Brett McElhaney, MBA, MS, P.E., S.E. is a visionary structural engineer and member of the Cherokee Nation whose first career was spent working in psychology. Brett’s unique blend of structural engineering expertise, sensitivity to the human condition, and a penchant for “doing what’s right” for clients, communities, stakeholders, and tribes make him a “psychologist of the built environment” as founder and lead engineer of McElhaney Structural Engineers in Reno, Nevada.Brett earned his Master’s degree in structural engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he wrote his thesis while working at the world-famous Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research and its Large-Scale Structures Laboratory. Part of that complex is the Earthquake Engineering Laboratory, a 29,000 sq. ft. space where buildings and components are literally shaken in research designed to find ways to engineer safer structures. The Earthquake Engineering Laboratory is home to four earthquake simulators, and is a part of the largest, most versatile large-scale structures earthquake/seismic engineering facility in the United States, and possibly the world.Brett serves as adjunct faculty for the University's Civil Engineering department, where he teaches structural steel design. He is a trustee on the board of the Structural Engineers Association of Central California and holds the civil/structural seat on the Carson City, Nevada Board of Appeals for Building Code Issues. He serves as a Structural Engineering Member of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Post-Disaster Responders and is a charter member of the Structural Engineering Institute. Brett has authored or co-authored several publications, including the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering and a paper presented at the 12th Annual World Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Auckland, New Zealand.Specialties: Structural Engineering, Seismic Engineering, Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Management.