R Andrew Bennett joined BOKA Powell in 1995 and has been a creative force behind BOKA Powell’s full range of architectural and interior design services. Andrew helps foster BOKA Powell’s atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration, planning mock design exercises that hone the team’s creative skills. Prior to joining BOKA Powell, Andrew spent several years designing projects in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Sydney, Australia, and took a 30-country world tour to visit significant architectural landmarks. This international experience helped Andrew evolve his foundation in regionalism into a design approach he now terms “global regionalism” – a belief that context and the vernacular of a place can be accentuated by the broader reach of today’s society, especially through materials sourcing and construction technologies.

Andrew Pries, Director of Innovation + Technical Sales at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, holds a BS in Architecture from the University at Buffalo and a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan. With a focus on design development and leveraging diverse fabrication methods to expand the applications of terra cotta, he has played a pivotal role in high profile projects such as the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) 120 Stockton, and University of Arizona, Health Sciences Innovation Building.

Chad Patterson is an Architectural Sales Manager for Mitsubishi Chemical America’s ALPOLIC® Division. In this role, he plays a key part in advancing the company’s sales initiatives throughout the South-Central United States. His responsibilities include building strong relationships with architects, guiding product selection, and facilitating continuing education courses that keep design professionals informed on industry trends, materials, and best practices. Chad also collaborates closely with fabricators and distributors, ensuring alignment across the full sales channel and supporting projects from concept through completion.

Prior to joining ALPOLIC®, Chad built a successful career in fabrication, developing expertise in estimating, installation, field measurements, and drafting. This hands-on background gives him a practical understanding of construction processes and client needs.

Outside of work, Chad enjoys golfing, staying active, and spending quality time with his wife and their four children.

Chris O’Hara is a Founding Principal of Studio NYL. Trained as a Structural Engineer, Chris has a passion for Architecture. This passion has fostered the collaborative approach that is a cornerstone of Studio NYL’s collaborative approach to structures and enclosures. Although Studio NYL is recognized for its skins work with cutting-edge glass and glazing, their team also specializes in digitally fabricated metal skins, GFRC, reinforced polymers, stone, ultra high performance concrete, terra cotta, and traditional precast. In addition to the structural aspects of facades, Chris’s focus is on constructability, fabrication and modularity within the Studio.

Chris has served as a board member on the AIA National TAP Committee as well as AIA Board of Directors. Chris has also been a board member of the Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative and participated in lectures with the Carbon Leadership Forum and the BSA’s Embodied Carbon 101 series for both Structure and Façade.

Cliff Wood serves as Senior Vice President for TCC within the firm’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. In this role he manages all building design and construction related activities for the firm’s development projects. The Dallas-Fort Worth office focuses on the following product types: land, retail, industrial, and multifamily residential for High Street Residential, TCC's residential subsidiary. Wood joined TCC in 2011 and previously served 12 years as an estimator and project manager for a local general contractor. He specializes in the development of Class A office buildings, industrial, mixed-use and multifamily residential buildings.

David Brown is a Principal and Studio Practice Leader, Commercial/Mixed-Use at HKS. With a strong interest in urbanism and the vibes of the city, David understands how architecture and urban design can help shape the future of the city through placemaking to be more active, equitable and sustainable.

Eneko Igartua is the Regional Façades Sales Manager at Cosentino, where he specializes in delivering high-performance architectural solutions using innovative materials. With a strong background in sustainable design and façade systems, he collaborates closely with designers, contractors, and manufacturers to implement advanced cladding technologies.

His international education and professional experience have given him a global perspective on design, innovation, and sustainability. Eneko has contributed to a wide range of commercial projects across Europe, Latin America, and the United States, and has worked with leading façade manufacturers on forward-thinking building envelope solutions.

He holds a master’s degree in strategic design for Global Leadership from Parsons School of Design. This education has strengthened his view of design as a strategic tool, not only for visual impact, but also for solving complex challenges and shaping systems, services, and organizations to be more effective and sustainable. Eneko actively participates in industry events and has led multiple masterclasses in both higher education and the private sector.

