Meet the talented designers shaping the world around us and be part of the #BostonTalks happy hour by tweeting with us! **Haril Pandya**, AIA, Principal and Director of Repositioning & Asset Strategy at CBT Architects, will discuss how buildings are adapting to meet the evolving needs of multiple generations. Ministry of Supply co-founder, **Gihan Amarasiriwardena**, will explain how he uses his background in science to create high-performance menswear for the office. And Bentley University’s Director of Master of Science in Human Factors in Information Design program. **Dr. Bill Gribbons**, will share his insights into how understanding the user experience can help companies build better products.
Dr. Gribbons is Director of the graduate user experience program, at Bentley University. The UX program at Bentley is among the largest and most respected program of this type in the country. Dr. Gribbons is the founder of the User Experience Center at the University as well as the UX Studio in Cambridge Massachusetts. As an expert on the user experience, Dr. Gribbons is frequently quoted in the media on topics related to product and service design. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Gribbons has consulted with leading companies around the world on user experience strategy and product design. Follow him on Twitter: @wgribbons
As a co-founder of Ministry of Supply, Gihan Amarasiriwardena shapes the company’s products and brand, bringing his background in science and technology to create high-performance products for the modern man. After earning his S.B. in chemical and biological engineering from MIT and completing studies with design firms in the US and UK, Gihan co-founded Ministry of Supply to bring his high-tech vision for menswear to life.
Haril A. Pandya, AIA, LEED AP, is an award-winning Principal at CBT Architects, a 48-year-old international design architectural firm headquartered in Boston. With over 21 years of professional experience in corporate office, hospitality, mixed-use and retail projects, Haril leads the firm’s rapidly expanding Building Repositioning and Asset Strategy division. His 40+ team is focused on the repositioning and rebranding of urban and suburban corporate/commercial – often historic – buildings and the public areas around them, ultimately upgrading and transforming these spaces into increasingly attractive commodities for building owners looking to retain existing tenants and attract new ones. Currently overseeing over 30 high-profile projects totaling over $180 million in the U.S. and Canada, he often tells his team that you need to think differently on every project because each property has a rich history and great story to tell. Repositioning is all about leveraging and enlivening a building’s existing features and amenities, while maintaining the essence of what makes the building unique in the first place. Haril is a published writer, regular blogger on his personal website www.harilestate.com and has made numerous public speaking appearances, including a regional TEDx Talk in Boston discussing what the future of the workplace will be like for generations to come. He is a recipient of the AIA’s Young Architects Award - the highest recognition for architects who have been licensed for 10 years or less. Haril was also named to Building Design + Construction's “40 under 40” and Banker & Tradesman’s “New Leaders” lists. He served as the youngest elected member on the Boston Society of Architects’ Board of Directors, the Boston Center for the Arts, the AIA Government Affairs Committee and the NAIOP Gavel Board Board of Directors where he worked as a thesis advisor for the Master of Interior Design program at Suffolk, and as a visiting critic at the Boston Architectural College. He received a Bachelor’s of Building Science and a Bachelor’s of Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.