Professor Jon Davey PhD, AIA, and  Assistant Professor Shannon Sanders McDonald AIA completed an eight day design charrette providing design assistance and consultation to families who lost their homes or were partially destroyed during the recent tornado that struck Harrisburg Illinois.  With the approval of the Mayor Eric Gregg faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students and March Alumni set up an atelier (studio) in the Harrisburg Public Library.  A total of two faculty, nine students and one alumnus provided design assistance to over 23 families completing 20 new home designs and 3 structural consultations.  The Design Atelier (studio) was structured as a typical office with each student taking on one or more projects, interviewing the families and designing their new homes.   

Shannon Sanders McDonald, an assistant architecture professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale has authored a chapter in the Encyclopedia of Sustainability, Science and Technology edited by Robert A Meyers titled: Personal Rapid Transit and its Development.  It is a peer-reviewed coverage of sustainability science and technology from nearly 1,000 of the world’s leading scientists and engineers, who write on more than 600 separate topics in 42 sections. ESST establishes a foundation for the many sustainability and policy evaluations being performed in institutions worldwide. 

Assistant Professor Norm Lach AIA, Professor Jon Davey PhD, AIA, Assistant Professor Shannon Sanders McDonald AIA and two students participated in the AIA Leadership Institute this summer in Chicago, Il.  This bi-annual leadership workshop assists individuals with formalizing and developing broad visions for our profession and communities. 

Assistant Professor Norm Lach AIA, FALA Director of the Architectural Studies Program completed a one year term as Chairman of the Illinois Architectural Licensing Board and is also serving on the Illinois AIA Board of Directors.