Thomas Knittel, AIA, LEED BD+C, NCARB, has joined HDR as the new design principal in the firm’s Seattle’s architecture studio. He is responsible for the overall design direction of projects in the studio, and together with Managing Principal Duncan Griffin, AIA, he is leading HDR’s center of regenerative design.

Knittel most recently was a design partner at McLennan Design, which he started with his former colleagues from BNIM architecture firm. Prior to that, he was a senior principal of design for HOK.

Susan Puumala, PhD, an epidemiologist, has joined HDR as senior researcher for HDR’s healthcare, education, and science and technology consulting practice. Her responsibilities include working with HDR’s research team to develop studies that investigate how design affects outcomes such as health, wellness, satisfaction and productivity.

Coming from the field of public health, Puumala has conducted biomedical and epidemiological research as a statistician/methodologist and epidemiologist for the past 17 years.