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Ali Memari is the Bernard and Henrietta Hankin Chair of Residential Construction.
Link to personal web site
Dr. Katie Blansett is the Associate Director of the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC). Katie began working with the PHRC in 2010 undertaking projects related to guidelines for subdivision design and the land development process, stormwater management, and water quality. She serves on several statewide committees related to stormwater management practice and regulation including the Pennsylvania Stormwater Technical Workgroup (PaSTW), which is working with the PA DEP to revise the Stormwater BMP Manual. Katie also teaches C E 410W Sustainable Residential Subdivision Design, a capstone design course.
Before joining the PHRC Katie worked as a consulting engineer on projects including residential and commercial land development, stormwater and watershed management, floodplain analysis, hydrology and hydraulics studies, and stream restoration. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and a LEED Green Associate. Katie holds a B.S. degree in Environmental Systems Engineering, a M.Eng. degree in Civil Engineering and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
Bryan Heitzmann, the Training and Education Development Specialist, has been with the PHRC since February of 2011. His primary responsibilities consist of the development and delivery of training programs for the residential building industry, as well as performing technical and policy research. After graduating from The Pennsylvania State University in 2001, Bryan secured employment in the residential housing industry with NVR in the Washington DC area. Subsequent to the completion of an 18 month Production Training Program, consisting of classroom training as well as field proficiencies, Bryan worked as a Project Manager in the Northern Virginia market, later helping to establish a new division of the company in Central Virginia. Most recently, Bryan was employed by S&A Homes as a Project Manager in their Western Region. Bryan has had extensive interaction with code officials, builders, subcontractors, and homeowners, and has remained current on changes in the code, changes in the market, as well as advancements in energy efficient building practices throughout his career.
Rhonda Decker is the Administrative Assistant in the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC). Rhonda is the assistant to the Hankin Chair and is the office manager.
Tracy Dorman is an Administrative Support Assistant in the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC). Tracy manages and coordinates the planning and implementation of the conference as well as all training related activities.
Heather Sustersic, P.E., joined the PHRC in August, 2012, as a Research Associate on a joint appointment with the Department of Architectural Engineering. In addition to identifying funding resources for the PHRC, Heather assists in the writing and preparation of proposals for government- and industry-sponsored research, writing research reports and other publications, and maintaining the PHRC website. Heather also teaches A E 430, Indeterminate Structural Analysis, and A E 432, Masonry Design, while advising senior Architectural Engineering students on their capstone projects.
Prior to joining the PHRC, Heather worked as a consulting structural engineer on a variety of projects with construction costs up to $215M and ranging in size from 6,000 SF to 390,000 SF. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Maryland with Bachelor of Architectural Engineering and Master of Architectural Engineering degrees from Penn State.
