association McSam Award: Multifamily Community of the Year

Civil, Survey, Landscape Architecture, Planning: mma

Architect: Womack + Hampton

General Contractor: CBG Building Company

When our company values were developed three years ago, we had no idea just how important those guiding principles would play a role in how mma’s team would respond to the pandemic and all the challenges which came with it.

Our team have had to use creative ways to stay involved and engaged with each other’s growth and project needs; they’ve stayed accountable and have been responsive to clients – regardless of the circumstances; and they’ve done it all with the same passion and dedication to their profession which mma is known for.

We’re also humbled and proud of the firms and individuals we call our clients. Thank you for trusting us with your projects. Without you, we wouldn’t be celebrating the end of 2020 with a hopeful outlook for 2021.

That said, we’d like to present our company goals for 2021:

… We want each of our clients to feel like they’re our only client.

… We want our employees to feel satisfied, supported, and empowered.

… We want new clients to choose us because of our focus on technology and commitment to quality service.

As we close the book on one of the most eventful and strange years in our careers, we are left with deep gratitude for family, friendship, and the individuals with whom we have the pleasure of working with daily.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Cliff, Jacob, and Rob

We’re excited to share that we’ve opened an office in Burleson, Texas. Read the full press release here:

mma opens new office in Burleson, Texas.

October 5, 2020 – mma, an Arlington based professional services firm offering civil engineering, survey, planning, and landscape architecture, is pleased to announce the official opening of its office in Burleson, Texas.

Andrea Taylor, PE will lead the office and mma’s Burleson team. “Burleson was a sensible choice for us and our clients,” says Taylor. “Having the ability to better serve our clients in Burleson and farther south of the metroplex was a top priority when considering where to set up new roots.” she said.

The Burleson office will serve public and private clients spanning as far south as Waco. “Some might be wondering about the timing – the midst of a global pandemic may not seem like the right time to open a new office – our main goal is to ensure that our clients get the timely service and support they need. This addition makes perfect sense for our business and employees,” says Jacob Sumpter, AICP, Chief Operating Officer at mma.

About mma

mma is a technology-focused professional services firm providing civil engineering, survey, landscape architecture, and planning to clients across Texas. Our mission is to promote the passion of our employees while delivering to our clients creative and efficient design solutions which facilitates positive economic growth in the community. Notable projects include Moderno-Live Simply, Globe Life Field, Texas Live!, and the Levitt Pavilion in Arlington.

Conveying a Vision

by Bobby Gaddis

In the development process for large tracts of land one of the hardest things for people is to see the vision.

See the vision of a connected development

See the vision of new amenities, both structural and natural, available to them

See the vision of transformation that could happen

See the vision of excitement

Throughout much of the past and continuing on today, conveying this vision to others has been done in a similar fashion with the use of rendered site plans. These illustrations will always have a place in the development process and will continue to be an important asset to any developer. Sometimes though, the rendered site plan alone doesn’t provide the infectious excitement to others that the developer has for the project.

Recently we had the opportunity to work on a large tract concept in Burleson, Texas for a developer headed to ICSC this week. RA Development LTD, the developer, wanted to be able to present this property in a way that provided a clear vision of what the site could become. So as would be expected for this type of conceptual planning, our talented planning department took the initial ideas from the client and came up with a rendered site plan.

Rendered Site Plan

This is a great start, but at mma we have a refined set of tools and technical knowledge to take this site plan to the next level.

Infraworks Models

Images like this are what will start to bring in that excitement for a project and before I lose you with an “I bet that took a lot of time”, you will be surprised at the amount of effort that is put into making a model like this. Before we dive into this model with more images/video, there are a few tools that mma uses to make things like this possible that you should know about.

