Speaker Biographies
Chalupiak, LouiseLouise Chalupiak is a senior project manager, consultant and facilitator with more than 25 years of progressive business experience. Her experience includes business management, strategic planning and governance, curriculum development and the development and analysis of business cases. Louise has written and delivered numerous levels of curriculum for leadership, human resources and project management training and is currently working with both the University of Calgary and the University of Regina. In addition, she has published work in the field of business leadership and continues to research and publish for various Alberta publications. | |
Christenson, Dr. DaleDr. Christenson is the founder and President of the Project Management Centre of Excellence Inc. He is a Certified Management Consultant and Project Management Professional specializing in project management consulting and training. He combines an extensive academic background with real-world expertise in the areas of program and portfolio management, organizational development, change management and critical project success factors. He's held project management leadership positions in the public and private sectors. Dale has a Doctorate in Project Management from Royal MIT University in Australia and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees, diplomas and certificates in Criminology, Counselling Psychology and Project Management. Dale has 11 peer reviewed journal articles to his credit and is a frequent seminar and keynote speaker at conferences. He is the winner of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Government Project of the Year Award and a finalist in the Canadian Institute of Public Administration Leadership Award. He has also served as the President on his local PMI chapter in Victoria British Columbia as well as being the past Knowledge Lead for PMI’s international Government Community of Practice. Dale currently provides a wide variety of project leadership training and consulting services across North America in both the private and public sector. Dale also maintains a busy academic teaching schedule at Royal Roads University, University of Victoria, Schulich School of Business (York University) and Sauder School of Business (University of British Columbia). | |
Coyle, PatrickDeputy for Planning, Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and High Energy Density (HED) Science, National Ignition Facility (NIF)/Photon Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, CA. Patrick Coyle is a registered Mechanical Engineer with a MBA from Golden Gate University and a BS in engineering mathematics from Colorado School of Mines. He is the deputy for planning for ICF and HED Science, NIF/Photon Sciences Directorate at LLNL. His primary area of responsibility is cost and schedule planning and performance reporting as the organization address physics, diagnostics, system performance, risk, and cleanliness issues for experimental campaigns leading to ignition. Mr. Coyle has held other positions in the NIF including Deputy Associate Project Manager for Systems Engineering and for Beampath Infrastructure Systems, including completion of conventional facility construction and beampath hardware and utility systems. Mr. Coyle has over 40 years of experience in project engineering and project management. | |
Culbertson, MA, CMC, StuartStuart Culbertson is Vice-President, Management consulting for Sierra Systems based in Victoria, BC. Stuart began his consulting career in 2001 and has consulted widely on public sector transformation, organization, strategy, and program development. He has consulted at the executive-level with federal and provincial governments, intergovernmental councils and task forces, international organizations, health authorities, and post-secondary institutions. Stuart specializes in helping public sector agencies build the support and collaboration needed to advance key strategic initiatives and transform program and service delivery. Prior to embarking on his consulting career, Stuart spent 15 years with the government of British Columbia where he held several Deputy and Assistant Deputy Minister assignments – including Deputy Minister, Information, Science and Technology and Government Chief Information Officer. | |
Diedericks, Pieter P.EngPieter Diedericks, P.Eng.Pieter is currently the Vice President, Major Projects, Synthetic Oil, Nexen Inc responsible for all the major projects in Nexen’s Synthetic Oil Business Unit. He is a registered professional engineer with APEGGA and holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, as well as a Master of Engineering and Master of Business Administration degrees. Pieter started his career with Sasol in South Africa, where synthetic crude oil is produced from coal. He worked for 18 years at Sasol in different areas like project management, operations and business development in their quest for wealth creation. Pieter moved to Canada in 1998 to work on Project Millennium at Suncor Energy, living in Fort McMurray for several years. He joined Petro-Canada in 2002 as a senior project director, working on converting the Edmonton refinery from 50 per cent sweet crude to 100 per cent synthetic crude. He was also responsible for the project execution on the Fort Hills joint venture. Pieter has more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of project management. | |
