Dionne Darling has been with The A|N Media Group for over six years. As A|N’s Associate Publisher, she manages A|N’s Texas headquarters and handles accounts in the West, Southwest and Europe territories. Dionne has over 28 years of direct B2B sales, management and business development experience.

A structural engineer, Kestner applies his immense passion for environmental accountability in design to elevate the knowledge and expertise of all those around him, creating better results for clients and projects. He was founding chair of the Sustainability Committee of the ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and is widely acknowledged as a leader in the advancement of sustainable structural solutions. As a member of the LEED Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group of the U.S. Green Building Council, he helps guide the criteria of the LEED rating system. Kestner is a professional engineer in Texas and Georgia and is LEED Accredited Professional/Building Design + Construction.

Rachel Calafell is a Principal and Project Manager at Walter P Moore, and a licensed Professional Engineer with over 14 years of experience in structural engineering. She has worked on a diverse range of projects including healthcare, commercial, sports, performing arts venues, education, and significant renovations. Rachel’s passion is rooted in solving unique challenges and collaborating with coworkers and clients. From 2014-2018, Rachel managed the structural engineering efforts for the 957,000 sf Houston Methodist Walter Tower which was awarded the 2019 ENR “Best Healthcare Project” in Texas & Louisiana. In 2015, Rachel received Walter P Moore’s esteemed Horvilleur Award, which is presented annually to one young structural engineer at the firm who has best exemplified excellence in technical design, client service, and business acumen. Rachel has mentored young engineers and shared an adjunct professorship in the Architecture Department at the University of Houston. She has also authored several publications in Modern Steel Construction, Panstadia, and other magazines.

Joseph Welker is Studio Director at James Carpenter Design Associates, managing the studio’s cross-disciplinary staff and coordinating its collaborations with landscape architects, architects, structural engineers, environmental engineers, fabricators and materials engineers. Welker works across the studio’s diverse range of projects, from public art to design elements and spaces that enhance the public realm. Fundamental to each project is an enhanced experience of light, unique to each project site and resulting in integrated art and structural designs that transcend form and style. Welker studied architecture and design at Cornell University, holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree. He recently led JCDA’s design efforts at the Nordstrom NYC flagship store.

Katharine McClellan has worked with James Carpenter for twenty-three years as project manager and senior designer. She has been the designer in charge and managed many of JCDA’s signature projects, including the Hudson Yards Art Wall, Lake Light Threshold, Light Veil and Midway Crossings. She also plays a key role on complex projects such as the ION Innovation Hub in Houston, Texas and the Museum at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. McClellan earned a Bachelor or Architecture at the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

A structural engineer, Kestner applies his immense passion for environmental accountability in design to elevate the knowledge and expertise of all those around him, creating better results for clients and projects. He was founding chair of the Sustainability Committee of the ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and is widely acknowledged as a leader in the advancement of sustainable structural solutions. As a member of the LEED Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group of the U.S. Green Building Council, he helps guide the criteria of the LEED rating system. Kestner is a professional engineer in Texas and Georgia and is LEED Accredited Professional/Building Design + Construction.

A structural engineer, Kestner applies his immense passion for environmental accountability in design to elevate the knowledge and expertise of all those around him, creating better results for clients and projects. He was founding chair of the Sustainability Committee of the ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and is widely acknowledged as a leader in the advancement of sustainable structural solutions. As a member of the LEED Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group of the U.S. Green Building Council, he helps guide the criteria of the LEED rating system. Kestner is a professional engineer in Texas and Georgia and is LEED Accredited Professional/Building Design + Construction.

Victor F. “Trey” Trahan, III, FAIA, is an American philanthropist and the founder and design principal of Trahan Architects in New Orleans and New York City. Trey established Trahan Architects at the age of thirty-two, and the firm has since designed a series of domestic and international projects that have received global recognition for work that is historically grounded and aesthetically sublime. Trey is commended for his innovative use of sustainable materials, stemming from his strong personal belief in the value of environmental conservancy.

Ann Yoachim is Director of the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design and a Professor of Practice at the Tulane University School of Architecture.

As director, Ann supports collaborative community design projects and programs. leads new initiatives including technical expertise for firms on engagement strategy and develops key relationships. Her research, teaching and practice focus on the intersections of built, natural, and socially constructed environments that impact health in rural and urban settings.

Her work has ranged from managing multi-faceted community design projects on climate change adaptation to strategic planning for non-profit organizations and has been published widely. Ann holds a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and political science from Dickinson College. In 2012-2013, she was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Chris McVoy was born in 1964 in Ankara, Turkey. He received his Bachelors Degree in Architecture from the University of Virginia, pursuing studies in Venice in 1985. He graduated with a Masters of Architecture from Columbia University in 1992 and upon graduation worked with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. Chris McVoy joined Steven Holl Architects in 1993 and was made the first Partner in 2000. Mr. McVoy has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, a William Kinne Travel Fellowship and an American Scandinavian Foundation Grant. He has participated in international arts symposia and lectured widely on the firm’s work.

He is responsible for overseeing the projects in the New York office, working closely with Steven Holl and clients to finalize the program, design, and budget, and coordinating and managing the full consultant team, including associate architects. He has been the partner-in-charge and co-designer for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, the Whitney Water Purification Facility and Park, the Campbell Sports Center at Columbia University, and the Glasgow School of Art and the partner-in-charge for the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, the Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa, and the recently completed REACH at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC. He is currently partner-in-charge for the Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Winter Visual Arts Building at Franklin & Marshall College.

Olaf Schmidt has been with Steven Holl Architects since 2002. He was the Associate in Charge of the Queens Library project for the Department of Design and Construction, the Campbell Sports Center at Columbia University in New York City, and the Knokke Heist Casino Development in Belgium. While at Steven Holl Architects he has been the Project Architect for the Residence at the Swiss Embassy in Washington DC (2006) and the Loisium Hotel in Austria (2005). Mr. Schmidt received his Masters Degree in Architecture from ETH Zurich.

As both an Architect and a Certified Facades Engineer, Roman leads the Knippers Helbig Facades team in Stuttgart and New York. His association to structural engineering, environmental design and deep knowledge of the latest fabrication techniques allow him to transfer structural efficiency and thermal performance into facade design. The center aspiration of this work is to create a balanced link between architectural motivated and performance-driven design.

Nadir is a project leader at Transsolar’s Stuttgart office. He had been based at the New York office for several years and has managed international projects of different complexity. Inspiring and realizing design vision resulted in internationally recognized architecture and urban developments, but also local projects with emerging offices where he developed practical strategies for climate responsive design in various climates of the world. His background as scientist and experience in applied technologies allows him to define the relevant questions relative to sustainability and to overview the solutions to design challenges at all scales, from a single dwelling to complex masterplans.

Nadir is currently a guest lecturer at the GSD at Harvard University. He graduated from the Department of Mechanics in Darmstadt and received his PhD from Imperial College London, where he developed novel computational tools to model the airflow past complex geometries. In Germany he had served in the expert committee on human thermal comfort for the German Society of Sustainable Building.

Laura Karnath is a registered architect and Senior Enclosure Technical Designer at Walter P Moore’s Los Angeles office. She is a leader in computational design and holds broad global experience in the organizational models and technical challenges involved in the delivery of large international projects. Having overseen the delivery of highly complex building envelopes on four continents, Laura applies her knowledge and experience to the burning question of embodied carbon in the built environment. An impassioned advocate for computationally driven building data management and for high-performance facades, she believes both to be central in the ultimate decarbonization of the built environment.

Laura is co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of the Carbon Leadership Forum. She holds a Master’s degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University at Buffalo.