Robert D. LiMandri serves as Commissioner of the New York City Buildings Department. Appointed in September 2008 by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Commissioner LiMandri is focused on raising construction safety standards, improving industry accountability, and transforming the Buildings Department into a modern enforcement agency better positioned to hold parties responsible when they do not make safety their first priority. He has expanded and launched new enforcement teams, strengthened New York City's crane regulations, and is working to utilize state-of-the-art technology to improve the overall quality of agency operations and accountability

Commissioner LiMandri has over 19 years of building, real estate and construction management experience. Prior to his appointment, he served as Acting Commissioner from April 2008 - September 2008, as First Deputy Commissioner from 2005 to April 2008, and as Deputy Commissioner of Operations from 2002 to 2005. He received his Master's degree in Real Estate from New York University and his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Amanda M. Burden, FAICP, is Chair of the New York City Planning Commission and Director of the Department of City Planning. Since her appointment by Mayor Bloomberg in 2002, she has spearheaded the largest planning effort in the city since 1961, setting the stage for sustainable development, reclaiming New York's waterfront, designing new parkland and public spaces such as the High Line and promoting great architecture and urban design in all five boroughs.

From 1983 until 1990, Commissioner Burden was responsible for the planning and design of Battery Park City. Her dedication to design excellence has been recognized locally and nationally. She has been involved for many years with the city's cultural community and with civic groups dedicated to improving the quality of life in the city.

Janette Sadik-Khan serves as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, appointed to the post by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in April of 2007.  Internationally recognized for her expertise in transportation issues, public policy development and innovative finance, Commissioner Sadik-Khan brings her unique and energetic vision to the management challenges of one of New York City’s largest agencies. Under her leadership the agency has received numerous awards for contributions to the field of transportation and policy.

Prior to her appointment as Commissioner, she was a Senior Vice President of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a leading international engineering firm.  She served previously as Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation, as Director of the Mayor's Office of Transportation and as Special Counsel/Legislative Director at NYCDOT. Sadik-Khan serves on the boards of ITS America, Reconnecting America and is President of the National Association of City Transportation Officials.  She holds a law degree from Columbia University School of Law.

David M. Childs is an architect practicing in New York City. Mr. Childs joined the Washington, D.C. office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1971 after serving as Design Director of the Pennsylvania Avenue Commission under the leadership of Nathaniel A. Owings and Daniel P. Moynihan, Chairman and Vice-chairman, respectively. 

In 1984, Mr. Childs relocated to New York, where he became the firm’s first Chairman as well as the office’s Senior Design Partner. Mr. Childs design for the new Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center is now under construction.  His work, which includes urban planning and landscape design in addition to skyscraper office and residential towers, educational facilities, hotels, headquarter buildings, railroad and airport terminals, and embassy and courthouse designs, has been built throughout the United States and around the world. 

Mr. Childs has served as Chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission and Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, both Presidential appointments.  His current civic involvements include Chairmanship of the Municipal Arts Society and membership on the board of the American Academy in Rome.  He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Craig Dykers is a co-Founder of the international architecture, landscape and interior design firm SNØHETTA. He and his company are the designers of the new National Opera of Norway in Oslo, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, and recently the new National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion in New York City. Craig has lived and worked extensively in both Europe and North America and Snøhetta has offices in Oslo and New York City.

Craig has been a keynote lecturer for the International Union of Architects, American Institute of Architects and recently the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He has also served on a number of internationally prominent architectural juries including the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, the Concert Hall of Uppsala in Sweden, and the International Velux Light Prize. Notable prizes Snøhetta has been awarded include the Aga Khan Prize for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina along with the World Architecture Award and recently the Mies Van Der Rohe Prize for European Architecture given to the Norwegian National Opera.

Jean Oei joined Morphosis in 1999. Originally from Singapore, Ms. Oei received her Bachelor of Science from Kent State University and her Master of Architecture degree from SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) where she graduated with distinction. She is currently serving as senior project designer/ job captain for the New Academic building for the Cooper Union, under construction, in New York City.

Other projects that Ms. Oei has been involved in at Morphosis include the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland, the Science Center School in Los Angeles, California, the Hypo-Alpe-Adria-Center in Klagenfurt, Austria, and the European Central Bank Headquarters and Urban Planning Competition, all projects for which she served as a key project designer.

Frank Sciame established F. J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc. (Sciame) in 1975 and Sciame Development in 1996.  In the years since, he has led the firm to its current position as one of the tri-state's leading construction management firms. With a degree in Architecture from CCNY, Mr. Sciame has been referred to as a builder with the vision of an architect and the eye of a constructor.  Sciame's recent projects include The Mark Hotel; The Cooper Square Hotel; New Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of Arts and Design; the exterior restoration of the Guggenheim Museum; St. John's University-New University Center& Academic Center Building; The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art-New Academic Building; and New York University's School of Philosophy.

Mr. Sciame has shown his genuine commitment to New York City and its built environment through his years of civic responsibility.  Mr. Sciame currently serves as Chairman for The South Street Seaport Museum and is the Past-Chairman and a Board Member of The New York Landmarks Conservancy. For the New York Building Congress, he is a Board Member and Former Chairman and he also serves on the Boards of the City College Fund and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

LOT-EK's founding partner, Ada Tolla, has a Master Degree in Architecture and Urban Design from the Universita' di Napoli, Italy (1989) and has completed post-graduate studies at Columbia University, New York (1990-1991).

During the 90's together, through a number of seminal projects, Tolla helped define LOT-EK's sustainable and innovative design vision centered on the re-use of existing industrial objects and systems (shipping containers, airplane fuselages, water tanks, billboard structures, highway systems, etc) as an integral part of architecture. She now oversees large scale projects for LOT-EK such as Sunlitun North and Sunlitun South in Beijing, Puma City and currently Pier 57 in New York.

Ada Tolla has been lecturing in major universities and cultural institutions all over the world and as of 2003 she has acted as an Adjunct Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP).