Mauricio Rocha

Founder

Taller Mauricio Rocha

Mauricio Rocha is one of the leaders of the contemporary generation of architects who have been instrumental in re-making Mexico City. Rocha is known for a wide range of buildings, installations and architecture-based interventions, including the San Pablo Oztotepec Market, the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the House for Abandoned Children. Through the work of his Taller de Arquitectura and his teaching at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and throughout Latin America and North America, Rocha’s concepts of form, composition and material have deeply influenced a generation of architects and urbanists. Rocha’s work establishes a deep commitment to sustainability — he explores local materials and traditional labor practices — and that his work has a profound connection to context.

Thomas Robinson

Founding Principal

LEVER Architecture

Thomas Robinson is the Founder of LEVER Architecture, a design practice with offices in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California. His firm is widely recognized for material innovation and for pioneering work with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT). His recent projects include 843 N Spring Street, slated to be one of the largest mass timber buildings in Los Angeles, and first-of-their-kind timber buildings for clients such as The Nature Conservancy and Adidas. Thomas’ work also includes more than $2M in research to develop and test wood building assemblies, and he has lectured on mass timber throughout the US, Europe, and South America. LEVER was recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative companies; and in 2017, was named to Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard and to the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices.

Craig Booth

Principal

Yazdani Studio—Cannon Design

With 37 years of diverse architectural experience and the last 26 years being collaborative in the design and execution of all Yazdani Studio projects. As an integral design leader, he establishes a clear design vision and is capable of project execution from conceptual design through project completion. His work combines experimental design with a mature resolution of pragmatic requirements, along with a high degree of technical expertise.

Patrick Chopson

Co-Founder & CPO

Covetool

Focusing on the crossover between architecture and technology, Patrick Chopson leads cove.tool, a web-based design software for buildings using machine learning and automation to drive decision making. As Co-Founder, he oversees product development and research. A graduate of Georgia Tech with a Master’s in High Performance Buildings, he is a licensed architect with over 17 years of experience in architecture, research, and mechanical engineering firms. Prior to cove.tool, he co-founded a successful building performance consulting firm Pattern r+d. He is featured in multiple publications include Architect Magazine, Tech Crunch, Site Selection, The Architect’s Newspaper, ArchDaily, and more.

Nick Cameron

Principal

Perkins&Will

As Perkins&Will’s Director of Digital Practice, Nick takes a big-picture approach to his work, and employs a thorough understanding of how the digital practice enhances and completes the design process. Having spent the first part of his career as a designer, he now views his work as an opportunity to work alongside design teams to put the finishing touches on projects. He loves the fact that while so much of a firm’s process relies on technology, the output is analog. The product is ultimately a space that betters a child’s education, improves the wellness of patients, or enhances the functionality of an office. Nick’s passion lies in perfecting the digital process to maximize these outcomes.

Erin Lindsay

Director of Architectural Business Development

CRL

Erin has spent the past twenty-two years representing manufacturers within the architectural community. Twelve of the most recent have been in Los Angeles with an emphasis in façade materials. Erin joined C.R. Laurence two years ago to build a team of dedicated architectural specialists who assist the design community with specifying systems and components related to glazing applications.

Nathan Barnes

Computational Lead, Research & Development

ZAHNER

Nathan Barnes is the Computational Lead at ZAHNER. He has a background in architectural fabrication through programmatic mass customization. He is passionate about encapsulating solutions to problems through technological solutions. Additionally, he has a passion for fostering an inquisitive culture around him. Nathan holds a master’s degree in architecture from UTA with an emphasis on digital fabrication. His current research is centered around developing software and hardware improvements to nudge forward fabrication capabilities.

Frank Cauthen

Sr. Associate

HOK

Frank is a performance-oriented designer focused on innovative solutions to complex problems made possible by emerging technologies. By leveraging over 15 years of experience across a broad range of project types, including the Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar and several net-zero facilities buildings in San Diego, Frank delivers spaces that balance performance, cost, and environmental concerns for his clients.

Anthony E. Birchler

Vice President Sales Engineering

ZAHNER

Birchler’s 38 years of professional experience in all aspects of facades is well respected. He consults and collaborates with Owners, Architects, Engineers, and Construction Managers to develop bespoke complex metal façade solutions utilizing ZAHNER Assist methods. He is a key member of multiple ZAHNER teams. Since 1997, he has been responsible for the design and implementation of many of the patented systems used to complete bold architecture throughout the world. Birchler earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The University of Missouri-Rolla.

