Detroit’s SmithGroup Promotes 7 in Detroit, Ann Arbor Offices

Detroit-based design firm SmithGroup has promoted seven to principal at its Detroit and Ann Arbor offices.
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SmithGroup
Clockwise from top left: Jennifer Durham, Kevin Gurgel, Clare Jagenow, Kevin Piontkowski, Andrew Varilone, Stacie Thornton, Luke Renwick // Photos courtesy of SmithGroup

Detroit-based design firm SmithGroup has promoted seven to principal at its Detroit and Ann Arbor offices.

Jennifer Durham was a senior project manager and architect at the Detroit office and has more than 20 years of experience the higher-education market. She served as project manager on the recently completed Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University and is project manager on the expansion of Saginaw Valley State University’s $25-million Scott L. Carmona College of Business and Management. Durham is a member of the American Institute of Architects and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She also has master’s degrees in architecture and engineering in construction management.

Kevin Gurgel is a structural engineer at the Detroit office. He works on projects in the health-care, higher-education, and workplace markets. He recently worked on the Henry Ford Health System Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion in Detroit, which is expected to open in 2020, and a new 81,000-square-foot facility in Lyon Township for Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology LLC. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in structural engineering from the University of Illinois.

Clare Jagenow is a landscape architect in the firm’s Ann Arbor office. She has worked on the General Motors Technical Center Campus in Warren and was project manager on a renovation and addition at Michigan State University’s Breslin Student Events Center. Jagenow is a member of the Michigan chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and served as president from 2016-2018. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University.

Kevin Piontkowski joined SmithGroup in 2018 as the firm’s CFO at the Detroit office. He has more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, banking relations, financial analysis, financial reporting, mergers, acquisitions, restructures, divestitures, and more. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Wayne State University.

Luke Renwick is a talented lighting designer at the Detroit office. He led the lighting team on the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. and the restoration of the General Motors Durant-Dort Factory One in Flint. He is a member and certified lighting designer with the International Association of Lighting Designers. Renwick completed his bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

Stacie Thornton is a corporate senior human resources manager at the Detroit office. She also serves on the SmithGroup’s equity, diversity, and inclusion initiative team. She is a firmwide resource and serves as the human resources manager for the firm’s Shanghai office. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and earned her bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University before completing a master’s degree at Central Michigan University.

Andrew Varilone, an electrical engineer at the Detroit office, specializes in electrical design solutions for health-care facilities. He worked on the Henry Ford Health System Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion and the recently completed 174,000-square-foot McLaren Port Huron South Tower addition. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

SmithGroup has 13 offices in the U.S. and China.