Rick Embers

Richard (Rick) Embers serves as a Professor of Practice at the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design with the Institute of Health + Wellness. He earned his undergraduate degrees in Architecture in 1988 and in Liberal Arts & Sciences (Environmental Studies and Geology) in 1985 at the University of Kansas. In 2023, Rick retired as the Managing Principal of Pulse Design Group and discovered his new passion for teaching part-time at the School of Architecture & Design as a lecturer for the Health & Wellness Institute. He was appointed to Professor of Practice in the fall of 2024. Licensed in over 20 states to practice architecture, he also has certifications in EDAC (Evidence Based Design) and ACHA (American College of Healthcare Design). His work experience for the last 30 years has been solely focused on healthcare projects ranging in size and complexity from new hospitals and healthcare campuses to major renovations and expansions for existing facilities. He also has extensive experience with several specialized areas of healthcare facilities including vertical hospital expansions, ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient medical campuses, cancer centers, hybrid operating rooms, military healthcare projects, and critical access hospitals. From 2010 to 2022, Rick served as President and Managing Principal of Pulse Design Group. During his tenure, he worked to double the size of the firm and introduced specialized focus areas in medical equipment planning and the virtual/mixed reality division, both of which significantly enhanced the quality of services provided to clients. He has been involved in numerous speaking engagements and symposiums over the years including the Design Build Institute of America Healthcare Symposium 2018, Kansas City Business Journal Healthcare Roundtable 2017/2018, Kansas City Healthcare Engineers Annual Conference (Hybrid Operating Room Design Presentation 2017), and on two occasions, 2016 and 2017, he was asked to present at the AIA National Conference on “Utilization of Virtual Reality for Healthcare”. His achievements and awards include InterCon, Top 50 Tech Companies (2019); KU Arch/Design Distinguished Alumni Award (2019); Kansas City Business Journal IMPACT Award for Virtual Reality (2017); Kansas City Business Journal Capstone Award for the Blue/Blue Shield Spira Care Clinics (2019) which also won the Interior Design Association, Healthcare Interior Design Award (2019); and in 2013 he received the Hall of Fame award for his work with the University of Kansas Health System. Currently Rick remains active within the healthcare design community and is personally researching the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the design of healthcare environments and processes.