buildingSMART Fellowship
buildingSMART recognizes volunteers and professional contributors who have faithfully served buildingSMART’s operations for many years with the honorary status of buildingSMART Fellows. These individuals have made significant contributions to the work of buildingSMART and the advancement of BIM.
buildingSMART Fellows have contributed substantial leadership or technical input at an international level, working on international programs or standards or with more than one chapter. Fellows are awarded the status at select buildingSMART summits and presented with a gold pin.
“Our Fellows come from very varied backgrounds and have willingly contributed their time and experience to make buildingSMART the thriving and influential organisation it is today,” said Patrick MacLeamy “In making these awards, we acknowledge our debt of gratitude.”
2023 buildingSMART Fellows Awards
Juha Hyvärinen was a key contributor and technical leader of the IFC Bridge fast track project that resulted in IFC4.2. He also contributed to bSI technical reports that laid the pathway for the extension of IFC for infrastructure. Juha’s background as a structural engineer, and his quiet diligence, collecting and sorting through important input from various stakeholders was a key to the successful creation of the IFC Bridge project.
Tarmo Savolainen is a leader at the Asset owner company, Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. He has been involved with the Infrastructure and Railway Domains for many years, providing funding for projects and direction of the requirements roadmap on the Steering Committee. He actively supports open BIM development and sees that it is applied in the real programs in his asset portfolio. Tarmo plays an important role through leading by example and with a positive attitude that encourages collaboration. The work he has done has been important in the implementation of bSI’s most recent success, the publication of IFC 4.3
Charles Eastman (posthumous) was active with buildingSMART when it was still a volunteer-led organization, at a time when it was just starting to make an impact in the industry and he was one of the champions who led the openBIM initiatives. He also had a track record of international followings and contributions in Finland, South Korea and Israel, amongst others. Charles worked with his global partners, and his students, to promote the research and development of openBIM with AISC, AIC, and GSA. Many, currently active buildingSMART experts and contributors, were Chuck’s students and collaborators in past years.
Lars Fredenlund has been instrumental in driving the bSDD agenda with the buildingSMART Community for many years. He has been and continues to be a strong advocate for the building product sector to adopt digitalisation. In particular he has been a strong voice for a digital construction industry based on openBIM standards. Lars has also reinforced the links between bSI and other partner organisations, such as GS1 to strengthen the quality of the joint ouputs. As founder and CEO of CoBuilder, he has been very generous by making many of his team available for probono work within the bSI programs for a long time.
Anna Moreno has been promoting the benefits of openBIM in Italy for many years and more recently as the leader of the freshly formed Italian Chapter of buildingSMART. During a long career in the National Agency for New Technology, Anna was proactive in setting up companies to deliver BIM into the market. One of these, IBIMI was successful in being selected as the host of the modern Italian Chapter, and Engisis played a crucial role in the development of the railway aspects of IFC 4.3 creation. She is the initiator and leader of a joint European effort of Chapters, to coordinate dialogue with EU legislators. Leading to the establishment of European openBIM Forum (EOF).
Rob Roef has been active at buildingSMART for fifteen years and is known by all the community for his enthusiasm and broad participation. As one of the community ‘characters’ he actively promotes the openBIM processes in all he does. A civil engineer by qualification, he now uses the moniker of BIM Captain, and acknowledges that he is a ‘Connector’ – the one that brings people together. He has been successful in bringing several new members to buildingSMART and hosted one of the first of the modern era Summits, in Rotterdam in 2016.
Greg Schleusner has been a great advocate of the effort to get end-users and software implementers closer together. Greg who works for HOK, knows the demands of architecture companies and he also has a deep technical understanding, so he is exceptional at building a bridge between purely software-technical and end-user people. Gradually he became deeper involved into the technical work of bSI and made many valuable contributions. The most significant of which is the current vision for IFC 5.
