New York, January 11, 2008 - Wilfried Laufs, Ph.D. has joined Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. as vice president, bringing experience in the engineering of innovative special structures and structural glass design of buildings in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. He will be based in New York.

Laufs, formerly executive vice president at Werner Sobek Engineering & Design, is recognized for his research in glass and building envelope engineering, and for his designs, including the double curtain wall façade for the redevelopment of the BBC Broadcast House in London, the New Bangkok International Airport, and the LG Electronics Research Headquarters in Seoul.

He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen papers (in English, German and French) covering the engineering of structural glass and the physical properties of glass. He is an adjunct assistant professor in the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department at Columbia University in New York, teaching graduate level courses in building systems and inelastic properties of structural material.

"Will brings a tremendous talent in design of structural glass, façades, membranes and textile roofs," said Tom Scarangello, P.E., managing principal of Thornton Tomasetti. "He is an excellent complement to our curtain wall and façade groups, helping our clients achieve their vision for transparency, efficiency and constructability."

Laufs holds a bachelor's degree in architecture, and master's and doctoral degrees in civil engineering, all from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany.

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides building engineering services to clients worldwide on projects of all sizes and complexity. From the tallest buildings and the longest spans, to innovative building systems and materials, the firm is committed to creating the best solutions through its technical ingenuity, pursuit of excellence, and responsiveness to client needs.

Founded in 1956 as Lev Zetlin & Associates, today Thornton Tomasetti is a 600-person organization of engineers and architects, collaborating from offices across the United States and in Hong Kong, London, Moscow, and Shanghai. Services cover structural design, building evaluation, and remediation to optimize building efficiency and performance. Thornton Tomasetti mobilizes rapidly to provide disaster response investigations, and deliver expert consulting services and testimony for legal and insurance purposes.

Contact
Great Ink Communications - 212-741-2977
Roxanne Donovan/Eric Gerard/Deborah Geiger

Thornton Tomasetti - 917-661-7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com