Sagar Chavan

Sr. Associate

SLAM Collaborative

Sagar has experience as a designer and project manager. Since joining the firm, he has worked on numerous projects for the County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente, University of Southern California, UCLA, City of Hope, Disney, Northrop Grumman and Mattel. Sagar’s experience includes recreation projects, medical office buildings, laboratories, academic buildings, high-rise residential projects, large- scale tenant improvement work, campus planning, urban design and master planning.

Anne Cotter

Principal

ZGF Architects

Anne Cotter has 33 years of experience in the planning, design, and management of a wide variety of complex projects, ranging from hospitality, mixed-use, and residential to civic, educational, and healthcare facilities. She is responsible for all phases of project development, including initial client interactions, contract negotiation, code research, entitlement approvals, and Schematic Design through on-site Construction Administration. Her personal passion for sustainability underscores her well-versed expertise in delivering green design solutions across typologies. Anne holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University.

Joe Fitzpatrick

Principal

Luc Deckinga

Digital Practice Manager

Perkins & Will

As Digital Practice Manager for Computational Design, Luc brings a programmer’s rigor and designer’s creativity to every area of Perkins+Will’s diverse practice, giving designers new tools to create more sophisticated designs. Trained as an architect, his portfolio now encompasses a wide range of scales and disciplines, from robotic fabrication to environmental simulation and responsive parametric design. Luc’s work pushes at the boundaries of technology and creativity.

Brian Fraumeni

Design Director

Gensler

Joining Gensler in 2010, Brian Fraumeni’s expertise includes hospitality, mixed use and campuses & headquarters. He is a core project and technical designer for projects including Westin DIA Hotel and Transit Center, ITC One Colombo Hotel and Residences, and City of Hope Administrative Office Building. Brian has presented at conferences hosted by USC, Facade Tectonics, Autodesk, SCIArc, and Los Angeles Harbor.

Tim Fuller

Senior Engineer

Arup

Tim Fuller is a Senior Engineer in the Arup Façade Engineering group in Los Angeles where he specializes in Façade Structural Engineering, Building Envelope Physics (BEP), and Materials. Prior to joining Arup, Tim worked for several years as a bridge engineer, and he obtained his Professional Engineering license in 2012. He later acquired a master’s degree in Architectural Engineering with a focus on building energy and sustainability from the Technical University of Denmark, where he also gained valuable international experience.

Since joining Arup in 2015, Tim’s role has grown continuously, and he is now responsible for: design development and detailing; structural analysis of complex façade systems and glass builds; materials investigations and comparative analysis; BEP evaluations; preparation of tender documentation including drawings and performance specifications; and direct liaison with clients.

In addition, Tim is prominently involved in Construction Administration activities, including review of subcontractor submission packages for structural, thermal, and weathertightness principles; developing proposals for and witnessing performance mock-ups; onsite observations of envelope construction progress and maintaining on-site quality; and the development of and coordination of Building Envelope Commissioning (BECx) plans. In this capacity, Tim has developed a knowledge and working relationship with key domestic façade contractors and suppliers, including curtain wall and glass suppliers.

Som Iempinyo

Senior Associate

Gensler

Som is a registered architect, with B.Arch, M.Arch degrees and over 16 years of experience working in the architectural field. She has been providing valuable project support on a wide-range of projects from pursuing the project to the final product delivery which has prepared her to work efficiently in a variety of roles.

Irene Martin

Facade Team Leader

Arup

Irene Pau Martin is an Associate at Arup with an Environmental and Mechanical Engineering background. She leads the Building Envelope Physics sub-discipline within the Americas Region and co-leads the Los Angeles Facades team. Having worked in London and Los Angeles, Irene has 16 years of experience on international projects ranging from historic buildings to new-build museums and office towers. Her passion for environmental considerations and occupant comfort has led her to advocate for thoughtful envelope designs that balance architectural delight with responsible resource consumption, particularly that of carbon and energy. Her design approach focuses on passive strategies—specific to each project site—to optimize the dynamic heat transfer between the indoor and outdoor environments. She also has a keen interest in healthy and sustainable materials. Irene has guest lectured at SCI-Arc and USC and has taught the highly popular AIA-accredited course, “Basics of Building Envelope Physics”.

Katie Horak

Principal

Architectural Resources Group

Katie Horak is a Los Angeles-area native and Principal in ARG’s Los Angeles office. She has nearly twenty years’ experience in the field of historic resource management in both the public and private sectors. Katie is a recognized leader in the industry, bringing creative and innovative solutions to complex issues related to historic site documentation, preservation policy and approvals processes, heritage management and interpretation, and adaptive re-use.

