We wish to welcome you to our Web site and provide you with a small history of our firm of Lucien T. Vivien, Jr. and Associates, Inc.

We have been in existence since 1930 and have been women owned since 1975. We are a multi-disciplined firm, specializing in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and all phases thereof. We have completed thousands of projects over the years in the New Orleans area, and also throughout the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Lucien T. Vivien, Jr., the founder and first President of our firm, graduated in the early 1920’s from Tulane University with a degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. His first jobs were with General Electric and Public Service, but he was laid off as a result of the Depression. Mr. Vivien then began practicing as a consultant in 1930, forming our company bearing his name. Because of the Depression, he also worked as a radio dispatcher for the New Orleans Police Department and taught Physics as a professor at Loyola University. Mr. Vivien continued to work with the Police Department and teaching at Loyola throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s up to and during World War II. During this time, he continued to do consulting work.

After World War II, Mr. Vivien went to work for Southern Heater as a Sales Engineer. In 1950 he left and with another partner, he founded Bryant-Leaumont. This company was the local Bryant distributor, and was one of the first residential air conditioning companies in the area. He remained with this company until 1956, when he became a full time consulting engineer. Located on North Jefferson Davis Parkway, Mr. Vivien was a one-man office. He handled all aspects of his projects, including drafting. He shared an office with George Schrenk, a local structural engineer, where they pooled their talents to obtain work with architects. He remained at this location until 1961, when he went to work for Mason Rust, an engineering firm that was working on the Michoud Aerospace Plant in eastern New Orleans. By 1962, Mr. Vivien again returned to full time consulting work, and moved his office to North Claiborne.

Mr. Vivien’s son, Gene, attended Tulane University and graduated in 1961 in Mechanical Engineering. He then joined the Armed Services for two years. He made good use of his time there. During the height of the Cold War, Fort Polk in Northern Louisiana (which had been abandoned since World War II) was being reconditioned. Several of the old buildings were being air-conditioned, and Gene designed some of his first jobs there during his time in the service. Upon his return from service, Gene went to work for Leo A. Daly, an international firm doing work at the Michoud facility. His father approached Gene in 1965 and told him to either come work for him or he was going to hire someone. Gene chose to join his father.

Together, the two built a successful, growing consulting business. Their work consisted of a variety of projects, mostly schools and churches. Two of their prominent jobs during the late 60’s were the Orleans Parish Prison and the Tidewater Place. The Tidewater Place was one of the first VAV systems in the city.

In addition to the father and son team, Mr. Vivien’s wife, Beatrice, and Gene’s wife, Janice, both joined our firm’s efforts full-time. Beatrice Vivien continued to work with our firm until she passed away in 1994. Janice is still with our firm and is our firm’s Administrator as well as the Corporate Secretary.

In 1970, our office moved to Ursuline Street. In 1975, Mr. Vivien died and Gene took over our company. Our firm, which had always practiced mechanical and electrical engineering, continued as Gene received an electrical license. In 1985, our firm moved to, what we thought was our final location, Houma Boulevard in Metairie, LA; however, due to hurricane Katrina, something that has affected all of our lives in New Orleans, came through the area in 2005 and forced us to move once again to yet another destination in Harahan, LA. A common factor in this story is that the strength and integrity of our firm in the New Orleans area keeps growing.

Gene was one of the first consultants in the city to recognize the impact computerization would have. We were one of the early users of computer aided load calculation programs, investing in a computer long before they were commonplace (and affordable). We were also one of the first to invest in and use early versions of computer-assisted drafting. These were quite radical in the early eighties, but Gene recognized the value of these tools, and these tools helped him take on larger jobs. The early 1980’s were a period of rapid growth. Our company grew to 17 employees and opened an office in Opelousas, LA. But soon the economy slowed and we closed the Opelousas office. During the last fifteen years, our firm has been very busy with many notable projects.

The future is bright for Lucien T. Vivien, Jr. and Associates, Inc, as a third generation has become involved in our business. Gene and Janice have three children, two of whom are active in our firm. Their son David and their daughter Karen work full time in our company. Karen has a degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Orleans and is the CEO/President of the company and David has a degree in mechanical engineering also from the University of New Orleans and is the Vice President of the company.

Now that you have a brief understanding of the history of our firm, who we are, and what we do, we invite you to review our project profiles and contact us if you do not find what you are looking for.