Advisory Board

Advisory Board

Consulting-Specifying Engineer Editorial Advisory Board

The editorial advisory board members represent expertise and leadership in engineering, building science, commissioning and business practice. Representing the diverse climates, codes and building types found in the United States and around the world, board members — as authors, technical peer reviewers and speakers — provide breadth and depth across the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire/life safety engineering topics. Below are the qualifications of each member.

Darren Bruce, PE, LEED AP BD+C, director of strategic planning, Mid-Atlantic region, NV5, Arlington, Va.
Bruce has more than 15 years of mechanical design and commissioning experience, and has commissioned facilities ranging from office buildings and stadiums to data centers and hospitals. Bruce manages projects with complex mission critical government facilities as well as large universities and laboratories. He has a bachelor’s of architectural engineering from Penn State University.

Michael Chow, PE, CEM, CxA, LEED AP BD+C, principal, Metro CD Engineering LLC, Columbus, Ohio
Chow is an accomplished professional engineer and entrepreneur. He received a BSEE from Ohio Northern University in 1992. Chow serves on the ONU College of Engineering Advisory Board. He is the owner/founder of Metro CD Engineering LLC, and is a licensed PE in 18 states. He is an officer in the U.S. Green Building Council Central Ohio Chapter. In 2009, Chow received the Consulting-Specifying Engineer and Columbus Business First newspaper 40 Under 40 awards.

Tom Divine, PE, senior electrical engineer, Johnston, LLC, Houston.
Divine has spent 21 years in the consulting engineering field, with the past 17 years designing and engineering health care facilities. He is responsible for power, lighting and fire alarm design for hospital and health care projects. Project experience includes hospitals, data centers, light industrial plants and campus distribution systems. He has written a number of articles on standby generation and has presented at several Consulting-Specifying Engineer webcasts. He has a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Houston.

Cory Duggin, PE, LEED AP BD+C, BEMP, energy modeling wizard, TLC Engineering Solutions, Brentwood, Tenn.
Duggin proudly wears the title of energy modeling wizard at TLC Engineering Solutions, providing building performance simulation efforts across the 375-plus person firm through both direct project involvement and by supporting project teams on specific and unique modeling issues. Duggin is a principal in the TLC Engineering Solutions PEAK Institute and provides modeling training for other TLC staff. He holds both bachelors and masters degrees in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Tech University.

Robert J. Garra Jr., PE, CDT, vice president electrical engineer, CannonDesign, Grand Island, N.Y.
An engineering leader who understands clients and their goals, Garra applies his project leadership and industry knowledge across market segments while providing strategic direction to CannonDesign’s engineering and education markets. He effectively manages integrated projects by encouraging multidisciplinary, high-performance design teams in which contractors, clients, and CannonDesign team members work to achieve project goals. Garra is responsible for conceptual planning, design, and construction administration of medium- and low-voltage power distribution, lighting, lighting controls, building systems, emergency power distribution, and other types of electrical engineering systems. Garra was a 2013 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Jason Gerke, PE, LEED AP BD+C, CxA, principal, GRAEF, Milwaukee
Gerke has more than 15 years of mechanical design, commissioning, and project management experience. He has designed mechanical systems for a variety of project types including industrial, commercial, education, and resort entertainment facilities. His current responsibilities include team leader for mechanical and plumbing group, project management for multi-discipline building designs, and mechanical engineering design duties. He is a member of the ASHRAE – Wisconsin chapter and has served as an officer and president. His commissioning experience includes college campus student centers and physical education buildings along with other project types. Gerke is currently involved in directing sustainable building design efforts in his office in Milwaukee.

Joshua Greene, PE, associate principal, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Waltham, Mass.
Greene has BSME and MSFPE degrees, both from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and is a licensed professional engineer in Illinois. His experience includes performance-based design, building and fire code consulting, fire suppression and fire alarm system design, and smoke control system analyses. Greene specializes in the practical application of fire protection principles in support of unique designs.

Raymond A. Grill, PE, FSFPE, LEED AP, principal, Ray Grill Consulting PLLC, Clifton, Va.
Grill served as the president of the SFPE and as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Fire Protection Research Foundation. He has served on various technical committees of NFPA 72 since 1983 and chaired the Technical Committee on Notification Appliances and the Technical Committee on Fundamentals. He is also the current chair of the Technical Committee on Installation of NFPA 13 and is the Chair of the Building Services and Fire protection Equipment Technical Committee of NFPA 101/5000. Grill has also served on the General Code Development Committee of the International Code Council.

