Derek Beaman, PE, SE, is a Senior Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), an award- winning, 103-year-old, 155-person structural and civil engineering firm with offices in Seattle, Washington, and Chicago, Illinois. The leader of MKA’s Cultural and Convention Center Specialist Groups, Derek’s design portfolio includes new and existing-building renovations of over 60 convention center projects throughout the United States, Canada, China, India, and Qatar, with a combined cost of built work totaling almost $13 billion and a corresponding program area of more than 26 million square feet. Notable projects include expansions to the Seattle Convention Center, Las Vegas Convention Center, and New York City’s Javits Convention Center. With nearly 30 years of experience, Derek has developed a holistic understanding of a convention center’s structural and nonstructural systems, allowing him to identify and target the appropriate structural material quantities early in the design process and deliver on those initial targets throughout the project’s design. Derek has also collaborated with world-renowned architects to incorporate unique structural solutions into the Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Central Library, Experience Music Project, and other award-winning projects.