2019 40 Under 40: Brad Kult, PE; 37

Director of Technology Design and Planning Services, HGA, Minneapolis BS Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

By Jack Smith and Amara Rozgus May 16, 2019

Kult is director of technology design and planning services at HGA and works on national projects with the company’s offices around the country. He began his career at a mechanical, electrical and plumbing firm working in the low-voltage systems group. It was there that he honed his expertise in designing telecommunications, security systems, audio/video systems, paging and sound masking systems and fire alarm and mass notification systems. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to start his own private practice with the goal of unifying building systems. Soon after, he began working on projects with HGA, augmenting the company’s telecommunications infrastructure design capabilities with low-voltage systems design. He eventually went on to work for HGA as the director of technology services. From day one at HGA, Kult crossed the boundaries and worked to blur lines between technology, electrical and mechanical engineering. As technology and network-based systems trended increasingly toward becoming fundamental to MEP and low-voltage systems alike, a new skillset was required to bring together subject matter experts to coordinate the design of intelligent buildings. Kult emerged as an evangelist for intelligent buildings designed around standards-based, open architecture technology. Driven by passion for this subject, he sought to unify design and construction teams to deliver greater value for clients than any one trade could offer independently. He helped to found a local meetup group – Building Intelligence Group-Twin Cities – that meets regularly to encourage cross-discipline networking, education and promotion of intelligent building adoption. Kult is a born gadget geek and can often be found tinkering in a basement lab wiring or programming an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. High-tech is balanced with analog and outdoor activities including hiking, backpacking, camping and kayaking. 


Author Bio: Jack Smith is a Content Manager at CFE Media. Amara Rozgus is Editor-in-Chief of Consulting-Specifying Engineer.