Cohort '09-'10

James Heustis, Construction Track - From Louisville, KY, James attended Western Kentucky University to study construction management and was graduated in 2008. As graduation grew near, he began studying to take the LEED AP exam. In the process of studying for the exam he became more interested in green building and just being overall more environmentally friendly; and would like to explore this facet of building during his graduate studies. He also hopes to have some involvement with the Auburn Crew team as time permits.

Grace Harriett, Design Track – Raised in Cedartown, GA, Grace graduated in 2006 from Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, GA with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. She studied abroad in Dessau, Germany at Anhalt University; and took classes in the legendary Bauhaus and learned about the history of Modernism. During her 5th year of school, she worked for Chapman Coyle Chapman & Associates in their private education studio. After graduation, she joined MSTSD, Inc. in Atlanta to work on commercial, retail and mixed-use projects. She enjoys spending time with friends; playing kickball and ultimate frisbee, cooking, listening to music and traveling.

David Meek, Construction Track - From Nashville, TN, David completed 2 semesters of architecture studio at Auburn before switching to Building Science. For his undergraduate thesis, he researched the implementation of a LEED standard for Auburn’s campus. He is a LEED accredited professional and interned with Brasfield & Gorrie during the breaks. In August, he will be graduated with a BS in Building Science and a minor in Spanish. His professional interests include sustainability and historic preservation. He is involved with the Historic Preservation Guild and the Auburn Christian Student Center, and in his spare time enjoys running, biking, backpacking, and missions in Central America.

Dylan Cook, Design Track - Born and raised in the San Francisco bay area, Dylan went to the University of Colorado where he put himself through school bartending, and waiting tables. After graduating in May 2007 with a degree in Environmental Design, Dylan remained in Colorado for his first job after college as an intern with a 'Green' Architecture firm, where his duties consisted of general office administration and CAD support. He later took a job in Denver, CO for Encore Electric as a project engineer, after which he worked for a design-build architecture firm in San Diego. Dylan likes to work hard, and play hard; his hobbies include golf, hunting, fishing, baseball, soccer, music, his 1969 Chevelle, and working with his bird dog Vizsla.

Whitney Olson, Construction Track - A senior at the University of Oklahoma in her hometown of Norman, Whitney will be graduated with a degree in management with an 18-hr minor in construction science. Last summer, she interned with Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity on the jobsite. In Fall ‘08, she participated in a class which featured integrated teamwork for architecture, interior design, and construction science students in which collaborative teams were partnered to design and estimate costs for a pediatric clinic. This semester, she is in another interdisciplinary class with landscape architecture and architecture graduate students, working on revitalization plans for a small Oklahoma community.

Michael Glenboski, Design Track - Michael comes to Auburn after seven years in NYC, where he worked and interned his way through earning an architecture degree at the Pratt Institute. Following school, he worked for Cook+Fox Architects, detailing the Bank of America Tower and several condos in Manhattan. For the past two years he has worked for Jeff Koons; engineering, fabricating and painting sculptures. He retains consulting relationships with clients in the city as well as with a group in New Orleans building affordable housing, and is also participating in the LaN Archeography IV Workshop where they use "Grasshopper" to generate a site+performance specific installation at SuperFront Gallery for Biba Bell as part of the 2009 Movement Research Festival. He uses manual cameras, gets around on a 40 year old BMW, and watches at least one John Cassavetes film a week.

Nathaniel Preston, Construction Track – Currently a student at Ferris State University, Nathaniel was born in Albuquerque New Mexico and moved to Michigan at the age of five. He enjoys outdoor activities as well as chess and reading, and does not intend to own a TV ever again! As far as construction, he has experience working on a family cottage for the last two summers, which is near completion. His other construction experience includes primarily small residential projects and domestic improvements. Nathaniel has traveled Europe and central America, and hopes that through construction, he is provided the opportunity to work on many large scale projects, hoping to see more of the world along the way.

Amanda Nelson, Construction Track – Originally from just outside of Los Angeles California, Amanda will be graduated from California State University Fresno in May with a bachelors in Construction Management, with emphasis in both Architecture and Management. At CSUF she played varsity softball, and was an Academic All-Conference Student-Athlete. She has been involved in several organizations: an officer in Sigma Lambda Chi, the construction honor society; Students in Construction; Engineers Without Borders with whom she recently went to Cambodia to teach; Big Heroes Little Heroes through the Central Valley’s Children’s Hospital; Habitat for Humanity; University Hope; and Hands on Central California where she lead projects such as the KABOOM Cesar Chavez Legacy Park Build. She has worked in an Architecture and Civil Engineering firm for 1 ½ years, and enjoys taking on construction jobs for family and friends.

Steve McDonald LEED AP, Design Track - Steve graduated Auburn in the spring of 2006 with a Bachelor’s in Architecture. After school, he moved to Atlanta to work for the architecture firm of Cooper Carry (which he says showed him how little he actually knew). When the economy fell into recession last year, he was let go and immediately went to work for one of the largest general contractors in the southeast, Brasfield & Gorrie, as an assistant project manager for an interior renovation. This experience gave him exposure to two sides of the construction industry and piqued his interest in getting a degree that would allow him to move comfortably from one side to the other.

Raven Bouthillette, Design Track - Born and raised in Birmingham, AL, Raven did her undergraduate studies in architecture at Auburn University. While in school, she did two summer internships in New York City; one at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and the second at the much smaller Asfour Guzy Architects. Still in love with New York, she moved back there in 2007 after graduation. She spent several more months at Asfour Guzy, but ultimately moved to another small firm, Fogarty Finger Architects. As the economy worsened, the firm was forced to downsize. She was laid off in November of 2008, moved back to Birmingham a month later, and applied to Auburn’s Design Build program. She is married to a fellow Auburn Architecture Graduate, who is also in the Design Build program, and has two dogs and a cat; Lola, Beagle and Griswald.

