About
Hi, my name is Brandon. I chose to study civil engineering because I am fascinated by the mechanics of what holds up our civilization. Like many engineers, my interest in building began as a child playing with Lego sets, balsa wood bridges, and observing what happened if I dammed up the creek in our backyard.
Bachelor's Degree: At Georgia Tech my concentration was in structural engineering and my interests expanded into global infrastructure projects. I was invited to the Grand Challenges community, earned the International Plan degree designation, and helped lead teams in Engineers Without Borders and Engineers for a Sustainable World. While studying civil engineering I also went to study at Nanyang Technical University in Singapore through an exchange program. In Singapore, my imagination of what a city could be was drastically expanded! Singapore has fantastic public transportation, biophilic design, clean streets and community involvement.
Work Experience Before Grad School: After graduating from Georgia Tech I worked for AECOM as a structural engineer in the water business line. Most of my projects were on dams and hydraulic structures. AECOM was a fantastic opportunity because it is a global company and named one of Fortune magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies". During my time there I had the opportunity to work at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq for about 8 months. This was a dream opportunity for me to combine my interests in global development projects and my skills as an engineer. I was thankful to also be working in the same office as the stakeholders, the community who lives next to the dam. It became clear to me that the dam was more than an infrastructure project, it was symbolic, a unifying motif in the narrative of the community. The dam brought power and irrigation, was where people would go for a picnic or to watch birds, and was where multiple generations in a family would work together.
Master's Degree: While in graduate school at Stanford I became increasingly interested in how the built environment played a role in our communities and personal lives. How does the built environment directly affect, support, or even hurt the individuals it was designed to serve? I started research in Dr. Sarah Billington's Lab where her group studies the impact of building design, materials, and symbols on human wellbeing. In further pursuit of these interests, I became a WELL Accredited Professional over the summer of 2020. I was a Course Assistant for CEE 223 - Materials for Sustainable Built Environments. Here, I added a module on Embodied Carbon and have developed an interest in using approaches like Life Cycle Assessments to fully understand the impacts buildings have on our environment. I aim to continue to explore building impact on wellbeing, design and construction methods on building waste and reuse, new ways to quantify and implement data on the design, construction, and deconstruction workflows.
PhD Degree: I am joining Prof. Dr. Catherine De Wolf's lab Circular Engineering for Architecture as a PhD Researcher at ETH Zürich. Here, I am excited to explore using digital technologies as an approach for applying circular economy principles to the built environment!
Engineer, Designer, Builder
An engineer with experience in structural design and construction whose interest is on quantifying and analyzing metrics of economy, equity, and ecology for a sustainable built environment.
- Degree: M.Sc
- City: Palo Alto, CA
- CV: Download
- Email: brandonsbyers@gmail.com
- Email: bbyers3@stanford.edu
Resume
Summary
Brandon S. Byers, EIT, WELL AP
An engineer with an enthusiasm for architecture and holistic sustainability whose work is combining over 2 years of design and construction experience to researching how to apply circular economy principles to the built environment.
- Stanford, CA
- (706) 910-5433
- bbyers3@stanford.edu
Education
Ph.D. Civil Engineering
2021 - 2025
ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
PhD researcher in the Circular Engineering for Architecture lab advised by Prof. Dr. Catherine De Wolf.
M.Sc. Sustainable Design & Construction
2019 - 2021
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
A chosen concentration in structures. I was the elected Project Manager for the Associated Schools of Construction Integrated Project competition team. Additionally, I was an Events Coordinator for the Leaders of the Built Environment.
B.S. Civil Engineering
2012 - 2017
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Graduated with High Honors and an International Plan degree designation. I was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers steel bridge competition team as well as a team lead for Engineers Without Borders. Additionally, I was a volunteer trip leader for rock climbing trips across the Southeast.
Research
Hybrid Physical + Digital Spaces
March 2020 - Present
Dr. Sarah Billington, Stanford University
- Conducted literature review on the influence of building environmental factors on occupant wellbeing and cognitive performance
- Analyzed test data in R for descriptive statistics and data visualization of lab studies to demonstrate influence of room environment on occupant wellbeing
- Performed reliability and variance statistical analysis on survey studies on building feature impact on occupants
Interests and Skills
Technical
- Data Analysis and Visualization: R, Power BI, Python
- Building Information Modeling: BIM 360, Revit, Dynamo, Sketchup
- Sustainability: SimaPro, EC3, OneClickLCA
Personal
- Bicycle touring and bike maintenance
- Letter writing and calligraphy
- Gardening and plant propagation
Professional Experience
Summer Associate
June 2020 - July 2020
Clark Construction, BART Union City, CA
- Developed data visualization dashboard using Power BI to track subcontractor performance
- Utilized SketchUp to develop construction site plans
- Assisted tracking materials and resources for LEED credit
- Developed Site Specific Work Plan for modular metal ceiling panels
Structural Engineer
July 2017 - August 2019
AECOM, Washington DC +
- Analyzed and modeled steel surge tanks attached to hydropower facility using Finite Element Analysis
- Provided engineering support for dam rehabilitation alternatives for Crane Lake Dam, MO by performing preliminary design calculations, initial design drawings, construction cost estimates, and a written design alternatives report
- Quality engineer in assignment for FEMA to produce 17,546,644 meals shipped through 775 truckloads to both Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands for hurricane relief
- Developed recommendations for hillside development code in cooperation with FEMA to aid in supporting building code development in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Office Engineer
July 2018 - February 2019
AECOM, Mosul Dam, Iraq
- Calculated grouting pressures to be used for a grout curtain underneath dam foundation
- Managed small team of local subcontractors in scanning and electronic indexing of historic design and as-built drawings
- Performed Quality Control of grout mix design and batch tests
- Developed and executed a training program to integrate Office Engineers from the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources into supporting the field and technical staff of the dam
Community Researcher Intern
January 2015 - May 2015
Focused Community Strategies, Atlanta, GA
- Collaborated with community and economic developers in underserved neighborhoods of South Atlanta
- Conducted operations and logistics in support of establishing a local market in a food desert
- Analyzed and collected data on social capital using a Flourishing Neighborhood Index