Sean Quinn

Director of Regenerative Design

HOK

Sean Quinn AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, BREEAM, BEAM Pro

Sean Quinn leads HOK’s global regenerative design practice, leveraging natural systems and building technology to enhance development as a steward of the environment. Over the past two decades, he has demonstrated his commitment to performance-based sustainable design and progressive approaches to biomimicry in planning and design projects all over the world. Sean is committed to ensuring that the built environment of tomorrow goes beyond net-zero strategies, yielding mutualistic, net-positive benefits for nature, buildings and communities.

Scott Robinson

Sr. Preconstruction Manager

Clark Pacific

With over 30 years of experience in the precast construction industry, Scott started his career in General Contracting with Gate Precast as a project manager, and later, Director of Sales and Marketing and Head of Pre-Construction. In 2021, Scott joined Clark Pacific as the Senior Manager of Pre-Construction for Southern California. Personally, Scott is a licensed pilot and has kayaked over 100 miles. As an avid climber, Scott has climbed 14 mountains in the Rockies.

Mario Romero

Computational Designer

Perkins&Will

Mario Romero is a computational designer and digital practice manager at Perkins+Will. His work primarily deals in the melding of technology and architecture, including robotics, digital\physical interface design, digital fabrication—specifically 3D printing—and modular building automation and intelligence. Mario previously worked at AS+GG in Chicago and holds a BArch from University of Illinois Chicago.

Felix Weber

Facade Specialist

RDH

As a Façade Specialist, Felix has a deep knowledge in complex façade and glass design. He is a highly creative engineer and experienced team leader with over 15 years of experience in façade consulting and structural engineering. He enjoys designing structures and façades influenced by individual materials or products. He has worked with many cladding types and specializes in structural facades, structural glass, complex geometry structures, and uncommon building materials such as ETFE and fiber-reinforced polymers. Felix was involved, for example, in the Bombay Sapphire Greenhouses (Laverstoke, UK), a Large Confidential Campus Project (Cupertino, CA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, CA) and the Berkeley Hotel Entrance (London, UK).

Brian Wickersham

Founding Partner

AUX Architecture

Brian Wickersham, AIA, is the founding partner of AUX Architecture. With more than twenty years of experience, he creates meaningful spaces that promote creativity and community. AUX Architecture’s diverse body of work includes award-winning residential and multifamily homes, retail environments, art galleries, and education and cultural arts centers. Notable projects include the Saddle Peak Residence, which uses natural materials and sustainable approaches to connect the house to the surrounding landscape, and the luminous, community minded Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Brian strives to mitigate architecture’s impact on the environment. He integrates care and sustainability into all aspects of the studio. He is a licensed architect in California and Nevada, NCARB certified, and a LEED Accredited Professional..

Bob Zhang

Sales Director | North America

North Glass

Bob is the Sales Director of Tianjin Northglass for North America, the leading fabricator of specialty and oversized architectural glass for the global construction industry.

Bob has many years of experience working with Quality Control department. Bob was the project manager for Apple Park project in Cupertino, supporting the design team on the glass selection for Apple’s new headquarters. In 2015, Bob came to the US to make more connections with architects and support their designs of future projects with the innovation and capabilities that Northglass has to offer.

Paul Woolford

Design Principal

HOK

FAIA, IIDA, LEED AP BD+C

As the design principal for HOK’s San Francisco studio and member of the firm’s global design board, Paul leads interdisciplinary teams of architects, engineers, interior designers and landscape architects.

Paul has focused his entire career on rethinking the relationships between people and their environments. His design of innovative, people-centered buildings has earned him numerous accolades, including three AIA COTE Top Ten Awards and consistent LEED Platinum certifications.

Under Paul’s guidance, our San Francisco studio has been recognized as AIA California’s Firm of the Year, and his teams have won dozens of regional and national design awards.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Paul is an influential figure in architectural education, having taught at UC Berkeley, Cornell University and the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is also an engaged member and leader of various organizations, demonstrating his dedication to public service and urban planning.

Forrest Zhang

Structural Engineer

HOK

Forrest has five years of experience ranging from retail & commercial to healthcare, with specializations in steel and engineered wood. His strong decision making and communication skills allow him to handle difficult situations and continually focus on providing value to a project.

Jack Rusk

Climate Strategist

EHDD

Jack Rusk is a Climate Strategist for EHDD, an architecture firm with offices in San Francisco and Seattle. In addition to his involvement in the firm’s design and planning projects, Rusk the lead technical developer of EHDD’s EPIC tool. In the last few years, Rusk presented research at the International Mass Timber Conference, applied machine learning and remote sensing techniques to model how urbanization is changing people’s exposure to natural hazards in mountainous areas. He has written articles for a number of architecture publications and peer-reviewed research journals.

