Spotlight
20B April 16 - May 6, 2019
New York Real Estate Journal
Ones to Watch
Erika Reuter
Malcolm Punch
Matthew Yandoli
Jonathan Ruiz
What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment in the past 12 months? In the past 12 months, with great satisfaction, I saw the completion of my latest project: the two-building, seven-story, 241-unit, 151,000 s/f Tides North Phase I rental residential development within the Arverne By the Sea waterfront community in Queens.The overall development plan, designed by Urbahn Architects, calls for the complex to eventually feature 454 units, retail facilites, and a school. What advice can you offer to someone who is interested in a career in your industry? The advice I can offer to someone interested in the architectural industry is to value the effort they put into their work. Many people wake up each morning dreading the thought of having to go and make a living. As an architect, I look forward to coming to work, knowing that the effort I put into what I do will one day have a positive impact on the people who call this city their home. Knowing my work has the potential to cause change is what keeps me motivated to continue.
Senior Safety Consultant Total Safety
Project Manager, Interiors HOK
Mechanical Engineer/Project Manager AKF Group
Who or what do you attribute to your success? I attribute my success to my parents Richard and Ursulina Punch. They instilled in me the importance of education and hard work. I was lucky to have these two individuals as an example to model my life after. Both of my parents grew up extremely poor and through education were able to lift themselves out of poverty to realize the American dream. Their lives serve as examples that anything can be achieved with hard work and dedication. Who are some leaders that you admire and why? I admire leaders like our former President Barack Obama. Here is an individual who embodies the American Dream. He started from humble beginnings and through nothing short of hard work, dedication and shear will he was able to become the President of the U.S. Throughout his presidency he exemplified attributes such as humility, integrity and dignity no matter the situation. These foundational attributes are essential to be a good leader. We often take these attributes for granted when they are present and we agonize over our decisions when they are not.
What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment in the past 12 months? I was the project manager for the recently completed 700,000 s/f WPP Offices at 3 World Trade Center. It was the most complex project I’ve managed in my career to date. WPP, a creative transformation company, co-located 4,000 employees from its world-leading media investment company, GroupM, including six media agencies, and also Kantar, WPP’s data information firm. We’re very proud of WPP’s new vertical campus and have already won several design awards since its completion.
Who or what do you attribute to your success? I attribute a lot my success to my parents and my upbringing. They always emphasized the importance of education with the combination of diligence and integrity. My wife and I have been together for over 16 years and she has always been there for me. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Finally, I also have to thank AKF for my engineering success. Throughout the past 11 years I have learned and still continue to learn so much from their amazing staff. They have allowed me to grow in any direction I chose with continued support.
What advice can you offer to someone who is interested in a career in your industry? My advice is to keep learning and continuously invest in your professional development.After graduating from New York School of Interior Design (NYSID), I went back to pursue my MFA and have since become a registered architect along with LEEDAP and NCIDQ accreditation. The design industry is always evolving so it’s critical to keep up with technological, materials and process advances.
What advice can you offer to someone who is interested in a career in your industry? Definitely stick with it. It can feel a little overwhelming throughout college and especially afterwards when looking for the right job but this industry is very exciting and constantly offering different opportunities with so many new projects. It’s well worth all the hard work to be given the chance to be involved with some of those projects.
Florida
New York
Designer Urbahn Architects
VermoNt
All Phases of Environmental Consulting
77 ArkAy Drive, Suite D, HAuppAuge, Ny 11788
631-617-6200 | www.merrittec.com