Danna Jensen, PE, LEED AP, Certus, Carrollton, Texas
Jensen is one of the founding principals of Certus. With 20 years of experience in the consulting engineering field, she has extensive experience in the design of reliable and efficient electrical systems for complex health care projects. She brings large-scale technical expertise and innovative concepts to her role at Certus where she focuses on advancements in engineering and technology. Jensen was a 2009 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

William Koffel, PE, FSFPE, president, Koffel Associates Inc., Columbia, Md.
Koffel is president of Koffel Associates, a fire protection engineering design/consulting firm, and is recognized as an expert in the fire protection/life safety aspects of codes and standards. Headquartered in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, the firm provides consulting, engineering design and construction administration, codes and standards development, seminar development/training, product testing/evaluation/representation, and litigation support to public/private clients worldwide. Koffel remains active in the development process of the industry’s governing codes, standards, and design guidelines including ICC, NFPA, SFPE, and UL. A former code official with the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office, he is a past president of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

William J. Kosik, PE, CEM, senior energy engineer, Oak Park, Ill.
Kosik is a mission critical industry subject matter expert in research, analysis, strategy, and planning in the reduction of data center energy consumption, water use, and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Over the course of his career, he has held senior technical leadership roles for consulting engineering firms, and has led mechanical and electrical engineering teams through a highly diverse portfolio of design and construction projects. He has provided energy analysis and consulting services for projects in more than 20 countries.

Kenneth Kutsmeda, PE, LEED AP, engineering manager, Jacobs, Philadelphia
Kutsmeda holds the role of engineering manager for the mission critical sector at Jacobs. Over 20 years, he has built a catalog of more than 700,000 sq ft of completed data center and commissioning work for numerous commercial, federal, and municipal clients. He is responsible for the engineering, designing, and commissioning of power distribution systems for mission critical facilities. Kutsmeda‘s expertise has given him the opportunity to publish articles on mission critical power distribution systems for Consulting-Specifying Engineer and Pure Power. He was a 2010 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

David Lowrey, chief fire marshal, Boulder Fire Rescue
Lowrey serves as chief fire marshal with the City of Boulder Fire Rescue in Boulder, Colo. Lowrey has been with Boulder Fire Rescue for more than 20 years. Prior to his appointment to the position of fire marshal, he served for 8 years as the department’s fire protection engineer.  He oversees the life safety division including code enforcement, building and construction, fire and life safety education, and fire investigations. Lowrey has extensive experience in plan review as well as inspecting and acceptance testing of fire protection systems. He is a principal member and current chair of NFPA 72 technical committee for notification appliances. He is also is a principal member for NFPA 13 technical committee for installation as well as NFPA 13 correlating committee an and alternate on the technical committee NFPA 3 and 4 on commissioning and integrated testing of fire protection and life safety systems. Lowrey earned a bachelor’s of science in fire protection and safety engineering technology from Oklahoma State University.

Jason Majerus, PE, LEED AP, principal, DLR Group, Cleveland
Majerus leads engineering teams on an array of complex projects from data centers to performing arts projects for both public and private clients. He oversees project development, energy analysis, design engineering, specifications, and commissioning services all within an integrated design process. His goal as an engineering leader is to seamlessly integrate high-performance systems into the design of every project.

Gregory Quinn, PE, NCEES, LEED AP, principal, health care market leader, Affiliated Engineers Inc., Madison, Wis.
In 20 years with Affiliated Engineers Inc. (AEI), Quinn has helped deliver more than 16 million sq ft of world-class health care and research facility space. Elevated to principal early in his career, Quinn is AEI’s national health care practice team leader. With expertise in environmental control, electrical capacity, reliability, and security, he has led landmark projects for the National Institutes of Health, University of Chicago Medicine, and Houston Methodist Hospital System. He was a 2008 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Brian A. Rener, PE, LEED AP, principal engineer, mission critical leader, SmithGroup, Chicago
Rener has 30 years of experience as a manager, director and engineering leader in the design of numerous types of facilities, and has a passion for mission critical and science and technology facilities. He is a member of IEEE and has served in various leadership roles in the Chicago chapter. He is a long-time member of the Consulting-Specifying Engineer editorial advisory board and has been contributing articles and presentations for the brand for more than 25 years.