The first thing to know is that this is an actual grading concept created by an engineer (me in this case). If you look closely at the video later below, you will see that there are curbs and walls graded in which usually are ignored in other models you might have seen like this. To be able to provide this level of detail and also verify that the concept will work from a grading standpoint, we use a tool called Siteops. Siteops is a grading optimization software that allows the engineer to input grading constraints such as builds, parking areas, islands, ponds, etc. and the software will provide a grading plan and feedback of whether your plan is achievable. From that feedback, the engineer can then begin to add in retaining walls, adjust slope constraints, or adjust the site to produce a feasible overall grading plan that can later be taken into detailed design confidently. This iterative process by the engineer is very quick and provides enough detail for the overall elevation change throughout the site to be shown in the model.

Siteops

The next significant tool mma utilizes for the actual model creation is Infraworks. This is a tool that allows us to quickly aggregate several different data sources into one completed model. A few of the different data sources we use in large models like this are lidar data for the site and surrounding topography, any onsite topography that has been completed, the proposed surface we get from Siteops, the linework from the concept plan CAD to create the different material areas and buildings, and finally points from the CAD file that represent locations of people, trees, and cars.

The great thing about Infraworks is that changes can quickly be updated in the model from the CAD work that was changed. It’s so quick to put these models together, in fact, our engineers usually create one at some point during every project, with less detail, to verify grading and utilities look correct even if the client never ends up seeing any images/videos from the model.

Basic infraworks model with no hatching

At mma we train all of our staff to use tools like this and collaborate across departments to provide our clients with deliverables and insight that wouldn’t be expected from planners or engineers on their own.

Take a look at the final video of the development we put together below.

Couple fun facts about this model. There are:

• 2100 cars in the parking lots and drive aisles
• 325 people around the site
• 350 individual trees not counting the forested areas
• a 30’ tall person that can be seen at 1:27 on the left side of the screen across the street from the building (oops)

We hope that you will give us a call on your next project and let us help take your vision to the next level.

Introducing our new blog series Autonomous Arlington!

by Brandon Utterback

Autonomous vehicles, rideshare, drones, the Internet of Things (IoT), and online delivery technologies are developing quickly. As a result, the ways in which we interface with our destinations and receive our consumables are changing. If one looks closely at our current situation, they will see that the pressure on parking spaces is beginning to subside, while it simultaneously is heating up at the curb, sidewalk, and doorstep. As a grad student at The University of Texas at Arlington, I have been studying this change as the subject of my masters’ thesis in landscape architecture and city and regional planning. My hope is to not only fulfill my academic requirements, but to establish myself as an expert who will help design and retrofit our cities to this new transportation paradigm.

I am introducing this blog series, not only to inform, but to inspire participation by the public at large. Although I have spent a great deal of time conceptualizing a future with far less parking and how it might be designed, I continuously benefit from gaining others’ perspectives, and look forward to facilitating a forum for discussion. In short, I would love to hear what excites you, or gives you pause, about the new future we will build for our cities. Additionally, any applicable resources you discover might aid in my research, and would be greatly appreciated.

I also hope to align myself and mirror Arlington’s reputation as being on the forefront of this exciting new transportation frontier. During my research, I seek to establish myself as an expert on this subject. Aside from my thesis defense in December, I will be actively looking for opportunities to speak and collaborate with my colleagues and others. Finally, and possibly most importantly, I lay out my argument for mma to pave the way. Arlington has once again become the largest American city without mass transit, and offers a proving ground for modern door-to-door and on-demand autonomous transit and delivery. From what I have experienced in my first year at mma, no other firm is more equipped to address the anticipated change before us.

Next week I will submit my first post of this series titled Muscle Power. In that post I will explore transportation, just before the mass acceptance and adoption of the automobile in America.

About Brandon

Brandon Utterback is a grad student at the University of Texas at Arlington. His undergraduate degrees include horticulture and interdisciplinary studies with a minor in environmental sustainability. Brandon will graduate in the fall of 2018 with a master in landscape architecture and a master in city and regional planning. His hopes for the future are to develop an A-Team of designers that inject magic and awe into the experience of place, and work creatively to usher in the age of autonomous vehicles.

