GBA recently promoted 16 staff members. Except where noted, all staff are headquartered in the Chicago regional office:
- Doug Frey, PE, LEED AP, was promoted to Vice President.
- Chris Jones, PE, LEED AP, and Todd Soukup, LEED AP BD +C, were promoted to Associate Vice President.
- Jason McDonald, CPD, FASPE, ASSE 6060, and Andrew Millville, PE, were promoted to Associate.
- Justin D’Arcy, PE, was promoted to Project Manager.
- Mike Rubino, Tony Zappia, EIT, and Natalia Dankanich were promoted to Senior Project Engineer.
- Noah Foster and Tyler Widi (GBA Madison regional office) were promoted to Project Engineer.
- Alvin Reed was promoted to Systems Administrator/Helpdesk Supervisor.
- Mildred Kwan was promoted to Program Manager.
- Gail Silao and Elizabeth White were promoted to Project Coordinator.
- Michaela Prall was promoted to Office Coordinator.
Doug Frey joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2006. He graduated with a BS in Architectural Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1998. Doug is a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois and Michigan. He specializes in HVAC system design for new and existing facilities, including field inspections of existing conditions, heating and cooling load calculations, equipment selection, and system layout. His work focuses on the healthcare, hotel, and education sectors.
Chris Jones joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2000. He graduated with a BS in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1996. Chris is a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois. He is an experienced project manager and mechanical engineer whose work encompasses multiple facility types, including healthcare, hospitality, higher education, and other client sectors. His expertise extends to design for building infrastructure, renovations, and new construction.
Todd Soukup joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2014. He earned a BS in Architectural Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2005. Todd is a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois. He is an experienced mechanical and plumbing engineer, and project manager. He provides a variety of engineering services for projects ranging from the industrial sector to commercial, healthcare, institutional, and residential projects, including new construction, as well as renovations and adaptive reuse.
Andrew Millville joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2014. Andrew is a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Valparaiso University in 2007, as well as a Master of Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Andrew’s mechanical engineering skills include proficiency in analyzing thermal and hydraulic processes, leading design teams for design and specification of mechanical equipment, working in a multi-discipline team, and interfacing with clients. He has broad knowledge of the energy industry, including HVAC, hydronic, and building energy usage calculations, mechanical power generation systems, and fluid and thermal processes, with a focus on temperature controls and central chiller and boiler plants.
Jason McDonald joined GBA ‘s Evanston office from 1996 through 2011, then rejoined the firm in 2014. He is certified in plumbing design, an ASSE 6060 Medical Gas Systems Designer, and a Fellow of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers. Jason specializes in plumbing, medical/specialty gas, and fire protection systems design and commissioning. He is also an experienced mechanical construction estimator and project manager. Jason’s work has been focused on projects for healthcare and pharmaceutical clients, as well as work in the commercial, government, and hospitality sectors.
Justin D’Arcy joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2015. He graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton in 2014. Justin’s areas of specialization include commissioning, retro-commissioning, and building automation systems. He is also the primary developer of GBA’s Trend Sumo® fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) software platform, which automates processing of trend data to help identify energy efficiency opportunities, and the Energy Sumo® energy dashboard platform.
Mike Rubino joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2020. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2017, as well as a Masters in Renewable and Clean Energy in 2018, both from the University of Dayton. Mike specializes in commissioning, retro-commissioning, and monitoring-based commissioning for clients in diverse sectors. His experience also includes benchmarking to meet municipal and organizational requirements. Mike’s expertise in energy efficiency techniques is an outgrowth of his educational specialization in renewable clean energy.
Tony Zappia joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2021. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 2019. He is an Engineer in Training in Illinois. Tony specializes in mechanical engineering design and construction administration tasks for clients in diverse market sectors.
Natalia Dankanich joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2002. She holds the BMech Eng degree from Ukrains’ka Akademija Drukarstva, Lviv, Ukraine (1990). Natalia has more than 25 years of plumbing, fire protection, and medical/specialty gas system engineering experience, concentrating on facilities in the healthcare, science/technology, higher education, commercial, and hospitality sectors.
Noah Foster joined GBA’s Evanston office in 2022. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University in 2022. Noah is part of GBA’s commissioning and retro-commissioning team. His project experience encompasses higher education, healthcare, and recreational facilities.
Tyler Widi became a member of the GBA Madison, WI, team in 2022. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Tyler designs HVAC systems serving various facility types, including laboratories, food processing, and dormitories, and also provides commissioning and functional testing services for HVAC and controls systems in labs and natatoriums.
Alvin Reed joined the GBA IT team in 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Robert Morris University (2006). He previously held the role of Help Desk Technician and will continue to support the IT team and oversee the helpdesk in his new role.
Mildred Kwan became a member of the Evanston administrative team in 2022. She holds a BS in Speech, Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University. She previously held the role of Project Coordinator/Executive Assistant and continues to assist the commissioning team and principals in her new role.
Elizabeth White joined the GBA administrative team in 2023. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from Iowa State University in 2020. She previously held the role of Administrative Assistant and continues to assist the New York regional office staff in her new role.
Gail Silao joined the GBA administrative team in 2017. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Our Lady of Fatima University, Manila, Philippines (2016). She previously held the role of Administrative Coordinator and continues to support the engineering team and principals in her new role.
Michaela Prall joined the GBA administrative team in 2022. She earned a BA in Music and Psychology from Carthage College in 2018 and an MA in Trombone Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2021. She previously held the role of Front Desk Coordinator and will take on expanded office management responsibilities, while continuing to provide administrative support for various projects and events.
GBA congratulates these team members for their valuable ongoing contributions to the firm, which specializes in energy and resource consulting for large, energy-intensive facilities as well as mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and medical/specialty gas design services; commissioning, retro-commissioning, and monitoring-based commissioning; energy and resource benchmarking; energy conservation studies; MEP infrastructure planning and upgrades; LEED and Green Globes consulting; sustainability consulting and code compliance; and computerized building modeling. Founded in 1973 in Evanston, IL, the company also has offices in Wisconsin (Madison, Wauwatosa) and the New York metropolitan area (Hoboken, NJ).
