Carlo Ratti

MIT SENSEable City Lab

An architect and engineer by training, Professor Carlo Ratti teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he directs the Senseable City Lab, and is a founding part- ner of the international design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati. He graduated from the Politecnico di Torino and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, and later earned his MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK.

A leading voice in the debate on new technologies’ impact on urban life and design, Car- lo has co-authored over 500 publications, including “The City of Tomorrow” (Yale University Press, with Matthew Claudel), and holds several technical patents. His articles and interviews have appeared on international media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Scientific American, BBC, Project Syn- dicate, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, Domus. His work has been exhibited worldwide at venues such as the Venice Biennale, the Design Museum Barcelona, the Science Museum in London, MAXXI in Rome, and MoMA in New York City.

Carlo has been featured in Esquire Magazine’s ‘Best & Brightest’ list and in Thames & Hud- son’s selection of ‘60 innovators’ shaping our creative future. Blueprint Magazine included him as one of the ‘25 People Who Will Change the World of Design’, Forbes listed him as one of the ‘Names You Need To Know’ and Fast Company named him as one of the ’50 Most Influen-tial Designers in America’. He was also featured in Wired Magazine’s ‘Smart List: 50 people who will change the world’. Three of his projects – the Digital Water Pavilion, the Copenhagen Wheel and Scribit – have been included by TIME Magazine in the list of the ‘Best Inventions of the Year’.

Carlo has been a presenter at TED (in 2011 and 2015), program director at the Strelka Insti- tute for Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow, curator of the BMW Guggenheim Pavilion in Berlin, and was named Inaugural Innovator in Residence by the Queensland Government. He was the curator of the Future Food District pavilion for the 2015 World Expo in Milan and chief curator of the “”Eyes of the City”” section at the 2019 UABB Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism of Shenzhen. He is currently serving as co- chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization.

Scott Lowe

Chief Revenue Officer

The Beck Group

Scott maximizes Beck’s architectural and design-build services across its U.S. and Mexico offices. He is an entrepreneurial leader who excels in landmark, award-winning projects in the hospitality, retail, office, and residential sectors. With a background as an international design professional, Scott has expertise in acclaimed building projects. Before rejoining Beck in 2024, he was CEO of 5G Studio Collaborative and a principal at a Frisco development firm. Scott has received numerous industry awards and speaks on design trends.

Nick Cameron

Director—Digital Practice

Perkins&Will

As Perkins&Will’s Director of Digital Practice, Nick Cameron, AIA, LEED AP 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.

Alexandra Pollock

Chief Technology Officer

FXCollaborative

As FXCollaborative’s Chief Technology Officer, Alexandra leads the firm’s Digital Practice group, overseeing design technologies, information technologies, and business technologies. She is instrumental in the development of digital methodologies and processes, and aims to further improve project delivery through leveraged data and evidence-based design. Prior to her role in architectural technology, Alexandra was a practicing architect and remains a registered architect in New York. Her portfolio, which ranges in scale and global reach, maintains a consistent thread: the use of methodologies to predict factors that enhance the lives of people who live and work in an urban setting—and ensure that the built environment is above all sustainable. Alexandra previously served as co-chair of the AIANY Technology Committee, has lectured and taught academically, and participates as a guest speaker at industry conferences.

Ilkay C. Standard

Founder

GenX

Ilkay Can-Standard is an architectural technologist and founder of GENx Design and Technology, a modern innovation hub committed to lead the 4th Industrial Revolution at a global scale. With 15 years of experience in the AEC industry, Ilkay has managed projects that required the most advanced use of technologies in 7 different countries. GENx teams focus on diminishing the gaps in the AEC industry and helping stakeholders achieve intended budgets, timelines and sustainability objectives through the integration of advanced technologies to project management. In addition to advancing Building Information Modeling (BIM) experience in high-rise and large-scale projects, her team is leading Generative Design and Automation through CATIA and 3DS Platforms.

İlkay is an NJIT Graduate alumnus of Architecture and is currently teaching at NYU while simultaneously collaborating with multiple universities across the globe. Prior to founding GENx, İlkay was an Associate Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in NYC where she led multiple award-winning projects both locally and globally. As previous Chair of CTBUH Future Leaders Global Committee and current Board of Trustee CTBUH NY Chapter, she is fostering open dialogue between architects, engineers, developers and the academia to develop responsible buildings and cities for the future.

Lola Ben-Alon

Director

GSAPP Natural Materials Lab

Lola Ben-Alon is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University, where she also serves as Director of the Building Technology sequence. She is focused on research in building materials and energy performance. She brings expertise in natural and bio-based materials, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), and exhibitions.

