News

STEM education in Florida lacking

2011-10-11T18:18:28Z

STEM - short for science, technology, engineering and math - education faces a tough battle in Florida to truly begin reaping the benefits of solidifying and expanding the teaching of these neglected skill sets. A recent article on Tampabay.com details some of the pitfalls and short comings that have hindered the growth of the STEM program. Please click here to read the article in full.

BAUER Foundation Corp. awarded $106 million contract for Center Hill Dam Barrier Wall in Tennessee

2011-09-23T20:02:02Z

Odessa, FL (Sept. 23, 2011) - Bauer Foundation Corp. announced Friday the award of a $106 million contract to install a barrier wall at Center Hill Dam in Cookeville, Tennessee, which was officially awarded late Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Bauer is excited to utilize our latest Cutter technology at Center Hill Dam,” says Charles Puccini, President and CEO of BAUER. “Our technology will significantly improve the integrity of the dam and create a higher level of safety for the surrounding communities."

Emplacement of the barrier wall provides immediate risk reduction benefits to the surrounding area’s population and residential, commercial and industrial properties. The barrier wall will extend from the top of the dam down through the earthen embankment to 120 feet into the foundation rock, forming a minimum two foot thick continuous barrier wall.

This project will create both immediate and long term positions ranging from engineering, accounting, welding, mechanics and onsite field personnel and provide significant training and development opportunities to the heavy construction trade.

Project construction will begin later this year and will continue into 2014.

Other BAUER major U.S. projects include the Herbert Hoover Dike Rehabilitation cut-off wall in Florida, the Wolf Creek Gallery Grouting in Kentucky and the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority slurry wall foundation for the Denitrification Facility in Washington, D.C.

BAUER Foundation Corp., headquartered in Odessa, Florida, is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH based in Schrobenhausen, Germany. The BAUER Group is a world renowned equipment manufacturer and specialty deep foundation engineering contractor. Bauer Foundation Corp. is a leader in the execution of complex excavation pits, ground improvement, deep foundations and in-ground walls, utilizing the most up to date equipment and installation techniques.

For more information about BAUER, please visit us on the web http://www.bauerfoundations.com or contact Bryan Kamm at bkamm@bauerfoundations.com or at 727-536-4748 x 304.

BAUER Foundation Corp. Starts 2011 Week Summer Mentorship Program

2011-07-18T07:45:59Z

Coastal Caisson, now a division of BAUER Foundation Corp., began a six week summer mentorship program on July 5, which will continue through August 12. A total of four students were selected from two local high schools, the East Lake High School Engineering Career Academy (Pinellas County) and the River Ridge High School Engineering Career Academy (Pasco County).

Week one, of the six week program, begins with orientation including shadowing executives and managers in the company to learn more about their individual departments and what they do. During weeks two and three, the students learn about equipment safety, use of the tools and equipment in the workshop including some hands-on experience making real products that will be used by the company. Weeks four and five include rotations on a choice of projects, with various department assignments customized to the student’s interest. Week six includes preparing an essay, then a presentation about their experiences to the President / CEO, Executive Management, as well as their parents, and the Directors and Principals of the East Lake HS and River Ridge HS Career Academies on the final day of their mentorship (Friday, August 12, 2011).

When asked about the mentorship and the graduating classes of interns he has worked with in the past, President and CEO of BAUER Foundation Corp, Charles Puccini, said the caliber of students which come out of this program is exactly the type of individual he is looking to hire to help move his business forward. “Our equipment is highly technical and we need highly qualified employees with the proper training to repair and operate our equipment and tooling” says President and CEO, Charles Puccini. “The level of sophistication in the technicians that come out of the CTEF program is far superior to what we have found anywhere in Florida”.

The summer mentorship, and BAUER Foundation Corp’s involvement is now in its third year. The mentorship started in 2008, and was coordinated by the Career Technical Education Foundation Inc., CTEF a not-for-profit organization. CTEF’s mission is to work with and influence the local educational system through community and industry partnerships and provide placement for Career Academy students.

CTEF was founded by Paul Wahnish, the former Director of the Engineering Career Academy at East Lake High School. Other corporate founding members are BAUER Foundation Corp., Jabil Circuits, the Nielsen Group, and MicronPharmaworks. Since CTEF was founded in 2008, SRI International, Honeywell, Kelly Resources, Mitre Corp., and Sypris Inc. have since joined the board.

BAUER Foundation Corp. employs approximately 160 and is primarily engaged in the installation of drilled shaft foundations for towers (microwave, television, telephone, and cellular), buildings, power plant facilities, transmission lines, and bridges. BAUER Foundation Corp. also specializes in dam remediation. The company performs 95 percent of its contracts in the southeastern United States and has a fleet of 21 drilling rigs, and owns and operates a fabrication and maintenance facility located at the main campus. BAUER Foundation Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, a corporation organized under the laws of Germany.

