After completing his degree in Architecture in China, Ben moved across the world to Knoxville, the hometown of his wife Jessie. Joining the DIA team in 2021, he is quickly adapting to life here as he learns to think in feet and inches. Participating in projects ranging from adaptive reuse and coffee shops to a massive industrial plant, Ben is eagerly getting familiar with the field as he works towards getting licensed. During his undergraduate, Ben developed an interest in parametric tools, becoming a resource person for his fellow classmates and coming third in a local parametric bridge design contest. Now he aims to explore more of their potential and find ways to integrate their use into the office’s creative workflow.

Outside of the office, Ben enjoys baking, board games, travel, dabbling in several creative hobbies, and learning foreign languages. Born in New Zealand, childhood in Jordan, high school in Norway, and college in China, Ben is excited to add Knoxville to his list of places to call home, but has a hard time answering the question “where are you from?”