NIST - Design-Build: Keeping an Open Mind

Andy is a federal employee with over 34 years of construction management experience.  He began his career with the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Staff Resident Engineer and has worked on projects in Milwaukee, WI; White River Junction, VT; Detroit, MI; West Haven, CT; and culminating in his role as Senior Resident Engineer in Pittsburgh, PA.  In 2001 he moved into a management role at VA Central Office in Washington, DC as a Project Manager and eventual Acting Director of the Western Project Team.  In 2006 Andy accepted a position as Construction Manager with the Department of Homeland Security at Fort Detrick, MD and was the sole on-site representative for a major laboratory construction project.  In 2009 VA selected him as the Director of Construction and Facilities Management’s (CFM) Eastern Regional Office.  The Regional Office manages all VA major project design and construction contracts within the eastern United States (VISNs 1-9).  In February 2020, Andy assumed responsibilities as Acting Associate Executive Director, Operations with responsibility for all VA major construction efforts across the United States and its territories.  Andy accepted the position of Associate Director, Design and Construction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology in August 2020.  Andy is certified as a DBIA Associate, a Certified Construction Manager, a Facility Management Professional, and a member of the Construction Managers Association of America, Society of American Military Engineers, and The Design Build Institute of America.  He served 30 years in the U.S. Army Reserves culminating in brigade command and division level staff positions.   

Andy has three adult children and resides with his wife in Adamstown, MD.   

A registered architect and historic preservation professional, Phil Neuberg serves as the Federal Preservation Officer for the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) within the NIST Office of Facilities & Property Management, with primary responsibility for shaping NIST’s Cultural Resources program nationwide, at the four primary campus locations in Gaithersburg, MD; Boulder and Ft. Collins, CO: as well as at Kekaha on the island of Kauai, HI.  

Phil has decades of experience in the planning, design, construction phases of historic preservation projects both at NIST and at the NIH where he also served as the Federal Preservation Officer and the Chief of the Facilities Programming and Planning Branch. Elected to the AIA College of Fellows in 2017,

He is a member of the AIA Public Architecture Knowledge Community, and past chair of the AIA DC Chapter’s Public Architects Committee.

Prior professional experience includes roles as Historical Architect for the Utah SHPO, Senior Architect and Planner at Yale University, and historic preservation consultant to various federal agencies including FEMA, USPS and DoD.

Robert “Dan” Elliott is a husband, father of two, decorated veteran of two foreign wars, and the Senior Program Manager of the Facilities Modernization Group for NIST. Dan has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Technology from Old Dominion University, Master of Science in Engineering Management from University of Missouri, Rolla, and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University. Dan’s achieved the Gold Order of the Germany Army Forces Efficiency Badge, U.S. Army Parachutist Badge, U.S. Army Air Assault Badge,  and awarded the Army Engineer’s Association Bronze Order of the de Fluery Medal. Dan has 21 years as a project and construction manager serving the Department of Commerce, Architect of the Capitol, NASA, Dupont, Westinghouse, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Dan’s $1.5 billion in project experience include NIST B245 Radiologic Physics Lab, AOC Cannon House Office Building Renewal, USACE Shallow Land Disposal FUSRAP Project, USACE University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq, and many other international and domestic projects.

Ben Bullock is a federal employee with over 10 years of project management experience. Ben began his career as a Mechanical Engineer working on HVAC and plumbing design with a consulting firm in the Denver, CO area. From there, Ben decided to switch industries and accepted a Mechanical Project Engineer position with a local aircraft manufacturer. Ben was responsible for designing solutions and managing flight testing activities required for the FAA certification of a new business class jet aircraft. Due to a set of unfortunate events, funding was pulled from the jet certification project which forced Ben to pivot career paths into the oil and gas industry. Ben accepted a position with a local O&G company as a Project Engineer responsible for managing projects related to natural gas processing sites and equipment. 

Ben then joined the federal government in 2009 with the US mint as Mechanical Engineer where he led multiple projects related to coin manufacturing, facility infrastructure, etc. Ben accepted a promotion with the Department of State in 2013 to oversee completion of a DB project constructing the department’s flagship data center. After project completion he remained at the facility and wore multiple hats. Ben ultimately assumed the role of facility manager and initiated/managed multiple projects correcting a multitude of issues left over from the construction project. After a number of years Ben joined NIST in 2021 as a General Engineer. Ben’s primary role is Mechanical Engineering support in the Facilities Modernization Group, a group within the Design and Construction Division responsible for large construction projects on the Boulder, CO campus. Ben is heavily involved with the Building 1 Renovation project which led him to contribute to NIST’s 2022 DBIA Federal Symposium presentation.