2025 CFSEI EXECUTIVE BALLOT

NOMINATED CANDIDATES

Kara D. Peterman, Ph.D.

Kara is a past chair of the CFSEI Executive Committee. She is currently a member of the CFSEI Education Committee, Emerging Technologies Committee, and the Expo Planning Committee. Kara is running for a second term.

Dr. Kara Peterman is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. At UMass, Dr. Peterman investigates the sustainability and performance of our basic infrastructure focusing on resilient building design, infrastructure materials, and structural stability. Dedicated to professional service, she is a member of the AISC Committee on Sustainability, Cold Formed Steel Engineers Institute Executive Committee and Vice-Chair of the Structural Stability Research Council(SSRC). Prior to joining UMass, Dr. Peterman was a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University and received her PhD from the Johns Hopkins University.

Sanooj Edalath, P.E, S.E.

Sanooj Edalath is a principal at 360 Engineering Group PLLC in Tulsa, OK. He has more than 12 years of experience in designing cold-formed systems of varying sizes and complexities throughout the country. He leads the CFMF division at 360 Engineering. He has led hundreds of CFMF projects of varying sizes and complexities from small canopies to 9-story load bearing structures to envelope of skyscrapers. Sanooj also has experience in non-engineering aspects of CFMF design like Panelization and BIM.

Sanooj received his Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Cincinnati. He is a registered Professional Engineer in four states.

Josh Garton, P.E., S.E.

Josh is a Project Manager for McClure. He is a licensed structural engineer with 10 years of experience. His design expertise includes multi-story load-bearing cold-formed steel (CFS) structures, industrial structural steel components, non-bearing cold-formed steel systems in both panelized and stick-framed construction, and building cladding elements. Josh also has a strong background in radiused, and uniquely shaped structures framed with CFS, developing out-of-the-box solutions for challenges in 3D spaces where traditional details are not effective.

As a licensed structural engineer in 10 states, Josh oversees a team of 14 design professionals. He has also led the development of custom cold-formed steel connection design software used by McClure’s engineers. Josh has presented with the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) and through various online webinars.