Public engineering firm profile
Beltsville, MD
Knowledge. Dedication. Reliability.
iDesign Engineering Inc. is a Maryland-based consulting practice providing civil and structural design services for public infrastructure, including highways, bridges, rail, transit, parking facilities, and water resource management. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Joan Wang, it partners with larger companies on critical design tasks. Most staff hold professional engineering licenses and the team continually expands its expertise in transportation, water resources, structural engineering, and GIS.
Focuses on protecting and rehabilitating watersheds throughout the Chesapeake region. The practice delivers custom engineering solutions for runoff control, environmental compliance, and flood mitigation.
Delivers comprehensive site planning and construction preparation services for public infrastructure projects. Work ensures compliance with environmental regulations and smooth transition from planning to active construction.
Develops roadway alignments, geometric plans, and roadside safety systems adhering strictly to AASHTO standards. The engineering team manages the entire lifecycle of corridor expansions and safety modernizations.
Analyzes and optimizes multi-modal movement across regional transportation networks. The practice designs control systems and routing plans that enhance safety and maximize operational efficiency.
Plans and designs multi-modal transit hubs and support facilities. The engineering team coordinates closely with transit agencies to improve commuter access and operational flow.
Engineers load-bearing systems and protective structures for transportation and public facility networks. Work spans from specialized foundation design to structural inspections.
Integrates spatial analysis into every engineering phase. The practice builds customized mapping applications and geodatabases to track assets and inform design choices.
Harford County, MD | Highways & Roads
Provided hydraulic analysis, drainage and BMP design, and MDE permitting for seven sites on a major widening project, alongside site design for noise walls and roadway design for several overpasses.
Rockville, MD | Highways & Roads
Provided hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for a flood-prone state highway scheduled for widening and pedestrian upgrades, collaborating with highway designers to minimize costs and local impacts.
Howard County, MD | Highways & Roads
Provided independent quality management reviews of stormwater, erosion control, and hydraulic structure design packages for a fast-paced design-build corridor expansion.
Bethesda, MD | Transit
Designed stormwater management facilities within constrained footprints for a sidewalk and multi-modal project along the I-270 corridor, requiring zero additional right-of-way.
Queen Anne's County, MD | Highways & Roads
Provided erosion and sediment control design for two miles of flat terrain, securing PRD approval within four months of kickoff, and completed stormwater management as-built certification for the entire 13-mile highway dualization.
Gaithersburg, MD | Highways & Roads
Developed construction phasing, erosion and sediment control, and hydraulic design for a bridge replacement and highway widening project.
Baltimore, MD | Government
Designed sidewalks, pedestrian ramps, and crossings to bring a heavily traveled urban corridor into ADA compliance during a streetscape revitalization project.
Ellicott City, MD | Highways & Roads
Prepared a complex erosion and sediment control sequence, wetland impact plates, and environmental documentation for a heavily traveled, utility-dense widening corridor.
Montgomery County, MD | Transit
Incorporated innovative drainage and stormwater management designs at 15 highly condensed station sites for a new rapid transit corridor.
Wheaton, MD | Transit
Developed a full concrete pavement replacement design and structured a seven-stage temporary traffic control sequence for a busy transit hub.
METRO Stations | Transit
Investigated stormwater intrusion issues across transit station platforms and mechanical rooms, delivering detailed maintenance and rehabilitation recommendations.
Shady Grove, MD and Alexandria, VA | Transit
Provided plan, summary, and hydraulic designs for oil-water separator installations at transit agency train yards.
Montgomery and Frederick County, MD | Highways & Roads
Designed geometric improvements for six out of fourteen ramp sites, including ramp dualizations and acceleration lane extensions, and provided site design for all ramp metering installations.
Joppa, MD | Bridges
Prepared all non-structural designs for a two-lane bridge replacement spanning a major interstate, encompassing roadway geometrics, drainage, signing, maintenance of traffic, and construction support.
