William J. Faschan, P.E., S.E. is a Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (LERA). With the firm since 1978, Bill is a highly regarded expert in the structural design of the entire spectrum of building types, ranging from high-rise buildings to long-span structures. He has worked on a variety of projects worldwide, including supertall commercial towers, cultural facilities and civic buildings.

As Partner-in-Charge, Bill has led the design of a number of high-profile and complex projects in both concrete and steel, such as the 72-story 4 World Trade Center in New York, NY; the 120-story World One Tower in Mumbai, India; the 68-story Bitexco Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Academic Building I at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, NY; the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar; the 37-story Espirito Santo Plaza in Miami, FL; and the 21-story Standard Hotel in New York, NY.

Currently, he is guiding the structural design of the M3M Golf View Estate, a mixed-use development in Mumbai, India; Capitol Crossing Platform, a 1.2 million-sf multi-level podium being constructed over an active interstate highway in Washington, D.C.; a new mixed-use development in the rapidly expanding Hudson Yards district of New York, NY; and a new 500,000-sf residential tower in Seattle, WA.

A respected author and speaker in the field of structural engineering, Bill has been published in such industry publications as CTBUH’s International Journal of High-Rise Buildings and STRUCTURE Magazine, and has presented at an array of major conferences and events throughout his career. He serves on the AISC Blast and Impact Resistant Design Committee, the New York City Building Codes Structural Loads Committee and the Cornell University School of Civil & Environmental Engineering Advisory Council, and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In recognition of his significant contributions to the field, he was cited by Engineering News-Record as one of “Those Who Made Marks in the Construction Industry,” and he was awarded the World Trade Center Medal for Exceptional Service for his efforts in helping to repair and reopen the World Trade Center following the 1993 bombing.

Bill holds a Bachelor of Science with distinction and a Master of Engineering (Civil), both from Cornell University.

Elias S. Matar, P.E. joined the firm in 1990 and became Partner in 2008. He has worked on a wide range of project types around the world, including mixed-use towers, commercial and residential developments, academic buildings, healthcare facilities and complex renovations. He leads the firm’s Special Inspections department, and plays an active role in managing the firm.

Elias has led the structural design of a number of interior fit-outs at 4 World Trade Center and other locations in New York City, including the Hudson River Trading office, the MediaMath office, the Weber Shandwick office, Burger & Lobster Bryant Park and several retail and dining outfits at Westfield World Trade Center, as well as academic projects of all sizes and types for both public and private institutions, such as the Cooperman Library Renovation at CUNY Hunter College in New York, NY; the new Gateway Center at SUNY Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY; and special inspections for the new Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY. He has also led the design of notable public projects for the New York City Parks Department, including the recently completed Hudson Park and Boulevard in New York, NY and the Brooklyn Bridge Park DEP Conversion Site in Brooklyn, NY.

Currently, Elias is the Partner-in-Charge for a series of renovation projects at various historic New York Public Library branch locations; the new Medical Arts Pavilion at the SNCH Long Beach Campus and Southwest Addition at the SNCH Oceanside Campus; new additions at PS 131 Q and PS 144 Q in Queens, NY; the restoration of the historic Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Monument in New York, NY; the CUNY Kingsborough Community College Performing Arts Center Renovation in Brooklyn, NY; the CUNY Medgar Evers College Carroll Street Building Renovation in Brooklyn, NY; and the CUNY Lehman College Bookstore Relocation in Bronx, NY.

Elias’ mixed-use project experience includes Espirito Santo Plaza (now Brickell Arch) in Miami, FL; Hermitage Plaza in La Defense near Paris, France; Agribank in Hanoi, Vietnam; and towers in Lima, Peru. His residential experience includes 250 East 49th Street, 315 East 46th Street, 505 West 47th Street and 495 West Street, all in New York, NY. He has worked on the renovation of the historic Surrey Hotel and the restoration and expansion of the historic Union Square Pavilion, both in Manhattan.

Since 2005, Elias has been an Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He also gives regular presentations on structural engineering to high school and college students. Elias is an active Member of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, SEAoNY and ASCE. He was awarded the World Trade Center Medal for Individual Acts of Valor for his work following the 1993 bombing.

Elias holds a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Science with distinction in Civil Engineering, all from Cornell University. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Benjamin M. Cornelius, P.E., C.E., S.E. is a Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (LERA). With the firm since 1994, Ben has over 25 years of experience in the design and rehabilitation of structures, including tall buildings and other complex structures. His projects include the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, the renovation and expansion of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the supertall TransNational Place in Boston. Currently, Ben is the Engineer of Record for the Trinity Condominium Tower Project in Seattle, a high seismic region with a unique hazard profile. As part of his work on the project, he directed the performance-based seismic design of the structure, utilizing steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) link beams to reduce rebar congestion and speed construction. Structural optimization performed by LERA resulted in substantial structural cost savings to foundations and core walls over a prior engineer’s design. Ben is also Engineer of Record for an expansion to the CUNY Hunter College Campus School in Manhattan and new science facilities at CUNY Brooklyn College, among other projects.