Muscle Power: There has always been a cost associated with transportation

by Brandon Utterback

There has always been a cost associated with transportation. Movement of goods and people require resources of time and energy. Throughout civilization, cities were defined by density and gained strength as a result. Early cities in America were designed based upon their European predecessors. These predecessors had large central squares typically built at the feet of a church, palace or governmental building. With the limited range and capabilities of transportation powered by muscle, living farther from the central square was less desirable. This made the space at the center (nearer the town’s square) more valuable as people traveled to conduct their daily business. [1]

Prior to the invention of the car, terrestrial transportation was limited to the modes of pedestrian, bicycle, and horse. Of this, most travel occurred on foot rather than horseback as the horses and the carriages they could pull were slow and rough riding. [2] The streets accommodating this traffic were narrow and unpaved as they meandered through the urban landscape from place to place. Streets were primarily centers for market transactions and socialization as transportation specific infrastructure was not as imposing and specialized as it is today. This would leave little space for modern infrastructure that would need to expand with technological advances as other modes of transportation developed.

For thousands of years the horse was the main mode of transportation for carrying loads, and to traverse long distances. Today the horse is looked upon with romanticism of a simpler, cleaner, and healthier time. However, this was not necessarily the truth. “By the late 1800’s the problem of horse pollution had reached unprecedented heights. American cities were drowning in horse manure as well as other unpleasant byproducts… including urine, flies, congestion, carcasses, and traffic accidents.” [3] It was estimated in New York that “Every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in horse manure.” [4] To mitigate the problem there were people known as ‘crossing sweepers’ who, for a fee, would shovel a path through the manure for pedestrians to walk.” [5]

Horses were also dangerous. In addition to the manure and carcasses that drew flies and spread diseases, the transportation on and around them would prove deadly as well. “Data from Chicago show that in 1916 there were 16.9 horse-related fatalities for each 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles; this is nearly seven times the city’s fatality rate per auto in 1997.” [6] Other negative aspects associated with the horses included noise. The clacking of iron horseshoes on hard pavement was attributed to nervous disorders, particularly in cities where the occurrences were more common than in rural areas [7] This is something that many would say about today’s traffic.

As mechanical technology advanced with steam power and the rail, one would think that the train would have freed the horse and its associated problems from the city. However, it made the problems much worse as “nearly every item shipped by rail needed to be collected and distributed by horses at both ends of the journey.” [8] There was also push-back from the public against the railroad infiltrating their streets. In 1840 women and children of Kensington, Philadelphia rioted against a steam railroad planned for construction through their neighborhood. This threatened the current uses of the streets as playgrounds for children and social spaces for homemakers. These protesters pointed out the negatives, as accidents and pollution would be the result of allowing the railroad to infiltrate their space. Steam locomotives were serious fire and safety hazards, as they threw sparks onto neighboring houses and businesses and were also subject to boil over explosions. This threatened to lower property values and coat the adjacent landscapes and its people in suit.

This allowed the private automobile to be seen as an ‘environmental savior.’ This is difficult to understand from today’s perspective as cars are now a key focus of the causes of global warming and pollution. However, at the time, the automobile solved the problems that “had strained governments to the breaking point, vexed the media, tormented the citizenry, and brought society to the brink of despair.” [9] This would aid in the transition from the horse and offer a safer and cleaner alternative to the rail as acceptance of the personal automobile gained momentum.

I ask the readers of this blog to ask themselves, “Just how dirty and dangerous are today’s automobiles with drivers?” Consider all the time and resources that individuals commit to private car ownership. With the capabilities of companies like Uber and Google looking to provide all your door-to-door and on-demand transportation needs, what will motivate you to give up your car? Which issues would make the most impact and help you make the decision to switch; the environment, economics, safety, convenience? Perhaps it is a combination of all these problems together that will move us all to take action.

Resources

McShane, Clay. Down the Asphalt Path. Columbia University Press, 1995. Morris, Eric. “From Horse Power to Horsepower.” ACCESS Magazine, vol. 1, no. 30, Apr 2007.

