Allan Manzano is a designer, educator, and founder of Dynamo Design Group (DDG) in San Diego. He helps startups, businesses, and organizations shape their identities through design. As an educator, he drives social change, empowers people, and mentors emerging talent.
Steve Matley has over 25 years of experience in leadership and management in multiple industries. His business management and project management experience was cultivated in real estate, land development, and construction, involving commercial, institutional, residential and public works projects. He has held positions as a General Building Contractor, a Senior Project Manager for an ENR top 50 rated agency construction management firm and Vice-President of Land Acquisition and Forward Planning for a production homebuilder. In these positions, Steve successfully planned and executed numerous projects including educational complexes, high-rises, master planned communities, production homes, custom homes, public works and infrastructure projects. He has been designated as an expert witness in real estate, development, and construction-related litigation cases.
As a business owner, Steve managed multiple companies of his own, including DCM Group Inc., a development and construction management consulting firm, which managed land acquisition, entitlement, and planning for projects valued at over a half billion dollars within an eight-year period. During this time, Steve personally managed dozens of projects, consistently performing above projected ROI expectations. He later was Owner and Principal of Building Solid Foundations, LLC, a leadership and business management advising and consulting firm. Currently, he serves as President of Coast 2 Coast Equities, Inc., a real estate investment, acquisition and development firm.
Steve is a member of the Construction Management faculty at NewSchool of Architecture & Design in San Diego, acting as Program Chair for the undergraduate and graduate degree CM programs and Associate Professor. He previously served as a professor for the Gordon and Jill Bournes School of Engineering at California Baptist University. Steve led the creation, curriculum development and WSCUC accreditation process for the Associates of Science Degree program in Construction Management at San Joaquin Valley College where he held various positions including Program Director, Division Manager and Student Dean.
Steve participates as a facilitator and speaker for educational seminars and workshops in both the construction / building industry and the general business environment. Notable presentations include expert panel facilitation for the CMAA (Construction Management Association of America), seminar and workshop presentations for the NAHB (National Association of Homebuilders) International Builders Show, and IVBCF’s Educational Speaker Series. The City of Temecula retained Steve to present the opening keynote for their inaugural Start-Up Week. In addition, he is the designated expert panel facilitator for the Business Leaders Summits, produced by BuildLeaders.org and FIRE Up Live Events produced by Finest Women in Real Estate. Steve is a certified trainer for the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and presents as an expert for audiences in the education, real estate and construction industries, speaking for business workshops, seminars, conferences and symposiums.
Certificate of Recognition, California State Assembly, Melissa Melendez, 67th District Certificate of Recognition, Optimist International District 41, Outstanding Judging, Oratorical Contest Finals Certificate of Recognition, California State Assembly, Marie Waldron, 75th District District Champion, Toastmasters District 12 Speech Evaluation Contest Most Outstanding Employee Award, Gafcon, Inc. Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG) – Toastmasters International Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) – NAHB/HBI University of Housing Certified Green Professional (CGP) – NAHB/HBI University of Housing\ Certified Trainer – NAHB/HBI University of Housing Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) – Toastmasters International Licensed General Contractor (B-inactive), State of California, CSLB
Professional Member, National Speakers Association Member, NSA-GLAC (National Speakers Association – Greater Los Angeles Chapter) Gold Level Member, Fire-Up Connect Professional Resources Member, CMAA (Construction Management Association of America), San Diego Chapter, San Diego, CA Officer/Member, Rock Toastmasters Club, San Diego, CA Member, BNI Temecula 1 Chapter, Temecula, CA Officer/Charter Member, Toastmasters Professional Speakers, Advanced Club, Murrieta, CA Bootstrappers, Entrepreneurs Mastermind & Networking Group, San Diego, CA President, IVBCF (Inland Valley Business and Community Foundation), Temecula, CA Board Member, BIA (Building Industry Association) – Baldy View Chapter, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, CA Member, BIA-SC (Building Industry Association of Southern California), Irvine, CA Member, NAHB (National Association of Homebuilders), Washington DC Affiliate Member, SRCAR (South Riverside County Association of Realtors), Murrieta, CA Club Advisor, Helper/Speaker, Student Venture, Vista Murrieta HS, Murrieta President / VP Membership, Toastmasters #7917, Temecula (Toast of the Valley) Area Committee Member, Young Life, Temecula Founding Board Member, Anza Valley Building Association, Anza, CA Leadership Council/Moderator, CBMC Forums, San Diego, CA Founding Member, Building Foundations, San Diego, CA Founding Member / Facilitator, Leadership Forums Professional Mastermind Professional Member, ICBO (International Conference of Building Officials – now ICC), Whittier, CA
Biography
Bruce Matthes is an Associate Professor and Head of Integrative Studies at NewSchool of Architecture and design where he has been teaching and designing interdisciplinary courses since 2009. He holds a M.A. English from California State University, Chico where he taught literature courses from 2003-2005. He also completed his CA single subject teaching credential at National University in 1999. He is the co-author of two texts, including Evidence Based Design, published by Pearson/Prentice Hall in 2011. In 2012, he was awarded Faculty of the Year.
