Alberto Alarcon is the Marketing Manager in the Advanced Interlayer Solutions Division of Kuraray; he is located in New York City and is responsible of the Northeast Coast of the US. Alberto, through the Trosifol® and Sentryglas® interlayers for laminated glass, helps Architects, Designers, Facade Consultants, and Engineers to improve the glass performances for facade's, structures and other applications in terms of acoustics, aesthetics, structural, and safety requirements. He has over 15 years of experience in the industry including commercial and consulting positions in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and the US. He is a Graduate of the ULSA (MX) in Chemical Engineering. He has been a critical resource for the advanced design of building facade elements and is highly skilled in structural glass, sealants and interlayers.

Alex Barmas brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and perspective to his projects. His unique qualifications and experience as design architect, professional engineer and sustainability consultant for the façade industry serve SOCOTEC’s clients well.

Alex has served as a façade consultant and represented an international manufacturer on exemplary projects in New York City and around the world in Spain, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Qatar. His expertise lies in architectural geometry, building physics, thermal performance, structural analysis and façade system detailing.

In addition, he has developed project bids, performed system design, and conducted research and development work, including for a fully unitized fire resistive curtainwall system.

Ben Mitchell, is Segment Manager for Architectural powder and liquid coatings at Axalta Coating Systems, a global paints and coatings company. He has a bachelor’s degree in comprehensive science as well as an MBA from Urbana University in Ohio. Ben started as a chemist, formulating PVDF coatings in the research and development lab in 1990, before moving into technical service, and then sales management.

Bersu Serin, a Mechanical Engineer graduated from New York Institute of Technology, is the Assistant Project Manager at Bisam Facade. Specializing in building envelope and facade systems, Bersu manages mid to high-rise residential and commercial building construction from start to completion. With expertise in building envelope systems, project planning, installation, and ensuring QA QC to meet market and factory standards, Bersu is involved in construction of commercial and residential projects.

Bob joined Northglass in 2012. For the first two years He worked on the technical side, then moved to project management and worked on the Apple Park project. In 2015, He came to the US and started the Northglass US office in New York, working more closely with architectural consultants and various contractors. He has worked on more than 100 projects at most of the major cities in the US and had a lot of experience with glass technology.

Since joining Studio Libeskind in 1999, Carla Swickerath has gained diverse experience in cultural, civic, retail, commercial, residential, and planning projects worldwide. She has led many of the Studio’s successful project teams from concept design through to completion— including the Crystals retail complex in Las Vegas, the Hyundai Haeundae Udong I-Park residential development in Busan, Korea, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Carla led the design and construction of two affordable housing projects in New York: Freeport Senior Residences on Long Island and the Atrium at Sumner in Brooklyn. She is currently managing the rebuilding of the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh.

Carla has also led the complex World Trade Center redevelopment process from the initial competition phase to the present. Today, her dual management and design skills come into play as she oversees all operations at Studio Libeskind.

She earned a Master’s in Architecture from the University of Michigan, following undergraduate studies in English and Art History at the University of Florida. She has taught at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee in Berlin and at the University of Michigan. Carla speaks publicly on architecture, design, and planning and is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Van Alen Institute in New York.

Christoph Timm leads SOM’s Enclosure Group, a practice embedded among the design and engineering studios in the firm’s New York office that focuses on the design of building enclosures and facades. With more than two decades of experience in the creative field, Christoph has designed a wide variety of projects that go far beyond architecture to encompass products, furniture, and even streetlights.

Christoph has deep expertise in the design and fabrication of high-performance building enclosures, and is particularly interested in how their aesthetically crafted appearances shift under varying lighting conditions. At SOM, Christoph started a construction site visit program that regularly takes young architects to different sites in New York to create a better understanding of the complexities of construction in relation to design. He is deeply engaged with technological innovations in the field and shares his expertise actively at conferences and industry events. He has also lectured on design and building performance-related topics worldwide.

David is an industry veteran that is engaged in business development for Tecnoglass/ES.

He has a wide range of experience in Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Contract Glazing and Operations in the architectural glazing space. 

David has experience with multiple industry board positions including the National Glass Association (NGA) and was a contributor to the NGA Glazing Manual.  He is also a co-holder to patent #6,421,966 “Power Wall”. 