Sunondo Roy, PE, LEED AP, director, Design Group, Romeoville, Ill.
Roy is a multidisciplinary engineer at Design Group, committed to integrated, sustainable design of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems. He has worked at various engineering firms, including CCJM Engineers,  The Austin Co., A. Epstein and Sons, and Grumman/Butkus, before launching his own consulting firm, Sun Engineered Systems. His focus at Design Group is on manufacturing and industrial processes.

Jonathan Sajdak, PE, senior associate/fire protection engineer, Page, Houston
Sajdak is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in fire protection engineering. He has been with Page for four years and worked on projects across multiple market sectors including federal, science and technology and health care. His experience includes fire suppression, fire alarm and special hazard system design. He has also provided life safety code consulting and design services across a variety of projects.

Randy Schrecengost, PE, CEM, Austin operations group manager and senior mechanical engineer, Stanley Consultants, Austin, Texas
Since 1985, Schrecengost has experience in design, project, and program management at all levels of MEP, Energy Consulting, and Facilities Engineering. He has experience from the perspective of both a consulting engineer and an owner’s facility engineer, with emphasis on mechanical systems and specialized facilities (laboratory spaces, cleanrooms, and high-technology manufacturing plants), including HVAC design, cleanroom design, energy conservation, commissioning/start-up, cost estimating and bidding, exhaust design/abatement, piping/plumbing design, electric utility work, project management, proposal documents, central plant utilities, compressed air design, construction services, client interface/marketing, and ASHRAE/AEE.

Matt Short, PE, project manager/mechanical engineer, Smith Seckman Reid, Houston
Short has spent his career in the MEP consulting industry designing mechanical and plumbing systems for a variety of facilities including municipal, aviation and health care. His current focus is managing and designing projects for health care facilities all over Texas and Louisiana. Recent project experience includes central plant upgrades, hospital campus master planning, surgery environment systems and system reliability improvements. He holds a bachelor’s of science in architectural engineering from Texas A&M University – Kingsville.

Mario Vecchiarello, PE, CEM, GBE, senior vice president, CDM Smith, Boston
Vecchiarello is a regional operations manager responsible for the consulting and engineering services throughout the Eastern United States. He is leading a large interdisciplinary and diverse team that works on a variety of traditional and nontraditional projects in the environmental, industrial, institutional, and federal markets. Prior to his role as operations manager, he was the electrical practice leader, establishing the firm’s electrical design guidelines.

Richard Vedvik, PE, senior electrical engineer and acoustics engineer, IMEG Corp., Rock Island, Ill.
Vedvik has experience in the health care, education, commercial, and government sectors. His electrical engineering experience includes lighting design, power distribution, emergency power systems, and fire alarm systems. For acoustical services, Vedvik collaborates with the design team for optimal architectural acoustical finishes, voice notification systems, and mechanical noise mitigation. He has helped develop in-house software tools and custom acoustics test equipment to assist searching for and solving noise problems and performing field measurements of equipment. He was a 2015 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Toby White, PE, LEED AP, fire and life safety practice leader, Arup, Boston
White is an associate with Arup and serves as Arup Boston’s Fire & Life Safety Practice Leader. Earning his BSME and MSFPE degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, White brings more than 18 years of experience in fire and life safety consulting and engineering and multidisciplinary project management and leadership across the hospitality, aviation, higher-education and other markets. He serves on the NFPA 101 Committee on Assembly Occupancies. White was a 2016 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

April Woods, PE, LEED AP BD+C, vice president, WSP USA, Orlando, Fla.
Woods has played a key role in engineering mechanical solutions for major health care projects over the past decade. Her passion since the beginning of her career at WSP USA has been on sustainable design and she is particularly proud of her involvement early in her career in the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas project, which was the first health care facility in the world to be awarded U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum. She was a 2012 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 award winner.

John Yoon, PE, LEED AP, lead electrical engineer, McGuire Engineers Inc., Chicago
Yoon’s expertise in the field of electrical engineering is the product of more than 20 years of experience in the design of electrical distribution systems, emergency systems, and lighting design. Serving as a senior member of the team, Yoon contributes to almost every new project as both a technical advisor and project manager. He leads the electrical design practice at McGuire Engineers, ensuring consistent and quality work. His professional experience ranges from high-rise building infrastructure design, to mission critical data centers and heavily regulated industrial design. Yoon also is well-versed in commercial projects, using his years of experience to deliver best-in-class services within abbreviated timelines. Something of a renaissance man, Yoon is valued for his ability to understand and analyze multiple disciplines within the field of engineering.


