0:00

and Engineers are ingenious

0:01

professional. Engineers invent,

0:06

design, verify and qualify,

0:06

engineers are the professionals

0:10

who make our lives and

0:10

businesses prosperous and safe.

0:15

The Florida Engineering Society

0:15

is proud to put our engineering

0:18

professionals in the spotlight

0:18

so that they may educate, share

0:23

information and introduce you to

0:23

the world of engineering that is

0:27

thriving in Florida. Here's your

0:27

host of the Engineering Florida

0:31

podcast. Sam Yates, with today's

0:31

guest

0:35

Hello, everyone, and

0:35

welcome to another edition of

0:38

the Florida Engineering Society

0:38

Engineering Florida podcast.

0:43

This is a podcast that we

0:43

feature engineers who are

0:45

members of the Florida

0:45

Engineering Society. And it is

0:48

my pleasure and honor to

0:48

introduce someone today that I'm

0:53

going to tell you, he is on the

0:53

road traveling. And when he

0:57

heard that we were going to be

0:57

recording today. He was like no,

0:59

Sam, I am going to get in on the

0:59

program from wherever I am. So

1:05

he is on the road. Ladies and

1:05

gentlemen. Carlos Penin. Carlos,

1:09

welcome to the program.

1:10

Thank you very

1:10

much, Sam, it's truly a pleasure

1:13

to be on your show and be able

1:13

to share some of life's

1:16

experiences with you and your

1:16

listeners. So thank you very

1:20

much. You know, I have to say

1:20

that you are also the a past

1:25

president of the Florida

1:25

Engineering Society. And that's

1:28

quite an honor. Yes, I've been a

1:28

member of the Florida

1:31

engineering society since I was

1:31

an engineering school, and moved

1:35

into the main chapter, the

1:35

regular chapter, the Miami

1:38

chapter, my particular case, in

1:38

1979 or so almost 1980. So

1:46

that's quite a long time. And

1:46

proud member of the Florida

1:51

Engineering Society, and also

1:51

the American Council of

1:53

Engineering Companies report. So

1:53

I've been a proud member of both

1:57

organizations for a very long time.

1:59

And I have to say,

1:59

Carlos, that wherever I go in

2:02

the state, if I were to mention

2:02

your name, someone is going to

2:06

know who you are. That is how

2:06

immersed Carlos is into the

2:11

engineering communities

2:11

throughout Florida. And as a

2:14

matter of fact, it's just not

2:14

Florida. I have in front of me a

2:19

copy of the Congressional Record

2:19

from February 27 2020. And I'm

2:26

going to read from it because I

2:26

think this is significant. A

2:29

couple of reasons. It's

2:29

significant one, I now have the

2:32

honor of interviewing someone

2:32

who has been entered into the

2:36

Congressional Record and of the

2:36

second part of why it's

2:38

significant, I think you will

2:38

see it's quite evident. And this

2:42

is from the honorable Mario Diaz

2:42

Balart. And he is entering into

2:47

the House of Representatives the following Madam Speaker, in recognition of

2:50

the long standing contributions

2:55

to the engineering profession,

2:55

and his dedication to benefiting

3:00

South Florida, I rise today to

3:00

honor my good friend, Mr. Carlos

3:04

APD. Born in Holquin, Cuba,

3:04

Carlos, who has a very

3:10

distinguished background, and

3:10

more importantly, a history

3:13

coming from Cuba. Tell us a

3:13

little bit about that.

3:17

Thank you very

3:17

much. My parents are fleeing,

3:21

obviously, the Castro regime.

3:21

And in 1962, my mom and three

3:28

sisters and I arrived here to

3:28

the land of freedom. And one of

3:33

the reasons that I love the

3:33

United States so much is because

3:35

of the opportunities that it has

3:35

given throughout the years,

3:39

decades, centuries, to refugees

3:39

like myself, to be able to come

3:48

here,get an education, work

3:48

hard, and then go back and

3:54

contribute and give back to that

3:54

to that nation. And in our

3:58

particular case, the community,

3:58

the state of Florida, that has

4:01

given so much to us. So those

4:01

are deeply embedded embedded in

4:06

my, in my veins if you would,

4:06

because it's it's truly what we

4:12

are all about here in this great

4:12

country of ours.

