Opening Night Cocktail Reception with Guest Speaker

Greg Nadeau, Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), will be discussing Every Day Counts, a new initiative intended to bring more technology and innovation to the design and delivery of major highway, bridge and tunnel projects.

Developed by FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez, the initiative focuses on getting proven, effective, market-ready techniques into mainstream use, and on ways to get major transportation projects delivered to the public faster.  The name Every Day Counts was selected to capture the sense of urgency with which the Administrator believes the agency must make innovative and creative solutions central to its work.  He also believes that other construction industries can benefit from this better, faster and smarter approach to project delivery.

Greg Nadeau - view bio»
Deputy Administrator, Federal Highway Administration

Opening Remarks

Keith Fox - view bio»
President, McGraw-Hill Construction

Gregory L. Sizemore, Esq. - view bio»
Executive Vice President, The Construction Users Roundtable

Keynote Address

OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels will describe new focus on standards and enforcement, and reaching out directly to high-risk, hard-to-reach workers.  Dr. Michaels will also discuss working together with the construction industry on innovative ways to improve workplace safety conditions, including an effort to issue a new Injury and Illness Prevention standard.

David Michaels - view bio»
Assistant Secretary of Labor and Administrator, Occupational Safety & Health Administration

Panel: Keys to Enhancing Productivity

Improving productivity is one of the most pressing issues facing the construction industry. This panel will highlight how several owners are putting productivity principles to work on a diverse range of project types. Productivity experts will join them to discuss lean ideas, front loading, productivity tools, best practices and collaboration in a forum that will encourage audience interaction.

Moderator:
Janice L. Tuchman - view bio»
Editor-in-Chief
Engineering News-Record

Panelists:
Paul M. Goodrum, P.E., Ph.D. - view bio»
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
University of Kentucky, College of Engineering

Albert Schwarzkopf - view bio»
Senior Project Engineer, Merck & Co., Inc.

Jim Shoriak - view bio»
Director, Major Projects – Refining Group, Marathon Oil Company

Steve Toon - view bio»
CE&T Productivity Engineer, Bechtel Group, Inc.

Dave Umstot, PE - view bio»
Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management
San Diego Community College District

Association Perspectives

This panel, featuring some of the most influential association executives in the industry, will discuss how the economy and government policy have impacted construction in the past year and what’s ahead for the industry.

Moderator:
Tom Ichniowski - view bio»
Washington Bureau Chief
Engineering News-Record

Panelists:
Larry Burton - view bio»
Executive Director, Business Roundtable

Christine W. McEntee - view bio»
Executive Vice President/CEO The American Institute of Architects

Patrick J. Natale, P.E., CAE, F.ASCE - view bio»
Executive Director, American Society of Civil Engineers

E. Colette Nelson - view bio»
Executive Vice President, American Subcontractors Association, Inc.

Stephen E. Sandherr - view bio»
Chief Executive Officer, Associated General Contractors of America

Gregory L. Sizemore, Esq.
Executive Vice President, The Construction Users Roundtable

Luncheon with Keynote Speaker

Building for Diplomacy

Subsequent to the 1998 terrorist attacks against the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, the State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) embarked upon an aggressive building program to replace or retrofit its most vulnerable facilities overseas.  The program is authorized by the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999.  This program has been an unqualified success, resulting in the completion of 72 capital projects since 2001, with another 33 in design and construction.   The projects are primarily executed using the design-build delivery method and based on a standard embassy design model.  More than 21,000 U.S. Government employees have been moved from substandard facilities into facilities that meet the current security, life safety, and building code standards. 

In addition to building safe and secure platforms from which the U.S. Government can conduct its diplomacy overseas, OBO is actively embracing sustainable design.  Four new facilities -- Panama City, Sofia, Johannesburg, and Brazzaville -- have been LEED certified, with Brazzaville recently achieving LEED Gold. 

Moving forward with the program, OBO plans to improve on its successes.  OBO has recently initiated a “Design Excellence” program to improve the appearance and functionality of its buildings and to strike the optimal balance between providing safe and secure facilities while maintaining the openness and accessibility necessary for diplomacy.

Adam E. Namm - view bio»
Acting Director, Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations

Panel: How Technology is Changing Project Management

What emerging technologies have the most promise to improve project delivery? Panelists will explore how improved implementation of evolving systems, from building information modeling to enterprise resource planning, to mobile computing, are driving benefits for project teams. And what’s on the horizon? Panelists will look ahead to size up improvements in software, data management and hardware that promise to advance the state of project management in months and years to come.

Moderator:
Richard H.F. Jackson, Ph.D. - view bio»
Director
FIATECH

Panelists:
Michael DiNapoli - view bio»
Vice President & General Manager, Mid Atlantic Region
Suffolk Construction

Susan Fitzsimmons, CSI, CDT - view bio»
Senior Manager, AEC Industry Solutions
AT&T

Charles G. Hardy, CCM - view bio»
Regional Recovery Executive
GSA Public Buildings Service

The 2010 Outlook for U.S. Construction Activity – Midyear Update

The current year is seeing improved activity for some parts of the construction industry, though not all.  Single family housing hit bottom in early 2009, and since then has shown modest, if tenuous, improvement.  The lift to public works from the federal stimulus act is expected to broaden this year.  However, tight bank lending and the eroding fiscal health of states and localities pose as substantial constraints, adversely affecting the construction of such structure types as offices and schools.  This presentation will update the 2010 projections for U.S. construction starts, covering housing, public works, commercial building, and institutional building.

Robert Murray - view bio»
Vice President, Economic Affairs, McGraw-Hill Construction