Cooper, 23-year success story.

David Cooper has been with Flack + Kurtz Inc. for 23 years and consistently integrates engineering excellence and creativity with strong client service, his primary objective being the success of his client's vision.

"There's a great art to the science of engineering, and there's usually more than one right answer," said Cooper, executive vice president and managing director, New York. "There may be a best answer from one perspective and a different best answer from a different perspective. That's part of the challenge of working with clients and making sure you understand their needs, their goals and their critical concerns. Also making sure your system approach and solution responds to those."

In existence for more than 30 years, Flack + Kurtz is internationally recognized as one of the industry's premier building services engineering firms, having worked with some of the world's most prominent corporations, developers, institutions and acclaimed architects.

The firm, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Hong Kong, London, and Paris, as well as a permanent joint venture in Sydney, provides complete design and construction engineering services for building systems including: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, sanitary engineering, life safety engineering, telecommunications/security/audiovisual, lighting design, utilities planning, mechanical and electrical construction management, intelligent building systems and controls technology, green/environmentally responsible engineering, indoor air quality and commissioning cogeneration plants.

A testimony to Flack + Kurtz's expertise is the fact that the firm has been commissioned for both the new Jets and Nets stadiums.

"Actually, professional sports facilities are one of our niches," Cooper said. "We've done a lot of sports work around the country and internationally as well."

The Jets stadium will use the latest technology in engineering science to create a sports facility that fits Olympic standards as well as NFL football.

"This is not just a sports facility it's a sports and convention facility, so there are quite a few different operating modes, roof open, roof closed, convention hall, football stadium, concerts, concessions," Cooper said. "There are many things the building has to adapt to plus the Olympic conversion."

A sampling of Coopers other notable projects include; The Helena--a Durst Organization residential tower in NYC, major expansion to the Rhode Island Hospital, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Corporate Headquarters in NYC and Washington DC, The New York Times Corporate Headquarters in NYC, CIBC Corporate Headquarters in NYC, First Union Arena in Philadelphia, Yale University athletic, academic and residential buildings, Princeton University laboratory and athletic facilities and Syracuse University's School of Management and the St. Regis Hotel, NY.

Additional firm projects include The Brooklyn Arena; Aga Khan University, Pakistan; U.S. Embassy, Berlin, Germany; Bangkok International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Calif.; Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; The Hearst Headquarters, New York; and Columbia University, New York.

From an early age, Cooper was intrigued by mechanical engineering, excelling at math and science. He said being a mechanical engineer "was a natural fit."

"It's about creating something physical that you can see, feel and touch," Cooper said about engineering. "It's making an impact on the world. I've always been involved in environmental issues; actually that's how I got into the business through energy conservation work."

He began with Flack + Kurtz as an engineer in the energy group.

"We did studies for facilities on how they could conserved energy, buildings, campuses," he said. "That group evolved into doing some design work to implement those savings. The energy dried up after the oil crisis was over and the price of energy dropped."

"The energy group melded into the HVAC department part of the firm. At that point I became an engineer and project manager in that design group and progressed from there."

From Cooper's origins in Flack + Kurtz' Energy Group through his involvement in the firm's current sustainable design projects, his direct participation has helped forge Flack + Kurtz' leadership position in the industry.

"With sustainable design really becoming a main stream focus it's become really rewarding," Cooper said. "Just meeting people, world-class people from all different walks of life and working with clients and the dynamics of a project is very exciting."

His greatest achievement he said was "professionally, being invited into the partnership. I was 33 years old. Being invited into Flack and Kurtz, a major engineering firm, a prestigious firm in what we do, was an honor."

Now leading the firm, he looks at his and the firm's future, which it seems, is pretty much intertwined.

"It's a good firm to work for, we've worked on great projects and I am always growing professionally," he said. "It's pretty rare and I consider myself lucky to have had that opportunity."

Cooper has a bachelor's of science degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and is registered as a professional engineer in New York and 26 other states. He is also certified energy manager.