4:17

And that fits quite

4:17

well with what additionally was

4:20

read into the record. That after

4:20

graduation, Carlos remained in

4:25

South Florida and worked for

4:25

several architectural and

4:27

engineering firms. He played a

4:27

key role in designing and

4:31

managing a major infrastructure

4:31

projects, including the Joe

4:35

Robbie stadium now known as the

4:35

Hard Rock stadium. Despite his

4:39

success, Carlos always knew he

4:39

wanted to start his own company

4:43

and give back to the community

4:43

that has given so much to him.

4:46

In 1989, he took a chance and

4:46

began C AP government Inc. CAP

4:53

and 2019. CAP celebrated its

4:53

30th anniversary under his

4:58

leadership CAP has has provided

4:58

unparalleled expertise for

5:03

governmental clients who need

5:03

assistance with building

5:06

department services. Presently,

5:06

they serve over at 60

5:10

municipalities and six

5:10

educational institutions across

5:15

Florida. Mr. Penin, that's quite

5:15

a heritage.

5:21

Yes, it is. And one that we're all very proud of, because we have an

5:23

opportunity through building

5:26

departments to make sure that

5:26

buildings are designed.

5:31

According to the Florida

5:31

building code, and eventually,

5:33

obviously built according to

5:33

Florida building code, they that

5:36

helps us, at least from a

5:36

minimalistic point of view, make

5:40

these buildings safer, the

5:40

schools safer, the places that

5:46

we work, live and play safer,

5:46

because of the engineers that

5:50

designed them. Architects, well,

5:50

obviously, and the contractors

5:55

that build them.

5:57

In addition to that,

5:57

I know because I've done a bit

6:00

of homework about you. And it's

6:00

impressive. You not only are an

6:06

engineer, but you take great

6:06

pride in getting others involved

6:12

in engineering. As a matter of

6:12

fact, in 2020, the Villa Nueva

6:17

award, you receive that, and the

6:17

award recognizes the commitment

6:22

and dedication to advancing the

6:22

civil engineering profession

6:26

that was read into the

6:26

Congressional Record. And that

6:30

has to just make you absolutely

6:30

proud to.

6:34

Yes, it does. And

6:34

it's something that that we

6:38

don't take very lightly,

6:38

obviously, you know, when you

6:41

give back to the community that

6:41

has given so much to us, and

6:45

through the profession, that

6:45

that I love so much. It's kind

6:49

of a, you know, you get both

6:49

great satisfaction on both sides

6:54

of that. And the association of

6:54

Cuban civil engineers bestowed

7:00

that incredible honor to me a

7:00

couple of years ago, and it's

7:04

one I'm very proud of

7:05

, you know, two

7:05

things that I want to touch upon

7:08

and, and it's one of the

7:08

greatest difficulties I had. And

7:12

I have to explain this to our

7:12

audience. One of the greatest

7:15

difficulties I had in

7:15

determining what to talk about

7:19

with Mr. puttied is the sheer

7:19

number of things that you're

7:23

involved in. I mean, there are

7:23

just literally a large number of

7:27

things, and it's difficult to

7:27

get your arms around all of

7:30

them. But to jump out, Champlain

7:30

tower and hurricane season.

7:35

Let's talk a little bit about

7:35

Champlain tower, you're

7:38

instrumental in helping to get

7:38

some changes in how the building

7:44

industries in Florida take a

7:44

look at buildings like Champlain

7:47

tower, correct?

7:50

Yes, sir. Sam,

7:50

thank you. Both of these things,

7:53

obviously catastrophic. And it

7:53

gives us a chance as engineers

7:57

to make a difference. The first

7:57

one Champney towers, I was just

8:02

coming into my role as president

8:02

of the Florida Engineering

8:06

Society, we had just had a

8:06

session on the Gulf Coast of

8:12

Florida, where we talked about

8:12

going forward how we had to

8:16

include other organizations into

8:16

what we do, because there are

8:21

more things that unite us as

8:21

organizations that then separate

8:25

us. So I said, in part of our

8:25

planning session, let's get

8:30

together with other groups to

8:30

make sure that we can make a

8:33

bigger difference in the state

8:33

of Florida and into the life

8:37

that we need to hear. So lo and

8:37

behold, the Champlaine tower

8:41

collapses on June 24. And that

8:41

was the first opportunity we had

8:46

a few weeks later, we organized

8:46

under a number of organizations,

8:52

the first obviously, the Florida

8:52

Engineering Society, we had

8:55

three members. We had three

8:55

members from the American

8:58

Council of Engineering

8:58

Companies, which is a sister

9:01

organization. And then we

9:01

started to add another five

9:04

organizations, the International

9:04

International Code Council, the

9:14

building official association of

9:14

Florida, the American Institute

9:18

of Architects, we brought in a

9:18

group that does concrete

9:22

restoration. We brought in

9:22

another group that that handles

9:26

all of the structural engineers

9:26

in Florida that are represented

9:30

by them. And with this group,

9:30

there was a total of 24 of us.