Efrie Escott

Principal

KieranTimberlake

Efrie Escott investigates materials, ecosystems, and digital technologies as a Principal in the KieranTimberlake Research Group, translating data-driven research into building design. She was a core member of the development team for Tally, the founder of Philadelphia’s Dynamo User Group, and a member of the USGBC Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group. She lectures internationally about environmental research and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Schroeder

Partner

SGA

When Fast Company selected SGA as one of the Most Innovative Companies in 2018, the publication identified the firm’s capabilities in Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) as a key differentiator in scheduling and cost certainty. Michael Schroeder, CCM played an instrumental role in attaining this honor:  He has led the growth and development of the practice since 2014.

VDC is an ideal fit for Michael, who loves to discover and invent new technologies that enhance project outcomes.  BIM underpins the programs he oversees, but he supplements the virtual world with face-to-face interactions to promote collaboration.  At the beginning of every commission, he onboards the project team and hosts an Execution Success Planning session, during which participants determine the most effective methods of delivery. Other pillars of his methodology include co-location of the development, design, and construction partners; bespoke project dashboards; and a variety of teambuilding initiatives.

Before joining SGA, Michael served as president, CEO, and principal implementer at BIM Jet INC. in Boston for seven years.  In this capacity, he led strategic consulting engagements for C-level BIM technology.  Previously Michael held the role of director of design technology at Moshe Safdie and Associates in Somerville, MA, where he established the firm’s vision and future direction of BIM and other technology platforms.

Michael received a Master of Design Studies with distinction from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from Montana State University.  He often lectures about BIM and integrated design at prominent industry organizations and institutions.  In his spare time, Michael enjoys traveling with his wife and their four children.

Dr. Badri Hiriyur

CEO

T2D2

Dr. Badri Hiriyur is the founder and CEO of T2D2. Prior to this role, he was the Director of AI at Thornton Tomasetti – a global leader in structural engineering and forensics. At Thornton Tomasetti, Dr. Hiriyur focused on developing applications leveraging AI and ML to transform workflows and processes in the AEC sector. Dr. Hiriyur has an extensive background in deep learning, computer vision and robotics. Dr. Hiriyur has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Tamar Warburg

Associate Principal Director of Sustainability and Resilience

Sasaki

Tamar Warburg AIA, LEED AP BD+C works with Sasaki teams to develop sustainability and resilience goals appropriate for each project and access critical resources to reach those goals. She enjoys collaborating to integrate sustainability considerations throughout the design process, from preliminary programming through construction management practices.

In this era of climate change, she believes that every project is an opportunity to make a healthy and resilient contribution to our clients, our communities, and our planet.

Tamar works across all Sasaki disciplines, on projects as varied as net-zero campus buildings, resilience and sustainability strategies for cities and corporate clients, and minimizing carbon emissions from buildings and landscape projects. She directs Sasaki’s Sustainable Leaders, training the individuals embedded in each project team responsible for project sustainability metrics and goals.

Tamar came to Sasaki with 25 years of experience designing educational and community buildings, both in the U.S. and with the Green Architecture Studio that she founded in Israel. She completed her M.Arch and BA at Harvard.

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 my involvement in the firm’s design and planning projects, I’m the lead technical developer of EHDD’s EPIC tool. In the last few years, I’ve 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, and written articles for a number of architecture publications and peer-reviewed research journals.

Dan Stine

Director of Design Technology

Lake Flato Architects

AIA, IES, CSI, CDT, Well AP

Dan is the Director of Design Technology and leads the internal research program, Investigations, at the top-ranked architecture firm Lake|Flato, in San Antonio, Texas. He is a registered architect (WI), educator, author, blogger, and international speaker. In addition to teaching graduate architecture students at NDSU, he has written 19 textbooks, including the #1 Revit book in North America, which is used extensively in the academic market.

Committed to climate action, Dan was on a six-person team commissioned by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to write the AIA Climate Action Business Playbook. He also serves on the national AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Leadership Group and subcommittee. He also chairs a national Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) committee.

Dedicated to furthering the design profession, Dan has given presentations on building performance and design technology in North America, Europe, Singapore, and Australia. He has also presented at AIA conferences (National, TX, MN), AIA-COTE working groups (Philly, New Orleans, San Antonio, LA), universities (Penn State, Pratt, University of MN, UTSA, and more), lightfair, NVIDIA GTC, Autodesk University, and more.

Thesla Collier

Design Technology Manager

HNTB

Thesla Collier is a Design Technologist at HNTB. Her background is in Architecture, and she works with designers, architects, engineers, and contractors in all phases of building, design, and construction. Thesla uses design technology to develop methods and workflows to improve project outcomes and processes. She also holds leadership positions in AIA Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) National Knowledge Community at both the National and Los Angeles Chapters.

Curtis Rodgers

Partner

Brick & Mortar Ventures

Curtis Rodgers is a construction technologist and investor at Brick & Mortar Ventures, with six years of construction operations experience across federal, energy, industrial, infrastructure, and commercial markets at both Kiewit and McCarthy Construction. Curtis founded The Society for Construction Solutions (SCS) in 2014, contributed to the NASA Centennial 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, and participated as a lecturer for the US DOE’s Project Leadership Institute.