Garrett County, MD | Highways & Roads
Served as prime design consultant to develop roadway, guardrail, and drainage upgrades for a steep, remote highway corridor.
Maryland | Highways & Roads
Performed rapid post-crash analyses of guardrail end treatments and populated an ArcGIS database to evaluate real-life roadside safety performance.
Perryville, MD | Bridges
Provided signing, pavement marking, traffic control, and construction phase support for toll plaza demolition and pavement rehabilitation.
Joppa, MD | Highways & Roads
Coordinated a complex, multi-phase traffic control sequence to facilitate the complete reconfiguration of an interchange during express toll lane widening.
Parkville, MD | Government
Designed mast arm signals and pedestrian accessibility upgrades to replace an overhead spanwire signal arrangement.
Maryland | Transit
Analyzed bicycle commuting stress levels citywide to determine optimal cycling corridors and conducted on-route passenger surveys.
Washington DC | Federal
Assisted in designing rooftop structural supports to facilitate the installation of emergency radio equipment on a historic public building.
Masonville Dredge Facility, Baltimore, MD | Stormwater & Flood Control
Designed a sheet-pile and steel structural retrofit to raise an active spillway by eight feet in preparation for embankment expansion.
11 Maryland Counties | Water Resources
Managed an environmental program to identify and catalog underused paved areas for removal, utilizing GIS to secure MS4 watershed credits across eleven counties.
METRO Stations and Parking Lots | Stormwater & Flood Control
Led spatial research to geo-locate as-built transit plans, populating a custom web-based GIS application to identify potential stormwater management facility locations.
President
PhD, PE, PTOE, LEED AP
Dr. Wang has over 27 years of experience in design, client and agency coordination, and management of planning and engineering of multi-modal transportation and development projects. She founded iDesign in 2012 and focuses on expanding the team and delivering high-quality design.
Executive Vice President
PE, MS4 SCP
Mr. Abel is a civil engineer with two decades of experience working with all major CAD and GIS platforms. He also has over eighteen years of experience with roadway design, ADA pedestrian accessibility accommodations, water resources, utility design, and inspection reporting.
Structural Engineer
PhD, PE, CFM
Dr. Shi is a structural engineer, having provided designs for culverts, stormwater management risers and retaining walls and performed real-time health monitoring of in-service bridges. He is experienced in water resources engineering including floodplain studies, drainage improvements erosion/sediment control and stormwater management.
Director of Highway Engineering
PE
Ms. Lichtenstein has extensive project experience in highways, bike and pedestrian networks, traffic operations, permitting, and 3D modeling. Her prior roles include serving as a highway engineer, AutoCAD and BIM instructor, and SHA Division Chief.
Project Manager
PE, PTOE, RSP1
Mr. Westcott is a project manager with nearly 20 years of experience in project design and oversight throughout Maryland. He specializes in traffic signal design, temporary traffic control and construction sequencing, and roadside safety design.
Project Manager
MS, PE, PTOE, RSP1
Mr. Zhao is a project manager and traffic engineer with experience in urban street calming and accessibility, maintenance of traffic, and crash data analysis. He assists Prince George's County with safe streets initiatives.
Water Resources Engineer
MS, PE
Mr. Su is a water resources engineer with a background in hydrology studies, LID stormwater design, and highway geometric improvements.
Civil and Structural Engineer
MS, PE
Mr. Linn is a civil and structural engineer with experience in the commercial rail industry, focusing on structural engineering and inspections, stormwater management, and ADA design.
Engineer in Training
EIT
Ms. Li has a background in aerospace engineering and specializes in stormwater management, highway engineering, 3D modeling, and staff training.
Civil Engineer
With dual degrees in architecture and landscape architecture, Mr. Mo performs civil engineering tasks, including the design of storm drains, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and roadside safety systems.
Office Manager
Ms. Bowen manages the office operations, handling accounting, marketing, and human resources.