9:35

We met sometimes as often as two

9:35

times a week in order not to

9:38

analyze specifically what

9:38

happened with the tower, but to

9:42

add to analyze what can be

9:42

changed going forward, so that

9:47

we don't ever have to deal with

9:47

something so catastrophic again.

9:50

And it took weeks and months

9:50

until we were able to finally

9:55

come up with a white paper that

9:55

we eventually presented with to

10:00

a senator that was willing to

10:00

listen to us, and she was

10:03

willing to carry the water for

10:03

us. And that was Senator Rafi.

10:09

And Mr. Brown, the senator

10:09

proudly brought this forward

10:13

through committees, all the way

10:13

to sort of a doorsteps of

10:18

getting disapproved during the

10:18

regular session. The bill,

10:22

unfortunately, in spite of the

10:22

hard work, in spite of how much

10:27

sense it made, for this to be

10:27

changed, in the way that we

10:32

perform inspections, and so

10:32

forth, if it failed, it just did

10:36

not make it through. And we had

10:36

to wait until a special session,

10:41

where once again, we had to

10:41

persevere and continue the work.

10:46

And in that particular special

10:46

session, it passed the House

10:49

unanimously, passed the Senate

10:49

unanimously, and on day three

10:54

was signed by Governor DeSantis.

10:54

I think the lesson is, number

10:57

one is we use our technical

10:57

skills to the best of our

11:01

knowledge and abilities. We work

11:01

in a group session because we

11:04

together we can accomplish more.

11:04

And finally, I would say, the

11:08

most important part of this

11:08

thing is never ever give up.

11:11

Persevere, believe in what you

11:11

believe, to be right and

11:14

continue to work harder until

11:14

you achieve it. And I think that

11:17

that message is is true. Whether

11:17

you're you're a student, and

11:23

engineering student, hopefully

11:23

because we need a lot more, or

11:26

whether you are a young

11:26

professional or a seasoned

11:29

professional as yours truly. And

11:29

that is one of life's lessons.

11:35

Carlos, let's switch

11:35

gears, let's talk about

11:38

hurricane season really, it's

11:38

just around the corner.

11:40

So hurricane

11:40

season begins in June and ends

11:43

in November this year was

11:43

catastrophic. In the state of

11:45

Florida, we had a major

11:45

hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, in

11:50

a hit a number of municipalities

11:50

where our company works in. But

11:54

more importantly, I think that

11:54

it taught us a number of things

11:56

as well. Number one is you have

11:56

to heed the warnings that are

12:01

issued to it by by the

12:01

government. In a number of

12:06

cases, people were thinking that

12:06

they could stay home and weather

12:10

the storm so to speak. Well,

12:10

there was something peculiar

12:13

about hurricane Ian. And that

12:13

was not only was the packing 140

12:18

550 mile an hour winds, but that

12:18

it came in with a tidal surge on

12:24

like we have seen in 100 years,

12:24

perhaps even more. And the

12:30

majority destruction was not

12:30

brought on by the excessive

12:36

winds, but was brought on by the

12:36

surge, which picked up homes and

12:41

move them and picked up

12:41

buildings. And it brought down

12:45

the bridge leading into Sanibel,

12:45

not because of the winds, but

12:49

because the tidal surge

12:49

destroyed both sides of the

12:54

bridge. And when that collapse,

12:54

obviously the bridge was

12:57

completely impassable. So what

12:57

we have to do as engineers just

13:00

take a look and modify no

13:00

different than what we did in

13:04

Champaign towers, and make sure

13:04

that we've gotten the best code

13:07

to protect us against this these

13:07

types of disasters.

13:14

Is there a feeling

13:14

from the governmental agencies

13:17

or the governments that you

13:17

represent the municipalities

13:20

that you work with directly,

13:20

that this was a wake up call for

13:24

them going forward for whatever

13:24

hurricane season has to bear

13:28

down?