Diehl, ScottDetails to come… | |
Duggan, JimJim Duggan is Team Leader, Project Management Practices The City of Calgary. He has led the Corporate Project Management Centre for four years through a period of significant transition. The group was begun in 2002 to provide leadership in PM Practices in the corporation through a combination of services and training. The CPMC works with stakeholders across The City of Calgary in developing project management policies and practices to ensure value for project investments on behalf of the citizens of Calgary. | |
Fossen, MarkThe goal of this presentation is to equip IT PM's with private hybrid cloud technology information and innovation they can share and apply within their organization to connect the mobile field office to the front office for effective project creation, execution, management and completion that delivers a positive and measurable ROI around productivity, social media, health, safety, environmental sustainability, security, and compliance metrics. Rigstar’s presentation speaks to the rapidly changing landscape of the global technologically advanced marketplace and the urgent need to be connected even in the middle of nowhere. What was a good communications solution to yesterday's project, may not be the best solution for tomorrow's project due to changing demographics and the speed of information transfer, which constantly influences and impacts how organizations operate. Adopting a private hybrid cloud infrastructure enables organizations to effectively embrace change and meet the growing and consistent data storage and information dissemination challenges for remote and mobile staff. | |
Gaccioli, Michael P.E., PMPA project management professional since 2008, Mike has over 18 years of experience in the engineering industry within the consulting, manufacturing and oil and gas sectors. Working on projects in Middle America to the Middle East from microelectronics to oil sands mega projects. Mike has worked from the ground floor of engineering up to project manager and this gives Mike a unique perspective about project successes and failures. Mike has a diploma in Electrical Engineering Technology from the Nova Scotia Community College, Institute of Technology and a professional engineering license from the state of Vermont. | |
Gerst, RobertRobert Gerst is Partner in Charge of Operational Excellence at Converge Consulting Group and has 20 years experience in consulting. He is a recognized authority in Operational Excellence and has led performance improvement initiatives in Six Sigma, Lean, Statistical Process Control, Design of Experiments, Quality Function Deployment/DFSS and Hoshin Planning. He has applied this expertise to clients as varied as Shell Canada, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fluor, Hewlett-Packard, Telus, Mobil Oil, Chevron, AT&T Canada, Imperial Oil, Nortel, The City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta and the Government of Canada. He is the author of The Performance Improvement Toolkit: The Guide to Knowledge-Based Improvement, (ISBN 0-9688067-0-8) Recognized as one of eleven “Recommended Books” in quality by SPC Press in the United States. | |
Griffiths, MikeMike Griffiths is a project manager and trainer living in Calgary, Alberta. He was involved in the creation of the agile method DSDM in 1994 and has been using agile methods for the last 17 years. He served on the board of the Agile Alliance and the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) Mike is active in both the agile project management community and traditional PMI-based circles. He has PRINCE2 and PMP certifications, was a contributor to the PMBOK v3 Guide and is currently helping to create the new PMBOK v5 Guide. Mike frequently presents at PMI Global Congress conferences and teaches a 2 day “Agile Project Management” course for the PMI as part of their traveling SeminarsWorld program. He helped start the PMI Agile Community of Practice which is now the largest PMI community with over 8,000 members. Mike maintains the leadership and agile project management blog at www.LeadingAnswers.com. | |
Hayden, TylerTyler Hayden has been a full-time professional speaker and innovative team builder for over a decade. His business is personal development and non traditional team building programs. Tyler’s clients include some of the world’s largest corporations and associations, such as the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and Bell. Tyler is a keynoter, team-builder, workshop leader, and author. He has developed program solutions for groups in areas of leadership, team building, staff motivation, personal development, and soft skill development. Tyler is the author of 6 books, 2 audio CDs, 3 interactive CD-ROMs, and a full-length DVD. His team building and training materials have been sold worldwide, and he has delivered hundreds of high-energy keynotes and train-the-trainer programs internationally. Tyler’s electric energy on stage is second to none – in fact some say he is our planet’s answer to alternative energy. All work and no play? No way! Tyler enjoys travelling and experiencing new cultures and high-adrenaline activities, like skydiving, canyoning and survival camping. Tyler spends some of his "free" time producing sought after folk art sculpture and paintings. Tyler is no stranger to PMI-SAC and is delighted to be returning to the 2011 event and fuelling the energy and excitement throughout the event – Ready-Set-Go! | |