Bjørn Stangeland was the first CEO of buildingSMART many years ago, and was active in the former Implementors Support Group for over 20 years. He is an enthusiastic supporter of openBIM initiatives, including the IFC 2x3 certification, IFC design coordination and IFC 4 product library proposal. Bjorn put forward the first proposal for a standardised API which in turn led to BCF, Foundation and Document APIs. He was central in getting some of the MEP enhancements in IFC during late 2000. He has been around "forever" and contributing to technical as well as political discussions and strategies, moving the standards and organization forward.
Angel Velez has been an active participant in the Implementors Support Group since 2004 and has always been an insightful and constructive voice. As one of the original Revit development team (even before the acquisition by Autodesk) he was the man behind Revit’s IFC Support. He still participates on the Technical Domain Steering Committee and the Standards Committee Technical Executive.
Lai Wei has been Secretary General of buildingSMART China for nearly 12 years. He is also the Convenor of ISO TC 10/SC 08/WG 18. Of course this is in addition to his professional role at China Institute of Building Standard Design and Research. He is very influential and has coordinated the engagement of many large Chinese companies to buildingSMART International. This has contributed to the success of Railway and Ports digitalisation which ultimately led to the creation of buildingSMART’s most significant output for some time, IFC 4.3
Sergio Muñoz is a prominent figure in the buildingSMART Spain community, is being honoured with a Fellows Award for his exceptional contributions to the advancement of openBIM and the digital transformation of the AEC sector in Spain. Sergio's involvement in buildingSMART dates back to 2006, and following the formation of buildingSMART Spain in 2012, Sergio has led the Chapter ever since. Sergio cites "cooperation" as his vision for the whole community, and promotes the idea the community should have an open mind to openBIM!
2022 buildingSMART Fellows Awards
Karin Anderson served as a member of the buildingSMART International Board of Directors between 2017-2022, contributing her project management expertise to extend the IFC format to include linear infrastructure like Roads, Rail, Ports & Waterways, and Bridges.
Mark Baldwin led the development of buildingSMART's international Program for Professional Certification in openBIM and actively promotes openBIM processes through various events, supporting program growth. He also serves as the buildingSMART International liaison to the European Committee for Standardization, CENT/TC 442 Building Information Modelling. Additionally, Mark authored "The BIM Manager", a bestseller in construction management, particularly in its German version.
Håvard Bell was involved with the former Model Support Group (MSG) from 2005 to 2014. In 2009, he co-founded Catenda in Norway which created Bimsync, providing essential support in the buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) journey, serving as the technical lead from 2006 to 2015 and contributing to the development of the IFC standard in relation to the buildingSMART Data Dictionary.
Calvin Kam has advised the US General Services Administration and played a crucial role in promoting IFC deliverables in public buildings. Calvin facilitated collaboration between Statsbygg, GSA, and the Finnish building authority to promote IFC adoption. He contributed to establishing the Hong Kong Chapter and supported the UAE and Singapore Chapters.
Masaki Muto has been involved in the Regulatory Domain since its inception, focusing on monitoring openBIM and regulatory developments in Japan, particularly MILT (Ministry of Infrastructure, Land, and Transport) initiatives. Masaki's stepwise approach introduced in the first report on e-Permitting for the Regulatory Domain report forms the foundation of the Regulatory Domain's roadmap and has influenced the global progression of automated regulatory compliance checking.
Bill Moore served as a board member and treasurer for buildingSMART International from 2016 to 2022. Since 2015, he has been a founding board member of buildingSMART Canada, holding positions as Chair and President. Bill successfully encouraged various stakeholders including municipalities and provincial and federal organizations to embrace openBIM and open standards development as essential elements of their future strategies, expanding buildingSMART Canada's reach and impact.
Jeffrey Ouellette has held various roles at buildingSMART, both internationally and within Chapters, and led the Implementors Support Group for an extended period. Jeffrey serves as an ambassador for buildingSMART International, representing the organization to other entities such as the American Institute of Architects and the Illuminating Engineering Society.
