In this edition of Working Pressure, we’ll be shinning a light on the remarkable journeys and contributions of Brianne Hall and Doreen Cannon, two highly accomplished members of the ASSE International Board of Directors. With diverse professional backgrounds and a shared commitment to excellence, they have both brought fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that continue to shape the plumbing and engineering industries. Their paths reflect a dedication to improving standards, fostering education, and mentoring others in ways that uplift their professions and inspire future generations.
Brianne Hall’s story is one of adaptability and perseverance. From her early days exploring various fields of engineering to becoming a recognized leader in plumbing design, she exemplifies the power of curiosity and determination. Her work on the ASSE 6060 certification for medical gas designers is just one example of how her efforts have strengthened industry benchmarks, creating new opportunities for professionals to develop their skills and thrive. Her leadership, whether through her role on the ASSE International Board or her commitment to growing membership benefits, demonstrates a passion for collaboration and progress.
For Doreen Cannon, her journey began with a career reinvention that led to decades of impactful work in the skilled trades. Starting as an apprentice and working her way up to leadership roles within her Local and professional organizations, she has been an advocate for education. Her drive to create environments that support retention and mentorship within the trades has resulted in lasting frameworks like the Greater Cleveland Council of Tradeswomen. Her efforts with ASSE International, particularly her focus on professional qualifications, highlight her belief in the transformative power of education and accountability within the industry.
Both Brianne and Doreen represent the spirit of ASSE International — a commitment to advancing industry standards, empowering professionals, and fostering innovation. Their stories remind us of the importance of leadership that not only drives success, but also inspires and supports others along the way. We are proud to feature their stories and achievements as part of this edition of Working Pressure.
BRIANNE HALL
From an early interest in architecture to becoming a nationally recognized leader in the plumbing engineering industry, Brianne Hall, PE, CPD, ASSE 6060, LEED AP BD+C, GGP, has built her career through curiosity, determination, and a commitment to elevating standards. As a senior mechanical engineer at Fishbeck’s Novi, Michigan, office and a key figure within ASSE International and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), Hall’s professional journey reflects the importance of adaptability, persistence, and a commitment to lifting others through leadership.
Hall’s path into the HVAC and plumbing field wasn’t linear. Like many engineers, she began her career exploring different sectors before finding her fit. While many engineering graduates gravitate toward automotive or aerospace — especially in the Detroit area — Hall understood early on it wasn’t for her.
“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I was very happy knowing engineering was the right place for me,” she says. “I had an interest in architecture. When I first got out of college, I was working for Cummins, which was diesel engines, and I didn’t really enjoy that.”
After relocating to Maryland in search of new opportunities, Hall discovered an advertisement for a drafting position.
“I applied for that, and they were worried because I didn’t have any experience, but they hired me as an electrical drafter,” she says. “And then once I proved my CAD skills, within a couple weeks they moved me over to the mechanical side. And then that’s when I really got started in this industry.”
That was a turning point, but the foundation of Hall’s interest in engineering and the built environment had been laid long before through the tutelage of her father, David Rootes.
“My dad had his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and his master’s in mechanical engineering and worked most of his career in mechanical engineering,” she says. Growing up in a hands-on, engineering-focused household, Hall was constantly exposed to problem-solving and technical thinking.
“I’m very much like my father, and it was clear from a young age that I was going to follow in his path,” she says. “And he certainly promoted that, too. He was always stressing the math and sciences at a young age in school. That’s where he really wanted to see me excel.”
As the eldest of two children, Hall was raised in an environment that emphasized independence, responsibility, and excellence.
“My dad, he had high expectations of me, and he was strict on me growing up,” she says. “I had to make certain grades; I had to have a job. I had to be involved on sports teams. Even going away to college, he had a list of rules for me to follow and priorities.
“He wanted me to be independent in my life. He didn’t want me to have to rely on anybody else. And certainly, as a woman, he didn’t want me to have to depend on a man.”
