Keynote Speakers

Keynote #1 CSCE Alan Russell Award Lecture: Dr. Roger Woodhead

The CSCE Construction Division Alan D. Russell Keynote Address

During each CSCE Construction Specialty Conference, the Keynote address shall be known as the “Alan D. Russell Keynote Address”. The speaker selected for the keynote shall be acknowledged as having received the honour (award) of providing the address and recognized with a certificate for contributions in the spirit of the person for whom the award is named.

Alan D. Russell is a true pioneer in Construction Engineering and Management education and research in Canada and has made a significant and lasting impact on the whole of this community. Early in his career, he established two construction engineering programs at Canadian Universities. Through his skills as an educator, he has increased the capabilities of many, including a number of the industry’s leading practitioners and researchers. His innovative research directions coupled with a comprehensive and tenacious approach have provided great insight to the problems of the industry and broadened our thinking in developing solutions. His dedication and service in many ways to the Canadian construction community has been unwavering and serves as an inspiration to us all.

Upon his retirement, Dr. Russell was requested and agreed to share his unique insight as the Keynote speaker for the CSCE International Construction Specialty Conference. This CSCE honour is established to recognize a lifetime of significant achievements and contributions, and to ensure that there is an on-going forum for those that follow to fulfill their duty to share perspectives on the past, present and future state of the industry.

2015 Award Winner: Dr. Roger Woodhead

Woodhead_1024x1243Dr. Roger Woodhead has had a long and influential career managing the design of large, complex projects. Of his over 35 years of consulting engineering and construction experience, the last 30 years were spent in management. Dr. Woodhead is currently serving as the Design Manager for SNC-Lavalin on the Ottawa Confederation Line rapid transit project. He served as the Technical Director for the Canada Line Rapid Transit Project in Vancouver from 2005 – 2010. Amongst previous assignments, Dr. Woodhead was the Quality Systems Manager for the Vancouver SkyTrain Millennium Line, Design Manager for a section of the LRT-2 in Kuala Lumpur and the Technical Services Manager on The Hibernia Gravity Base Structure in Newfoundland.

Dr. Woodhead is a registered Professional Engineer in British Columbia and Ontario and a registered Structural Engineer in Washington. He is an Adjunct Professor at UBC and has previously served as chair of the advisory panel on construction management at BCIT.

Keynote Presentation:  From the Stone Age to Smart Phones

The lessons learned in the early stages of an engineer’s career can impact the body of work that they leave as their legacy.   Roger will share what he learned as he has progressed from a humble structural engineer in the “stone age” to recent management roles on mega projects such as Vancouver’s Millennium and Canada Lines, the Confederation Line in Ottawa and the Hibernia Gravity Base Structure.

Attendees will have an opportunity to hear about the lessons learned in a long and varied career and some strategies for staying sane when managing mega-projects. The lessons shared will help professionals to better manage their own career progression and assist academics in knowing what is important for their students’ future careers.

Keynote #2 ASCE Peurifoy Award Lecture: Dr. Carl Haas

ASCE Peurifoy Construction Research Award

To recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of construction engineering through research and development of new technology, principles or practices, the friends, former students, and associates of Dr. R. L. Peurifoy contributed funds, the annual income of which is to be used for the Peurifoy Construction Research Award. The award was officially instituted by action of the Board of Direction in 1984, upon recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Construction Research Council.

2015 Award Winner: Dr. Carl Haas

HaasCarl Haas was selected by the Construction Institute to receive the 2015 Peurifoy Construction Research Award “For his outstanding long-term contributions in the research and science of construction technology, productivity, and workforce improvement.