Pasi Paasiala is a founding partner of Solibri and played a key role as the leading developer in the company. Solibri, which is built entirely on IFC, was also responsible for creating the initial version of the BCF (BIM Collaboration Format). Although the development of BCF was later taken up by bSI, Pasi has remained an active and supportive member of buildingSMART International. He currently contributes to the IFC 5 working group, continuing his significant technical leadership contributions to bSI's objectives.
(Posthumous Fellow) Richard Petrie joined buildingSMART International in 2013 as Chief Executive, aiming to establish a professional non-profit organization for the digital transformation of the built asset industry. Despite resource constraints, he fervently pursued efficiency and collaboration, advocating for the benefits of digital practices. Under his leadership, the AEC and asset owner communities effectively collaborated, creating major international standards for the future of building and infrastructure. Richard's impactful keynotes emphasized waste reduction, increased productivity, and sustainability. His tenure brought significant income growth and expanded the community following from a few dozen to over thirty thousand, leaving a lasting impression on buildingSMART International.
Steen Sunesen was the first CEO of the Norwegian Chapter of buildingSMART, laying the groundwork for the significant impact of buildingSMART standards on the industry today. IFC and BCF have become essential in major architect, engineering, and contractor firms, as well as in various projects across Norway. Steen spearheads initiatives concerning BIM standard requirements to harmonize BIM requirements among Norwegian governmental building commissioners, property managers, and developers in the construction, rail, and infrastructure sectors.
David Watson played a vital role as a founding board member of buildingSMART Canada and served on the Product Domain steering committee and technical committee at buildingSMART International. He was instrumental in developing the original buildingSMART Data Dictionary. David has been engaged with ISO TC 59 SC13 since 1999 and has been involved with buildingSMART International since 2006, during the development of the IFC standard.
2021 buildingSMART Fellows Awards
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement of new fellowship awards for the year 2021.
2020 buildingSMART Fellows Awards
Frédéric Grand has been engaged with buildingSMART since 2003, has been an active member of the Product Room since its creation and is now a member of its Steering Committee. He is a co-author of the French PPBIM standard and this year he joined buildingSMART France as its full time Technical Director. Frédéric is strongly convinced that openBIM needs the bSDD to achieve full operability in the open asset industry.
Leif Granholm is the Senior Vice President for Trimble Solutions in Finland and his engagement with the community dates back to 2004. He is promoting and advocating the application of open standards both within Trimble and in the general market. Leif says his mission is to advance the use of open standards in BIM and Geospatial, and his vision is to shift the focus from data creation to data consumption. He is a member of the buildingSMART Standards Committee.
Jim Plume has been associated with the Australian chapter since the late 1990’s, working on the chapter board and contributing to many initiatives to the present day. He attached himself to the Infrastructure Room Steering Committee in 2013 leading to his re-election two years ago, and is co-leader of the bSI IFC Infrastructure Extension deployment project. Jim believes that the principles that have driven the adoption of BIM across the building design and consulting sectors can be applied to the broader urban context.
Tiina Perttula’s engagement with buildingSMART was born out of the Stockholm Summit and she was elected to the Infrastructure Room Steering Committee in 2016, where she has also been Chairwoman for the last two years. Her leadership has been crucial to the recent successes of the room and no doubt will be for their future development plans. Tiina has been a member of the buildingSMART Nordic Steering Committee since 2014, actively involved on a National level with all the activities and a lot of different pilot projects.
Deke Smith was the Executive Director of the US chapter from 2007-2015 and in fact started buildingSMART USA under a different name back in 1992. He has been an Awards Juror for the past 6 years and is leading a group which uses evidence gathered from the Awards submissions to develop analytical case studies. Deke is currently chairing a committee developing classifications schema for openBIM use cases and they look forward to their results next year.
