True to his “I can do anything”-attitude, Anwar wears his favorite t-shirt which states: “I am the solution.” This t-shirt comes from the Stepping Stones Museum for Children’s Conservation Quest traveling exhibit, a series of exhibits geared towards educating children about the daily choices they can make to conserve energy.

If you visit our facility or have work delivered or installed by USA, the chances are pretty good that you will have the pleasure of meeting Anwar Neal. Since coming to USA, Anwar has quickly found a place on nearly every project that comes through our shop; and his ready smile and enthusiasm always brings the team spirit up.

Anwar Neal grew up in Yeadon not too far from USA’s location in Colwyn. In his youth, he was very active in athletics – from soccer to ice hockey to BMX biking and football. In association with these activities, Anwar travelled the US and Europe for the international high school soccer team and competitively for BMX racing.

After working in carpentry and roofing and as foreman of a lumber yard, Anwar decided to join the United States Marines Corps in 2004 at age 27, and began his training at Parris Island in South Carolina. The rigorous Marine Corps training refined Anwar’s attention to detail, personal presentation, and respectful demeanor in communicating with others. After Parris Island, Anwar went to the Aberdeen Proving Ground for manual machinist training. Anwar’s class was the first Marines Corps group to be trained on CNC equipment. Anwar completed his stateside service and training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

After serving during OIF7, Anwar joined the USA team in January of 2007.

Anwar came to USA ready to soak up more new skills and immediately became instrumental in the organization and production of our flight simulators, gear products and Medical products. With the same curiosity and open-mindedness that he approaches everything else, Anwar is continuing his machinist training at USA, has honed his welding skills here and is currently our main in-house welder. His quickness, positive outlook, attention to detail and problem solving skills also make him a valuable player on our installation teams, in which he often participates.

Anwar is also frequently responsible for safe packing and delivery of our exhibits in our company truck, and we have seen measureable improvement in our shipping and delivery services since Anwar has joined us. Nearly every customer comments on Anwar’s helpfulness and disposition, and USA is happy to send him out as our representative in any situation.

Anwar is also the proud father of two boys, Alex (9) and Isaiah (11). Both boys are straight A students and Isaiah has already expressed an interested in the naval academy - like father, like son!

USA Vice President Mike Myers and several other professional in the field were recently interviewed by their colleagues at Hands On! Inc. for an article about the complexities behind the idea of “green” as they have been experienced by more than two dozen museum professionals and exhibition designers. The article appeared in Exhibitionist magazine, a publication by the National Association for Museum Exhibition (NAME).

The complete article, “Splinters from Green Materials: Conversations about the Frictions of Green Exhibition Design,” can be read here:
http://www.hofl.org/images/HandsOnSplintersGreenNAME.pdf

Other articles from the “Lean and Green” issue of Exhibitionist can be read here:
http://name-aam.org/resources/exhibitionist/back-issues-and-online-archive#Spring2009

In response to our clients’ growing need for Field Service and Maintenance Support, USA has recently expanded its Technical Support Services (TSS) Department. Our goal is to provide faster and more inclusive services to both museum and corporate clients.

USA has over 35 years of experience in the design, engineering and fabrication of interactive exhibits. We understand the importance of keeping your interactive exhibits and displays operational. You want your models to look clean and up-to-date and you want to minimize exhibit downtime while working within your organizational budgets.

We offer service in three areas:

• Warranty Service
• Field Service & Support
• Long Term Maintenance

The TSS Process at USA ensures our clients a cost-effective and timely response to their service needs, including service to exhibits built by others and USA’s own exhibits and products. Our simple-to-use Field Service Request (FSR) form helps clients to quickly and clearly communicate their service request and subsequently, facilitate our prompt response to the problem.

Our Field Service & Support and Long Term Maintenance service is tailored in a tiered-fashion to your project’s requirements and your available organizational resources for internal support. Levels of support services include:

• Telephone and/or Email Support
• Supplying Off-the-Shelf and Custom Parts
• On-Site Assessment Visits
• On-Site Technical Support

USA’s TSS personnel can work independently or alongside your support personnel. Some service may require the exhibit or model to be returned to our facility to perform the required work.

USA also re-engineers and refurbishes exhibits originally built by others. Our seasoned exhibit technicians have restored and updated many “old” non-functioning exhibits to “like new” operating conditions.

We work with diverse clients with varied internal capacity for technical support and long-term maintenance. From the smallest interpretive center to the large children’s museum with thousands of young and rambunctious visitors daily, USA’s Technical Support Services has been successful in designing and implementing long-term maintenance programs to fit our client’s needs.

Please contact our Technical Support Services Manager, Gil Weiss, at gilweiss@verizon.net to discuss how we can assist you with your next exhibit maintenance issue.

In June of 2009, USA, Inc. and Bally Design made a winning joint presentation for the refurbishment and redesign of the Centre County/Penn State Visitor Center for the Central Pennsylvania Convention & Visitors Bureau (CPCVB), located in State College, Pennsylvania.