Carl Haas is the Tier I Canada Research Chair in Construction and Management of Sustainable Infrastructure and a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He holds degrees from UW and CMU. Before UW, he served on the faculty at UT Austin. He has had visiting appointments at AZ State and Ecole Centrale de Lille in France. He has received several research and teaching awards, and has numerous publications. He has supervised many students who are now leaders in our community. His research has been supported by numerous companies such as: Aecon, PCL, Coreworx, OPG, Dupont, Hilti, Fluor, and the Construction Industry Institute (CII), as well as agencies such as TxDOT, MTO, NSERC, NSF, CRC, etc. He is a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the ASCE. He was elected to the US National Academy of Construction in 2013. In 2014 he shared the Construction Industry Institute Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award with Paul Goodrum and Carlos Caldas, and he received the CSCE Walter Shanly Award for outstanding contributions to the development and practice of construction engineering in Canada.

Keynote Presentation: Construction Academic Life Cycle Management

Some observations on construction academic career paths are offered based on personal experience. The objective is to stimulate discussion around challenges and questions we face today in our careers and those which we may face in the future. We know that roles evolve through career stages. As we develop tool and domain knowledge, it is interesting to consider how that coincides with the evolution of those roles, how research, service and teaching activities are renewed and sustained, and how our work impacts practice and the body of knowledge. Challenges along the way include learning and recovering from our mistakes, resolving the parts that art and science play in construction engineering, and figuring out what works for us each as individuals. And, in the end, what constitutes a positive impact and a worthwhile legacy?

 

Keynote #3 ARCOM Lecture: Dr Chris Harty

This plenary lecture is presented on behalf of the conference partner organization ARCOM, the Association of Researchers of Construction Management, U.K.

2015 ARCOM Lecture: Dr. Chris Harty

Harty 3Dr Chris Harty is an Associate Professor of Design and Construction Innovation in the School of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Reading, UK. He is also a Committee Member and currently Treasurer of ARCOM, and an Editor of the journal Construction Management and Economics. He has been the Director of two Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council centres. A sociologist working in construction, his research interests include the impact of BIM on projects and organisations and healthcare infrastructure provision.

Keynote Presentation: BIM: People, Processes, Perspectives

Building Information Modelling is simultaneously positioned as unproblematic technology-oriented process and wide-sweeping, radical solution to the construction sector¹s long standing problems of communication, collaboration and coordination. The realities of what BIM is and does in practice are multiple and varied. Drawing on experiences of the UK design and construction sectors, and on several BIM oriented research projects, Dr Harty will discuss the current status of BIM implementation in the UK, and the challenges being faced in responding to the UK government¹s challenge of being “BIM ready” by 2016.

 

Keynote #4 ASCE Halpin Award Lecture: Dr. John Taylor

ASCE Daniel W. Halpin Award for Scholarship in Construction

The ASCE Daniel W. Halpin Award for Scholarship in Construction is made to a member of ASCE or the Construction Institute who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship that advances construction engineering as a science.  It was named in honor of Daniel W. Halpin, Ph.D., Dist.M.ASCE recognized as one of the leading authorities in the world on the use of simulation in studying construction processes.

2015 Award Winner: Dr. John E. Taylor

TaylorDr. Taylor was selected by the Construction Institute to receive the 2015 Daniel W. Halpin Award for Scholarship in Construction “For his broad and deep, path-breaking research on the effects of dynamic interpersonal and inter-organizational networks on the outcomes of constructed facilities over their lifecycle.” In selecting Dr. Taylor for this award, the committee particularly noted his outstanding scholarship that advances construction engineering as a science.

Keynote Presentation: Le Fil Rouge: Exploring Dynamics at the Intersection between Human and Engineered Networks.

Recent reports by the National Academies have encouraged investment in developing a more comprehensive understanding of network dynamics at the intersection between human and engineered networks to address important societal problems.  Networks are the structures over which dynamic system behavior unfolds.  Network dynamics involve understanding superimposed diffusion processes through different organizational, social and technological network structures.  This Daniel W. Halpin Award presentation will introduce a civil engineering network dynamics research paradigm and will describe recently completed and on-going research in the areas of information system integration, globalization, workforce virtualization, energy efficiency and disaster mobility dynamics.