Keynote Speakers
Jacob Morgan, The Future Organization
Jacob Morgan is a four time best-selling author, keynote speaker and futurist who explores leadership, employee experience, and the future of work. He is also the founder of FutureofWorkUniversity.com, an online education and training platform that helps future proof individuals and organizations by teaching them the skills they need to succeed in the future of work.
His new book, The Future Leader, looks at the skills and mindsets people need to have if they wish to be successful leaders over the next decade and beyond. It is based on his interviews with over 140 CEOs around the world and a survey of nearly 14,000 employees.
To learn more visit https://thefutureorganization.com/books/.
Mike Walsh, Tomorrow
Mike Walsh is the leader’s futurist. A best-selling author of three books and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, he helps Fortune 500 organizations answer the question - ‘where do we go from here?’ - in this era of disruptive technological change.
The CEO of Tomorrow, a global advisory on designing business for the 21st century, Mike brings a strong research background and consultative approach to personalizing insights and recommendations for his audiences. He specializes in identifying ‘mind grenades’ or provocative questions that will challenge your team and stretch their thinking. His specialty is being able to straddle the two worlds of emerging technology and business leadership, translating cutting edge innovation into practical and prescriptive advice about new ways of working and transformative mindsets to reinvent their organizations and their role in them.
His latest book, The Algorithmic Leader: How to be smart when machines are smarter than you, offers a hopeful and practical guide for reinventing leadership and organizations.
Ben Wolff, Sarcos Robotics
Ben Wolff serves as the Chairman and CEO of leading global robotics company, Sarcos Robotics. In this role, he oversees the strategic direction of the company and engages with the company’s partners, customers and investors.
Prior to joining Sarcos, Wolff served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman at Pendrell Corporation from 2009 to 2014. In 2003, Wolff co-founded Clearwire Corporation, where he served as President, CEO and Co-Chairman. Clearwire was sold to Sprint in 2013 for more than $14 billion. Wolff has also served as President of Eagle River Investments, an investment fund focused on telecom and technology investments. Wolff previously served on the board of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), and is currently a member of the Board of Visitors of Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Wolff earned his law degree from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 1994, and his Bachelor of Science degree from California Polytechnic State University in 1991.
Breakout Speakers
Kevin Barnes
Fortium Partners
Kevin Barnes is a highly engaged Executive with proven ability to leverage diverse senior leadership experience in Technology, Innovation, Corporate Venture Capital, Sales, and Business Analytics to deliver sustained improvement in business performance. His strong reputation for reducing the friction between IT and the broader enterprise by instilling a business partner orientation across the company. Successfully leverages strengths in collaboration, change management, and enterprise program leadership to partner cross-functionally to deliver strategic initiatives that achieve targeted outcomes. Known for enabling increased organizational effectiveness through a passion for talent development and creating an environment that fosters highly engaged teams. Valued for high levels of integrity, humility, authenticity, and emotional intelligence.
Joaquin Diaz
Skanska USA
Mr. Diaz has over 20 years of occupational safety and health management experience. He is currently the Environmental, Health, and Safety Director for Skanska USA Building – Portland Office. He has overseen the development and implementation of Health, Safety, and Environmental Management Systems for other contractors. Joaquin is responsible for the professional development, mentoring, and training of Safety Professionals in and out of his organization. Joaquin is skilled at developing and implementing practical solutions for complex problem and is recognized for his ability to achieve positive results through teamwork and effective leadership.
Timothy Hoch
APM
Timothy Hoch is Information Technology and Innovation Director of APM since he joined in 2015. He leads an exceptional team of technical experts who empower corporate and field personnel through the development, employment and administration of innovative, robust and secure digital tools and systems. In partnership with other company visionaries, he has helped shape a culture of safety and innovation by fostering exponential thinking and driving the use of technology to enhance all aspects of business operations.
Matt Kram
Burns & McDonnell
Matt Kram is a Project Manager in the construction industry with a strong reputation for making his clients successful, team leadership and advancements in construction technology. He serves Burns & McDonnell’s Energy group with over 14 years of experience in the construction industry and over 12 years in EPC power plant projects ranging from new construction coal generation to simple cycle & combined cycle gas generation to Solar Generation. Matt joined Burns & McDonnell in 2017, utilizing his experience and leadership to develop and further support self-perform power plant construction execution capabilities.
