Structural From and Architecture
Bill Baker is the partner in charge of Structural and Civil Engineering for the Chicago and London offices of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. Mr. Baker pursues a collaborative process which resonates with SOM's multidisciplinary practice. His approach to structural engineering seeks to integrate form, function, and aesthetics. Since joining the firm in 1981, Mr. Baker has worked on a broad range of engineering projects including designing structural systems for supertall buildings, to smaller, specialized structures and engineering collaborations with artists.
Mr. Baker leads the Structural Engineering studio to ensure that quality, innovation, material economy, and cost efficiency are customized to fit each project's scope and needs. Mr. Baker has developed the structural system for the Burj Dubai, which is planned to become the world's tallest building in 2009. His recent completed projects include the long span structure of the Virginia Beach Convention Center and the glass cable-net entrance pavilion of the General Motors Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Exploring the synergies of structure, architecture, and policy in the built environment
This series brings together engineers, architects, designers and policy makers to address contemporary issues in the design and construction industry and related academic fields. The responsibility to create sustainable development — that which mitigates climate change, ensures safety and utility, and provides necessary shelter and infrastructure — lies with all designers and policy makers and is a goal achievable only with a re-evaluation of traditional professional boundaries. To address the challenges of increased population, globalization, and climate change, traditional education and practice must adapt by looking to other disciplines as sources of inspiration, and coordinate with them to create responsible and sustainable structures.

Technology and Sustainability in the Age of the Anthropogenic Earth
Braden Allenby is currently Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and of Law, at Arizona State University, having moved from his previous position as the Environment, Health and Safety Vice President for AT&T in 2004. Dr. Allenby received his BA from Yale University, his J. D. and Masters in Economics from the University of Virginia Law School, his Masters in Environmental Sciences from Rutgers University, and his Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Rutgers.
From 1995 to 1997, he was Director for Energy and Environmental Systems at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and from 1991 to 1992 he was the J. Herbert Holloman Fellow at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington, DC. His areas of expertise include Design for Environment, industrial ecology, telework and netcentric organizations, and earth systems engineering and management.

Quality in Engineering
Dr. Ing. Hans Schober is Partner of the renowned German structural engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann and Partners in Stuttgart, and heads their New York City office as President. Best known for its innovative bridges and glass structures, the firm also has significant experience with solar energy power plants. Their exemplary ethos of social and cultural responsibility is exemplified by the extent to which they serve as partners in design as opposed to simple structural analysts and is manifested in their many successful and award winning designs.

Disciplinary Content, Interdisciplinary Context
Prior to teaching at Yale, Ms. Addington taught at Harvard University for ten years and before that at Temple University and Philadelphia University. Her background includes work at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, where she developed structural data for composite materials and designed components for unmanned spacecraft. Ms. Addington then spent a decade as a process design and power plant engineer as well as a manufacturing supervisor at DuPont, and after studying architecture, she was an architectural associate at a firm based in Philadelphia.

Sustainable Design: Lessons from History
John Ochsendorf, Assistant Professor of Building Technology at MIT, is a structural engineer whose research interests include archaeology, the history of construction, and sustainable design. Trained in structural mechanics at Cornell, Princeton, and the University of Cambridge, he conducts research on the structural safety of historic monuments and the design of more sustainable infrastructure. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and is also a 2008 MacArthur Fellow.