Faculty And Alumni Awards

Tom Collins, associate professor at Ball State University, earned a 2025 Faculty Recognition. Tom has served as a faculty advisor to undergraduate and graduate students participating in the Design and Build Challenges for nearly a decade, partnering with local non-profit partners on affordable housing, commercial, and institutional projects that are models of high-performance design in the Midwest. He developed architecture design studios and elective courses to expand opportunities for competition involvement to more students and colleagues.

Ihab Elzeyadi, is a professor of architecture and building science at the University of Oregon and earned a 2025 Faculty Recognition. Ihab engages students in hands-on research and design explorations in design studios, seminars, and courses in environmental control systems and high performance building design. Elzeyadi is the founder and director of the UO High Performance Environments Laboratory (HiPE) and the Façade Integrated Technologies testing facility. Both are state-of-the-art award winning facilities that provide research and consulting services for the building industry, research institutions, private, and public entities. Elzeyadi has been engaged in the design, construction, and research of high-performance buildings for more than 25 years, including impacts of the physical environment on health, productivity, and well-being as they relate to design strategies in commercial and educational environments.

Nea Maloo, is an assistant professor of architecture at Howard University and was one of the 2025 Faculty Recognition recipients. Maloo primes her students for leadership, through her Design Studio, Structures, Environmental Systems and Professional Practice classes. Her research focuses on architectural resilience, biomimicry, structures, and building science. She is published several papers and spoken in both local and national seminars. Maloo is also the founder and principal architect of Showcase Architects, an award-winning practice focused on biophilic design. She is an active member of the AIA, NCARB, and NOMA and serves as a president of the Building Technology Educators' Society (BTES).

Wyatt Ross, building performance engineer at CMTA, a Legence Company, was selected as the 2025 Alumni Recognition recipient. Wyatt is a passionate advocate and recognized leader in energy efficient design and high-performance engineering. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where he earned his degree in Architectural Engineering, Wyatt participated in student design competitions, including the Solar District Cup—where he was named Grand Champion—and the Department of Energy’s Race to Zero (now part of the BuildingsNEXT showcase). These experiences deeply shaped Wyatt’s professional trajectory, instilling a lasting commitment to creating healthier buildings and communities. Wyatt's project portfolio includes collaborations with Fortune 500 companies, innovative higher education initiatives, and landmark achievements, and he regularly speaks at conferences nationwide, actively shaping industry-wide dialogue on high-performance buildings.

Lisa D. Iulo, associate professor of architecture at The Pennsylvania State University, won the 2024 Faculty Award. Iulo has served as a team advisor for nine consecutive Design Challenges and two Build Challenge competitions (2007 and 2009) on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Iulo developed two competition-related courses that connected students with local communities to work on real-world projects that benefit people and the environment.

Pete Choquette, founder and principal of real estate development firm Solsbury Hill and sister design firm Centripetal Works, won the 2024 Alumni Award. Choquette was on the winning Georgia Institute of Technology team in the 2022 Design Challenge. Since graduating from Georgia Tech, he has continued to work as a liaison between the university’s faculty and students, the university’s Energy Policy and Innovation Center, and West Side Atlanta neighborhood stakeholders to implement the project. Additionally, he is assisting in the effort to create a design center that would provide design and building science-related services to communities and scale up his competition team’s innovative and replicable project model.