Ben’s father was a high school math teacher, so he was fascinated with numbers from a young age. In high school, he took architectural drafting courses that opened his eyes to a creative way to utilize those skills. Through those courses, Ben was introduced to the Architectural Engineering (AE) program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. With patience and an influential summer internship, the AE industry showed Ben what the real-world applications of an engineering degree could be. From there, he fell in love with the lighting design aspect of the program’s electrical AE emphasis and never looked back.

Ben has been fortunate to learn from and work with many incredibly talented engineers, both from his industry involvement throughout school and from coworkers. That growth has led him to become a project manager, as well as the lighting design lead for the firm’s lighting studio. With this experience, Ben has led some of the firm’s most notable projects, both locally and all across the country. One in particular was The Farnam Hotel in Downtown Omaha. As the lead electrical designer and lighting designer, he oversaw all aspects of the project: the building electrical distribution, guestroom and hospitality design, complete building fire alarm upgrades, and architectural lighting; the Farnam Hotel touched on all of them. Ben was able to work through all of the challenges and manage working with multiple decision-making entities. The experience taught him many invaluable lessons on how to deliver a successful project.

As the global pandemic has reset the modern workplace, school districts, and other facilities nationwide, lighting designers like Ben, have had to step back and rethink how individuals want to interact with the environments that engineers design. Through architectural lighting design, Ben focuses on creating an environment in which people feel safe and healthy while highlighting and enhancing the architectural design of the project. Ben sees the future of lighting design shift from energy efficiency towards improving the overall user experience and wellness of those who inhabit and interact with the space in a sustainable way.