Birgitta Schock is Chairwoman of buildingSMART Switzerland and has steered the chapter to its strength today. She jointly prepared the activity proposal to initiate a working group for openBIM establishment of DFMA by way of her membership on the Steering Committee for the Airport Room. Birgitta holds to this day several strategic positions and is also a member of the International Council. Her ability to connect influential people together in order to drive a stronger movement to deliver a better built asset industry is widely acknowledged.
2019 buildingSMART Fellows Awards
Christophe Castaing has been the initiator and the chair of the Infrastructure Room since its inception and is still active in the room. With his industry connection, the business perspective of standardization and lifecycle has been guiding his work. He was highly instrumental in the involvement of major contributors worldwide in the Infrastructure and Rail domains. He is a member of the buildingSMART France chapter.
Birgitta Foster is a member of the Standards Committee Executive and has served for many years in the Product Room. Her work supporting the buildingSMART Data Dictionary and in recent years, the bSI Awards programs have proved invaluable. She is a member of the buildingSMART United States chapter.
Nick Nisbet is a long-serving buildingSMART contributor in a wide-range of activities both for buildingSMART International and the UK chapter organization. These include technical service in Model Support Group for IFC development, COBie development, and projects at National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). Nick is always active in different implementation and demonstration projects in the built industry. He is a member of the buildingSMART UK and Ireland chapter.
Øivind Rooth has represented the public sector, and been a frequent guest speaker at chapter's industry days. He is the Regulatory Room founder and is active in liaison with ISO and OGC. He has been active in the evolution of bSI to what it is today. Øivind has supported bSI with funding through the Norwegian building authorities, and delivered Norwegian Government support to ISO and CEN. He is a member of the buildingSMART Norway chapter.
Jøns Sjøgren has a long tenure in bSI leadership and has been instrumental in developing links to ISO. He has also been a user champion and promotor of new approaches in bSI’s work. In his work in Norway representing the construction industry, he has promoted bSI standards for many years. He is a member of the buildingSMART Norway chapter.
Susan Keenliside played a key role in the of the bSI Award program. She has been highly active in the organization and growth in participation of the International Awards and is a strong proponent for BIM education. She is a member of the buildingSMART Canada chapter.
Tomi Henttinen has served for many years on the International Technical Management Committee and supported the Regulatory Room. He is active in openBIM implementations in Finland, and remains an important force in buildingSMART Nordic development and operation. Tomi has been also active in the development of central Europe Chapters. He is a member of the buildingSMART Nordic chapter.
Roger Grant has long been involved and in leading the development of the buildingSMART Data Dictionaries, classification systems and object libraries. He continues to be a vigorous and committed leader of the Product Room. He is a member of the buildingSMART United States chapter.
Inhan Kim is a long-term representative on the International Technical Management Committee has been a leader and contributor to the Regulatory Room since it’s inception. He is an ongoing supporter of openBIM and BIM education in Korea. He is a member of the buildingSMART Korea chapter.
2018 buildingSMART Fellows Awards
This distinguished fellowship includes the following members:
Yoshinobu Adachi has participated in buildingSMART activities since 1998. He was a member of the Model Support Group, contributing to the development of the IFC specification. He was a member of the International Technical Management Committee (ITM), now the Technical Room, and is a member of the Standards Committee. He is a member of the buildingSMART Japan chapter.
Kjell Ivar Bakkmoen, SE Norway Regional Health Authority, was co-founder of buildingSMART Nordic and later of buildingSMART Norway. He is a member of the Standards Executive Committee and of the buildingSMART Management Executive.
Francois Grobler brought his technical expertise to the service of buildingSMART and unified the technical team during a challenging era. He served as chair of the International Technical Management Committee (ITM), now the Technical Room, and was the US chapter representative on the International Council. He was also a member of the Management Executive.
