Ted Kesik
PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO'S JOHN H. DANIELS FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE, AND DESIGN
Ted Kesik is a professor of building science in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto with a career focus on the integration of professional practice, research, and teaching. He entered the construction industry in 1974 and has since gained extensive experience in various aspects of building enclosure design, energy modelling, quality assurance, commissioning, performance verification, and building systems integration. Professor Kesik’s research interests include resilience, sustainability, durability, high-performance buildings, life cycle assessment, and building performance simulation. He is an active member of the Sustainable Built Environment Performance Assessment (SBEPA) research network, a highly interdisciplinary group at the University of Toronto, leveraging diverse expertise and research activities to understand human and environmental performance gaps in the built environment. His current research focus involves the development of design guidelines for low-carbon buildings that are resilient, sustainable, and promote climate change adaptation. As a founding member of the Mass Timber Institute at the University of Toronto, Professor Kesik is leading the development of a Mass Timber Building Science Primer to establish a framework for performative design pedagogy, research, and professional practice. He continues to practise as a consulting engineer to architectural offices, enterprises, and government agencies.
Sophie Mackey
INTERN ARCHITECT AND SHIFT2019 PARTICIPANT
Sophie Mackey is an Intern Architect and works at David Ellis Architect in her hometown of Sault Ste. Marie. She graduated in 2019 with a Master’s in Architecture from the McEwen School of Architecture. Her submission, “Immigrant Landscapes: Architecture in the Age of Migration,” was a selected project for the inaugural SHIFT2019 Infrastructure/Architecture Challenge. For the last two years, she has spoken about her submission at countless events and media outreach. Sophie has recently been nominated for the Young Professional Visionary Award. She hopes to use the profession of architecture to improve her community.
Aylin Ozkan
ENVIRONMENTAL AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CONSULTANT
Aylin Ozkan is an environmental and architectural design consultant, researcher and lecturer. Among other notable firms, Aylin has worked with Kearns Mancini Architects and Perkins+Will on a variety of projects, including Meadowbrook Lane Affordable Housing, Endymion House, IRTH Landscape Hotel and Spa, Oak Ridges Library, Northeast Scarborough Community Center, and several post-secondary buildings in Ontario. She holds a PhD in Building Science, a Master’s degree in Environmental Building Design, and a Bachelor of Architecture. She has taught simulation, data visualization, and resilient building design at the University of Toronto. Aylin also worked on research projects such as the development of MURB Design Guide and Thermal Resilience Design Guidelines.
Jay Pitter
INTERNATIONAL PLACEMAKER, AUTHOR AND URBAN PLANNING LECTURER
Jay Pitter, MES, is an award-winning placemaker whose practice mitigates growing divides in cities across North America. She spearheads institutional city-building projects specializing in public space design and policy, forgotten densities, mobility equity, gender-responsive design, inclusive public engagement and healing fraught sites. What distinguishes Jay is her multidisciplinary approach, located at the nexus of urban design and social equity, which translates community insights and aspirations into the built environment. Ms. Pitter also makes significant contributions to urbanism theory and discourse. She has developed an equitable planning certificate course with the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture and taught a graduate level urban planning course at Ryerson University, among others. Jay also delivers keynote addresses for entities such as the United Nations Women and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is the co-editor of Subdivided: City-Building in an Age of Hyper-Diversity, and her forthcoming books, Black Public Joy and Where We Live, will be published by McClelland & Stewart, Penguin Random House Canada in 2021. Ms. Pitter is also the John Bousfield Distinguished Visitor in Planning, Emeritus, University of Toronto.