His foresight extended to skills outside the classroom.
“He had a rule that I had to be on the golf team in high school because he wanted me to be able to play with men in the industry,” she says. “Golf is something I still play to this day. And he was right. Being able to get out on the golf course and discuss business is something that happens. You form relationships out there. There are a lot of women who don’t golf in the industry and they’re missing out on that opportunity.”
Today, Hall finds her greatest professional satisfaction not just in her engineering projects, but in her involvement with professional organizations — especially ASSE International.
“I mean, I enjoy my day-to-day job, and it is amazing to be driving, see a building and know I had a part in that. I designed that HVAC system, or I designed that plumbing system,” she says. “But working with ASSE, on the development of the ASSE 6060 certification for medical gas designers, I consider that my biggest accomplishment. I’m very proud that we were able to get that out there.”
Seeing others embrace and benefit from the ASSE 6060 credential has only reinforced her belief in the importance of standards and certification.
“It’s amazing because that was just launched a few years ago and now I see people popping up all over in different magazine articles and you see them having that ASSE 6060 credential,” she says. “It’s great to know that training is now available for designers and engineers and they’re passing an exam to hold that credential. I’m really proud of that.”
Halls involvement with ASSE began in 2015 after attending the International Plumbing Code hearings with a local development group. What started as curiosity quickly evolved into leadership.
“I was hearing a lot of discussion about ASSE because the ASSE standards are in the code,” she says. “Coming out of that, I felt like I should join ASSE because I wanted to understand more about the standards that were in the code.”
Today, Hall serves on the ASSE International Board of Directors and chairs both the Seal Control Board and the Membership Committee.
“I am extremely lucky to hold those positions. I’m really proud of the Membership Committee work we’ve been doing, working hard on expanding membership benefits and creating membership videos to promote ASSE.”
Hall also serves as Vice President, Legislative on the ASPE Board of Directors, and serves as a member of ASPE’s Technical and Research Committee and Professional Engineer Working Group.
Outside of her professional life, Hall enjoys sports, concerts, and travel — especially when she can pair personal interests with professional engagements.
“Being involved with professional societies, we get to go to different locations,” she says. “So, I always try and add on an extra day or two for myself to get out and explore.”
DOREEN CANNON
By the time most people hit their stride in one career, Doreen Cannon had already reinvented herself completely. In 1998, as her son Tommy started kindergarten, Cannon began a journey that would define her legacy in the skilled trades. That same year, she entered the UA Plumbers Local 55 Apprenticeship program, embarking on a new career path with Northern Ohio Plumbing. Over the next five years, she completed her apprenticeship, laying the foundation for a career that serves as inspiration to generations of tradeswomen.
“I actually have a college degree, and I was in retail management and buying for years,” she says. “And then when my son was born, I stayed home. After a few years when I decided to go back into the working field, I wanted something different. I always liked working with my hands. My father was a pipe fitter, a maintenance pipe fitter by trade.”
A visit to a career fair aimed at attracting more women into the trades sparked her interest in plumbing. “I found an all-women, pre-apprenticeship readiness program, so I went through that,” she says. “It was a six-week program and then I decided on the plumbers after going to the career fair and talking to all the different trades.”
The support of the all-women’s program proved vital. “I think going through that all-women’s pre-apprenticeship program definitely helped because all the instructors within that program were tradeswomen who had already been working in the field,” she says. “So, I think that took away some of that hesitation as far as going out into a male-dominated field.”
Her experience in the union apprenticeship also eased the transition.
“What made it easy was going through the apprenticeship at Local 55 Plumbers; all the training was included, right?” she says. “It’s laid out for you. So really, once you get in the program, you’re good as long as you follow the training and meet the requirements of each year during the apprenticeship.”
