Future Cities in Wood: How Early Design Collaboration Drives Success

 Andrea Reynolds, SE, PE, FIStructE, LEED AP

She is the Director of Structural Engineering at SmithGroup, overseeing structural design for both national and international clients. Andrea writes the profession’s licensing exam as Chair of the Structural Engineering Exam Committee. She is Past President of SEAMi and AEI, serves on the National Council of Structural Engineers Association (NCSEA) Board of Directors, is a Fellow of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), and is Vice Chair of SEI’s Professional Community Excom. Her highlight timber project is the University of Michigan Pound Madelon House Ginsberg Center using CLT floor and roof panels and targeting net-zero-carbon and LEED v4 Gold BD+C.

 Dr. Kristen Cetin

Dr. Kristen Cetin is a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor, and Associate Chair of Faculty and Academic Staff Development in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Michigan State University. She leads a research group dedicated to advancing smart infrastructure system research and education, with a particular focus on buildings. She has worked with the MassTimber@MSU team at MSU the past several years, primarily focused on mass timber structural engineering education and manufacturing efficiency improvements.

 Andrew Reiss, PE (MI)

With nearly 30 years of experience in construction and engineering, Andrew has contributed his expertise to a diverse range of building projects. His substantial background in structural design and estimating, coupled with profound technical knowledge and effective business management skills, empowers him to offer innovative solutions and consistently achieve excellent results for clients. Andrew assumes a leadership role in Christman Constructors, Inc. (CCI’s) Mass Timber division, overseeing and providing guidance in estimating, procurement, operations, scheduling, safety, and budgetary matters. His mass timber highlight project is the new Western Michigan University Student Housing: 3-ply thick timber and glulam framing built with an accelerated construction schedule culminated in an embodied carbon footprint 3.5 times less than a conventional steel-and-concrete system.

 Sidney Filippis, AIA

Licensed Architect and Director of Design at Sterling Structural. She has experience with projects as small as custom furniture design and as large as 1,000,000 square feet. She believes architecture and design is more than the building shown on the drawings: it is also the branding, the details, the graphics, and the social impact. Prior to her role as Director of Design at Sterling Structural, she was project architect on an 8-story mass timber mixed use building, slated to start construction early 2025. Currently, she is adjunct faculty at Lawrence Tech University teaching a mass timber graduate design studio.