20 Under 40 - Glass Magazine

Education: 1998, Economics, University of London, Royal
Holloway College
Career: Sept. 2007-present, marketing director;
2006-07, architectural products consultant, Advanced
Glazings USA LLC, Burnaby, B.C.; 2003-06, vice president of
business development, altPOWER Inc., New York; 2002-03,
head of commercial lending, Stanley Capital Corp.,
Englewood, N.J.
Personal: Age, 31; born, Naharia, Israel; married to Lilach
Shvartz-Bar, one son
Diversions: Scuba diving, hiking, jazz
One-word description of self: Multicultural
Favorite Web site: Google
Lesson learned the hard way: Life is cyclical; never assume
you are either at the top or the bottom
Favorite movie: “Life of Brian”
Favorite musical artist: Keith Jarrett
Favorite book: “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
Favorite sports team: Springboks, the South African national
Rugby team.
2 Glass Magazine ® • www.GlassMagazine.net
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Avi Bar
Marketing director | Advanced Glazings USA LLC | Burnaby, British Columbia
C oming
to the architectural glazing industry with an economics degree
and a background that includes commercial lending, Avi Bar brings a
different perspective to the daylighting and Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design projects: “If it is not financially viable, it’s not going
to happen,” he says.
Bar comes by his passion for renewable energy honestly. “Not to sound too
tree-huggerish, but I’ve always been interested in how to make this planet a
better place,” he says.
He started at Advanced Glazings in August 2006 as an architectural
products consultant, and recently was promoted to director of marketing.
In that time, Bar has co-authored a number of marketing materials on topics
including Solera and LEED.
“His dedication to green buildings … has resulted in buildings making better
use of glass,” says President Doug Milburn in his nomination form.
It’s dedication that Bar is bringing to his family’s new three-bedroom highrise
apartment in the Bronx. “I’m planning on using Solera glass as a
partition to … diffuse light deeper into the space,” he says.
The greatest challenge, though, is justifying the expense to others.
“When you’re going to insulate a house when you’re building it, you can show
the payback,” he says. Doing so with a renewable-resources home can be more
difficult.
Recycled glass for the countertops and low-VOC, or volatile organic
compound, paints are also in the offing, he adds, the latter because he wants to
protect the health of his 10-month-old son, Yonathan. It’s the least he can do,
he says, as Yonathan routinely looks out for him.
He’s “been sucking on my [cell] phone, so there’s been a bit of water damage,”
Bar says. “It’s a blessing in disguise - I can avoid a lot of unnecessary calls.”
Vinu Abraham
CEO | Hurricane Test Laboratory | Riviera Beach, Fla.
V inu
Abraham has played a key role in transforming
Hurricane Test Laboratory from a fledgling threeperson
company devoted exclusively to hurricanerelated
certification testing to a thriving multistate operation
with more than 40 employees and several service
lines. Starting as a test engineer directly overseeing performance
tests, Abraham has seen the company through several
key milestones, while maintaining a solid reputation
for his know-how, customer service and practical
approach to testing.
“He’s become a very influential person in the industry.
People look up to him and respect his opinions,” says
Shawn Donovan, president of Donovan and Associates, a
marketing firm in Tampa. A one-time customer, Donovan
now works as a marketing consultant for HTL.
The son of Indian nationals who worked for the Nigerian
government, Abraham immigrated to the United States for
college and is living his own version of the American dream.
He and two partners boarded the thrill ride of entrepreneurship
when they sought funding for HTL’s first permanent