From the field, where she worked for 14 years, Cannon transitioned into education. In 2012, she became a full-time evening instructor at the Plumbers Local 55 JATC training center, teaching light commercial trainees, service trainees, and continuing education courses for journeymen. In 2018, she moved to a daytime role, training commercial apprentices across various stages of their five-year programs. Her first teaching experience, however, came much earlier.
“I actually started teaching one class right after I became a journey level worker. Around 2004, I put together the first harassment class that was taught right at our training center,” she says. “At that time there was really nothing about harassment and construction. It was all office environment and things like that. So, I had to kind of create the entire class.”
Leadership quickly followed. After becoming a journeyman in 2003, Cannon served as chair of the Entertainment Committee. In 2006, she was elected to the Executive Board, and in 2011, she became the first woman elected President of Plumbers Local 55, a role she held until her retirement in 2022.
In 2014, Cannon was named chair the Cleveland Building Trades Tradeswomen Committee.
“It’s very hard to have a tradeswomen committee within each trade because, for example, there are so few female plumbers at Local 55; there are so few female electricians in the Cleveland electrician’s union, etc.,” she says. “A female carpenter and I thought, you know, we really need to somehow bring all the Cleveland tradeswomen together into a tradeswomen committee.”
With the support of David Wondolowski, executive secretary of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council, the committee was formed.
“He was the driving force behind getting the support of the building trades,” she says. “And once we got the support of the building trades, then all the trades supported the idea of this Cleveland Building Trades Tradeswomen Committee, encouraging their women to get involved.”
In 2024, the committee became a nonprofit organization, now known as the Greater Cleveland Council of Tradeswomen. Cannon currently serves as its president. “We are now a nonprofit, which will help us going forward, as it opens us up to doing a lot more things.”
While recruitment is an important aspect of the Council’s work, Cannon emphasizes support and retention.
“More so, I think it’s a way of mentoring and supporting the retention of women in the trades, which is almost as difficult as recruiting women into them,” she says. “Construction is definitely a different environment and a different industry.”
Honest conversations about job conditions — working outdoors in extreme temperatures and performing physically demanding work — are essential.
“Once we formed the tradeswoman committee, we were able to come together and just socialize,” she says. “It’s really nice because a lot of brand new apprentices will come and then there’ll be the retired women who have been in the industry for 25, 30 years.”
Cannon has also been a voice on a national level. Since 2020, she has served as the Northeast Region Director on the Board of Directors for ASSE International.
“I was a part of the Northern Ohio chapter for ASSE when I was an apprentice, so I was involved at the local level first.”
Recruited by ASSE President Jason Shank, a longtime colleague, Cannon found the organization’s mission aligned with her teaching roots.
“What ASSE does is really give opportunities through the standards and the qualifications that we offer to make someone a better plumber; to give them that additional training or that additional certification that makes somebody more employable,” she says. “We offer somebody a better background in why we do what we do in plumbing. You know, every time I do outreach or anything, I always proudly say ‘The plumber protects the health of the nation.’ So, that all ties in. When we have training that teaches you why we do what we do, that kind of all ties together.”
Cannon most appreciates the way ASSE’s programs balance education with accountability.
“Getting a more in-depth look at what goes into creating a professional qualification, the whole idea behind the training and the testing, to me is very important because anybody can take a class, but let’s prove that you really absorbed and understand what we’re asking of you in order for you to personally carry this certification,” she says. “I think that’s important to me after being an instructor for so many years; to really make sure that, just like I was with my apprentices, let’s make sure they’re absorbing and learning what we’re trying to get them to learn.”
Now semi-retired, Cannon continues her work as a Recruitment and Program Certification consultant with Cleveland Builds. She was honored in 2017 as one of Crain’s Cleveland Business Women of Note and in 2021 as a North American Building Trades Union (NABTU) Tradeswomen Hero.
Her son Tommy is newly married and living in Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, Cannon enjoys reading, working in her yard, and relaxing at her house on Catawba Island on Lake Erie.