About Brandon

Brandon Utterback is a grad student at the University of Texas at Arlington. His undergraduate degrees include horticulture and interdisciplinary studies with a minor in environmental sustainability. Brandon will graduate in the fall of 2018 with a master in landscape architecture and a master in city and regional planning. His hopes for the future are to develop an A-Team of designers that inject magic and awe into the experience of place, and work creatively to usher in the age of autonomous vehicles.

Rise of the Machine: Will we wake up in a new automated transportation realiy in the next decade?

by Brandon Utterback

Cars were more efficient than horses in moving people and product as they were much faster. Cars were also cheaper and easier to operate, this made the switch from horses to cars a matter of good economics as well. “In 1900, 4,192 cars were sold in the US; by 1912 that number had risen to 356,000. In 1912, traffic counts in New York showed more cars than horses for the first time. The equine was not replaced all at once, but function by function.” Hauling freight was the last job of the horse as the motorized truck replaced the horse and cart in the 1920’s.”

“Automobile ownership spread much faster in the United States than elsewhere.” America’s opportunity to benefit from the automobile was unique in that there were vast expanses of undeveloped land. This was unlike the more densely populated cities of Europe. Therefore, the car would be found valuable in connecting far off places. In 1913 Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line. This made cars more affordable to the average family and helped to turn cities inside out where the center of the cities lost some of their value as the American dream, and reach for the suburbs, was defined.

A car was the great symbol of advancement that stood for a large share of “The American Dream.” “Just before the 1929 stock-market crash, over 26 million motor vehicles were registered in the United States. This meant that there was one car for every five Americans, and more than half of the nation’s families owned a car.” This newly realized access would shape the way that American’s looked at and used the land and would eventually give reinforcement to the concept of the suburb. “Thus, in only three decades the car had become a ubiquitous symbol of American prosperity.” “Although the Great Depression and World War II delayed the spread of car ownership to the more than 40 percent of American families without them in 1930, the automobile’s central economic and cultural role was already set.”

The American fascination with cars at the time was unique. Americans adopted cars much faster than their European counterparts. In the book Steering a New Course the author explains that “the population was more scattered, and density was lower, so many Americans did not have access to satisfactory public transit.” For them, the automobile filled a need for faster and more convenient travel. Because average incomes were higher, and wealth was distributed more equally than in Europe, more people could afford cars to fill this need.” To satisfy this fascination, America would need further develop innovations to accommodate the automobile along with the roads on which they would need to travel.

I write this blog entry to point out the paradigm shift in America where we so readily dropped the reins of the horse and took hold of the steering wheel. Cars outnumbered horses in just over a decade and all but replaced them entirely a few years after that. Will autonomous technologies replace the driven car at the same rate? Will we wake up in a new automated transportation reality in the next decade?

About Brandon

Brandon Utterback is a grad student at the University of Texas at Arlington. His undergraduate degrees include horticulture and interdisciplinary studies with a minor in environmental sustainability. Brandon will graduate in the fall of 2018 with a master in landscape architecture and a master in city and regional planning. His hopes for the future are to develop an A-Team of designers that inject magic and awe into the experience of place, and work creatively to usher in the age of autonomous vehicles.

The Intern Experience

by Madison Kohnen

My name is Madison Kohnen, and this summer I had the awesome opportunity of interning with mma in the civil engineering department. The overarching theme for the past 3 months of my life has been growth; growth in my career, growth in my technical skills, growth in my education, and growth in my interpersonal skills. I have learned so much this summer, and I have everyone at mma to thank for it.

“growth in my career, growth in my technical skills, growth in my education, and growth in my interpersonal skills.”

I’ve gotten to do some pretty amazing things since I started working here. I was able to attend a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Texas Live which was incredibly interesting, and not just because I’m pursuing a career in civil engineering. The size of the project is shocking enough, because the hotel, stadium and outdoor concert area are all under construction simultaneously. When I toured, the baseball field was just a giant concrete hole in the ground. This is one of the parts I remember best, because I got to see the foundations of a place that millions of people will enjoy.