Dean has a 30-year history in the building materials and construction industry ranging from quality management to senior sales management focused on the building envelope. His approach is solution based and consultative. Dean provides practical knowledge to help with design assist and material selections for projects. He has a keen interest in innovative materials and application methods for use on commercial façade projects.

As Vitro’s Director of Commercial Innovation, Ms. Losego works with Vitro’s Marketing & Innovation Team to bring new glass product ideas from the drawing board to the production line. A former practicing architect, National Architectural Manager and magnetron sputter vacuum deposition (MSVD) product manager for Vitro, Losego is responsible for defining the vision for the architectural commercial market.

Gary Mancini joined the firm in 1995 and heads our Renewal practice, which encompasses the repair, rehabilitation and alteration of a building structure, envelope or mechanical system. During his extensive career, Gary has worked on a variety of building types on behalf of commercial and residential owners and developers, institutions, attorneys and insurance companies. His resume includes major structural alterations and rehabilitations, façade evaluations, structural investigations, feasibility studies and forensic analyses as well as expertise in historic structures. Gary also serves as an expert witness. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from The Cooper Union and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Rutgers University.

James O’Callaghan is a world leading Structural and Facade Engineer who is widely acknowledged as an authority in application and engineering of structural glass.

His innovative and practical approach has made him an integral part of the design team for a number of internationally known clients and their pioneering and award-winning projects. These include Apple, Google and Atlassian to name but a few. He is passionate about sustainability and strives for continual improvement and evolution in all the solutions his practice delivers.

He is co-founder of the multi award-winning structural and facade engineering practice, Eckersley O’Callaghan, which he has led in being one of most recognised creative engineering design practices in the world. The established practice now has ten offices around the world and continues to grow through a combination of great clients and valued solutions.

Jason Long is a Partner at OMA and leads its New York office. Since joining the firm in 2003, Jason has brought a research-driven, interdisciplinary approach to OMA’s projects internationally. A number of projects under Jason’s direction take a creative approach to adaptive reuse and preservation, including POST Houston, the transformation of a former post office warehouse into a mixed-use hub, and LANTERN, the reimagination of a former commercial bakery into a community arts hub in Detroit. Ground-up cultural buildings in progress include the Waco Culture, Arts and Performance Center in Texas. His diverse portfolio extends to residential developments across housing types and regions. He led the design of Eagle + West, OMA’s first high-rise towers in New York, and The Avery in San Francisco. Projects currently under construction include 730 Stanyan, a 120-unit, 100% affordable housing building in historic Haight Ashbury, and The Perigon, a beachfront high-rise in Miami

John Krouse, Chairman of the Board, Boston Valley Terra Cotta, Founder – Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop

John Krouse is the COB of Boston Valley Terra Cotta in Orchard Park, NY, as well as a Ceramic Engineer by trade. Boston Valley specializes in the manufacture of architectural terra cotta for both historic restoration and new construction, emerging as a global innovator in contemporary rainscreen design and production. Krouse holds a BS in Ceramic Engineering and a minor in Ceramic Sculpture from Alfred University and has over 39 years of experience in terra cotta manufacturing. During Krouse’s tenure as President, Boston Valley successfully completed well over 3,000 building projects ranging in size and scope from the preservation of historic landmarked buildings to the construction of supertall new-build structures.

Ken Wright is the Sustainability Programme Manager at Reynaers Aluminium focused on integrating sustainability at the core of the business. Having a background in the automotive and building industry for more than 10 years, gaining experience in transformative projects such as electrification, digitalization and sustainability. For the last 3 years Ken has been working on the international sustainability strategy and the upcoming European sustainability reporting standard for large businesses (CSRD). ‘Together for Better’ is our company’s motto. And this we want to achieve on the level of sustainability as well. We want to be a trusted partner in achieving our partners’ sustainability ambitions and grow together. Together with our partners we want to focus on energy-efficient, circular and low-carbon products that make a difference to homes, buildings and the people.

