Recent changes in Ring & DuChateau’s Lighting Design team have positioned the group to expand services by offering lighting design as a singular service to area architects.

Holly Blomquist, LC, a lighting designer with Ring & DuChateau since 2014, has been promoted to project manager and manager of the lighting group. Her work includes projects in the corporate, education and hospitality markets. She has also been very active in local arts community, contributing her lighting design experience to live theatrical productions.

“Because it occupies a distinctly technical and aesthetic role, lighting within the built environment has become a specialty service. I’m thrilled to lead the lighting team forward in our effort to make lighting a thoughtful and highly-integrated component of successful building projects,” Blomquist said.

To meet the demand for high quality lighting design across several markets, Ring & Du’s dedicated lighting group is growing. The department has added Lighting Designer Teresa Haas to bring the group to a total of six dedicated staff. Besides Blomquist and Haas, the group includes Senior Lighting Designer Marge Cooper, LC; Amanda Busalacchi, LC; Colleen Kroll, LC; and CAD Technician Philip Warren. Busalacchi and Kroll recently earned the LC accreditation.

“The diversity of experience, specialties, and points of view within our lighting group enriches our process, and ultimately the product we deliver to our clients. Having multiple team members with the LC (Lighting Certified) accreditation speaks to our rigor and the value we bring to the table,” Blomquist said. “Lighting can be part of a traditional full electrical design, or easily offered as a stand-alone service because are able to tailor the scope of lighting design to fit any project.  As a stand-alone service our team adds a high degree of qualitative value while keeping overall project costs competitive.”

Ten R&D staff members geared up August 17 to bike in support of local charities in the EUA Beyond Design Bike Tour. R&D sponsored the biker’s participation while supporting the event that raised funds this year for the Eppstein Uhen Foundation, Groundwork Milwaukee and REAP Food Group.

Although riders from R&D have participated in past years, this is the first year the company has sponsored a large group.

“This event is a real opportunity for us to do something positive for the community with a great group of people,” said Ring & DuChateau Partner/Principal Paul Albrecht.

This year’s event was record setting, with more than 400 riders and more than $103,000 raised for the charities.

R&D riders were (clockwise from left back) TJ Smith, Mike McGann, Marcin Selm, Jason LaRosh, Matt Jungers, Pablo Guerrero, Tu Phan, Shana Jones, Rachel Rueckert and Holly Blomquist.

Teams were built, (fashion) statements were made, no windows were broken. These were a few of the successes of Ring & Du’s first-ever Office Open miniature golf tournament held at the Ring & DuChateau offices August 9. Nearly 50 staff members took time out of their day to brave the challenging course cleverly designed by teams of R&D staff.

Hole themes included Lord of the Ring & Du, 80s Party, Santa’s Trip, Dog Leg, Border Wall and MEP Triathlon, the last of which was played with whiffle balls (hence no broken windows) and included a toilet paper pyramid, hard hat obstacles and a rotating flange in front of the hole.  Not surprisingly, it also was named the best-designed hole.

Prizes for the event included PTO hours, R&D apparel and lunch with Dave DuChateau or Paul Albrecht, Ring & DuChateau president and vice president, respectively. An all-employee luncheon followed the event.

Tournament prize winners included:

Lowest Score and Best Dressed (Woman): Project Engineer Heather Erdman

2^nd Lowest Score: CAD Designer Dave Silvani, CAD Technician Pablo Guerrero, Engineer Justin Cosgrove

Lowest Team Score: CAD Designer Zeni Marchant, Senior Project Engineer Kelly, Engineer Marcos Trejo-Perez and Engineer Emily Bieszk

Best Dressed (Man): Senior Project Engineer Dave Feldbruegge

Best Designed Hole: MEP Triathlon, Designed by Project Engineer Ryan McNally, Project Engineer Heather Erdman, Senior Project Engineer Dave Feldbruegge, Lighting Designer Amanda Busalacchi and HVAC Designer Chris Redford.

The event was coordinated by Project Engineer Ryan McNally and Intern Mason Spang.

Ring & DuChateau Lighting Designer Colleen Kroll took the opportunity to showcase R&D’s electrical systems and lighting design at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena May 25, serving as a tour guide for an Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Milwaukee Chapter event.

The 48 event attendees included IES members, lighting specifiers and designers and product representatives from the area. Ring & DuChateau provided multi-discipline systems design for recent arena upgrade projects, with Kroll serving as lighting designer.

Several new staff have joined the Ring & Du Chateau team in recent months.

Philip Warren joined the Electrical Systems team as a CAD technician in February. He is initially providing CAD support for the entire department, but will eventually focus his efforts with the lighting design group to capitalize on his background in performance lighting.

Emily Bieszk has started as intern with the Electrical Systems team with plans to join the team full-time upon graduation from MSOE in May of 2017. Emily brings with her prior experience and high recommendation from other local MEP firms and her professors.

Jason LaRosh has joined Ring & DuChateau’s HVAC Systems department as project manager. He has relocated to the area from Janesville and brings to his new position a variety of systems design experience in commercial, industrial and manufacturing projects. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mason Spang has returned for another summer of internship experience with the HVAC Systems team. He is entering his junior year at University of Wisconsin-Platteville as a mechanical engineering major and will be with us full time for the summer.

David Ragoschke is the newest member of the Ring & DuChateau Commissioning team. His background as a service fitter and in sales and management of mechanical service for large area mechanical contractors, along with his people skills, make him a welcome addition to the department.