Hillhouse, MatthewDetails to come… | |
Jaitly, SheetalSheetal is the leader of Sales and Operations for Marlabs Canada. For more than a decade he has been a business development leader in technology by delivering actionable business results. "My goal is to bring next generation technologies into everyday business by providing a solution that solves today’s business problems.” With a track record of providing best in class technological solutions to some of the biggest brands in Canada he has a wide array of knowledge that allows him to bring a forward thinking approach to today’s business needs. Sheetal has been a trusted advisor and has provided solutions to the Financial, Government, Energy, Retail, and Media sectors. He is often called to speak on where he visions future technological changes that impact business. http://ca.linkedin.com/in/sheetaljaitly | |
Jergeas, GeorgeDetails to come… | |
Krahn, Dr. JennyDr. Jenny Krahn, Ph.D., PMP, is passionate about project management. Jenny is an Assistant Professor in the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary where she teaches undergraduate and graduate project management classes, conducts research, and provides leadership to Business School initiatives. She instructs and coaches in the Executive MBA, Global Energy EMBA, Haskayne MBA, and BComm programs, specific to project management, applied leadership, and major projects. She is the Faculty Advisor to the student-led Business Day Conference. Dr. Krahn’s research interests include project leadership, the fit of projects within organizations, the future of project management, and multi-party alignment. Jenny consults to organizations in such sectors as construction, transportation, government, retail, publishing, and education. She is one of Calgary's Calgary Top 40 Under 40 and was recently recognized by both University of Calgary and HSB awards. | |
Lamb, M. Eng., P. Eng., GarryGarry is the Urban Construction Manager for Calgary with Alberta Transportation. He is the Project Sponsor for all new Provincial Highway work within the City of Calgary, which includes the Calgary Ring Road and the Deerfoot Trail. Garry is a native of Calgary and he obtained a B. Sc. (Civil Eng.) from the University of Calgary in 1975 and he completed his Masters of Engineering Degree in 1983. He has spent his career working in the Calgary area, primarily in the field of project management Projects have included expansions of Calgary’s Water Treatment Plants, pump stations, reservoirs, the Calgary Convention Centre, Westside Recreation Centre, the expansion of Mount Royal College and now the design and construction of the Calgary Ring Project. | |
Lambert, LeeLee R. Lambert, has established the standard against which educators and practioners in the field of Project Management are measured. In 1981 he was invited to join the team that created the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Program. He is a Past President Central Ohio PMI. Lee authored two books and more than 30 professional article/whitepapers. He is also PMI SME for the EVMS Practice Guide and the Project Estimating Practice Guide Educated in Engineering Design at Utah Technical College. He is a holder of a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. As the creator of the “Stealth Learning” concept, no other educator/speaker can contend with his uncanny technical knowledge, unique material content and refreshingly entertaining delivery. Lee takes the saying; “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt” to the next level as he continues to “make a difference” in his chosen field. | |
Macleod, AnneAnne MacLeod is the founder of Business Improvement Consulting Services Inc. and has been a project manager for over 25 years in a broad range of industries, primarily focused on complex customer and IT projects. The focus of BICS work over the last 13 years has been to bring projects “from chaos to completion”, providing clients with tools and techniques to ensure complex programs and project are successful, and meet quantifiable business improvements. BICS has brought PM expertise to the partnership with Converge Consulting Group as well as extensive experience in complex enterprise systems. | |
