Pat Westerlund

The junior high school aptitude tests that many young students take was spot on for Patrick—it identified architecture as a strong career choice. Patrick heeded the advice and never looked back. “All along the way, I have been accumulating a broad understanding of the importance each design discipline plays in a project,” he notes. “I bring a unique perspective to project management, knowing all the different parameters that influence a complete integrated design solution.” His experience began early with a year in Vienna, Austria—first as a foreign exchange graduate student at the Vienna University of Technology and then working for a Viennese architect whose office was in a 400-year-old mill. The most gratifying part of the time abroad, he says, was “the overall experience of seeing the world beyond my hometown.” Maybe the Austrian Alps made an impression, too. Patrick loves to downhill ski and spend time in the mountains with his family. “My favorite things to observe are in nature,” he says. “Looking out across a grassy prairie at the Grand Tetons is a magical experience.”