| Michael Gatto was born and raised in Chicago and spent four years in Boston where he earned a chemical engineering degree at MIT. He has been living in Austin, Texas for more than 20 years where he has made the career change from high tech to green building. Gatto's first career was at Advanced Micro Devices where he spent 15 years working as a process engineer and engineering section manager. In 1993 he got his start in green building by working as a volunteer at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS) in Austin. Since then he has earned his master’s degree in architecture from UT-Austin with a specialization in Design with Climate. Gatto’s first job out of school was at CMPBS where he worked as a sustainable design consultant/LEED accredited professional on several City of Austin projects. While at CMPBS, Gatto also helped to build a green materials database for the District of Columbia Housing Authority and worked on the Department of Energy sponsored Solar Decathlon, a design/build competition to create a totally solar powered house with home office. Gatto now works at Foundation Communities, an Austin based affordable housing supplier catering to families with children, where he is working on his architectural internship, a requirement for licensure. He is working at Foundation Communities as a Frederic Rose Architectural Fellow which pays his salary for three years. Current design projects include new learning centers at several properties. |
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