Danny Brown, Design Track - Danny was born in Kentucky, but moved to Pennsylvania for his 6th grade year. His dad is both a pastor and construction worker, so while growing up in PA, Danny learned a lot about God and building. He and his father renovated and remodeled a very old house, which gave him a lot of basic construction skills. After moving back to Kentucky, he continued his construction work, and also found opportunities to do drafting work for his father. He attended the University of Kentucky where he pursued and education in architecture, particularly sustainable design. His undergraduate education included a Design Build studio and a Solar Decathlon studio, in which he developed an interest in the basics of sustainable design.

Brent Ramage, Construction Track - Brent grew up in Huntsville, AL before coming to Auburn University in the fall of 2004. In May 2009 he will be graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Building Science. Outside of the classroom, he has been active with the Associated Builder and Contractors student chapter as its vice president ,and also as a member of this year’s competition team in Honolulu. Brent has gotten experience in the field, having worked with two construction companies. In 2007, he worked for Turner Universal Construction Co. in Huntsville, where he primarily did manual labor on a new biomedical center project. In the summer of 2008 , he worked for a smaller general contractor, Gary C. Wyatt LLC, in Birmingham, AL. Here, he got great experience with the project management perspective of construction.

Jason Bouthillette, Design Track – Born in Deland, FL, Jason has lived all over the east from Texas to New York. He spent his high school years in Andalusia, AL, after which he attended Troy State for 3 years as a pre-med student. He joined the Army National Guard after his third year due to financial difficulties, and took some time off from school. Later he decided to transfer to Auburn’s architecture program, although in his second year there, was deployed to Iraq. He returned to Auburn the next year and graduated in 2007, after which he and his wife moved to New York City. While in New York, he worked on all types of projects, from small interiors to mixed-use towers. He worked mostly in concept and presentation materials, such as photo-realistic rendering. After two years in New York, his wife was laid off and their lease was up, so they decided to move back to Alabama. They currently live in Birmingham, AL and will move back to Auburn in June.

Michael Dooley, Construction Track - Michael is from Mobile, Alabama where he attended catholic school from k-12, during which he played baseball and was on the swimming and diving team. A 3rd generation Auburn graduate, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Building Construction in 2008. As a co-op student, he worked in Atlanta, Nashville, and Daytona Beach, during which he gained experience as an owner’s rep and in field management. After graduation, he went to work for Balfour Beatty Construction on “The Streets of Buckhead” project in Atlanta. On this project, he gained experience in project management, and became versed in “Constructware,” a project management software. After the project’s financing fell through, he decided that it was a great time to further his education with a master’s degree. He is now currently working as an estimator for a division 10 Contractor in Mobile until school starts in August.

Matt Michel, Construction Track - Matt grew up in Morton, Illinois, a suburb of Peoria, working on a family farm and for his father’s masonry business. Because of his strong background in construction, he chose to pursue a construction management degree at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. While attending SIUE , he spent a year and a half as an intern with The Korte Company ,headquartered in St. Louis. As a field engineer, his work has been with the surveying department, which includes everything from boundary surveys to construction layout. Outside of work and school , Matt loves sports, specifically football ,which he hopes will be a major plus about coming to Auburn and the SEC. He considers himself an outdoorsman, and likes pretty much anything to do with the outdoors.

Lawrence Griffin, Design Track – In grade-school, most kids wanted to be firemen, football players, or doctors; but Lawrence wanted to be an artist. As he grew older, the canvas that he wanted to illustrate upon became larger, until he finally found architecture. He says that architecture is the perfect art because it is a social art that you can inhabit. He graduated from Belle Glade Community High School after spending a year of school in Jamaica, and went to the University of Florida School of Architecture in 2005. At UF he traveled extensively within the US and abroad, participating in school programs, independent studies, and many extracurricular activities. After spending a lot of time abroad and critiquing the world around him, Lawrence decided that he needed to spend more time within the context he grew up in to see how architecture could engage his culture.

Patrick Philbin, Design Track – Patrick has lived in Auburn for the past 6 years, and will be graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2009. While in high school, he interned with the Bureau of Architecture and Engineering for the State of Pennsylvania where he learned a lot about the architecture business, although he says not as much about the construction and field. He looks forward to the Master of Design Build Program, particularly to learn more about how things are actually built and detailed. While at Auburn, he competed for the track and cross‐country teams. and also served as the assistant coach for the cross‐country team, helping them earn fourth place at the NCAA championship. He’s currently training for a half marathon.

Ben Loftin, Construction Track – Ben is twenty-three years old, and is from Nashville, Tennessee. He will be graduated from Auburn University in May 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in building science. He has worked for three different construction companies over the past four years in different internships: GreenVale Homes, a residential contractor; D. F. Chase Inc., a general contractor; and RJ Griffin & Company, a general contractor. He says he very much enjoyed his time at Auburn in the building science program, and looks forward to graduate school. He is a very big sports enthusiast, and enjoys playing football, basketball, and golf. He also loves to water ski, wakeboard, and spends time on the lake during the summer.

Yingjie Li, Design Track – Yingjie has earned an architectural degree from Xi’ An University in China. His interest in architecture and design dates back to his childhood during which he was raised by parents who were both university professors. His mother, an artist, inspired many cultural interests; his father, a biologist, provided a practical perspective as balance. He believes that architecture is a blend of each of these. Yingjie wants to develop an international perspective by pursuing a graduate degree in the United States, through which he hopes to become a design professional who will contribute in his own right to China’s growing industry of architecture.