Kevin Smith

Director-Product Application & Development

EXTECH

Kevin Smith leads the EXTECH team in the design and customization of daylighting and other façade technologies, and oversees projects from concept through implementation. He previously worked for the Port Authority of Allegheny County (one of the largest mass transit providers in Pennsylvania) and William Pleva Architects. Kevin has over 33 years of experience managing projects through the design, award, and construction phases. He is a Registered Architect in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University.

Scott Robinson

Sr. Preconstruction Manager

Clark Pacific

With over 30 years of experience in the precast construction industry, Scott started his career in General Contracting with Gate Precast as a project manager, and later, Director of Sales and Marketing and Head of Pre-Construction. In 2021, Scott joined Clark Pacific as the Senior Manager of Pre-Construction for Southern California. Personally, Scott is a licensed pilot and has kayaked over 100 miles. As an avid climber, Scott has climbed 14 mountains in the Rockies.

Sean Scott

Sr. Associate

Ankrom Moisan

With 26 years of experience working as an enclosure focused Architect, Building Scientist, and University of Oregon Professor, Sean Scott has made a habit of contributing to the building industry field of knowledge and educating the industry regarding enclosures. He is known as a “process-driven” high value member of the enclosure field in the Pacific North West. With his clear, concise communication style, Sean leads his firm of almost 300 staff for enclosures through consulting, research, and education. Sean’s has served on the Portland Building Enclosure Council, and was an enclosure professor at the University of Oregon.

Bob Okajima

Senior Principal

IMEG

Bob’s vast engineering experience includes designing, budgeting, overseeing production, and construction administration in a variety of markets including healthcare, university, government, justice, aerospace, and housing. Bob specializes in the design and construction of central plants including cogeneration; upgrading of various mechanical equipment and systems; and comprehensive master planning and infrastructure assessments. In addition to his LEED AP accreditation he is an Associate DBIA and a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Southern California.

Joe O’Neill

Senior Vice President

Cannon Design

Joseph possesses more than 37 years of architectural experience, he is a highly innovative, well-rounded architect with expertise in design development, construction documents, and exterior wall detailing. As a technical architect with design sensitivity, Joseph is a primarily focuses on exterior envelope design. He also serves as the Quality Leader responsible for quality control of our technical documents.

Edwin Najarian

Senior Principal

IMEG

Edwin Najarian, P.E., S.E

Edwin has been practicing structural engineering for more than 20 years. He has led the design and analysis of several billion dollars in new building construction as well as seismic retrofit of existing buildings in sectors including but not limited to: healthcare, education, essential facilities, public and residential buildings. He also has extensive experience in alternate project delivery approaches such as Design-Build, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Public Private Partnership (P3), Design Assist, and Lean Delivery Approach. His leadership role allows him to actively participate in all stages of projects from project negotiation until the end of construction.

Mic Patterson

Ambassador of Innovation & Collaboration

Facade Tectonics Institute

Mic Patterson PHD, LEED AP

Mic Patterson is a designer, researcher, educator, futurist, author, photographer and entrepreneur. He has concentrated his professional and academic career on advanced facade technology and sustainable building practices. He pioneered the introduction of structural glass facade technology in the United States in the 1990s, implementing diverse and novel applications including cable trusses, cable nets and grid shells. Patterson was among the founding group of the Advanced Technology Studio of Enclos, where he works as the Vice President of Strategic Development. He is a co-founder of the Facade Tectonics Institute and serves on the steering committee, and co-founder of the Facades+ conference series. He is on the technical research committee for GlassCon Global and a member of the Advisor Group for the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

Adam Padua

Sr. Associate

Moore Ruble Yudell

Adam Padua is a Senior Associate and project manager at Moore Ruble Yudell. Adam’s projects include Horace Mann School, San Jose and Steger Center at the University of Cincinnati which garnered two National AIA Design Awards and two National AIA Committee for Architecture in Education Design Awards, and projects at University of Virginia; Washington University in Saint Louis, UCLA and UCSD. Adam is an associate member of the American Institute of Architects, SCUP and a LEED® Accredited professional.

Chris McAnneny

Sr. Associate

Heatherwick Studio

Chris McAnneny is an Associate with Heatherwick Studios and was project architect on the Google Bayview Campus. Previously, he was an Project Architect at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and ARUP. He holds a MArch from Columbia GSAPP