13:29

I think it is, and I

13:29

think it will have an impact

13:32

also on the insurance industry.

13:32

Because there's a lot of homes

13:37

that are not insured for

13:37

flooding, they are for wind. And

13:40

there's a lot of instances in

13:40

this particular hurricane, that

13:43

had to do with with flooding,

13:43

perhaps more so than with winds.

13:48

So if the hurricane impact

13:48

Windows survive, we're gonna

13:53

have a if the house is picked up

13:53

by a surge and deposited 100 200

13:59

feet further away. So there's a

13:59

number of components or a number

14:03

of new items that need to be

14:03

looked at going forward. I will

14:07

say that I am part of the

14:07

Florida Engineering Leadership

14:12

Institute this year of which I'm

14:12

very proud, and that our class

14:16

is going to be dedicating a park

14:16

for the victims of the

14:23

hurricane. And we are in fact,

14:23

doing a fundraiser throughout

14:29

the state of Florida so we can

14:29

get enough funds to do a number

14:32

of things. But that number one

14:32

is built as part in remembrance

14:37

of those that lost their lives,

14:37

but also do sort of the teaching

14:41

part for the children so that

14:41

they can see various aspects of

14:46

what happened with the with the

14:46

search and so forth. And then

14:49

finally, in addition to that,

14:49

we're going to identify each and

14:53

every students from the Gulf

14:53

Coast of Florida that we can

14:56

give honor them with tuition and

14:56

offer them a scholarship. So

15:01

that's something that we're

15:01

working on. And I'll keep you

15:03

posted that's still in the process.

15:06

Well, I want to say I

15:06

will put on my public relations

15:09

and marketing hat for Yates and

15:09

Associates and pitch in with

15:13

helping out on some of that

15:13

visibility for you. And also,

15:17

rumor has it that I'm on the

15:17

board of directors for the Gold

15:21

Coast Builders Association out

15:21

of the Palm Beaches, and have a

15:24

lot of connections with builders

15:24

associations around the state.

15:27

So if that rumor is correct, I

15:27

can guarantee you that we'll be

15:32

spreading the word throughout

15:32

those associations as well.

15:37

Thank you very much for that

15:37

it's going to be it's going to

15:39

be a fantastic opportunity for

15:39

once again, all of us to work

15:42

together. And I guarantee you

15:42

that that will be something that

15:47

we will all be proud of when we

15:47

finish the project. Yes. Now, I

15:51

do want to ask you right now,

15:51

how do people get in touch with

15:56

you? And it's going to be a

15:56

question that I'm going to back

15:59

up a little bit. There could be

15:59

organizations, you disabilities

16:03

and others that are listening

16:03

right now. And they're saying,

16:07

Wow, I'm impressed. How do I

16:07

contact CAP? What's the best way

16:11

to get in touch with your your

16:11

order your business?

16:16

I think that probably the best

16:16

way is to is to email me that

16:20

way i be able to answer as soon

16:20

as I get an opportunity. And

16:26

that email, I can share that

16:26

with you now or if you post it

16:30

to your podcast is better now.

16:30

Yeah, let's give it now. And

16:34

I'll also put it up on the show

16:34

notes. Okay, C A P. C, A P

16:43

fla.com. Very good. We'll certainly get

16:45

that word out. Now, at the

16:49

beginning of the show, and what

16:49

I was talking about what was

16:54

read into the Congressional

16:54

Record, it said, how proud you

16:58

were to start your company, but

16:58

I'm going to pull the thread a

17:01

little bit and say, there's

17:01

probably a story behind that.

17:06

And I know the story. It was

17:06

about getting a review from

17:11

someone that you are working

17:11

with another company. And tell

17:15

us about that. Tell us what

17:15

happened. That was the impetus

17:17

for starting your own company.

17:21

Thank you very

17:21

much, Sam. Yeah, no kidding.

17:25

Yeah.The the impetus of of that

17:25

was that I was trying to do too

17:31

much. And that the review that I

17:31

received was pretty much from my

17:36

supervisor, to say, Carlos, you

17:36

are, you're all over the place.

