Jackson Heights Life

I need to renovate my kitchen and I want to remove a wall so in order to get board approval I need an engineer to assess the structural integrity.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

Also, does anyone have suggestions for a good design consultant?  I don't want to endure the headache of an extensive renovation just to discover that the kitchen still doesn't "flow" and I have little annoyances to live with like moving my head out of the way of opening cabinet doors that are too wide or the placement of the task lighting renders it useless.