Current Professional Status: Semi-retired.

Education

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, with a concentration in HVAC and a minor in Sustainable Environments, from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I graduated in 2009.

I am a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California.

Integral Group: Deep Green Engineering

For twelve years, from 2009 through 2021, I worked as an employee of Integral Group. I began as a project engineer in the Oakland, California office, but soon dove deep into Revit and the world of BIM. Those first six years were a blur of fascinating deep green projects, ranging from the LBNL Flexlab (on which I was the primary design engineer) to a confidential million square foot corporate campus (on which I was the MEP Design BIM Lead).

By 2015 I was the Lead BIM Engineer for the US West Coast region as well as on high-profile IPD style projects. A common theme from the very beginning was a keen interest in improving the visual communication of engineering stories. This led me to pursue a self-led program of learning 3d digital art and visual effects (VFX) skills, which I employed to create animations depicting the engineering systems I was designing and modeling.

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In 2016, I switched to doing Engineering Visualization full time, supporting all Integral offices. The volume and breadth of work I produced ramped up considerably. In early 2020, I hired Ryan Knightley, a SCAD-educated veteran of multiple visualization positions ranging from games to entertainment to architectural visualization. He and I worked together at Integral until May 2021.

Software

While I appreciate proper gear, I agree that it is ‘a poor craftsman who blames their tools.’ Too many people think high-tech tools produce amazing work. I disagree: it is the craftsperson who makes amazing work, and tools are just that. With that said, here’s a look inside my digital toolbox:

  • Blender (expert)

  • Revit (former expert, I’m rusty now)

  • 3ds Max (beginner)

  • Sketchup (Intermediate - I used to be expert level, but haven’t used it much since about 2015)

  • Adobe After Effects (intermediate)

  • DaVinci Resolve (intermediate)

  • Krita

  • Inkscape

  • Camtasia

  • OBS

Skills

For eight or so years, I was a one-man 3d generalist, and I did everything in the workflow. Visual effects-wise, I’m a specialist in nothing, but I’m basically competent at many things.

With respect to BIM and Revit, I was an expert level Mechanical design modeler and BIM Manager as of 2016, when I ‘retired’ from active BIM work.

  • Building Information Modeling, mechanical systems

  • 3d Modeling

  • Animation

  • Lighting

  • Shading

  • Rendering

  • Video editing

  • Audio recording and editing

  • 2d Image Editing

  • Making software tutorial videos (see my YouTube channel)

  • Public speaking

  • Writing well

Visualization Projects of Note

Here are some animation highlights that I produced with Integral.

Clayton Community Centre: North America’s first Passive House Community Centre

George Brown College’s The Arbour

This was a paid animation for Naked Energy. Interestingly, this video went viral after a year and a half on YouTube, going from 1,500 views to over 250,000 views within two months.

Engineering and BIM Projects of Note

Exploratorium

Role: Project Engineer

LBNL Flexlab

Role: Project Engineer, BIM Lead

Packard Foundation

Role: Project Engineer, BIM Lead (this was my very first Revit project)

Confidential Office Campus

Role: Project Engineer, MEP Design BIM Lead in the IPD Big Room

Interestingly, I made my very first animation for the interview to win this job back in 2011. We did win it, and to this day Integral maintains a lucrative relationship with this client.