For more information on BAUER Foundation Corp., please contact Bryan Kamm at (727) 536-4748, or visit the website at www.bauerfoundations.com

BAUER Foundation Corp. receives $40 million task order at Herbert Hoover Dike

2010-05-17T12:56:44Z

Odessa, Fla. – The Herbert Hoover Dike Rehabilitation Project is one step closer
to reducing flood risk around Lake Okeechobee with the recent award of an almost $40 million contract to Bauer Foundation Corp to complete another section of cutoff wall in the southeastern area of the Herbert Hoover Dike.

      The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District awarded Bauer Foundation Corp, BFC, an affiliate company of Coastal Caisson Corp., based out of Odessa, FL, a second task order contract for emplacement of another stretch of cutoff wall.

     “Bauer is excited to be awarded this contract which allows us to continue our work at Herbert Hoover Dike and to continue building on our successes with the United States Army Corps of Engineers,” says Charles Puccini, President and CEO of BFC. “With this task order, Bauer will retain the many local employees used for this project as well as continue to grow our relationships with the many local community businesses and leaders.”

    The Jacksonville District of the Corps of Engineers is currently overseeing the rehabilitation of the dike’s most vulnerable section, the 22-mile section between Port Mayaca and Belle Glade.

     Emplacement of the cutoff wall provides immediate risk reduction benefits to the surrounding area’s population and residential, commercial and industrial properties. The Corps began contracting with various foundation construction companies to assist with installing a partially penetrating cutoff beginning in 2008.

The cutoff wall serves as a barrier to water pathways or piping, which can lead to internal erosion and extends from approximately six feet from the top of the dike through the foundation to several feet beyond the limestone bedrock, averaging 50 to 70 feet – or about five stories – below the crest of the dike.

BAUER Foundation Corp. was established in 2004 to further promote Bauer technologies to Government, Commercial, Industry and Residential sectors of the United States. Bauer is a global supplier for specialty foundation constructions and related fields. Bauer is also a market leader for equipment and tools for specialty foundation construction. For more information about Bauer, please visit www.bauerfoundations.com or email Bauer at info@bauerfoundations.com.

Educational alliance formed to develop local student engineers, scientists

2010-03-25T15:36:42Z

In a local ceremony, Pasco-Hernando Community College along with Kettering University of Flint, Mich. entered into an articulation agreement opening doors and opportunities to engineering and science students in the Tampa Bay area. This agreement between the two schools means students can now follow a curriculum for two years at one college then transfer all the credits and enter a four-year school to complete their bachelor's degree.

“This new partnership will provide local students with exciting options to pursue upper level opportunities at Kettering, especially in the engineering and science fields. The further training will also increase the technical talent base in business and industry in the Tampa Bay Region now and in the future,” said Dr. Katherine Johnson, president of PHCC.

Dr. Stan Liberty, president of Kettering, told The Suncoast News that Kettering has been looking to the south for such agreements as this is where the population and industry have shifted. The hardest aspect of establishing articulation agreement, is finding schools that have programs that easily can mesh with those at Kettering. PHCC was one of the easiest fits Kettering has come across, he said.

“This region of Florida is already generating co-op jobs for Kettering’s current students,” said Bob Nichols, director of External Affairs for Kettering. “It will be even better for the new, local talent from PHCC. We’re all sensing this is the start of something good.”

With unemployment reaching double digits across the nation, companies are finding the task of filling job vacancies with qualified candidates increasingly hard, especially in industries such as science and engineering. If the Tampa Bay area can embrace this educational opportunity to cultivate engineering and scientific talent, this newfound talent-pool will be in a position to boost existing companies in the area as well as entice companies from elsewhere to relocate.

Unlike traditional internship programs, Kettering takes the experience to another level. Students are placed in a cooperative education program which includes a long-term assignment with a greater emphasis on responsibility and long-term goals, as most of these students stay with the same company they start with for their cooperative program.

Chuck Puccini, president of Odessa-based Bauer Foundation, said he can't wait to see what this type of program can do for students and businesses alike. When he brought in a student from Kettering, he was offering fresh perspectives and ideas on a multi-million dollar project within weeks of his arrival. After the initial experience, Puccini said, he was so pleased that the company has invited and hosted several more Kettering students and looks forward to a continued partnership.

Puccini is no stranger to hosting students through educational partnerships. Not only does Bauer Foundation embrace college students at the national level, but the company also embraces high school students at the local level. Through an organization called Career Technical Education Foundation, or CTEF, in Pinellas County, founded and lead by Paul Wahnish, Puccini has been introduced to and accepted several high school level interns in an effort to further cultivate Bay Area talent.