Board members emeritus

Cory J. Abramowicz, PE, LEED AP, Chicago
Abramowicz graduated with his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architectural engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. He was an associate mechanical engineer and project manager in the high-performance buildings group and oversees the redevelopment of Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs play. His areas of expertise include central plants, large commercial buildings, and sports facilities. In his free time, he enjoys playing golfing, traveling, and biking along Chicago’s lakefront. He was a 2017 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Anil Ahuja, PE, LEED AP, RCDD, Chicago
Ahuja has 30 years of experience in building systems design, design management, construction management, commissioning, and operations and maintenance. He is a registered professional engineer in several states, with project experience including commercial, institutional, educational, residential, industrial, and airports. Ahuja is a member of President Bush’s “Renewable Energy Think Tank” and the AIA Chair of the MASTERSPEC Engineering Review Committee.

Peter Alspach, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Seattle
Alspach is an Associate Principal and the mechanical discipline leader in Arup’s Seattle office. He is a specialist in the design of low-energy buildings, focusing on HVAC, energy systems, thermal comfort, and the indoor environment. These areas intersect in the building façade, where the integration of systems becomes critical for project success. As a mechanical engineer, building physicist, and façade engineer, Alspach brings these skills to develop holistic solutions to the built environment. He was a 2008 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

J. Patrick Banse, PE, LEED AP, Houston
Banse has more than 30 years in the consulting engineering field with the last 25 years in health care design and engineering. He is responsible for HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection design for hospital and health care projects. He has authored several articles on smoke control and related codes and standards and has spoken at the ASHE P, D & C Conference and at Build Boston.

Jerry Bauers, PE, Kansas City, Mo.
Bauers has delivered building design, commissioning, and retro-commissioning services for the past 40 years. He is a NEBB Certified Professional in building system commissioning, and a NEBB president, past president, and former chairman of the building system commissioning committee. Bauers has specialized in commissioning and retro-commissioning services for pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, research and teaching laboratories, and data and telecommunication facilities.

Paul Bearn, PE, Philadelphia
For 20 years, Bearn has been responsible for the engineering and design of electrical power and lighting systems for data centers, process facilities, laboratories, and commercial installations. He has most recently focused on mission critical facility projects for JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Amtrak. He has drawn on this experience to create the article, “EPO: Emergency Power On” for the December 2008 edition of Pure Power magazine, which was also used as a segment in Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s webcast “Blackout Blues,” describing business strategies to determine on-site generator needs.

Thomas Brown, PE, Laurel, Md.
Brown has more than 25 years of experience in fire protection. The experience includes building code consulting, fire suppression system design and evaluation, fire alarm system design and evaluation, post-fire forensic analysis, construction management, and construction claims resolution. Brown has served as Project Manager for Rolf Jensen & Associates on numerous multi-building fire alarm and reporting systems evaluation and design projects. In addition, he has served as a technical resource in dozens of projects performed by the other RJA offices around the world.

Tom Earp, PE, ATD
Earp’s specialty is the design of highly reliable, cost-effective data centers. He is a certified Uptime Institute Accredited Tier Designer and has been instrumental in developing and improving design standards and guidelines for some of the largest data center builders in the country. Registered to practice engineering in multiple states, Earp is a member of both AFCOM and The Green Grid. He was a 2015 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Douglas Evans, PE, Nevada
Evans’ knowledge of fire protection includes suppression systems, detection and alarm systems, elevators, fire-resistive construction, exiting, hazardous materials, fire testing, fire modeling, secondary power supplies, and an understanding of the appropriate codes and standards. His specialization is review of code alternates/performance-based designs, smoke management systems, grease duct enclosures, product listings/applications for use within structures, foam plastics as building materials, and unique interiors.

Raj P. Gupta, PE, LEED AP, Chicago
Gupta oversees all operations and strategic planning for the firm. He joined ESD in 1984 as a mechanical engineer and became president in 1998. Gupta is a registered professional engineer in 33 states and a member of ASHRAE, BOMA, Chicago Building Congress, and Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings.

