Flack + Kurtz, San Francisco, has acquired SEi Cos., Boston. Flack + Kurtz, part of London-based WSP Group, is an engineering firm with offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Las Vegas. SEi, also an engineering company, has offices in Washington, D.C. and Houston, as well as the home office in Boston. The combined staff will now number more than 600 employees. Both firms have a significant track record in laboratory engineering design. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. In addition SEi announced that it has named Christopher Ham, PE, as senior associate and Alireza “Ali” Heidari, PE, LEED AP, as associate. GWS Systems Oy, a maker of ergonomic lab furniture and furniture for other industries, has had a name change to Sovella Oy. The change is related to an international rebranding initiative by the firm’s Finnish owner. The Web portal for U.S. customers is now www.sovella.us; the American presence remains headquartered in Kennesaw, Ga. Health Education + Research Associates (HERA) has hired Jennifer Browne, AIA, LEED AP, as an associate and senior laboratory architect in Philadelphia. Clay Stafford has joined the firm as a senior laboratory programmer and provides a new presence for HERA in Atlanta. HERA is a laboratory planning consulting firm headquartered in St. Louis. OWP/P, the Chicago-based design and engineering firm, has hired James C. Jankowski, FAIA, as senior associate. Formerly Jankowski was a principal at Ross Barney + Jankowski, with a specialization in academic and government projects. Cannon Design, Buffalo, N.Y., has hired Stephen Johnson, AIA, as principal. Johnson will play a major role in expanding the firm’s international initiatives and will aid in strategic marketing efforts in the national higher education practice and the West Coast and Northwest practices. The firm has also hired Gerald Williams, PE, LEED AP, as VP and regional engineering leader in its St. Louis office. Cannon provides architecture, interiors, engineering, and planning services for multiple markets, including science and technology. Equipment Collaborative, Houston, has been recognized as the city’s fifth fastest growing woman-owned business by the Houston Business Journal. Equipment Collaborative experienced a revenue increase of nearly 85% between 2005 and 2006. The firm concentrates on equipment planning for healthcare and research facilities, including inventory, equipment planning/procurement, receiving, installation, and move coordination.