MEET YOUR SPEAKERS

The basic relationships and processes of design have evolved at a snail’s pace over the past four thousand years. Seven years ago, at PSMJ’s 2012 A/E/C Industry Summit, Noble spoke of the blurring lines between design and fabrication and how we were on the cusp of a quantum leap in technology that would revolutionize the design and construction industry. Was he right? While even the most forward-thinking A/E/C firm leaders can easily become overwhelmed with the practical implications of disruptive changes in the design process, this is an amazing time to be in the business of design. In this eye-opening session, Noble revisits some of his observations from 2012 and outlines how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other major changes are going to drive growth or extinction in your firm...and how they may already be doing so.

Dave Burstein is a Director and Senior Consultant with PSMJ. Prior to joining PSMJ, Dave worked for 26 years at Parsons Corporation, one of the world’s largest and most respected engineering-construction firms. During his tenure at Parsons, Dave held a variety of responsible positions including President of Parsons’ 1,600-person environmental subsidiary and President of Parsons 120-person planning subsidiary.

Dave is one of the nation’s leading authorities on project management for the A/E/C industry. He developed and published a system for controlling budgets and schedules that is now known as Earned Value Management. In 1981, Dave co-authored (with PSMJ’s Frank Stasiowski) Project Management for the Design Professional, the first textbook on project management for the A/E/C industry, which has been published in both English and Spanish and sold over 80,000 copies. Dave has since authored two other textbooks on this subject and has developed software solutions to help PMs manage their projects more effectively. Dave also served as principal editor for “Chapter 1: Project Management” in McGraw-Hill’s Standard Handbook of Environmental Engineering, originally published in 1991 and again in 1998.

More than a motivational speaker, Greg Bell is a thought leader, business consultant, and leadership coach. His popular book, Water The Bamboo: Unleashing The Potential Of Teams And Individuals, has inspired an array of organizations, from Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Disney and Comcast, to the Portland Trail Blazers and Division I NCAA athletic teams like the Oregon Ducks Football and the Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball.

As an innovator and keen observer of highly successful leaders and teams, Greg has learned that the key to success is having the courage to use the skills you already have to achieve a result greater than you previously imagined.

Water The Bamboo was founded by Greg Bell, but has become much more through the daily practice and hard-earned success of the leaders, coaches and high performing individuals who have embraced the philosophy. Greg Bell, founder of the Water The Bamboo Center For Leadership, learned the virtues of discipline and hard work from his grandfather, a Texas farmer. Bell was the first to graduate from college in his family and played college basketball at University of Oregon where he was twice named Inspirational Player of the Year.

Do you want to achieve phenomenal success? When giant timber bamboo grows, it will rocket up an astonishing 90 feet in only 60 days. (Now that's growth!) Typically, bamboo farmers will tend a single seed for at least three years before they see any signs of growth. Do you have that kind of vision, faith, patience, persistence and focus to achieve what you want? Those who catch the spirit and understand the principles of the bamboo farmer will see their visions suddenly explode into reality - seemingly out of nowhere.

U.S. Army Major General Ronald L. Johnson (Ret.) is a professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech and serves as subject matter expert for the capstone senior design course in areas of leadership, ethics, teamwork and professionalism. He also serves as a fellow in the Office of Leadership Education and Development where he applies the skills he honed over a 34-year Army career to leadership coaching.

General Johnson advises the Board of Directors and officers of Engineering Systems Inc., an engineering and scientific investigation and analysis firm serving clients in multiple industries and disciplines, including civil, environmental, electrical, materials, metallurgical, and structural.

His military career included tours as Deputy Commanding General and Deputy Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Commanding General/Director U.S. Army IMA.

General Johnson was awarded both his B.S. (Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics) and his M.S. (Strategic Planning and Theater Operations) from West Point, and earned an additional Master's Degree in Operations Research and Systems Analysis from Georgia Tech. He is a graduate of the Executive Strategic Leadership Course at Harvard University.

A passionate, enthusiastic, charismatic engineer with extensive executive experience in building and leading teams to accomplish organizational objectives, he is a highly sought-after speaker and author of papers for scholarly and trade journals.

Tim Griffin has published numerous management articles and trained thousands of design firm principals across North America in best business practices. He also authored the best-selling book Winning With Millennials: Attracting, Retaining, and Empowering the Next Generation of Design Firm Professionals.

He currently serves as Principal-in-Charge at RMF Engineering, an engineering consulting firm with international projects. Tim is responsible for offices in Raleigh and Charlotte, NC, and Atlanta, GA, and has also served on RMF’s Board of Directors for 12 years.

In his instructing with PSMJ, Tim focuses on working with principals to be better leaders and business managers and helping others set up leadership training within their organizations.

Tim’s philosophy, which has developed over more than 30 years, is that everything rises and falls with leadership and that leadership is both accountable and responsible for a firm’s highs and lows.  Tim has led RMF’s leadership development university for six years, where he has trained mid-level leaders to understand the business side of leadership. He is also experienced at helping firms develop their own in-house leadership universities, and he gives keynote presentations on millennials nationally and internationally.

Frank Stasiowski is an advisor to CEOs and other leaders at many of the world’s top architecture and engineering firms. Additionally, he actively serves as an outside director for architectural and engineering firms around the globe, and Frank’s experience includes serving as a director for a publicly-traded, 4,000-person engineering firm.

Frank helps his clients by challenging them to excel and to think differently about their constraints and obstacles. He sees his role as one of guiding firm leaders through a perspective that may not come naturally to them. He views success ultimately as clients not simply following his recommendation, but rather making their own decisions guided by his insight.

Frank is a prolific author, writing hundreds of articles for the Professional Services Management Journal and numerous books intended for architecture and engineering firm leaders, including his recent best-sellers The Value Pricing Imperative for Design Firms and Impact 2030.

As an international speaker to audiences from 5 to more than 5,000, Frank is well-known for his data-driven (and even a bit daring) look into the future of the business of architecture engineering. His energetic and down-to-earth speaking style always draw rave reviews.

Frank brings particular expertise as an advisor, facilitator, and speaker on strategic planning, transition planning, and mergers & acquisitions. He spends a significant amount of his time delivering presentations and facilitating meeting discussions, planning retreats, workshops and training sessions all with the goal of dramatically improving the business performance of A/E/C organizations worldwide.

With PSMJ, Bill Hinsley has trained thousands of A/E/C professionals across the globe.

Bill formerly served as a Senior Management Analyst for two governors’ commissions and the Associate Vice President of renowned international firms, ARCADIS and Atkins, where he spearheaded $1 million to $11 billion projects.

He has had success in many different areas including business development, leadership training, branch office optimization, and strategic planning and growth.

He is experienced in the coordination and direct opening of multiple regional offices, the M&A of branch offices, and decision-making in determining the future success of a branch office. Bill had the unique experience of opening a branch office on his own at just 29 years old.

At his own branch office, Bill attracted more than $200 million of work. He knows what is required to make a successful transition to a new market or geographical area. At his branch office, he led marketing success through a decentralized “inform and empowerment” model, instructed hundreds of practitioners on how to leverage others’ overall marketing philosophy to borne success in the competitive A/E/C marketplace. and used innovative business development strategies as an instrument to break into new services and attract new clients.

As a National Director, Bill pioneered a successful $30 million business development plan. With this multi-million dollar strategy, Bill took risks – breaking into new services and attracting new clients – and as the client development lead on the project, the buck (all $30 million of it) proverbially and literally stopped with him.

With extensive project management experience in the planning, engineering, procurement, and management of large civil works projects, Bill has served as Senior Project Manager, Principal PM, and Principal-in-Charge.