Irene Martin leads Arup's Americas West Facades Team. She has an Environmental and Mechanical Engineering background and brings international experience on a range of building typologies. 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 energy and carbon. Her design approach focuses on passive strategies specific to each project site to help reduce HVAC sizing and to improve resilience & passive survivability. Irene has guest lectured at SCI-Arc, USC, UT Austin, & NJIT and has taught the highly popular AIA-accredited course, "A Whole-Life Carbon Approach to Façade Design". She currently sits on the Façade Tectonics Institute’s embodied carbon working group and its advocacy committee to bring about code and policy improvements. She is also a voting member of the IECC Commercial Envelope & Embodied Energy Subcommittee.

Josh McKeown has over twenty years of experience in the industry and a strong grasp of all phases of design and construction and brings extensive knowledge and a passion for innovation, craft and sustainability to his projects. Most recently, a member of the Knox Leadership Team, Josh joined the NY Studio in 2014 and has been central in the design and delivery of many significant projects, including One High Line, 75 Park Lane, and Gramercy Square. He was on the team that created the Madison Square Garden Vision 2023, an acclaimed design study in collaboration with the Municipal Art Society of New York and Regional Plan Association. Prior to joining Woods Bagot in 2015, Josh worked at several prominent design firms, including RUR Architecture and Studio Daniel Libeskind, where he contributed to a wide range of project scales and types, both domestic and abroad.

Lei Gao joined TVS in 2000 and has been involved in all aspects of architectural design, working primarily within the mixed-use, convention, and hospitality studios. In the past few years, he has been focused on ground-up and renovations of convention centers both domestically and internationally. Most recently, he has served as a project manager and architect for the $127,000,000 convention center expansion project in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also active in the Asia and the Middle East markets and leads the design team on several high-profile projects, such as Xiamen International Convention Center and Longgang International Arts Center, both in China. Registered Architect, Member of the American Institute of Architects

Lisa Rammig is the Director of Eckersley O’Callaghan's West Coast offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She initially joined EOC to support the firm’s emerging facade engineering group in London. After playing a key role in its remarkable growth, she led the expansion of EOC’s presence on the West Coast.

Lisa has overseen numerous high-profile projects, including Google’s California campus and several flagship Apple retail stores. She also leads EOC’s R&D efforts, driving innovation in glass design, technology, and circularity. Holding a PhD from TU Delft, Lisa remains deeply involved in academia through various research and teaching engagements.

In 2022 she cofounded CircuClarity, a global initiative dedicated to creating a circular economy within the glass and facade industry. She has emerged as a thought leader at the intersection of design, engineering, and sustainability. The platform brings together fabricators, manufacturers, architects, engineers, and researchers to catalyze industry-wide change, promoting collaboration, transparency, and the adoption of regenerative design practices.

Marc serves as Director of Architectural Systems at Wells, driving efficient solutions through early collaboration and design-assist processes. He works closely with architects, contractors, and owners to balance creativity with constructability, ensuring each project meets design intent, performance goals, and schedule requirements.

Marlon Blackwell, together with his partner in life and work, Ati Blackwell, AIA, ASID lead the internationally recognized practice Marlon Blackwell Architects. Their work has received recognition with significant publication and more than 200 design awards including the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture and the 2025 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize. Working between the universal language of architecture and the particulars of place, they have cultivated a studio recognized for its formal clarity, contextual depth, and architectural integrity. In 2020, Marlon was honored with the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects for his enduring impact on the theory and practice of architecture. He’s a lifetime member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and an inductee of the American Academy of Arts and Science. Equally respected as an educator, he served as the E. Fay Jones Distinguished Professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas where he taught for over 30 years. Most recently, he was the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Professor at Yale University for the Fall of 2025. A monograph of their recent work, titled “Radical Practice”, was published in 2022 by Princeton Architectural Press.