The Center operates as self-guided tour with 100,000 visitors a year. CPCVB’s goal with this contract was to update the exhibits installed in the visitor center ten years earlier and to integrate the new brand strategy into the visitor center experience.

Incorporating the CPCVB brand focuses on three primary themes—“Tour, Roar and Explore”—to highlight major tourist attractions and activities. The concept “Tour” refers to the many cultural, historic and community activities visitors can enjoy in the region. “Roar” is the roar of the Nittany Lion, mascot of Penn State University, whose main campus is in State College, home to over 40,000 students. Penn State is, therefore, a major employer and tourist draw to the area as thousands of fans and alumni flock to the region to cheer on their favorite teams and support their alma mater. The prime location of the visitor center and its optimal view of Mt. Nittany served as the perfect backdrop for the third theme element, “Explore”, which is intended to highlight the many outdoor activities – from hiking and biking to boating and fishing and spelunking - that are possible in Centre County.

The CPCVB requested to reuse or refurbish some of the elements from the original visitor center design to support working within the available budget. The main features of the existing design were five large architectural elements and graphics evocative of local historic buildings. USA and Bally saw that these three components could be repurposed to open up the space and improve visitor flow in coordination with new design elements. The result is open, airy and modern.

USA acted as the Prime Contractor for this project and managed the design development process from start to finish; CPCVB developed the written copy for the entire facility. A custom interactive map kiosk was developed in coordination with Bally Design for visitors to plan their trip to Central PA.

An interactive fiber optics exhibit highlights the region’s annual fireworks display, one of the largest in the country. This exhibit was designed from concept to execution by USA through brainstorming sessions with CPCVB and Bally Design.

Large murals and photos are a frequent asset in regional visitor center’s presentation to the public: beautiful full color or historic photos entice people to get out and see what the location has to offer. Bally’s graphic treatment of the space included new environmental murals, historic photographs, and informative text panels. Fifteen digital picture frames were also employed, giving the client the ability to change the images or news whenever they desired. The result is a fun, bright and active space that entices visitors to get out there and Tour, Roar and Explore.

The installation was made more complicated by the reuse and repurposing of some large exhibit elements and the resurfacing of existing wall structure. USA phased the decommissioning of the gallery, completed site construction, and installed shop-built exhibits over a period of two months. USA transformed the gallery into a self-guided visitors’ experience with adventure, history, and an enlightened view of the area. The project was completed on time and under budget.

The Centre County/Penn State Visitor Center held an opening ceremony celebration on June 29th.

USA is pleased to announce we has been awarded the exhibit work for Energy Lab at Stepping Stones Museum for Children!

When completed this fall, Energy Lab will be an exciting mix of water, wind, solar, non-renewable and kinetic components integrated into a unique and immersive learning experience. Stepping Stones is designing the experience in association with Workshop Design, based out of Kansas City, Missouri. Check USA’s blog in the coming months for construction progress updates.

Zoos and aquariums can enhance their visitors’ understanding of the animals they exhibit with interactive exhibits and graphics. This encourages visitors to transfer their appreciation of the animals they see to promoting conservation measures within their daily lives once they leave the museum.

In the fall of 2009, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach completed a lengthy 25 million renovation which included 110,000 gallons of new aquariums, the renovation of some existing habitats, and the addition of interactive exhibits, flip books and way finding and animal identification graphics. The Aquarium remained open during the entire construction period.

USA was awarded the exhibit contract for the Virginia Aquarium in spring of 2007 and was responsible for 100% of the exhibits portion of this project. In early conversations with the designers and Client, we evaluated that many of the concepts as drawn in the bid package were not the best use of materials or technology to tell the museum’s content stories. The museum decided to undertake a Design Development phase where these ideas were discussed and prototyping from Fall 2007 through Winter 2008.

After this Design Development phase, Fabrication proceeded quickly through summer of 2008. Installation was complete 30 days before the aquarium’s public grand opening of the Restless Planet exhibits on Nov 21, 2009.

USA engineered and fabricated these fabulous math-based exhibits, “Pedal on the Petals” and “Three Ring Circleous” for the traveling exhibit, The Math Midway, produced by the Museum of Mathematics, formerly Math Factory.

To learn more about the development of the “Pedal on the Petals”, click here to go to our exhibit development story.

Our staff was on site at Port Discovery performing some routine maintenance on some exhibits when we first meet Andrew as he crawled out of an exhibit he was servicing.

In 2007 not long after this encounter, Andrew joined our team as a Design Assistant. We thought his experience with exhibit maintenance was perfect training for participation in our collaborative design process. Andrew was a quick study for AutoCAD based on his prior experience with Cobalt, the Mac-based CAD program which he learned as an Industrial Design major at University of the Arts. As Design Assistant at USA, Andrew was also called upon to assist with shop fabrication as a part of his training as an exhibit designer.