Currently a Senior director in the Design and Construction group at Tishman Speyer, Kimberly Garcia manages the design and execution of several projects in pre-development through design and construction in Manhattan. As a licensed Architect in New York State, Ms. Garcia has over 20 years of experience directing and overseeing the design, documentation and construction of some of NYC’s largest and most complex projects. Throughout her career, she has gravitated to the design and implementation of building enclosures, becoming an industry leader in curtain wall design, material selection, detailing, testing, and installation. Prior to her time at Tishman Speyer Kimberly was a Technical Design Director at Skidmore Owings & Merrill where she provided design and documentation services for a wide variety of sustainably driven projects including large scale office headquarters, and mixed-use masterplan projects.

Matt Capone is a design and construction professional driven to create projects which leave lasting positive impacts for our communities and environment. As the founder of facades X Inc. in 2015, Matt has worked on many prominent and complex projects to bridge the gap between the architect's vision and ultimate reality of built work.

Matt graduated from Roger Williams School of Architecture and began professional life in a boutique design firm in Boston before progressing towards the “dark side” of construction and façade systems. With a passion for sustainability with facades Matt studied Passiv Haus design and was fortunate to work on some of the very first large scale projects in North America. Always a Boston guy with a love for family and baseball – Matt now serves on the Executive Board for Little League in Trumbull, CT.

Sara Tsiropinas oversees L+M's entire project portfolio working with development and management to address building envelope compliance, preservation designs, repairs and preventive maintenance. She is committed to advancing preservation practices that harmonize community needs with future growth and contemporary sustainability standards. She has been a part of several PACT projects from design inception through construction, among them: Cross Bronx; Stanley Avenue Preservation; Harlem River I and II; and Edenwald Houses. Prior to L+M, Sara founded and led an Industrial Rope Access Team to implement FISP and safety protocol throughout NYC; and was a part of the Wildlife Conservation Society Team responsible for designing and building the Exhibits throughout NYC's 4 Zoos and Aquarium. Sara is a Registered Architect of New York, LEED AP; a NYC QEWI and a Level 3 Society of Professional Access Technicians, and has over 20 years of experience with the design and construction industry.

Stephen A. Varone, AIA, is the President and Founder of RAND Engineering & Architecture, DPC, a New York City firm established in 1987 that specializes in surveying building systems and providing design, specification, and administration for repair, upgrade, restoration, adaptive reuse, and new construction projects. RAND has been heavily involved in facade inspection and repair work since its inception and filed more than 4,000 FISP reports.

Stephen oversees the firm's overall management, including operations, finance, project management, and business development. He has led numerous seminars on topics such as: Improving Capital Improvement Projects, Complying with Local Law 11/98, and Procurement Practices. He has also spoken at many industry events sponsored by organizations such as CNYC, BuildingsNY, and the Landmarks Conservancy. He has written extensively on building repair and maintenance issues in many industry publications. Stephen received his Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He is a Registered Architect in New York State.

Tobias Wild-Blatt is the Business Manager EU Ultraperformance Solutions at Kingspan Insulation Europe.

He has studied Architecture and holds an eMBA degree from the Maastricht School of Management.

In his current role he is supporting the Sales Team of Kingspan Insulation Europe in promoting AlphaCore and Optim-R (VIP) to meet the increased demand in superinsulation materials and fire protection.

Tobias has over 20 years of international experience in the building industry especially in the area of mineral based thermal insulation materials. Before joining Kingspan he has worked with CALSITHERM, FOAMGLAS and Evonik where he was already promoting noncombustible superinsulation materials in the EMEA region.

With over thirty years of proven experience authoring and implementing visionary urban architecture, Vishaan Chakrabarti is the Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU, where he leads the firm’s growing global portfolio of cultural, institutional, and public projects including Indianapolis’ new multi-modal Wave Bridge, the redesign of New York’s Penn Station, the design of the FAA’s new sustainable air traffic control tower prototype, which will be adapted to replace over 100 aging towers in regional and municipal airports across the nation, the expansion of Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Refinery, Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Yards, Ford Motor Company’s Michigan Central Station project in Detroit’s Corktown, Princeton's Hobson College, and a unique urban village in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as well as serving as the Collaborating Architect on the recently announced JP Morgan Chase World Headquarters.

Vishaan is also the author of the book, A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America and the upcoming The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy.

He was the William W. Wurster Dean of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley, a professor at Columbia University for a decade, and served as the Director of City Planning in post-9/11 New York.