About Us
Building AEC Learning, Inc. (BAECL) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that is structured as a Community of Practice of owners, architects, engineers, and contractors who are sharing lessons learned within AEC companies and project teams. BAECL seeks to help the AEC industry efficiently and effectively serve society by rapidly identifying, implementing, and sharing lessons learned about the best regulatory, design, supply chain, and construction solutions used to address societal needs. This is especially the case now as we are in the midst of the challenges created by COVID-19. BAECL initiatives include building Open Source platforms to capture, curate, and share knowledge about space-related problems, proposed solutions, implemented solutions, and their results.
Our Collaborators
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Cynthia C.Y. Tsao, Ph.D., BAECL Founder
Since 1997, Cynthia collaborates with fellow educators and researchers in academia and practice to help the Owner-Architect-Engineer-Contractor (OAEC) industry understand and leverage Lean Project Delivery to dramatically improve project outcomes and thus, better serve society. Cynthia has worked on multi-project engagements with US-based general contractors and personally coached over 80 field superintendents/site managers. She guides companies and project teams in Project Team Alignment, Decision Making Strategy, Design and Delivery Management, Knowledge Management, and Production System Design and Control. With an eye for making explicit the handoffs of work between project team members, Cynthia uses her expertise in product-process design integration to help teams transform complex design problems into ones that are easier to procure and construct.
Cameron Bellao, PE, LEED AP
Cameron is an Associate Principal at Fitzemeyer & Tocci and serves as the head of the electrical discipline as the Electrical Engineering Manager. He is a registered professional engineer in 9 states and is highly skilled in electrical design for a broad spectrum of new construction and existing building with a specialty in design for healthcare and critical operation facilities. His expertise includes power distribution, building infrastructure, energy efficiency, and campus/facility master planning. He has a passion for learning and enjoys using what he has learned to provide innovative solutions.
Stan Chiu, AIA, DBIA, LEED AP
Stan Chiu is Director of Healthcare for Gensler’s Los Angeles Practice, collaborating with diverse studios to serve fundamental human needs. He brings over 25 years of experience in complex projects for clients such as Sutter Health, Samsung, UHS, the University of California, and the Mayo Clinic. A leader in Lean Design and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Stan believes in the power of respect for people and continuous improvement. His projects have been recognized for design excellence including National AIA and SCUP Honor Awards. Stan serves on professional and institutional boards including the Lean Construction Institute.
Laurel Christensen, AIA, CM-Lean
Laurel is a licensed Architect and Assistant Project Manager at Dyer Brown Architects. With a background in Lean Construction Management and a passion for materials health and sustainability, she consistently challenges her peers and project teams to consider the wide-ranging impacts of their design and project management decisions.
As chair of the mindfulMATERIALS A&D Engagement Working Group, she helps drive development and adoption of an industry-led platform for sourcing healthy building materials. Through engagement with the Boston-based nonprofit Building AEC Learning, she contributes to establishing best practices for project team alignment, decision making, design management, and knowledge management.
Laurie DaForno AIA LEED AP
A dynamic and engaging team player, Laurie inspires each and every person on the team to become part of the process of design. She uses Lean design principles to guide the team-building and the inherent results that are essential to any complex, technically challenging project. Laurie has 18 years’ experience in design and documentation of various project types such as computational labs, research labs, clinical labs, manufacturing facilities, hospitals, healthcare support, and workplace environments. Laurie’s skills run the gamut from Lean programming and planning to orchestrating design and documentation teams to deliver results efficiently and effectively.
Samir Emdanat
Samir is President and Co-Founder of vPlanner. He is an industry-recognized leader in managing Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) teams. He is known for his approach to overall project integration resulting in breakthroughs in various industries. In 2005 Samir was recognized by ENR as one of the top 25 newsmakers for his work with General Motors on its Virtual Factory Initiative. Since 2007 he has led the implementation of production planning and control for several mega projects in the healthcare, data center, and biotech industries.
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Felipe Engineer-Manriquez
International Lean speaker, a serial intrapreneur, Felipe Engineer-Manriquez is a committed Lean practitioner sharing decades of construction industry experience as the host of The EBFC Show Podcast (www.theebfcshow.com). Engineer-Manriquez is an active contributing member of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) and is an approved instructor/facilitator and 2019 LCI Chairman’s Award recipient for contributions to the Institute and the design and construction industry as a whole. Felipe has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Business Administration, and leads the Lean Construction Program for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Engineer-Manriquez is a Jeff Sutherland Certified ScrumMaster® and Scrum Trainer by Scrum Inc.™ in addition to being a Product Owner by Scrum Inc.™ and Certified Scrum@Scale Practitioner™.
Sean Graystone
Over 40 years Industrial, Commercial, and Residential Construction with special emphasis in Lean Construction and collaborative project delivery, Team building, training and management, current best leadership and management practices, complex process and delivery analysis and change implementation and management. Sean is a Certified Improved Instructor for the Lean Construction Institute, a certified instructor for the AGC Lean Construction Education Program for all sections and a Member of the AGC Lean Construction Forum Steering Committee He remains passionate about building, improving our industry, and thereby, our society. The goal is creating safer environments in our industry: physically, mentally, emotionally and financially.
