Building for the Future: Ascent Milwaukee

The Business and Professional Coalition is thrilled to announce its 2023-24 luncheon series at Carthage College. Our luncheons this year will lean into crucial questions about smart and sustainable urban economic development. Our first event will be held on Thursday, October 5, 2023, “Building for the Future: Ascent Milwaukee.”

Guest speaker, Jordan Komp, is the Associate Principal and Milwaukee Office Director of Thornton Tomasetti, a world-renowned structural design, engineering, and materials analysis firm that is responsible for 6 of the world’s 15 tallest buildings, among other innovative and technologically advanced projects across 5 continents. As Project Manager and Mass Timber Special Inspector for Ascent Milwaukee, currently the world’s tallest mass timber frame structure, Komp was responsible for overseeing the procurement and safe erection of the building’s signature material, cross-laminated timber slabs, beams, and columns. He was also responsible for supervising the extensive fire-testing and engineering analysis utilized to prove that the timber structure would exceed code required fire ratings.

Joining Komp for a fireside chat style presentation will be Carthage professor of engineering, Kathryn Hasz, a materials scientist who studies nanoscale surface forces and friction. They will discuss the engineering challenges of the Ascent project, and the future of sustainable materials in urban design and development.