Manning, TerryResponsible for the development of strategies and project management of Husky’s projects, facilities engineering and technical services. Mr. Manning was appointed Vice President, Engineering & Procurement Management in January 2009 with responsibilities for procurement, material and services management, project management and technical services. Previously Mr. Manning was Vice President, Engineering & Project Management. Prior to that he was Senior Projects Manager, Project Management Services, responsible for the Project Management Office, Project Controls & Services, Construction Management and Commercial functions. Prior to joining Husky, he was Vice President, Capital Projects for Barrick Gold Corporation where he had accountability for Barrick’s portfolio of mega projects and development of project business systems. From 2002 to 2006 Mr. Manning was General Manager, Project Management Office with Suncor Energy Inc. Terry has worked for Agrium, where he was Director of Projects, focused primarily on international project development and was instrumental in the development and construction of the Profertil S.A. fertilizer mega project in Argentina. He started his career with Teck-Cominco where he held progressive management positions related to engineering, maintenance and management of major capital projects with the parent company and international subsidiaries over the 17 years he was with the organization. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Mechanical Engineering from University of Toronto. He is a member of Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists (APEGGA) and Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC). | |
McCurdy, PeterPeter McCurdy has 25+ years of experience; he has been a teacher, a software developer, a functional manager and a project manager. When he left teaching, he landed at General Dynamics where he moved through the ranks from software developer to project engineer to software functional management where formal development and project management practices are the norm. He moved to Canadian Pacific Railway where he ran the Project Management Office for the IT department. From there, he joined Nortel where he was a functional manager and then a project manager for several large multi-site projects. He is presently working as SMART Technologies where he is a Software Project Manager and Manager for the Software Project Management. Peter has brought sound and practical project management practices and processes to each of these companies. Peter has been a guest lecturer for the Software Engineering Process course at the University of Calgary for several years and has presented at several CIPS PM SIG lunch and learns. He also presented at CAMUG hosted at the University of Calgary and at the Software Quality Assurance Working Group hosted at Devry Institute. | |
McGuire, ColinDetails to come… | |
Pillai, ShawnDetails to come… | |
Polsky, SharonSharon Polsky is President of AMINA Consulting Corp. and, for more than 25 years, has assisted organizations of all sizes with their information privacy, data governance, and information risk management. She has been an adjunct instructor at SAIT Polytechnic since 2001, and is an Executive Member of the Canadian Bar Association Privacy and Access Law Section for Southern Alberta. Since 2007, has served as the elected National Chair of the Canadian Association of Professional Access and Privacy Administrators (CAPAPA), and as the Editor in Chief of The Winston Report, the foremost quarterly journal devoted to information access, privacy protection and data governance in Canada. Sharon is a frequent speaker and lecturer in the areas of data privacy, information security, cyberliability, and the privacy implications of emerging technologies and legislation. Ms. Polsky has spoken before the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on privacy implications of proposed federal legislation; and she was invited to submit recommendations to the Information Commissioner of Canada addressing the modernization of federal privacy and access laws. She was also selected as a finalist for the 2010 EWF Women of Influence Award in the category of Corporate Practitioner. | |
Rambow, WayneWayne Rambow began his career in 1989 with Nortel and worked a variety of engineering, management, and project management roles. After 17 years with Nortel he joined the Forzani Group and in 2007 he founded Thunder Project Consulting Ltd. where he has delivered numerous IT and construction related projects. In 2004 he received his Stanford Certified Project Management certification from Stanford University and he received his PMP certification in 2005. He is active in the PMI-SAC in the mentorship program and was a speaker and judge at last years conference and gala. He is currently working with Rocky View County to deliver fire stations and a new municipal campus supporting the residents of Rocky View. | |
Richardson, JerryPartner, has over 25 years consulting experience primarily in the project management field either through hands-on project responsibility or from advising project managers or organizations in project management best practices. Jerry taught Ethier’s Systems Project Management workshop for over 13 years. Jerry is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute and is a registered CMA with the Certified Management Accountants of Alberta and was awarded the Fellow of Certified Management Accountants of Canada (FCMA) designation. | |
