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Company Background
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Storms & Lowe was
founded in a momentous year - 1945; World War II came to an end in Europe and the Pacific, and Los Angeles and Southern California began its now fabled post-war building
boom.The business climate was amenable to two mechanical engineers joining forces to start a new partnership. At the time, Los Angeles still had more orange groves than it had
freeways.
The late Robert M. Storms, already in business for himself, asked Robert A. Lowe, then an engineer with the U.S.
Corps of Engineers, to join him in opening an office in Hollywood. Both partners brought solid engineering credentials to the business: Storms was a graduate of Cooper Union
in New York City and Lowe, a New Yorker himself, is a graduate of The University of Michigan.
The company was founded to provide professional mechanical and electrical design services for the rapidly developing region. As Southern California grew, so
did Storms & Lowe. Now, the company's client list includes numerous representatives from a variety of industries: aerospace, communications, financial, government, hotel,
medical, real estate, recreation and entertainment, retail and others.
Early in
the company's history, Storms & Lowe was retained as consultants and supervising engineers to the University of California at Los Angeles; the relationship has continued
ever since, with the company working on the development of the UCLA, Riverside, Santa Barbara and LaJolla campuses subsequently.
The firms's practice is as varied as the industries it serves, with engineering applications in central heating
and cooling systems, uninterruptible power supply facilities, power distribution and lighting, air conditioning, plumbing, co-generation, seismic protection, smog control,
water filtration and purification, and environmental control. Among its specialities are designs for highly complex high and low voltage distribution and communications
systems for audio, video and data processing.
With the increasing project load
founder Lowe, now chairman of the board, increased his staff. Stone S. Chen, now president and chief mechanical engineer, joined the company in 1962. James R. Manning, who is
vice president and chief electrical engineer, began his tenure in 1971. Each brought with him an extensive background in a wide variety of projects, which provides the
knowledge necessary to fulfill the most exacting requirements and provides clients a management team of professionals.
T
he executives stay actively involved with the projects, working directly with the company's well qualified engineering associates, and
overseeing the highly trained engineers, designers and draftspersons on staff.
For
each project undertaken, management assigns a team with a designated leader responsible for the project from inception to completion. Once the assignment is made and the work
is underway, there is a daily review between the leader of the group and one or more of the principals to ensure that the company's policy of personalized service is
maintained.
This procedure allows Storms & Lowe to handle projects of various
natures and of any size, large or small. Storms & Lowe's smooth organization is enhanced by full in-house computer capabilities which affords high speed and accuracy in
preparing calculations and specifications.
A complete current library of catalogs is maintained, listing virtually every systems component needed in the company's engineering applications. Extensive archives are kept, and are especially beneficial to ongoing clients as a cost-efficiency measure.
At Storms & Lowe, the pervading objective is a commitment to
excellence in design and service. This commitment-along with technical expertise and professional vitality has enabled the company to give its clients the high level of
quality that they seek.
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