Matthes has presented at numerous academic conferences including WASC ARC 2018 where he spoke about his pedagogical approach: Integrative Studies: Establishing Realms of Study and Lenses of Understanding across Disciplines and at the 55th Annual Conference for the Association for General Education and Liberal Studies (AGLS) where he shared his expertise on how to engage international students in Myth of the City: A Diversity-Oriented Pedagogical Approach to uniting International Students and Faculty. Most recently, Matthes was invited on honorarium to read a chapter of his debut novel, Sanctuary, at the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) event Around the Campfire: A Spoken Word Gathering of Scribes and Storytellers held on February 4th, 2022.
Pedagogical Statement: Matthes believes that education is a concerted effort of both student and instructor to commit to lifelong learning. This is evident in the integrative model that he co-designed and continues to evolve at NewSchool of Architecture and Design. It is a pedagogical focus that stems from the belief that while the world may be getting smaller (metaphorically) its interconnectedness of regions, of peoples and cultures, is expanding. Therefore, the response to such change must be larger and it should move beyond an investigation into commerce (a model representative of many traditional curriculums) and instead, turn toward a rediscovery of the foundational human qualities that either link or divide us. Matthes uses the Integrative Studies diagram as a model to demonstrate how we may connect the disciplines of scientific and humanistic inquiry. It is an approach that he believes will lead to more innovative design solutions and one that was originally modeled in the text Evidence Based Design.
Steve Merritt is a licensed Structural Engineer and Project Manager at KPFF Consulting Engineers in San Diego. He has 15 years of design experience collaborating with architects, engineers, stakeholders, and builders. Steve attended UCSD for his undergraduate and graduate studies in Structural Engineering and has since been involved in notable high rise, university, industrial, and bridge projects.
Steve’s career has been complemented with an ongoing interest in academic mentoring and lecturing at UCSD, New School of Architecture, Woodbury University, and the ACE high school program. He has also been a guest professor for courses at UCSD and SDSU.
Outside of the United States, Steve has been a leader in post-disaster and development efforts in countries including Haiti and Sierra Leone. He also lived in Melbourne, Australia where he was part of the bridge construction team on a $1 billion Integrated Project Delivery freeway project.
Marleen has over 20 years in the architecture and interior design industry with a focus on healthcare interior design.
Rich Mitchell joined Mackenzie as a project architect in 1989. He believes project success is rooted in collaboration and an integrated approach wherein all disciplines work in concert to achieve creative, efficient design solutions. As an early adopter of sustainability rating systems, he is a certified Green Globes Assessor from the Green Building Initiative and has led workshops to educate and mentor professionals towards accreditation. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Green Building Initiative from 2017-2018 and continues his volunteer executive board service as Immediate Past Chair. Rich is also active in community outreach and public speaking on the merits of equitable, diverse, inclusive, and sustainable design at colleges and universities around the country, including several at NewSchool of Architecture and Design.
Originally trained as an architect, Dario Miticocchio likes to call himself a “Design Nomad”, always exploring new facets of the discipline, and has exercised this peculiar angle on design by working in many different professional environments. The restless curiosity that has fueled this journey has taken him across projects that involved architecture, apparel, interiors, services, products, and graphics, with incursions into marketing and ethnographies. He learned the ropes of creating remarkable designs from masters like Makio Hasuike, Stefano GIovannoni, and Guido Venturini, and has continued to deliver iconic and award-winning designs in the very different environment of Corporate America.
He joined NewSchool because the stimulating academic environment is perfect to keep his pursuit going, and is excited about helping establish the new design programs. To make sure he doesn’t lose touch with the professional world he stays engaged in real life projects as a consultant.
About Thomas
Tom Mulica is an award winning licensed architect with diverse experience throughout the country including WA, TX, CA, KY and NM. He believes the built world can and should provide joy and nurture that which makes us human. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington and a BA in Art History from Emory University. His desire to pursue architecture stems from his Peace Corps service in Zimbabwe where he realized the power of the built world to affect positive change on daily life. He has been active in both Habitat for Humanity and Architects without Borders- Seattle where he lead an interdisciplinary team to rethink the planning of the Rabour Village Project, Kenya and to design their vocational training center. As principal and owner of Story Architecture and Design, his design passion lies at the interface between architectural history, contemporary living and the craft of construction.
Education
Master of Architecture, University of Washington
Bachelor of Arts – Art History，Emory University
Professional Experience:
Principal/Owner – Story Architecture and Design, Inc. – 2016-Present
Licenses/Registration: Licensed Architect, State of California
Selected Publications and Recent Research:
“Craft, Community and Connections” presented at:
The Path to Sustainable Development: Sustainable Ocean Education, Management, and Green Energy Cities National Museum of Marine Science & Technology - Keelung, Taiwan. 2024
“Design Teaching: Project Based Learning in Studio”; part of a week-long seminar presented to Department of Architecture at University of Inner Mongolia, 2023
Education
MBA, University of Arizona Global Campus
Master of Arts, Teaching and Learning with Technology, University of Arizona Global Campus
Bachelor of General Studies, Liberal Studies, Georgia College & State University
About
Allen brings almost 20 years of experience working in higher education, mostly in the Registrar’s Office. He began working as an enrollment advisor in 2016 for Ashford University and transferred to the Registrar’s Office in 2007. In 2011, he took on the role of managing the Registrar’s Office for online students at the University of the Rockies and has been the registrar at NewSchool since 2015. He was awarded a Global Product Services Award for Contribution to Student Success in 2017.
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