SPEAKERS
Thank you to the following distinguished industry professionals:
zylient
Anna Lang, PhD, Founder
Dr. Anna Lang is a resilience expert and research engineer who has spent more than two decades at the intersection of structural engineering, public policy, and emerging technology. She specializes in finding vulnerabilities in the built environment and turning that insight into practical, risk-reducing actions. In 2018 she founded Zylient, a boutique technology and consulting firm that helps communities get ahead of risk before disaster strikes.
Dr. Lang formerly chaired SEAOC's Resilience Committee and EERI's Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, and she now leads efforts to reauthorize the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), the federal program that advances earthquake research and risk reduction. She also served on FEMA's National Advisory Council, where she advocated for applying lessons from the seismic world to other hazards and for putting mitigation first.
Most importantly, Anna is a proud ARCE alum (2001). She credits the department's opportunities and supportive environment for shaping her translational approach to disasters. She lives in northwest Montana, enjoying the outdoors on two wheels or two skis with her family and dog.
Tipping
Leo Panian, PE, SE, Principal
Leo practices at the intersection of seismic engineering, advanced analytics, and new technology, delivering effective, cost-efficient, and high-performance structural systems for clients. He has spent his career creating practicable structural solutions through a combination of expert understanding of building performance, cutting-edge academic research, and technical skill.
Leo also plays a key role in Tipping’s business operations and management, integrating staff scheduling and workflow with accounting and information architecture. He instills a culture of best engineering practices by encouraging generative learning, implementing and guiding technical strategy, and raising the bar for graphic standards. He inspires and mentors younger engineers to think critically about technical conventions and established norms when solving complex functional problems. Leo serves on the AIA San Francisco board and is a past board member of SEAONC, where he has worked to more closely integrate the architecture and structural engineering industries.
FUTURIST PANEL TBD
Come back soon for an update!
Keynote Speaker
David Odeh, Senior Vice President
David Odeh is a Senior Vice President at WSP and the National Director of Building Structures. In this role, he leads a group of more than 250 structural engineers working on complex building-design projects around the world. He has more than 30 years of experience in the structural design and analysis of building structures, with particular emphasis on applying digital design technology to structural engineering.
David also served as an engineering consultant for the IMAX film Cities of the Future: Reimagining Our World. He collaborated with digital artists and fellow engineers to help ensure that the film’s visionary computer-generated cities, infrastructure, and buildings were grounded in realistic engineering principles and emerging technologies.
David served on the adjunct faculty of Brown University’s School of Engineering for 18 years, where he taught courses in the design and analysis of building structures. He regularly lectures at universities and professional conferences, including most recently at Northwestern University and the University of Cincinnati. He has published numerous articles in engineering conference proceedings and journals. In 2016, David served as President of the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.