Negar Kalantar, Ph.D.
Negar Kalantar is an assistant professor of Architecture and a Co-Director of Digital Craft Lab at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She is an Experienced Design Researcher with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry and design-research centers. Her research in Additive Manufacturing, Robotic Construction, Transformable Design, and Advanced Geometries and Materials has been awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) EAGER: DREAM-B 2019: Collaborative Research: Moldable and Wave Tunable Materials for Complex Freeform Structures. the NSF EAGER Award 2015 for Initiative Research on “Interaction of Smart Materials for Transparent, Self-regulating Building Skins”, and X-Grant 2018 from the Texas A&M President’s Excellence Fund on developing sustainable material for 3-D printed buildings.
Jay Ierardi, Ph.D., P.E.
Jay Ierardi is Partner-in-Charge of AKF’s Architectural Code Consulting practice. He is highly skilled in fire and life safety code consulting for new construction and existing buildings in accordance with applicable local codes. His expertise includes negotiating code-related issues in complex commercial construction projects with multiple stakeholders. From helping design teams minimize permitting delays to troubleshooting field conditions with contractors to performing third party plan reviews for local code officials, he has a deep and practical understanding of the code. Jay was also a contributing author for the SFPE Engineering Standard for Calculating Fire Exposure to Structures.
Hal Macomber
Twenty years ago Hal started using software to facilitate and enhance project teams success with the Last Planner® System. Along the way, he helped a number of software companies bring LPS tools to customers. Touchplan stands out as very faithful to the Last Planner creators' intent and practices. Hal is focused on increasing Touchplan's LPS customers' early and sustaining success.
Colin Milberg, Ph.D.
Colin has over 20 years construction management experience in both the office and the field combined with seven years of university teaching experience in construction engineering and management. Colin has worked with public and private organizations on projects ranging from $2 million to $1 billion, assisting project teams and organizations implement Lean Construction and Enterprise practices. Colin has a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley where he studied Lean Construction and tolerance management with the founders of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI). In addition, Colin co-founded LCI San Diego and LCI Southern New England, was on the core group for LCI New England and was a member of the International Group for Lean Construction advisory board.
Frank Morse
Frank’s 40 plus years of building construction experience crosses a wide range of client industries and types of construction with a particular emphasis on medical, research, and athletic facilities. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and sits on the Legislative Committee of the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts. He is a Trustee and Chair of the Facilities Committee at the USS Constitution Museum and is a board member and Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee of Lowell’s Maritime Foundation. Frank is a LEED Accredited Professional, holds a CM-Lean designation, and Boston ABC and unlimited Massachusetts Construction Supervisor’s licenses.
Bernadette Muncy
Bernadette’s ability to understand the needs of a client and integrate those needs into the design has proven to be invaluable. A seasoned architect with more than 19 years of experience, she oversees all phases of healthcare projects, from surveying and programming to construction administration and implementation. Bernadette is also a licensed and experienced Arbinger Facilitator and has trained and supported more than half of the existing SmithGroup Boston office staff. In so doing, SmithGroup has developed a deeply collaborative, results-driven culture.
Romano Nickerson
Romano Nickerson is a principal with Boulder Associates Architects. Since 2016, he has helmed BA/Science, where he has coached teams delivering projects in excess of $7 billion for several Fortune 500 clients. Romano specializes in Last Planner System, Target Value Delivery, and Integrated Project Delivery with a focus on design and pre-construction. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Lean Construction Institute and speaks frequently at both domestic and international venues. Romano and his family live in Colorado where they are working to restore their 1950s Atomic Ranch home.
Kanaka Rajagopal, P.E.
Kanaka Rajagopal, P.E. has worked for over 20 years as an Owner Project Manager. She is a registered professional civil engineer in California and has led multiple successful teams and projects for clients in various market sectors including healthcare, education, technology, office, life sciences, retail, and financial services. She derives personal satisfaction in finding elegant solutions to project challenges, and she seeks to work on projects and initiatives that benefit the greater good.
Matt Roberts, AIA
Matt is a licensed architect with extensive experience leading the design, delivery and management of renovation, new construction, and adaptive re-use projects. Exposure to many project types and delivery methods from early design through construction over the last twenty-plus years has allowed Matt to become a well-rounded architect and successful project/people manager. Project type experience includes K-12 Education, Higher Ed, Hospitality, Healthcare, Multi-Family Residential, Core/Shell Office & Mixed Use. Matt is a Senior Associate at Stantec (formerly ADD Inc) in Boston.
Jessica Stebbins, IIDA
As a Health Principal and Market Sector Leader for New England, Jessica is responsible for bringing HDR’s vast network of specialized healthcare services and expertise to healthcare organizations throughout the region. Recognized as a thought leader with 20 years of experience in strategic planning, programming, design and delivering complex healthcare facilities for community and academic healthcare clients, Jessica guides project teams through an integrated design process, balancing sustainability and fiscal concerns with the client’s vision. Through multilayered collaboration, she harnesses the talents of all participants to further enhance the value of the work that they produce. She has extensive experience in employing methods for informed decision making and expediting design and construction while maintaining quality and minimizing risk throughout the project delivery process.