Urban Sustainability

Peter C. Nelson, Professor of Computer Science and Dean of Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago

Professor Nelson’s research interests span a broad interdisciplinary spectrum. In 1991, he founded UIC's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which specializes in applied intelligence systems projects in fields such as transportation, manufacturing, bioinformatics and e-mail spam countermeasures. In 1994-95, his laboratory, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation, developed the first real-time traffic congestion map on the World Wide Web. It now receives more than 500 million hits a year.

Professor Nelson has received over $20 million in research grants and contracts. Projects carried out at Nelson’s laboratory have been funded by organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Argonne National Laboratory and Motorola, among numerous other corporations. In 2006-07, Pete served as one of the seven founding members of the joint UIC-University of Chicago-Northwestern University Chicago Biomedical Consortium Proteomics and Informatics Scientific Board.

Pete received his B.A. in computer science and mathematics from North Park College in Chicago and earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Northwestern University.

Roger E. Frechette III, PE, President, PositivEnergy Practice

Keynote Speaker and Industry Panelist

Roger Frechette is a registered professional engineer with over 22 years of experience in sustainable design and high performance engineering for buildings. He is the President of PositivEngergy Practice.

Roger led the engineering team for the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building and man-made structure, as well as the low-energy, high-performance Pearl River Tower, under construction in Guangzhou, China, designed to be the most energy efficient office tower in the world.

His work includes a diverse group of projects ranging from laboratories, airports, hospitals, academic buildings, and corporate offices to government buildings and museums. Frechette is a Senior Fellow with the Design Futures Council, a global network of design community professionals, and lectures at major institutions around the world.

Blair Kamin, Architecture Critic, Chicago Tribune

Panel Discussion Moderator

Blair Kamin, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, has been Chicago Tribune architecture critic since 1992. A graduate of Amherst College and the Yale University School of Architecture, he holds honorary doctorates from Monmouth University and North Central College, where he serves as an adjunct professor of art.

Kamin has lectured widely and has discussed architecture on numerous television and radio programs, including ABC's Nightline and NPR's All Things Considered. He is the author of Why Architecture Matters: Lessons from Chicago, a collection of his Chicago Tribune columns published by the University of Chicago Press in 2001.

He is the recipient of 30 awards, including the Pulitzer, the George Polk Award for Criticism, and a Presidential Citation from the American Institute of Architects.

Academia Panelist

Carol Ross Barney FAIA is founder and Principal of Ross Barney Architects. She is responsible for the design excellence of all projects undertaken by the firm. Dedicated to improving the built environment, her work has an international reputation in design of institutional and public buildings. The work of her firm has been published in national and international journals, books and newspapers and has received numerous honors including four Institute Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects and over 25 AIA Chicago Design Awards. Her drawings have been widely exhibited and collected by the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Historical Society, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the National Building Museum. Ms. Ross Barney is the recipient of the American Institute of Architects 2005 Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture. This award recognizes excellence for a career of architectural achievement. Recently, Ms. Ross Barney's firm received an AIA COTE Top Ten Project award for the LEED Platinum, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Illinois.Recently completed projects include the new Commodore John Barry Elementary School in Philadelphia, Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, U.S. Border Station in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan, Swenson Science Building for the University of Minnesota at Duluth, Arts Science and Technology Pavilion for Oakton Community College, the Champaign Public Library and the Chicago River Walk. The Bloomingdale Trail, a new linear park in Chicago, a Civil Engineering Building at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and a Central Chiller Plant for Ohio State University are among the studio's current commissions.Ms. Ross Barney is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Following graduation, she served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica planning national parks. Ms. Ross Barney is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, one of the highest honors the Institute bestows upon its members. She has taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Oklahoma (Goff Chair for Creative Architecture) and the Illinois Institute of Technology, where she is teaching an advanced Design Studio and serves on the College Board of Overseers.

Community Panelist

Jeanne Gang leads Studio Gang Architects, an architectural practice noted for its innovation and leadership in design. Ms. Gang's work has staked out new creative territory in materials, technology and sustainability. Her work with Studio Gang has received national and international awards and recognition, and has been featured at the International Venice Biennale, the National Building Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her recent projects include the SOS Community Center on Chicago's South Side, the Columbia College Media Production Center, the award-winning entry for the Ford Calumet Environmental Center, and the Aqua Tower, an 82-story mixed-use high-rise in downtown Chicago.

Antony Wood,  Executive Director, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and Associate Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology

Government Panelist

Antony Wood has been Executive Director of the CTBUH since 2006, responsible for the day-to-day running of the Council and steering in conjunction with the Board of Trustees, of which he is an ex-officio member. Prior to this, he was CTBUH Vice-Chairman for Europe and Head of Research. His tenure has seen a revitalization of the CTBUH and an increase in output and initiatives across all areas : www.ctbuh.orgBased at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Antony is also an Associate Professor in the College of Architecture at IIT, where he convenes various tall building design studios. A UK architect by training, his field of specialism is the design, and in particular the sustainable design, of tall buildings. Prior to joining the Council and IIT, Antony was an Associate Professor / Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Nottingham in the UK from 2001 - 2006, where he ran the third and fifth year programmes respectively, and was an active member of various research teams. Whilst at Nottingham, he founded the Tall Buildings Teaching and Research Group.He is the author of numerous book and papers in the field of tall buildings, sustainability and related areas, including the 2008 title "Tall & Green: Typology for a Sustainable Urban Future". He is associate editor of both the CTBUH Journal and the John Wiley & Sons Journal: 'The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings' and co-chair of the CTBUH Tall Buildings and Sustainability working group.