Stevens Institute of Technology forms strategic partnership with Langan Engineering & Environmental Services

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Stevens Institute of Technology has formed a strategic partnership with Langan Engineering & Environmental Services to provide expertise related to flood mapping and deliver engineering solutions to help protect coastlines and urban areas threatened by sea level rise. Stevens is globally recognized as an academic authority on coastal, oceanographic and maritime engineering and is home to the Center for Maritime Systems, which focuses on assessing, predicting and mitigating the damage of natural and man-made disasters to coasts. Langan provides civil, geotechnical, and environmental consulting, with particular expertise in waterfront communities and port cities.

Since Hurricane Sandy caused unprecedented damage to the New York metropolitan region, Stevens faculty and Langan leaders have conferred about the many technical issues affecting real estate and development projects in the area. For example, as a result of the devastation, Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps for the New York and New Jersey coastlines have been released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These maps are an intermediary step to help homeowners and businesses rebuild before official revised FEMA Flood Maps are issued.

Stevens and Langan are well suited to help all stakeholders better understand the impact of these Advisory Base Flood Maps, interpret the new regulations stemming from their release, and provide world-class counseling to minimize damages from severe weather incidents and predicted elevations in sea rise.

"We are honored to partner with Stevens Institute of Technology, a world-leader in maritime engineering, as well as coastal and oceanographic studies — scientific disciplines that are incredibly important as we rebuild from Sandy and work to protect our cities and critical infrastructure for other natural disasters," said David T. Gockel, president/CEO, Langan. "Sea level rise is a real threat to waterfront property owners and future development along rivers, oceans, and bays. Together, we look forward to advancing our collective knowledge on this subject and to designing solutions to help our clients, friends and neighbors."

This strategic partnership will provide Langan with greater access to technical expertise in the fields of coastal flood protection, and in turn will allow research derived by Stevens to be applied to properties most affected by storm surges and flooding in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Florida, the San Francisco Bay area, and California coast.

"This alliance provides the perfect synergy between a leading academic institution and a professional consulting firm," said Michael Bruno, dean of the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science at Stevens. "Both Langan and Stevens recognize the incontrovertible evidence that novel engineering is needed if we are to preserve our way of life while ultimately respecting the larger natural environment."

Langan and Stevens have maintained a mutually beneficial relationship for more than a decade. Langan employs more than 30 Stevens alumni, and Stevens conducts graduate school courses at Langan’s Learning Center within the firm’s headquarters.