Christopher Groome’s early study of what goes wrong on building projects, which found that half of all incidents were related to absent or inaccurate information, convinced him of the need for interoperability. He was co-founder of buildingSMART UK in 1996 and was the UK delegate at the meeting in London the same year which set up the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI, now buildingSMART International).
Reijo Hänninen was founder of buildingSMART Nordic chapter. Mr. Hänninen was managing director of Grandlund Oy in Finland during 1990–2012.
Ian Howell convened the first meeting of forward-looking companies to discuss the need for interoperability back in 1995, as a director of Autodesk. In 1996 (by then vice president of Citadon), he was a founding member of IAI (which became buildingSMART), and served on the board of the North American chapter for the next ten years.
Rudolf Juli was the German delegate to the 1996 meeting in London which established IAI (buildingSMART). He was co-founder of buildingSMART Germany in the same year and remained its chair for sixteen years. He was formerly the German chapter’s representative on the International Council.
Jan Karlshøj has had long involvement with buildingSMART and is chair of the Nordic chapter. He was pivotal in transforming the International Technical Management Committee (ITM), now the Technical Room, which he chaired. He was also chair of the Building Room from its launch in 2012 until 2016. He was instrumental in the creation of the buildingSMART Awards and acted as its chair in its initial years.
Arto Kiviniemi was present at the 1996 London meeting establishing IAI (buildingSMART), as the Nordic delegate, and was IAI’s first permanent chairman. He has been active in disseminating the work of buildingSMART through his academic positions. He was co-founder of buildingSMART Nordic.
Thomas Liebich is a long-serving member of the bSI community and of buildingSMART Germany. He was co-developer of the IFC model and is the technical lynchpin of the buildingSMART software certification program. He has led the Model Support Group since its inception.
Alain Maury was the French delegate at the 1996 meeting in London which established IAI (buildingSMART). He co-founded buildingSMART France in 1996 and is the representative of the French chapter on the International Council and a member of the Management Executive.
Patrick MacLeamy, former CEO of HOK, is known for his commitment to change in the AEC industry and his active role in spreading his message. He was the first chair of the US chapter and serves as chair of bSI. At the request of the bSI Fellows, Patrick MacLeamy was also awarded a Fellowship in recognition of his long service – and infectious commitment – to bSI.
John Mitchell was co-founder of buildingSMART Australasia and served as its first chair. He has worked on numerous buildingSMART committees. He helped disseminate the benefits of interoperability to an influential audience in the early days when he acted as master of ceremonies in the ‘Seeing is Believing’ collaboration demonstration in Oslo in 2005.
Rasso Steinmann has served in multiple roles within buildingSMART. He has served as chair of the Implementation Support Group for 20+ years and has managed the software certification program since its inception. He is now chair of the German chapter and a bSI Board member. He also sits on the Management Executive.
Cheng Tai Fatt was the Singapore delegate at the 1996 meeting in London which established IAI (buildingSMART). He was co-founder of the buildingSMART Singapore chapter. He has also served on the International Technical Management Committee (ITM), now the Technical Room. He helped develop the Singapore CORENET e-Submission system, an early use of interoperability in planning permission.
Väino Tarandi has been an active member of buildingSMART for over twenty years, serving on many of its committees. He was co-founder of buildingSMART Nordic. He is a board member of buildingSMART Nordic and sits on ISO’s Technical Committee 184/SC4.
Mikio Shoji attended the 1996 meeting in London which established IAI (buildingSMART) as the delegate representing Japan. He was co-founder of buildingSMART Japan in 1996 and served as its first chairman. He was formerly the representative of the Japanese chapter on the International Council.
Jeff Wix was posthumously awarded the buildingSMART fellowship. He played a pivotal role as co-developer of the IFC data model, having built enthusiasm in the industry for the concept of interoperability. His vision for the Information Delivery Manual informed the standard that was developed following his untimely death in 2009. He was a member of the Model Support Group and gave long-term service to bSI, while acting as technical coordinator to his home chapter, buildingSMART UK.