Category: News Articles

  • New NK Tools Online

    New NK Tools Online

    Most of you have heard of Ring, the wifi-enabled digital video camera and doorbell home security system. When the company was starting out and showing signs of growth, the founder and CEO made a pitch to potential investors on the TV show Shark Tank. The purpose of the pitch was to take the 6-figure company […]

  • NK Tools for Model Results

    NK Tools for Model Results

    Have you ever wondered why some things are the way they are? Why do cars have four wheels? Why are the letters of a keyboard laid out the way they are? Why do men’s shirts and women’s blouses button on different sides? There is an actual explanation for each of these, but, in general, it […]

  • NK Tools for Data Visualization

    NK Tools for Data Visualization

    Everyone would agree that maps are a very useful tool. Tons of information in a very compact and intuitive format. With the onset of digital maps, GPS, and smartphones, we all carry the means to know exactly where we are, know what is around us, and potentially navigate to anywhere in the world. Do realize […]

  • NK Tools for Model Input

    NK Tools for Model Input

    A while back, I posted the article Connect Your Modeling Database to Your GIS, preaching the benefits of using a database-centric approach to dispersion modeling. The main point of the article was one thing (a database) is easier to manage than dozens or hundreds of free-floating files. If you are reviewing someone else’s modeling project, […]

  • A Modern Approach to Dispersion Modeling

    A Modern Approach to Dispersion Modeling

    Knowledge and Skills Obsolescence in the Air Quality Sector As technology advances, the collection of human knowledge expands and the skills necessary for living in a functioning society eventually get replaced with new ones that did not exist before. Thousands of years ago, the time for the sum total of human knowledge to be replaced […]

  • Dispersion Modeling Audits: Using NK Tools

    Dispersion Modeling Audits: Using NK Tools

    Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing and walking on the moon was quite an achievement. Though the ultimate goal was to put humans on the moon, the steps to get to that end point didn’t exactly resemble the final product. The beginning stages of the preparation for the moonshot were very crude, clumsy, and addressed […]

  • Dispersion Modeling Audits: Model Results and Other Issues

    Dispersion Modeling Audits: Model Results and Other Issues

    On October 9th, 2018, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced and introduced its plan to expedite air quality permit application reviews at its Autumn Environmental Conference. TCEQ rolled out spreadsheet workbook templates that would take the place of many of the forms required for an air quality permit application. The rationale for the […]

  • Dispersion Modeling Audits: Representation Accuracy

    Dispersion Modeling Audits: Representation Accuracy

    Remember how we used to shop in an actual store. Remember going to the video store for tapes and/or DVDs. Think of how things are now. Those changes did not occur overnight. Also, the way these companies started out is not at all the way they ended up being today. Amazon sold books. Netflix sent […]

  • Dispersion Modeling Audits: The Audit Process

    Dispersion Modeling Audits: The Audit Process

    I do not go out to eat that much. The main reason is, eating a meal outside of my home, stresses me out. At home, I know where everything is. I know the format of how the food is going to be dispersed and served. I know where all the tools are. I know where […]

  • Call for Forward-Looking Companies

    Call for Forward-Looking Companies

    Sometimes I really wonder if I am a clairvoyant. The topic for this month’s webinar series was decided upon months ago. I knew the TCEQ Autumn Environmental Conference (Air Permitting Workshop) was going to be the week before the webinars were to happen, but there was no conference agenda out until a few week ago. […]