John Motaka, PE

John Motaka, PE

fire protection engineer

With nearly 25 years of experience in the A|E|C industry, John Motaka, PE, brings extensive expertise in the design of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. His HVAC experience spans the full design lifecycle, from initial project scoping and schematic design through load calculations, thermal and control zoning, equipment sizing and selection, system layout, specification development, and construction-phase observation.

John’s role at TERPconsulting focuses on mechanical systems engineering, with a particular emphasis on their application in smoke control and life safety design. His work centers on integrating mechanical, fire, and code-driven requirements to support compliant smoke control and detection systems in complex building environments.

John most recently served as Director of Mechanical Engineering at Harris Consulting Engineers, where he spent a decade overseeing mechanical design for projects across the corporate and government, high-rise, higher education, institutional, and healthcare sectors. In his role as project manager, John led a multidisciplinary team in developing construction documents from schematic design through construction administration. Earlier in his career, John held engineering roles at Tippetts Mechanical and JBA Consulting Engineers (now NV5).

A licensed professional engineer in the State of Nevada, John is an active member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

To contact John, click here.