Gersil Kay, Philadelphia
A past member of the IESNA Board of Directors, Kay is a member of several professional affiliations and societies including IESNA, IAFI, AIA’s Historic Resources Committee, and International Council on Art Deco Societies. She served as the U.S. Chair of Professional Education for International Council of Monuments and Sites in 1990 and was the first recipient of the President of the United States’ Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation.

Tim Kuhlman, PE, RCDD, Portland, Ore.
Kuhlman has more than 20 years of experience in the field of communications infrastructure. His experience includes the design and construction of telecommunication infrastructure for microelectronics manufacturing facilities, data centers, laboratories, testing labs, office buildings, petrochemical plants, hospitals, and university campuses. His project experience includes facilities designed or constructed in the United States, Ireland, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, and India.

Keith Lane, PE, RCDD, LEED AP, Seattle
Lane is a licensed General Electrical Administrator in Washington, a Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD) through BICSI, a Network Transport System Specialist, and a Certified Telecommunications Project Manager (TPM) through the Telecommunication Project Management Assn. (TPMA). Lane is active in several professional organizations including NFPA, the Illuminating Engineering Society, and the Washington State Society of Healthcare Engineers. He was a 2008 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Julianne Laue, PE, LEED AP BD+C, BEMP, Minneapolis
Laue is a senior mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineer for Mortenson Construction’s Center for Sustainable Energy. She specializes in sustainable design for energy conservation and indoor air quality and is responsible for establishing and executing sustainable initiatives. Laue is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture and is involved in many national and regional organizations that promote and study sustainability in our built environment, including IBPSA, ASHRAE, and the U.S. Green Building Council. She was a 2012 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Sara Lappano, PE, LC, LEED AP, Washington, D.C.
As the managing principal of Integral Group’s Washington, D.C., office, Lappano is responsible for developing client relationships, pursuing project opportunities, and leading the team of engineers and sustainability experts in the office. With a background in architectural engineering with an emphasis on electrical/lighting design, Lappano’s design focus is to incorporate sustainability into every project, from daylighting strategies to the design of photovoltaic systems for on-site power generation. She was a 2016 Consulting-Specifying Engineer40 Under 40 award winner.

Kenneth Lovorn, PE, Pittsburgh
Lovorn has more than 30 years of progressive design and engineering management experience with architect-engineers and consulting engineers designing electrical systems. His work designs include single-family and high-rise residential; light industrial facilities; office buildings; institutional facilities, including renovations; and new facilities for hospitals, K-12 schools, and higher educational facilities.

Ali Mahmood, PE, Chicago
Mahmood has more than 20 years of technical experience. His responsibilities include project engineering, project management, and mechanical engineering task lead. His work is primarily for institutional, industrial, and utility clients. Mahmood’s project experience includes quality control and quality assurance of bid documents, including analysis, engineering, and designing mechanical systems encompassing HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection.

Michael Mar, PE, LEED AP, Chicago
Mar joined Environmental Systems Design Inc. as an electrical engineer in June 2004 and has worked on various complex and high-rise buildings both within the U.S. and Internationally. He is currently a Vice President and works on residential, commercial, hospitality, government, transportation, and institutional projects. His role consists of project management, power and lighting distribution design, lighting controls, sustainable design strategies, and life safety design. His projects have pushed new technologies and UPS applications that are innovative in the data center market, such as fuel cell technologies to support critical load and the iso-parallel topology using static UPS systems.

Brian Martin, PE, senior electrical technologist, Portland, Ore.
Martin has 20 years of experience in engineering planning, project management, design, purchasing, and startup of industrial projects. His power distribution experience includes 115 kV, 34.5 kV, and 15 kV switchgear; power factor correction; motor control; 480 V substations; generators; UPS systems; and secondary distribution at 480 V and 208 V. Special system design experience includes lighting, fire alarm, and communication systems. Engineering analysis experience includes code studies, load studies, voltage drop studies, fault analysis, time-current curve coordination, and arc flash studies.

Erin McConahey, PE, Los Angeles
McConahey works in mechanical engineering at Arup, where she focuses on multidisciplinary design approaches and integrated technical solutions grounded in extensive engineering analysis. During her many years with Arup, she has worked internationally and is now a lead engineer on a wide variety of project types including educational facilities, offices, high-end retail, laboratories, museums, and high-rises. She was a 2008 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Dwayne G. Miller, PE, RCDD, AEE CPQ, Las Vegas
Miller has 30 years of engineering, technology, entrepreneurial leadership and international experience. He formerly served as the chairman, past CEO and past president of JBA Consulting Engineers, which was acquired by NV5 in October 2016. Miller left NV5 in December 2018 to serve as CEO of UNIFI Labs, a software/data business he co-founded in 2010. UNIFI Labs’ vision is to facilitate common data environments for the building life cycle by enabling fluid data collaboration between all the stakeholders.