One of my favorite projects this summer has been working on a 3D rendering of Texas Live. It was amazing to see the finished product on my computer screen before construction is even finished. I got to transform 2D construction documents into a 3D model that anyone can look at and recognize it as Texas Live. And the model can show you all the water, storm, and sewer pipes underground that you didn’t know were even there.

I am so glad to be part of a company that has been so involved in the transformation of downtown Arlington. I’ve learned so much from all of my coworkers, and I couldn’t ask for a more helpful and supportive team of people to work with. I’ve had a wonderful interning experience with mma and I would recommend this company to any student wanting to start their career out right.

The Intern Experience – Valerie

by Valerie Arruda

I am grateful that my first internship is with mma. The company is rich in history, while so rapidly growing and evolving their brand and the services offered. The company embraces their roots in Arlington, Texas, even providing a scavenger hunt in their welcome packet with spots all over the city. As a student at the University of Texas in Arlington who lives in heart of downtown, it was refreshing to know companies like mma contribute to the culture of Arlington and take so much pride in the city they are based in.

As a junior in civil engineering, it can be daunting to start working in a field you’re just being exposed to. Applying concepts I hadn’t yet learned, seeing the applications when all I’ve experienced are the concepts- it’s intimidating but all very rewarding. When the internship began in May, mma understood the lack of experience Madison and I had but let us delve into engineering projects and training right away. Within our first week, we got assigned projects allowing us to interact with the other engineers and project managers, and we went on a site tour of Texas Live! to see a project we’d both come to work on in the coming months. Throughout the summer, I have gotten to experience the planning, designing, and submittal processes of projects while applying concepts I’m being taught in my classes.

“I am grateful that my first internship is with mma.”

With less than three months at mma, I have already learned so much in the field and found a passion for the work I hadn’t experienced through textbooks and lectures. The engineers at mma are well rounded and knowledgeable, and it is inspiring to work to work alongside so many women in a field typically outnumbered by men. Civil engineering is such a creative and rewarding career, and working with landscape architects and surveyors brings perspective to how much goes into a single project. I have learned so much just this summer, and I am excited to continue my internship with mma in the fall.

Six Flags Over Texas Debutes Harley Quinn Spinsanity

On July 14, Six Flags over Texas debuted another super-villain themed ride, the Harley Quinn Spinsanity. This 24-seat gondola-style ride rotates backwards and sideways at the same time to provide riders a “combination of negative and positive gravitational forces”. The ride is now open to the public and has become a huge draw for not only the thrill, but also the 360-degree views of Arlington’s Entertainment District.

In partnership with Quorum Architects, mma prepared the paving and grading plans for the areas surrounding this project.

See the full article here.

Urban Land Institute Development Showcase

On July 10th, mma was honored to participate in the Urban Land Institute Development Showcase at the new Park District PwC Tower in downtown Dallas.

The event, held by ULI North Texas’ Young Leaders Group, brings together engineers, developers, architects, and real estate industry representatives to highlight their projects and the technology shaping the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

mma showcased the technology we provided for Texas Live! and the new Globe Life Field. This included 3D visualizations, drone footage and GIS, and a physical 3D model of the design.

Read the full article here.

Updated: Feb 11, 2019

Women in Engineering

My dad is the reason I knew I would become an engineer. Because he is an engineer, I had grown up knowing that engineering was a possibility for me, it never crossed my mind as something that was off limits…until I got to school. It was a harrowing experience to have someone ask you what your backup plan is because engineering is too hard. Truth is, I didn’t have one. I was going to become an engineer.

“I was going to become an Engineer”

It was hard to be the only women in a classroom. It was hard to not have many women engineering friends. However it was worth it, to have a professor apologize for thinking you didn’t understand the course, to have classmates that were willing to refer you as someone to hire. It was worth it, to become an engineer because I love the puzzle and seeing the direct impact on the community. Asking my fellow female co-workers why they pursued a career in engineering, it isn’t difficult to see that we are all here for similar reasons: to be challenged and to make a difference.

