One of the best things about the design process here at TDA is the collaboration.

My name is Katherine Mitchell. I am a registered architect and LEED AP with a BD+C specialty here at TDA. I am an architect working on projects, but I also focus on our LEED Sustainable Design initiative.

Architecture is much more like a puzzle. There are so many different pieces. You’re looking not just at electrical engineering or mechanical engineering but the whole project in one big piece and making sure everything works together.

I’m very passionate about educational design because it’s community oriented. And if we provide them with a space that’s safe, comfortable, and enjoyable to be in, they’re more likely to keep wanting to learn and explore this wondrous world that we have.

Green buildings are really interesting to design and look into. First, because they look cool. You can tell when a building is more sustainable. So we want to build buildings that are safe and healthy for people as well as safe and healthy for the environment.

Recently, I’ve been helping with the punch listing process. A punch list is reviewing the building and verifying that everything is up to contract prior to the completion and turning over the building to the owner. During a punch list we will walk through the building and open up doors, check the flooring, check the ceiling tiles, check pretty much everything that we can, and verify that it is working properly.

Everybody here has so much knowledge in so many different areas of the design and construction process, and everybody is eager and willing to teach you anything that you want to learn. It’s easy to go up to ask people any kind of question, which I think is kind of unique to TDA. It’s not uncommon here to walk around and see groups of people gathered together, solving a problem with a project.

We have so many Emerging Professionals that come through here, more than I’ve seen in previous firms. TDA is one of the best places to ask for help. I always encourage anybody to ask questions and take advantage of all the opportunities that TDA provides because there are a lot.

Architecture for me was the perfect marriage of art, engineering, and problem-solving. My name is Archie Liptow. I have my Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Kent State University, and I work here at TDA on educational design.

I’ve always enjoyed creating things and using my artistic mind. It’s a field that allows me to have an outlet for those things. Educational design is so important because students are spending a third of their life for 12 years in these schools. And to create something that is going to not only help them learn and help them get smarter and grow, it also should be a place that makes them happy. It can be simple things such as the colors that you choose, some of the materials that are there, or the size of the space that you’re in. We’re trained, and we are training always to learn exactly what that means to create a space that is going to make people happy and make people feel safe.

In the design process, one of my favorite parts is the beginning stages when we really start visioning what this thing is going to look like. And with that visioning and with that brainstorming, you really set yourself up for the rest of the timeline of that project.

After I graduated from school, I was always told that there were so many opportunities within the field, but that has only increased tenfold since starting my job here. And I’ve learned how many different corners of this field that you can get into. On any given project, I could be doing the construction drawings or renderings for the project or different design iterations. I’ve also been included in different client presentations and meetings with consultants. So especially within this first year that I’ve been working here, I’ve been able to learn a lot while I’m working and be included in basically, the entire process, which has been awesome.

I’m really fortunate with TDA being my first place that it is such an inclusive environment. When we spend lunch together on Fridays in downtown Willoughby, that’s always really enjoyable for me. And I think it’s a beautiful part of our office culture and team building.

If I had to give an Emerging Professional a piece of advice, I would say in whatever environment you are in, try to make your voice heard and include yourself in whatever opportunities are given to you. Because there’s a lot within our fields and there’s a lot of opportunities to learn.