17:41

You are working on one project

17:41

that was city engineer for the

17:45

City of West Miami at the time,

17:45

I was in charge of a major

17:49

reconstruction of the widening

17:49

of Julia Tuttle Causeway, which

17:52

is a, a causeway that links

17:52

Miami to Miami Beach. And my

17:57

supervisor at the time wanted me

17:57

to start concentrating on one of

18:00

them. He then proceeded to give

18:00

me some pretty negative results

18:06

in comments. And I said, you

18:06

know, I am with enough work

18:10

obviously, with with God's

18:10

blessing, I can accomplish more

18:14

than what I'm doing. And that

18:14

sort of led me to, to creating

18:19

my company from scratch. And

18:19

again, you know, I mentioned

18:22

earlier, the perseverance, the

18:22

hard work and the dedication, in

18:26

in this wonderful country that

18:26

we live in, will always lead to

18:30

success. And that a few years

18:30

later, my company was recognized

18:36

as one of the fastest growing

18:36

companies in the country. And

18:41

some awards that we have

18:41

continued to receive throughout

18:43

the years. That simply is, is

18:43

gifts. Youwill say certification

18:51

or gives validity to that hard

18:51

work, dedication. Don't ever

18:56

forget where you came from, make

18:56

sure that you always give back

18:59

to your community, to your

18:59

church, get back to engineering

19:03

in my particular case, but

19:03

always get back because we don't

19:06

do this thing by ourselves.

19:06

There's always people along the

19:10

way that sometimes give us a

19:10

word of word of encouragement.

19:13

In my case, to begin the

19:13

company, it wasn't so but it was

19:16

it might have been the kick in

19:16

the in the rear that I needed in

19:21

order to be able to realize that

19:21

I could do more by moving on

19:27

from where I was at the time.

19:27

And that's exactly how it played

19:30

out.

19:32

Well, I'd like to say

19:32

from my perspective, looking at

19:35

what you have accomplished, and

19:35

you're not done yet, but looking

19:38

at what you have accomplished.

19:38

It was probably the spark that

19:42

lit the fuse on the fireworks

19:42

and that has been one hell of a

19:47

fireworks display so far, and I

19:47

don't think we've seen the

19:50

finale yet. So I want to say

19:50

congratulations on all that you

19:53

have done.

19:55

Thank you very

19:55

much. It's been a blessing and I

19:58

hope to with but with good

19:58

health and continue to provide

20:05

more for future engineers and

20:05

future entrepreneurs. In this

20:10

great country of ours, I really

20:10

truly appreciate the opportunity

20:16

to spoken to you and to your

20:16

audience a shout out to my

20:20

daughter's and, and my son in

20:20

laws, who are going to be

20:25

listening, for sure. And to all

20:25

of the employees and my

20:30

colleagues, and my and the

20:30

members of the Florida

20:33

Engineering Society here in the

20:33

state of Florida. So thank you

20:36

very much, Sam, for this wonderful opportunity.

20:39

Well, I have another

20:39

question. Don't you're not gonna

20:41

get off the hook yet? That

20:41

question it is,

20:44

fire away, sir.

20:44

Fire away?

20:46

Wil you come back for

20:46

a future program?

20:50

Absolutely.

20:50

Absolutely. If you will have me

20:53

it'd be a pleasure to come back

20:53

and speak to you and to your

20:57

audience.

20:59

Sometimes I have to

20:59

pause to explain to people

21:02

because this is an audio

21:02

program, they don't get to see

21:05

the expressions or see the

21:05

twinkle in the eye. And I know

21:09

that you're smiling, and you've

21:09

got that twinkle in your eye,

21:13

and I'm grinning ear to ear.

21:13

Because when you meet someone

21:17

that is inspirational, it is

21:17

contagious, and it makes me want

21:20

to go out and do even more for

21:20

this program. So what I'm going

21:24

to do is, I'm going to say yes,

21:24

we're going to have you back at

21:28

some point of the future. And

21:28

for everyone that is listening

21:32

right now, if you would like to

21:32

be on the program. It's an open

21:36

door, please let us know. And we

21:36

look forward to having you back

21:40

again, Carlos. Again, thank you

21:40

for being here.

21:43

Such a pleasure. Thank you very much for having me

21:46

Thanks for listening

21:46

to another informative episode

21:49

of the Engineering Florida

21:49

podcast. Our goal is to help

21:53

educate and inform everyone who

21:53

listens to our podcast about our

21:57

members and topics of interest

21:57

to the flora that Engineering Society.

22:04

On behalf of the Florida

22:04

Engineering Society, and the

22:08

engineering Florida podcast,

22:08

have a great day everybody