SPEAKERS CO-CHAIRS

LUISINA BASILICO Principal / Page

Luisina's prolific time at Page has run the gamut on project scale and program complexity, including international master plans to laboratory buildings for national academic clients, and regional pediatric hospitals to municipal aviation facilities. Luisina co-leads the Design Studio in the Houston office. She was one of the founding members of a group at Page focusing on women in leadership development and has served in leadership roles such as AIA Houston Board Member and Chair of the Design Awards Committee.

RIVES T. TAYLOR Principal, Co-Director of Design Resilience / Gensler

Rives Taylor has more than 35 years of experience in institutional and commercial architecture, with 30 years spent focusing on strategic planning, programming, and sustainable design, ranging in scale from facility operations to campus and city planning. A Texas-practicing architect and educator, Rives directs Gensler’s firmwide Design Resilience Task Force and leads the Gensler Research Institute Resilience Center. In over 30 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston and a visiting professor at Rice University, Rives has influenced more than 6,000 students in his technical and high-performance design studios and seminars.

Prior to joining GATE Precast, Marc served as an Outside Sales Engineer for nine years serving the industrial market, oil & gas, chemical, aggregates, cement manufacturing and power industries. His sales management experience is invaluable in his current role working with architects, contractors and owners in the early stages of design. Education: University at Albany, Bachelor of Arts: Mathematics (2006).

Daly, FAIA is the founder of Kevin Daly Architects. For over thirty years he has pursued an architecture that delves into the paradoxes of the urban condition and the consequences of intervention. Projects by Kevin Daly express his belief in an architecture that is performative on every level: environmentally, structurally, economically, and aesthetically. Bolstered by abundant research, he has demonstrated the benefits of advanced, unconventional building technology in works that are consistently recognized in publications and awards, and range from public schools, custom residences, and university buildings to affordable housing.

Jeff Clarke is a Partner at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, where he has been a critical member of the team since 2013. Jeff has overseen a variety of master planning, architecture, public realm, and interior projects. His notable projects include Montrose Collective, MKT, RiNo Mixed Use, and South Congress Hotel. He is additionally overseeing the firm’s public realm consultancy with the Austin Transit Partnership. Jeff is the team lead for Quality Control and serves on the firm’s Sustainability leadership team. Jeff additionally provides executive oversight of the firm’s Houston area projects.

DIONNE DARLING VP, Brand Partnerships / Architect's Newspaper

Dionne Darling has been with The A|N Media Group for over six years. As A|N’s Associate Publisher, she manages A|N’s Texas headquarters and handles accounts in the West, Southwest and Europe territories. Dionne has over 28 years of direct B2B sales, management and business development experience.

Mo Elsayed

Senior Building Performance Analyst / Page

Mo is a senior building performance analyst at Page Southerland Page. Prior to joining the Houston office, Mo was a researcher and co-instructor at the department of Civil engineering at McMaster University in Canada, where he also received his PhD. His research focuses on the integration of autonomous systems with design and multiobjective optimization platforms. He has practiced in numerous roles with engineering and architecture firms and organizations in Canada and the Middle East, including NGA in Toronto, and RCS limited consultants. Mo is also the co-founder of the Canadian Design Bureau Collaborative.

LEÓN FERNANDEZ Senior Computational Designer / Kinetica

León Fernandez is an industrial designer with a passion for Algorithm-Aided Design. He has a wealth of experience in the field, having led a design office that focused on implementing digital fabrication methods for architectural elements and product development. He joined Kinetica's computational design team and participated in several high-profile projects in the US before being appointed as lead designer for the Expo Dubai 2020 project.

Julie Freund

Houston Branch Sales Representative / YKK AP

Julie Freund is an architectural sales representative for YKK AP covering the greater Houston area and surrounding counties, as well as Lake Charles, LA. She has over ten years of experience in residential and commercial glass and glazing. In her role, Julie provides sales and customer support to the glazing community. Additionally, she provides design and engineering support to the architectural community as well as AIA approved continuing education courses. She is also a docent with the Architecture Center Houston.