Rovers, MarkMark has a broad base of knowledge gained in over 20 years of consulting and industry experience with a focus on leveraging IT to meet business needs. Mark is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. His wide ranging industry experience includes Oil and Gas, Transportation, Telecommunications, Finance, Consumer and Packaged Goods and Utilities. Mark specializes in large scale Business Transformation, Project / Program management, Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Business Process Improvement. Mark has developed a far ranging and intriguing perspective gained from working with multiple clients across North America, Belgium, Switzerland and England. Most recently, he has joined the Enterprise Architecture team within Cenovus as a Business Architect. | |
Ryan, GeoffGeoff Ryan is a Journeyman Pipefitter, Project Management Professional and a Workface Planning Evangelist. After working on several Alberta mega projects as a Productivity Specialist Geoff founded Insight-wfp.inc, to support the industry’s migration towards Workface Planning. Geoff and his team now work with Owners, Engineers, Project Management Teams, Constructors and Software Developers across the globe, helping them to understand and incorporate Workface Planning into their culture. Insight employees have established Workface Planning on nine major projects across Nth America and are currently helping three Owner organisations develop their own procedures for Workface Planning. Geoff was an active member of the COAA Workface Planning committee between 2004 and 2010 and is Chairman and founder of the Workface Planning Institute, a not for profit association of Workface Planners. Geoff’s first book: Schedule for Sale, Workface Planning for Construction Projects, has now been in print for 2 years and has sold over 1300 copies across five continents. Geoff has just returned from a tour in Australia where he presented the Workface Planning process to owners, government, contractors and academics at the Queensland University of Technology. Geoff was born in Melbourne, Australia and now lives in Fort McMurray with his Wife and four adult children. | |
Sambells, HarryDetails to come… | |
Schulz, YogiYogi Schulz is a partner at Corvelle Consulting. The firm specializes in project management and information technology related management consulting. Corvelle is assisting clients who are moving applications toward a web-based architecture. Mr. Schulz has almost 30 years of Information Systems experience. | |
Sewall, BradPartner, has over 30 years’ experience including planning, designing and implementing information systems and process change. Brad has assumed responsibility for a diverse set of projects and business process change initiatives. He has led, contributed to and implemented a number of new process initiatives within the oil and gas, pipeline, retail and transportation industries. Brad's training experience includes teaching courses in business process innovation, conflict resolution and interpersonal skills. He is a co-chair of the CIPS Business Analysis Special Interest Group and is the Past-President of the Computer Science Chapter of the U of C Alumni. He is Certified in the Prosci ADKAR Change Management Model. | |
Semeniuk, M.Eng. (PM), PMP, MonicaMonica Semeniuk has been involved in project management for most of her 25-year career. As a consultant, she has worked with clients of varying size and complexity in multiple industries, from insurance and healthcare, to telecommunications and petrochemicals. Ms. Semeniuk holds a Master of Engineering degree in the Project Management Specialization from the University of Calgary. Her desire to enhance her inter-cultural communication skills took her to Malaysia for 2 years, where she developed and delivered project management training for clients within Asia, Australia and Europe. | |
Singh, GurpreetGurpreet is a professional speaker with 20 years of strong experience in bridging the gap between information technology and business. Gurpreet has contributed at various professional speaking events such as Information Technology (IT) conferences, IT Security conferences, Business Analyst conferences, PMI conferences (session host) and MC events. Gurpreet is also a Competent ToastMaster (CTM) and has served on the board of directors at many Toastmaster Clubs such as TM4PM (affiliated to PMI-NAC), QUT Business and Young Achievers, etc. Gurpreet offers a unique perspective on how people, technology and processes enable business goals. His perspective embodies multi-cultural and multi-national experience while working in different parts of the world such as Canada, Australia, India, U.S. and Germany. Gurpreet's ability to perform at all management levels of both business and IT, enables him to engage at appropriate level at appropriate time. His industry exposure includes Oil and Gas, Energy, Government, Security, Mobile and Wireless. Gurpreet has helped realize business value with his expertise in Strategic Planning, Enterprise Architecture, Information Management, Project/Program Management, Process Improvement, Change Management, IT Security and all things Agile. As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), TOGAFv9 and ITILv3 professional, Gurpreet holds two masters degrees - Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Information Technology (MIT). A proud dad of two little angels Gurpreet lives in Calgary AB. | |