"In today's world, you don't have time to set up training," Puccini said. “The prospect of developing and having first pick of homegrown talent would be like a dream come true.”

For information on PHCC, please visit www.phcc.edu. For information on Kettering University, please visit www.kettering.edu. For information on BAUER Foundation Corp., please visit www.bauerfoundations.com. For information on CTEF, please visit http://www.careertechedfoundation.org/.

BAUER Foundation Corp. Partners with Kettering University, Co-op Students Find New Opportunities in Grim Market

2009-12-01T21:10:46Z

Odessa, FL -- BAUER Foundation Corp. is happy to announce the recent partnership with Kettering University to help create professional cooperative education opportunities for the students in the Kettering University network. The partnership came out of a mutual desire for both organizations to provide students the opportunities they need to develop at a higher level.

Students at Kettering have twelve week schedule of classes, then enter into the next section of their educational path, which includes a twelve week stint at a business as an intern or as a co-op student in their chosen career path. This alternating schedule of classes and internships continues on their four and a half year education career path.

With a unique education structure and highly evolved curriculum, it should be no surprise to learn that Kettering is consistently recognized among the top 20 colleges in the nation, according to ‘America’s Best Colleges,’ published by U.S. News and World Report.

Additionally, the same report ranks Kettering’s Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering program as number one in the nation, followed by their Mechanical Engineering program ranked as number two, all distinctions which piqued the interest of one local CEO.

“Kettering University has always been highly regarded in the collegiate world. Their achievements are simply a reflection of the students who embody all the essential qualities and skill sets a company like ours looks for in potential employees,” said Charles Puccini, President and CEO of BAUER Foundation Corp. “We are leading the way in our field and naturally we only want to partner with an organization that leads the way in theirs.”

With Kettering’s need for new opportunities for their students and BFC’s desire to employ the brightest and the best engineering minds in the country, it was only natural that this relationship was forged.

“The relationship between Kettering University and Coastal Caisson is mutually beneficial. Kettering will help them recruit high-tech talent from the local market and keep them in the region. This isn’t a brain drain – we are working hard to develop local and international talent for the Tampa area and Gulf Coast,” said Bob Nichols, Director of External Affairs at Kettering University.

In addition to the announcement of the partnership, BFC is also delighted to announce the placement of a Kettering University student, Hector Davila. Davila, a senior in the Industrial Engineering program at Kettering, was awarded an engineering internship with BAUER Foundation Corp., an affiliate of BFC. Davila is currently on site assisting Project Managers, Engineers and Estimators with location pre-drills.

“Construction is now being seen as the high technology and highly sought after industry for these students,” said Puccini. “The construction industry is ready to embrace these sharp minds and use their skill sets to create the next generation of engineers.”

BAUER Foundation Corp. receives Training Grant

2009-11-18T14:55:58Z

The training grant was awarded to BFC for the extensive course conducted onsite by two trainers from Bauer Foundation’s parent company, BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH headquartered in Schrobenhausen, Germany, on the Cutter Soil Mixing, or CSM, technology and the accompanying machinery. This eliminated overseas training and additional costs for a dozen employees.

With assistance from Career Central, BFC was able to complete the process to be considered for a grant from the Employed Worker Training (EWT) program. “Career Central's Employed Worker Training program is designed to reimburse approved local businesses, such as Bauer Foundation, up to half of their eligible training costs,” said David Wright, Business Service Consultant for Career Central. “[The]…reimbursement program helped Bauer Foundation train seven of their employees on the leading edge Cutter-Soil-Mixing equipment.”

The partnership created through training and program assistance from Career Central has made BFC a success story for how local businesses and resources can come together to support and grow the local economy while delivering a product which is environmentally sound and cost effective.

“The grant Bauer Foundation received proves that the program works and that Bauer Foundation can continue to grow and lead the way in our industry,” said Charles Puccini, President and CEO of BAUER Foundation Corp. “Our company’s success with the program shows this type of funding works and has undoubtedly made our company and employees much more competitive.”

Before the training took place, BFC had only three employees who were qualified to operate the CSM rigs, which limited the number of work shifts and hindered hiring efforts for other positions. BFC now has ten employees who are CSM Operator certified. As a result, those who are certified will have the opportunity for increased wages and opportunities for advancement. In addition, for every CSM qualified employee on a shift at a job site, nine new jobs are created as the support team for the operator, ranging from supervisor to skilled labor.

As a direct result of this training grant, the company has been able to add shifts, employees, and sales. With this type of grant and the increased jobs and profits created, Puccini said that BFC fully intends on holding another CSM training session. “The whole idea behind this program is to rejuvenate the economy and stimulate the job market,” said Puccini. “This training has done that tenfold, and we plan to hold another training class early next year so we can do our part to rebuild the economy one CSM wall at a time.”