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Ben leads LERA’s Investigations and Expert Witness Practice and is an experienced expert witness. He has conducted more than 30 forensic investigations in North America, Europe, and Asia in disputes totaling over $1 billion. He has provided consultations in disputes involving tall buildings, residential structures, embassy complexes, medical facilities, historic buildings, sports and entertainment structures, transportation facilities, and modular construction. He has testified in mediation, arbitration, and court proceedings. Called upon to assist clients in some of the highest profile construction disputes around the world, he recently presented to over 90 attorneys, insurance carriers, parties, and experts in a mediation involving a structural failure at a large sports and entertainment facility. The result was the withdrawal of an eight-figure claim against his client and agreement to a seven-figure award for his client by other parties to the dispute. In another recent case, he provided trial testimony before a jury that was crucial to an eight-figure award for a client whose historic residence was damaged by an adjacent construction project. Currently, Ben has been retained in structural failure and collapse cases across the United States and in Europe.

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Ben is Chair of the Executive Committee of ASCE's Forensic Engineering Division and has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received his Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, for which he was awarded the Professional Practice Activities Award from the Professional Engineers in Private Practice of Pennsylvania and the Gladys M. Baird Memorial Scholarship. He remains a member of both the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the Phi Alpha Epsilon Architectural Engineering Honor Society.
 

Richard B. Garlock, P.E. is a Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (LERA). With the firm since 1993, he has over 25 years of experience designing efficient structural solutions to realize complex architectural visions. His expertise ranges from academic and research buildings to high-rise office and residential towers to institutional and cultural facilities.

Rich’s experience includes numerous high-profile and complex projects. He served as Project Director for the structural design of 4 World Trade Center in New York, NY, which was the first building to open on the original WTC site; the Hudson River Trading Office, which occupies two full floors at 4 WTC; the School of Architecture and Butler College Residences at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ; the United Nations Consolidated Building in New York, NY; and a mixed-use development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Currently, he is the Project Director for 520 West 41st Street, a 1,100-ft residential tower in New York, NY; the new Nordstrom and Ethan Stowell Restaurant at 1776 Broadway in New York, NY; and a new headquarter office for a major tech firm. His other notable projects include the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum in Little Rock, AR; the Prada SOHO Renovation in New York, NY; the Baltimore Convention Center Expansion in Baltimore, MD; the Friend Center for Engineering at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ; and the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, NV. In addition, Rich has worked on a number of supertall mixed-use projects internationally, including the BDNI Center in Indonesia and two supertall towers in Malaysia.

Rich is a Structures Specialist for the State of New Jersey Office of Emergency Management Urban Search & Rescue Team, and has been a Visiting Lecturer for Princeton University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2005. He is also a member of both the Structural Engineers Association of New York and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Recently, he was an invited presenter at NASCC: The Steel Conference, where he accepted the Presidential Award of Excellence in Engineering for 4 World Trade Center, the highest honor in the American Institute of Steel Construction’s annual awards program. Rich was a member of the WTC Recovery Team following the September 11th terrorist attacks, and participated in the investigation of the baseline performance of the WTC towers conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

He holds a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Syracuse University.  Rich also coaches youth sports and is on the Board of Trustees for two non-profit organizations, the University League Nursery School and the Princeton Youth Hockey Association.

Seokkwon Jang, Ph.D. P.E. is a Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (LERA).  Seokkwon started with the firm in 2004, and he has expertise in wide range of building types from high-rise buildings to security related designs.  In addition, he has made research related projects in the firm.

Since 2009, he has worked on a series of Korean research projects in collaboration with RIST (Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology) who is the largest research center in Korea.  He was leading a LERA’s role to assist in the development of the use of very high strength steel in tall buildings by focusing an attention on the primary vertical and lateral load resisting systems of tall buildings.  His study recently extends to research and develop the use of very high strength steel in other applications such as platform structural system to be built above railways or highways, long span truss system, composite structures of mega bracing system, alternative flooring system, etc. that may maximize potential advantage of the high performance steel materials in cost effectiveness as well as constructability.