Valerie is a junior at UT Arlington, working on her degree in Civil Engineering. She chose engineering to be creative with her design for infrastructure that will be used by others.

Madison is a junior at Texas A&M, working on her degree in Civil Engineering who enjoys the math, science, and challenge that engineering brings.

Gabby is a Graduate Engineer 1, who chose engineering because it would always be a challenge to her that will continue to afford her opportunities to learn new things that have a visible impact on society.

Kristal is a Graduate Engineer 2, who also has a father who is an Engineer and who was a catalyst for her choice in Engineering. She enjoys the problem solving that she gets to do every day.

WE are so grateful to all to all of the brave and bold women that paved the way for women in engineering, to not be seen as an exception to the rule, but as a part of the team. It can be difficult to fathom the hardships of those before us because at mma there are more women in the engineering department than men and we all make a knock out team.

“to not be seen as an exception to the rule, but as part of the team.”

Andrea

Mrs. Taylor is a professional engineer with over 5 years experience. She currently serves as a project manager for mma and has been responsible for the planning, designing and preparing of construction documents for various projects throughout Texas. Project types include, but have not been limited to, municipal roadway improvements, commercial and retail development and residential development.

Creating Our Brand.

mma,inc. and it predecessors have been a staple in the Arlington community for over 4 decades. The current ownership have a long history within the community, have been and are heavily involved in multiple community organizations, and have been a part of many projects which have transformed the City over the years. That being said, Arlington is very important to mma and we wanted to express this within our brand.

Arlington is located within the central part of the DFW area. Roughly 16 miles from downtown Fort Worth and 19 miles from downtown Dallas. Our central location within the DFW area allows us to not only be involved and provide our services within the City of Arlington, but also connect with the multitude of other municipalities within the region in a timely fashion. Our corporate headquarters is located within downtown Arlington. The downtown layout is the typical grid layout you see within the core of most towns and cities.

The area between Main Street and the railroad is divided in sections which graphically forms a square. Main Street with the interurban railway and the union pacific railway formed the backbone of the downtown area. Also, our central location and historical roots in the Arlington area provide a segue into what had been the central gathering space in the downtown area for many years and the backbone for community engagement. The water well located at Main Street and Center Street.

The water well changed over time and was ultimately removed in the 1950’s. Today the central gathering place in downtown Arlington is the Levitt Pavilion at Founders Park. Many people now come from all over the region to gather and enjoy free concerts under the stars.

The central gathering place is key to us, as we take pride in working with our clients to be their point of contact for their projects, by working with governmental agencies and other design consultants and acting as a hub (or central gathering place) for design coordination, community engagement, and plan submittals.

The central gathering place is represented by the center square in our brand. It also represents our central location with the region and the city. The outlying lines represent the downtown grid, which connects us to our historical roots in Arlington, but also how we take pride in connecting with our clients. The internal grid layout also represents our survey, planning, and GIS services, which relate to each discipline in different ways. The vertical lines, as shown in our previous brands, represent our civil engineering and landscape architectural services. The line moving downwards represents civil infrastructure, below the ground, and the line moving upwards represents site & landscape improvements, above the ground.

Our brand is simple yet speaks to who we are, what we believe in, and where we have come from. We hope you like our new look, because we sure do!

Check out the new home of mma, located in the heart of Arlington

2017 was a big year for all of us at mma! We went through a re-branding, introduced GIS as one of our core services, and began an initiative to boost our employee and business development. Because of these awesome changes, it only made sense for our growing firm to move to a bigger and better office!

We knew we wanted to stay in Arlington and close to downtown. This area has been our home base for almost twenty years, and it has been incredible to see and be a part of the redevelopment process of this district. After a few months of searching, we finally found the perfect space for our firm just down the street from our old office. In March of this year, we finally made the move into our brand-new space! With custom finishes like our wall-sized map of Dallas-Fort Worth, interactive screens with our project catalog, and a pool table that never goes a day without use, the new office represents our brand from top to bottom.

We couldn’t be prouder of our new office! If you haven’t had the chance to see our space, please stop by anytime for a tour.