Michael Asher has joined Haskell as Director of Operations in the steadily expanding Life Sciences Division, bringing two decades of engineering and project management experience and a unique perspective to the multifaceted role.
Early in his career, Asher, who is based in the Philadelphia area, spent more than five years with multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology giant GlaxoSmithKline as a process controls engineer. When he left that position to enter project management in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, he took with him knowledge of the client’s point of view.
“It's given me a unique perspective,” Asher said. “Until you've lived on both sides, you maybe don't appreciate the drivers, the pains, the nuances of what each role is. As I got into project management, one of the competitive edges that really helped me out was understanding that what I thought was important might not have been what truly was important.”
Ken Anthony, Haskell Vice President and Life Sciences Division Leader, said Asher’s wide-ranging knowledge and experience would allow him to operate effectively among differing constituencies.
“Michael will be an SME (subject matter expert) as well as a core member of the Life Sciences team,” Anthony said. “He’ll be able to work with our Design & Consulting Services team, be a conduit inside the company and an external face with our client base, as well.”
Life Sciences launched in 2021 as a natural extension of Haskell’s mission, combining its rich history in healthcare design and construction with deep experience in process systems, cGMP design, clean-in-place (CIP), sterilization-in-place (SIP), clean rooms, various laboratories and specialized space design and advanced manufacturing.
Asher said the chance to leverage the breadth and synergies of those capabilities was a powerful drawing card.
“What intrigued me about coming here was that this organization has all of the building blocks and wants to bring it together, turn it into something organized and coherent and synthesize something next-level,” he said. “It's about knowledge. It's about expertise. It's all about the people. We don't sell a product. We’re selling knowledge. We're selling trust and confidence.”
As a pioneer in design-build and integrated delivery, Haskell stresses collaboration with project owners and across the design and construction disciplines. That holistic approach ensures that its projects avoid many of the clashes, roadblocks and change orders common to the industry.
After nearly a dozen years on the project management side of AEC firms, Asher said he looked forward to the opportunity to align expectations and execution to create the best possible customer experience.
“There's a thin line between something that is achievable and a stretch and something that’s an impossible commitment,” he said. “One of the other things that drew me here was that there were not barriers, that it was an integrated team. We can be strategic, and we can be intentional with what we pursue, so that we can deliver and make the impossible possible.”
Contact the Life Sciences team to discuss your company’s facilities needs in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and technology, site master planning, the development of innovation centers or high-purity active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).