Rodney V. Oathout, PE, CEM, LEED AP, Overland Park, Kan.
Oathout is an advocate for integrated design, renewable energy, and natural resource conservation. Oathout is an expert at guiding clients through the design process to help them understand the challenges and opportunities associated with healthy building operation, natural resource reduction, and operational savings. He is a member of the DLR Group National Engineering Team and leads engineering for DLR Group in the Southeast region of the U.S.

Ben Olejniczak, PE, Chicago
Olejniczak has been providing mechanical engineering design for mission critical projects at ESD for more than seven years. He has led or has been affiliated with several campuswide projects for premier co-location and enterprise data center clients. Olejniczak is a member of ASHRAE. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Valparaiso University.

Freddy Padilla, PE, ATD, Austin, Texas
Padilla has developed significant experience as an engineer designing infrastructure for data centers, and successfully earned his Uptime Tier Designers accreditation in 2013. In the past few years, he has been responsible for leading Page teams on the electrical design of more than 12 data centers totaling over $1 billion in construction costs. Padilla’s portfolio also includes a variety of engineering services for multiple, successful projects for the industrial, municipal, commercial, government, educational, and health care sectors.

Syed M. Peeran, PhD, PE, Boston
Peeran has more than 20 years of experience in the design of electrical distribution systems. He was an adjunct professor at Northeastern University, Boston. He has authored several papers in the transaction of IEEE and two sections in electrical engineering handbooks. His expertise includes design of low- and medium-voltage distribution, protection, variable frequency drives, harmonic analysis, power system studies, and electric motors.

Mickey Reiss, PE, FSFPE, Framingham, Mass.
Reiss has more than 30 years of experience focusing on fire protection safety through new technology, codes and standards development, and the proper application of fire protection systems. Reiss served on NFPA technical committees such as the National Fire Alarm Code, Life Safety Code, Building Code, and Cultural Resources Committee and as the Chair of the NFPA Board of Directors from 2000 to 2002.

David Sellers, PE, Portland, Ore.
Sellers’ background includes more than 30 years of experience with commissioning, design engineering, facilities engineering, mechanical and control system contracting, and project engineering in a wide array of facilities. The facilities range from hospitals and semiconductor clean rooms to commercial office buildings to research/pilot projects in the energy efficiency and sustainability arena. He provides technical training and develops technical guidelines on retro-commissioning and commissioning field techniques.

Saahil Tumber, PE, HBDP, LEED AP, Chicago
Tumber is responsible for the overall design of HVAC systems for data centers, trading areas, and other critical facilities requiring high availability. His data center experience spans both enterprise and colocation projects. He works closely with the client and end-users as their trusted advisor and develops fit-for-purpose solutions that best meet their objectives. Tumber was a 2016 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 award winner.

Gerald Versluys, PE, LEED AP, Brentwood, Tenn.
Versluys has more than 25 years of experience in building MEP engineering design, including 10 years at TLC. The majority of his experience is as an electrical engineering project manager on health care projects; he also has a deep resume that includes creative lighting, medium-voltage electrical distribution, and historic renovation projects. His recent experiences include MEP design of the first LEED-certified hospital in Pennsylvania; teaching lighting design; teaching ARE preparation courses; and speaking on health care related engineering topics.

Mike Walters, PE, LEED AP, Verona, Wis.
Walters provides consulting to clients who contend with the complicated decision-making inherent in large-scale, campus environments often focusing on maximizing the value streams of efficiency and conservation. Beginning his career as a building systems engineer, he has distinguished himself as a national leader in the development, verification, and implementation of sustainability and energy-efficiency strategies and technologies at both the building and campus scales. Walters was a 2009 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 winner.

Peter D. Zak, PE, Milwaukee
Zak directs GRAEF’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing projects and the firm’s design engineers and more than 30 years of experience with the design of mechanical systems. He has also been an adjunct professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he developed and taught a series of courses on the design of mechanical building systems.