Paul Becks
Lean Construction and IPD Practices
Paul Becks has been in the industry for 22 years, 14 at Welty. He is an innovation-minded VP, with a passion for building teams, delivering excellence, and improving the communities he lives and works in. Through a dedication to industry-leading methods such as Lean Construction and Integrated Project Delivery, Paul has shaped the way construction projects are delivered both locally and nationally. Through his involvement in numerous non-profit and civic boards, he has shaped a positive and engaged future for NEO. Paul has overseen complex renovation projects that qualified for Historic Tax Credits.
Rahman Azari
Cities and Carbon Emissions of Urban Buildings
Rahman Azari is an associate professor of architecture and director of Resource and Energy Efficiency (RE2) Lab at the Pennsylvania State University. Azari is also affiliated with the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE). Azari’s research on carbon-neutral buildings and cities has been supported by research grants from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), US Department of Energy (DOE), and Penn State. Azari has served as faculty advisor to winning entries for the US DOE Solar Decathlon Design and Build Challenges, and AIA+ACSA COTE Top Ten competitions.
Elliot Christiansen & John Berg
Leveraging Technology in Construction
As a Vice President of Construction for Cleveland Construction's General Contracting Division, Elliot Christiansen oversees and manages multiple internal teams and works with numerous clients and project types. Elliot has a proven ability to grow and inspire a nationwide group of construction managers with unique backgrounds and experiences, making him an asset to the growth of the company.
Elliot's construction management experience includes multi-family, hospitality, K-12 education, retail, corporate office, manufacturing, and assisted living. Currently, he served as executive oversight for multiple construction teams throughout North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida. His leadership approach and work ethic make him an integral part of every team and a trusted advisor to Cleveland Construction's clients.
Elliot's dedication to delivering high-quality work, on time and on budget, has earned him a reputation as a skilled and knowledgeable professional in the construction industry. He is passionate about building strong relationships with clients and stakeholders, ensuring that their goals are met with the utmost care and attention. With his extensive experience and commitment to excellence, Elliot is a driving force behind the success of Cleveland Construction and a leader in the industry.
John Berg is Cleveland Construction’s Senior Vice President of Operations. John oversees all construction operations for the company's general contracting division. He visits each project frequently to review and enforce the construction schedule, project documentation, quality control, and safety.
John has supervised the successful construction of various types of construction projects throughout the country including retail/mixed-use, corporate office, multi-family, hospitality, industrial/warehouse, parking garages, auto dealerships, and airports. His extensive experience supervising the construction management of commercial developments ensure the project is constructed to your expectations.
John started as a Project Superintendent, where his work ethic, attention to detail and ability to deliver challenging projects led to his appointment as General Superintendent in 2007, and subsequently Vice President of Field Operations in 2016.
Wangda Zuo
Multi-scale Modeling for Smart and Sustainable Communities
Dr. Zuo is a full professor in Architectural Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. He is also the Associate Director for Research of Global Building Network, which is an initiative of Penn State and United Nation on high performance buildings. He is currently an Associate Editor of Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. He is a major contributor to multiple open-source building and community modeling tools, including Modelica Buildings library, Modelica Net Zero Energy Community Library, Modelica Smart and Connected Community Library, Fast Fluid Dynamics model, and URBANopt. He has supervised more than 20 Ph.D. students and post-doctors and published more than 140 peer reviewed papers in modeling and simulation.