Andrew’s easy laugh and calm demeanor are also assets in his current role as Design Coordinator. Guiding our team-based design process begins with early consultations with the construction team to get their opinions on materials and methods right away. You need patience and humility to face our tough crowd of seasoned exhibit fabricators! Continuous in-process reviews with the team ensure that the design vision stays on track in terms of budget and technical feasibility. This process has been crucial in our recent work with the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau; Andrew participated in the initial site survey and assisted with the demolition plan for the existing structures and efficient installation of the new design.

Andrew was married this past spring in a ceremony held in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts’ Historic Landmark Building. He and Eliza honeymooned in Hawaii where they went everywhere and tried everything, including: snorkeling, scuba diving, hiking, kayaking, a zipline tour, a slack-key guitar concert, a luau, a catamaran tour, a boat race, and a trip to a day spa with mud wraps! He is also working on renovating his new home; like a thoughtful builder and designer, Andrew is first planning and supplying his personal woodshop where he will build his own custom cabinetry.

Here is a testimonial from a recently completed project, new interactive exhibits for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center:

To view the original letter, please click here.

January 12, 2010

This letter is to provide a reference for Universal Services Associates, Inc. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have had the pleasure of working with Michael Myers and his team for the past two years on a major renovation project at our facility. During the design development phase, USA, Inc. provided invaluable feedback that helped make the interactive exhibits work better, while still keeping within our budget. During exhibit fabrication, this company kept us informed by emailing photos, and posting videos of test runs on YouTube, a service that allowed large amounts of data to be shared with virtually no impact to our mail servers.

Progress meetings at their offices were organized and efficient. (I might add that they found the best sandwiches in town for the lunch portion of the meetings; making the trip to Philly worthwhile on that point alone.) Their shop is well equipped and staffed with skilled craftsmen capable of working with most materials used in exhibit construction. Phone conferences were similarly organized and ran smoothly. All parties knew what their next assignments were at the end of each meeting.

Part of their exhibit installation involved working in areas open to our public. USA, Inc. staff maintained a courteous and professional appearance while solving the inevitable problems that arise during this phase. They made sure I was aware of their progress and walked me through the punch list phase until we were satisfied with the product. They also follow up after the exhibit opens and provide support for any repairs or modifications needed.

In summary, I found USA, Inc. to be an efficient, professional, and creative company. I will not hesitate to approach them again for our next exhibit project.

Sincerely,

Maylon White
Director of Exhibits & Animal Husbandry
Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center

USA has nearly completed the design and prototyping process for three new exhibits for Discovery Place.

Discovery Place (DPI) awarded this project to USA because of our demonstrated skill in turnkey exhibit design and fabrication. While USA had worked with Discovery Place previously, they took particular notice of our work on the Flying Machine at the Please Touch Museum. This exhibit represented the sort of “free play” and innovation that Discovery Place is striving to achieve with “Think It Up.”

USA’s prototyping process is an opportunity for play as well. We foster a process of listening and brainstorming with the client prior to drawing or even prototyping. USA acts to advise according to our past experience and challenge and test what is possible in “exhibit physics.” We also provide recommendations on construction techniques and materials to address safety and maintenance issues.

Prototype of the Air Sculpture exhibit

Reviewing the performance of the Air Tower

The “Think It Up” gallery will include two launcher stations modified to suit DPI’s space and with a third arm to support it as a moveable tripod structure. This is the third version of this launcher USA has built. The first was for the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center. Lifting from our past work is one way we bring value to our customers, by repeating successes we ensure a well-designed exhibit and manage budgets at the same time.

The other two exhibits, Air Sculptures and Air Tower, are where we really had some fun. The main components of each are: an air delivery system and a play material.

Our prototyping objective for “Air Sculptures” is to design an air delivery system for a tabletop work station where visitors can inflate and deflate free-form vertical soft sculptures. The air system, comprised of multiple muffin fans and a blower, designed by USA may eventually be used by Discovery Place to develop a “Build Your Own” Air Sculpture programmatic activity.

The air sculptures are crafted from ripstop nylon. The central sculpture is permanently placed while an adjacent bin is full of smaller sculptures which visitors can move and place on positioning rings on top of the muffin fans.

The Air Tower is a clear tube with an opening at the table base for visitors to “launch” paper shapes. USA uses whatever we have hanging around to get started – years of exhibit work means we have scrap material to play with for rapid prototyping. We tested with different sizes of acrylic and Sonatube to see what diameter and length maximized the floating or flying of the objects. DPI wanted to design to reuse existing materials for a new purpose; this led to the testing of phone book pages as the building material for visitor’s flying objects.

Discovery Place’s focus on fun in the development process is not unstudied; their understanding of their visitors and learning feeds every decision they make.

This permanent exhibit opens to the public April 17th.

Please check back with USANews for more information on our other in-process design-build projects, a traveling exhibit about bivalves for the Museum of the Earth and the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau.