Every other month, Staff Notes Monthly spotlights a stochastically chosen staff member. This month we profile Tina Bogott, project manager for the Mesa Lab refurbishment program.
How she came to UCAR:
Tina signed on as manager of the ML refurbishment project in October 1998. Her three-year appointment roughly coincides with the expected timeline of the refurbishment itself, which is being financed through $12 million in special NSF funds.
Previous work life:
Thirteen years at Rocky Flats, where Tina held several positions, including staff engineer, construction project manager, and engineering manager. That job involved a good deal of new construction as well as remodeling of existing facilities. "Every time we stirred up dust, it was a big deal." She also was involved with some cleanup and environmental restoration activities at the Flats.
She's an engineer, she's a project manager:
Tina has two careers in one. Schooled as a civil engineer at the University of Wyoming, Tina soon found that she enjoyed the logistical side of construction:
Is it a face lift or major surgery for ML?
cost analysis, engineering requirements, and the like. "I have a hard time calling myself a designer, but I like hiring the right folks to get the job done. My engineering background gives me a good understanding of what's needed." While at Rocky Flats, Tina picked up a master's in business administration from CU.
A little of both. This July the tree plaza will be closed for a four-month revamp, including new trees and new concrete decking. Next year the fountain plaza (the courtyard whose fountain has actually been gone for some time) and the circular driveway at the main entrance will be rebuilt to get rid of shrinkage cracks and to add more expansion joints, which will allow the surface to better adapt to Colorado's roller-coaster temperatures. Inside, the building's heating and cooling systems will be improved (see below). Fire-protection sprinklers that now cover only about 35% of the building will be extended throughout, and the lobby area will be closed for a few months in late 2001 to remove the existing ceiling and install the fire protection system and new, more-efficient lighting fixtures. Electrical systems throughout ML will be upgraded, although offices won't be fitted with the type of variable lighting controls found at FL. Those have turned out to be more tetchy than originally expected, and, Tina adds, "we've got people pretty well trained to turn the lights out."
Blowing hot and cold:
Right now the vents in ML offices deliver the same volume of air to each office whenever they're blowing; the blend of warmed and cooled air passing through each vent varies based on thermostat settings in each zone (there are 276, roughly one or two for each cluster of offices). In the upcoming upgrade, the fans will be fitted with variable-speed drives, and variable-air-volume dampers will be installed behind each vent to restrict the warm or cool air, office by office, thus varying the total amount of air flowing throughout the building. "We know this is a more energy-efficient system," says Tina. She predicts some $40,000 in annual savings on electricity and gas.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Tina and her husband, a construction superintendent, live in rural Longmont, where they share 84 acres with about 75 head of Simmental cattle. "They're beef cattle. They grow big and they grow fast. It's my husband's thing." Tina loves to ski, but during peak season, "we're usually calving."
What she's been reading:
The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw's profile of the World War II cohort. "I've read all of Clancy's books, but I don't generally read a lot of fiction--I prefer nonfiction." She also enjoyed the recent film The Green Mile.
Why her bowling team is called "Go Ask Gokhan":
Last fall Tina signed on with the NCAR bowling league, which meets at Broomfield Lanes each Tuesday night. "I'm not very good, but I have fun at it." When league organizer Teresa Shibao asked team captain Jerry Olson for the name of his team, he responded, "Go ask Gokhan [Danabasoglu, a CGD colleague of Jerry's]," and a name was born.
Her perfect weekend:
Hitting the slopes at Keystone--"but no black diamonds any more."
Edited by Bob Henson,
Prepared for the Web by Jacque Marshall