Stein, AaronAaron Stein is a Senior Technical Director at Quadrus Development Inc., a leading Calgary-based Information Technology consulting firm founded in 1993. Aaron is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) who has helped dozens of organizations in the design, architecture, development, and management of software projects throughout his career. With his extensive experience in traditional and agile projects, Aaron has guided software teams in the translation of business requirements into accurate estimates in multiple industries and disciplines for over 20 years. Aaron is also a contributor to and champion of the Quadrus Estimation Methodology (QEM), and continues to apply his experiences in the mentoring and coaching of project managers and development teams in the ongoing advancement of QEM. | |
Thaker, SohailPartner, has 24 years’ experience in project management (Traditional, Agile, and Scrum), program management, business analysis, business process innovation, change management, and facilitation. Sohail has worked in Africa, India, and Europe and has been a consultant with Ethier Associates for the last 11 years. Sohail is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute and has his MBA in International Business. Sohail has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars. | |
Thomas, JaniceJanice Thomas is a professor in the Faculty of Business and Director of the project management research institute at Athabasca University in Canada. She is well known in the international project management community through her volunteer work with professional associations such as PMI and IPMA, public speaking activities and collaborative research work. Her research builds on a practical foundation including 10 years spent as a Information Technology and Organizational Change project manager and 15 years of working with organizations to improve the practice of project management. Janice participated in the ground breaking Rethinking Project Management research project in Europe and has led four PMI sponsored research projects including the recently completed global study Researching the Value of Project Management. Her research interests include professional development of project managers, value generation through project management competency, complexity theory in relation to organizations and projects, and professionalization of knowledge workers. Janice maintains close ties to the practical realities of project management in organizations through consulting and membership in professional associations. Ultimately all of her research is aimed at understanding and communicating how the practice of project management in organizations can be improved. In 2010, Janice was honoured by the Project Management Institute which “recognizes and honors an individual who has significantly advanced the concepts, knowledge, and/or practices of project management through professionally conducted and authored project management research." | |
Wallace, JeffreyJeffrey Wallace is an accomplished public speaker, project manager and business leader. Before his formal business career, Jeffrey was an international track athlete competing in the 400 metre hurdle discipline. Jeffrey is the founder and president of Veris Inc and he will relate Project Management, Change Management and Benefits Realization through his experiences in trying to make the British Olympic Team for the 1980 and 1984 games. During this time, Jeffrey trained and competed with such as athletes Garry Oakes (1980 Olympic Bronze Medalist in the 400 metre hurdles), Daley Thompson (1980 and 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Decathlon) and Linford Christie (1988 Olympic Silver Medalist and 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 100 metres) and he will use anecdotes from these interactions throughout his presentation to illustrate his points. | |
Zbrodoff, ShaneShane Zbrodoff is a leading project management expert in cutting edge technologies in business andindustry. With over 23 years of information technology and project management experience, he has developed and followed several methods of advanced deployment. He is thefounder of Pilot Project International Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to advancing leading edge innovations and technologies in business, industry and environmental conditions. He is a graduate of Business at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, the project management program at Mount Royal University and is enrolled in the Business program at the University of Athabasca in Alberta, Canada. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) by the Project Management Institute. |
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