Niknaz Aftahi

Founder & CEO

aec+tech

Niknaz is the CEO and co-founder at aec+tech, an all-in-one innovation platform and community connecting AEC/O (Architecture, Engineering, Construction & Operations) professionals with the latest tools and technologies. Prior to launching aec+tech Niknaz practiced architecture in the bay area, California, both as a design professional as well as a design technologist. Niknaz is passionate about technology and innovation in the AEC space, and she has been a keynote speaker at various international aec-tech events. Niknaz is a member of AIA San Francisco design technology committee, and has also been developing curriculum and teaching architecture courses online to Bahai students in Iran who continue to be deprived of access to universities in their own country.

James Warton

Vice President | Computational Designer

HKS

James leads the West Coast region of HKS | LINE alongside Heath May (Global Sector Director- HUB). His responsibilities cut across various sectors and stages of design. He
has made significant contributions to some of the most complex and innovative elements of the HKS portfolio. Most notable supporting Venues and Sports on complex
geometries and long-span structures. James also teaches Advanced Structures within the graduate program at Woodbury University’s School of Architecture where he
promotes computational design as a tool for conceptual form finding, in-situ concept analysis, and optimization methodologies. His course encourages structural concepts
that extend beyond the fundamentals into form-active and vector active design approaches.

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.

Asma Mehan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Texas Tech University

Dr. Asma Mehan is a researcher, educator, and architect working at the intersection of architectural humanities and critical urban studies. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University College of Architecture. She is the author of the books “Tehran: from Sacred to Radical” (London: Routledge, 2022) and “Kuala Lumpur: Community, Infrastructure, and Urban Inclusivity” (London: Routledge, 2020). Dr. Mehan is recently appointed as the Coordination Team (CT) leader of the Young Academics network of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP YA).

Ram Ramisetti

Emerging Technology Analyst

McCarthy Building Companies

Ramisetti is a founding member of McCarthy Building’s Emerging Tech team, where he leads the company’s Enterprise AI/ML and Robotics initiatives. The son of a construction tradesman in India, Ramisetti says he’s intent on making construction more innovative, “human-centric,” and environmentally sustainable with the help of cutting-edge technologies like AI. His multiple achievements include developing an AI model with Joist AI that revolutionized McCarthy’s RFP processes, making them more accurate and efficient. In partnership with Field AI, Ramisetti also was instrumental in automating and enhancing field-collection data through the deployment of a construction robot, resulting in significant savings in time and costs. In addition, he developed an AI/ML legal template to establish ethical guidelines and data protection measures for McCarthy’s AI applications.