Currently, he is the Partner-in-charge for the technical support of the Global Business Center (GBC) of the Hyundai Auto Mobile Company in Korea in collaborating with the Kunwon Engineering in Seoul, Buro Happold in Hong Kong and Jacop in Seoul until the construction is complete.  Also, he has led the structural design of the projects in Korea, including Cheongna International City Tower (CICT) that is the tallest observatory tower in Korea and 6th tallest observatory tower in the world; HDC Central IPark in Busan; and a number of redevelopment projects of GS Construction Company and Hyundai development company (HDC). 

Seokkwon was involved in the peer review of New York’s Freedom Tower, a 540m, 104-storeis high tower, and involved also in the design of the recently opened award-winning 4 WTC on the World Trade Center site.  Seokkwon also managed several other prominent projects at LERA including award-winning projects such as the JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, Johnson Museum of Art’s New Wing at Cornell University, the Hyderabad Office Tower in India; the Bitexco Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Seokkwon holds a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.  He earned a Master of Science from the University of Minnesota, and completed his Bachelor and Master of Science level studies at Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea. 

Douglas P. González, P.E. is a Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers. With the firm since 1991, Doug helps to lead LERA’s efforts in healthcare, science, and adaptive reuse/renovation work, and has considerable expertise designing cultural, civic and other institutional facilities. In his role as Quality Assurance Manager for LERA, he oversees LERA’s Quality Control and Knowledge Management processes/programs.

Currently, Doug is overseeing a number of the firm’s healthcare projects, including a major hospital campus transformation in New York; the Coney Island Hospital Critical Services Structure & Campus Renovation in Brooklyn, NY; the Southwest Addition and Central Utility Plant at the Mount Sinai South Nassau Oceanside Campus; the new Medical Arts Pavilion at the Mount Sinai South Nassau Long Beach Campus; the Cardiovascular Institute Renovation at Mount Sinai West Campus; the new NYC Public Health Lab in New York; and the new Hillman Cancer Hospital at UPMC’s Shadyside Campus in Pittsburgh, PA. His previous healthcare experience includes the Kimmel Pavilion, Energy Building, Emergency Department Expansion and Tisch Hospital Elevator Tower for NYU Langone Health in New York; the Clinical Laboratory of New York and the Center for Advanced Medicine Renovation for Northwell Health in Queens and Long Island; flood mitigation at Bellevue Hospital in New York; the Radiation Oncology Research Office for Novartis Pharmaceuticals in East Hanover, NJ; and the Almaty International Medical Center in Kazakhstan.

Doug’s academic and higher education experience includes the Academic Buildings & Research Greenhouse at SUNY Binghamton; the renovation of the historic Sara D. Roosevelt House at CUNY Hunter College; Princeton University’s Friend Center for Engineering Education; and the renovation of the Grant Street Administration Building for the NYC SCA. Historic restorations and structural upgrades include New York’s Apollo Theater in Harlem and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Monument in Riverside Park. Other cultural and civic projects include the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY; the Newseum and Freedom Forum in Washington, D.C.; the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, AR; the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT; the United Nations Headquarters Capital Master Plan and Infrastructure Upgrade in New York, NY; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH; and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, CA.

Doug is an active leader with many industry organizations. He served as President of the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) for the 2016-17 term, and has served on the SEAoNY Board since 2011. He is a member of the Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) and American Concrete Institute (ACI), and previously led the ASCE Metropolitan Section Structures Group. He also assists the NYC Department of Buildings with their update of the Building Code and their forthcoming Existing Building Code.

Doug holds a Master of Science from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Engineering from The Cooper Union in New York City.

Matthew D. Melrose, P.E. is an Associate Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (LERA). With the firm since 2002, Matt has a strong expertise in complex and unique building types. He is renown for collaborating with the industries best architects to achieve their design vision while enhancing structural efficiency and integrity. He has worked on many of the firm's cultural, academic and civic projects including Columbia University Medical Center’s Medical & Graduate Education Building (CUMGEB), a 15 story post-tension concrete superstructure with complex geometry coordinated using BIM. The CUMGEB was honored with the esteemed Annual Award from the Concrete Industry Board's 2014 53rd Annual Roger H. Corbetta Awards Program.  In addition, Matt was honored as one of ENR’s Top 20 Under 40 for 2015. 

Recently, Matt was the Project Director for the Center for Design Innovation, MassArt, in Boston, a complex adaptive reuse renovation project. He also worked on the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. In his experience with LERA, Matt served on-site surveillance engineer for the Newseum and Freedom Forum, a 643,000-sf facility in Washington, DC. He was a Project Manager for the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and contributed to the design of structures including the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha-Qatar; Staten Island Courthouse in New York City; the Gateway Building at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York; and Public Farm One in New York City, a competition winning innovative, sustainable structure on view at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in 2008.

Matt holds a Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological and Environmental Engineering, with distinction, from Cornell University.