Matthew Mittelstet brings more than 25 years of construction and building enclosure expertise to the Lerch Bates team. He began his career with a leading general contractor, where he spent nine years managing high-profile projects and developing deep knowledge in design coordination, constructability, and building enclosure systems. He later spent 12 years in senior leadership with a commercial waterproofing and insulation subcontractor, specializing in thermal and moisture protection solutions.

Today, Matt has been a building enclosure consultant at Lerch Bates for more than 3 years, providing consulting, commissioning, and testing services for new construction projects across a wide range of clients, including developers, architects, contractors, subcontractors, and commissioning agents. Known for his collaborative leadership style, technical expertise, and client-focused approach, Matt is passionate about helping project teams deliver durable, high-performing buildings.

Nathan Seaman brings extensive experience in architectural metal fabrication, project execution, and custom facade systems. Having worked closely with fabricators, installers, engineers, and architects throughout his career, he offers a practical perspective on how     complex design concepts are transformed into successful built projects.

With a background rooted in hands-on fabrication and manufacturing, Nathan has developed a deep understanding of the materials, processes, and craftsmanship required to deliver high performance architectural metal systems. His experience spans custom fabrication, project coordination, design support, and the technical challenges involved in bringing ambitious architectural designs from concept to completion.

Nathan is passionate about helping project teams bridge the gap between design intent and construction realities, ensuring that creative ideas can be executed efficiently without compromising quality or performance.

Stefan Burnett is an architect, senior project designer, and senior associate at Perkins&Will, where he is responsible for translating the firm’s Living Design framework into built work that performs—environmentally, socially, and experientially. His practice centers on the belief that design is an active force: shaping how institutions function, how communities connect, and how people experience place every day.

Stefan approaches each project as a creative process—an iterative process of inquiry, collaboration, and problem-solving rooted in rigor and curiosity that seeks the right response rather than a predetermined solution. Whether working with academic institutions like the University of Texas at Dallas, healthcare leaders including Baylor Scott & White Health, UT Southwestern, and Children’s Health, or civic partners such as the City of Dallas and City of Houston, he is driven by understanding what truly matters to clients and translating those priorities into architecture with clarity and purpose.

For Stefan, the most meaningful moment of architecture is when the design ideas take built form, are tested in its daily use, and prove their value for its users and context over time. With a dynamic approach balancing human experience, deep research, environmental performance, and beauty, Stefan’s award-winning experience reflects the enduring value he brings to each project, client, and, ultimately, our communities. 

Trey Greer graduated from Louisiana Tech University with his Bachelor of Architecture in May of 1998. Licensed in New Mexico and Texas, Trey has managed a wide range of projects. He knows how to bridge the gap between design and constructability and homes in on details that matter for the future, for maintenance and longevity, working closely with boards and facility directors as a trusted resource and advocate for the owner. As the Director of Technical Practice, Trey also leads the firm in developing standards and details and leveraging Building Information Modeling (BIM) to be a tool for proactive problem-solving and visualization.

Victor Yakin is a construction products professional, currently working as Sr. Application Engineer for Momentive / GE Silicones.  He has over 25 years of experience in design, engineering, marketing, and sales of specialty engineered products for commercial and institutional construction projects. Before his tenure at Momentive, he ran his firm “Architectural Products Consulting & Sales LLC” for 7 years, representing major manufacturers of façade panels and of adjustable structural connections. Victor was also a director of business development for Oldcastle Building Solutions, and before that, was the national sales manager of Halfen Anchoring Systems. His career in construction started in the 1990’s as a glazing contractor in Cancun, Mexico, designing and building custom fenestration and glazing systems for the local hospitality industry.

Victor has authored several technical articles that have appeared in national trade publications. He has a technical background, having earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, a CSI/CDT certification, and a Level 1 Certified Thermographer. He is a frequent presenter of professional education programs at major architecture and engineering firms around the USA and abroad.