Henry Nutt III
Southland Industries
As Southland Industries’ Preconstruction Executive, Henry Nutt III brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his position as well his unique strategy of field support, which includes a mixture of a “boots on the ground” type of approach combined with the practical theory of relationship building. This approach has allowed him to authentically build new Lean champions within the company and successfully strategize with clients by highlighting the benefits of Lean practices through answering the number one question: what’s in it for me?
Frank Sarno
Adolfson & Peterson
As Vice President, Construction Processes and Technologies, Frank Sarno partners with our regional offices and operational leadership to develop and drive overall business strategy and direction for the company’s construction processes and technologies. Frank has more than 20 years of operations, financial and technical leadership experience in the construction industry. Frank leads a team of highly skilled individuals whose focus is to ensure project management and construction related processes are executed to drive successful outcomes that provide positive experiences for both AP’s customers and project teams.
Ian Warner
Trimble
Ian Warner currently serves as a Product Manager for the Trimble Buildings Field Technology Group, liaison for Trimble educational outreach for Universities, Trade Schools and Unions, and Project Manager for internal Trimble Building projects. With over 25+ years of construction, architectural and facilities experience, he advocates for the integration of technological advances to help increase efficiency, safety and quality across the AECO industries. Ian received a BA in Architectural Studies, BS in Business Administration, and MA in Architectural Management with an emphasis in Design-Build Construction Management from the University of Kansas while working in the trades and construction. Prior to his career at Trimble, he served 11 years with JE Dunn Construction where he held positions as Product Manager, Superintendent, VDC Manager, and Technology Manager on the Trimble building project in Westminster Colorado. Ian manages residential construction projects, forest management and real estate investments in Colorado in his spare time.
Dr. Giovanna Brasfield
Flatiron Construction
With only ten percent (10%) of the industry consisting of women, Dr. Brasfield has been elevated to serve as the Senior Supplier Diversity and Community Inclusion Officer for Flatiron Construction as the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion and also serves as the Inclusivity Manager for LINXS JV on the Los Angeles World Airport’s Automated People Mover (APM) project. She assists the Southwest District Manager and the Division Manager in meeting contractual requirements on current projects and upcoming project pursuits that engage women, diverse businesses, local workforce, and youth engagement. Dr. Brasfield is a true advocate, leader, and change agent within construction who is passionate about inclusion of others within construction and construction-related trades.
Aaron Geiger
Alberici
Evaluate, prioritize and align describes how Aaron Geiger delivers continuous improvement to the Technology stack at Alberici Group as CTO. Aaron has served as part of the Alberici Executive Management Team since joining the company in 2018 and is considered a trusted advisor in the ongoing evolution of the business. Aaron holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and Banking from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Aaron has held a CTO or CIO role in the Construction industry for the last 10 years.
Eric Holzer
Uptake
Eric Holzer is the Product Innovation Manager at Uptake. Holzer joined Uptake in June of 2017 to guide the development and vision of Uptake’s rail product. From there, he expanded his product ownership by developing and guiding the first deployments of the Radar for Fluids, Compass and the Scout products at Uptake. Over his 3+ years at Uptake, Holzer has also seen involvement in a variety of responsibilities outside product management including customer implementation, customer management and technical sales.
Kris Lengieza
Procore
Kris Lengieza is the Director of Business Development, Marketplace for Procore. He has been in the construction industry for over a decade and has used that experience to drive the implementation of construction technology at several construction companies, with a people first mentality. His goal is to help owners, developers and builders achieve maximum value in their construction projects with the successful implementation of technology solutions.
Patrick O’Leary
BMWC Constructors
Patrick has been an integral BMWC team player for more than five years. He brings over 15 years of industry experience in Virtual Design, BIM/CAD, Surveying and Laser Scanning in multiple construction environments. At BMWC, he manages and coordinates between operations and IT in the development, implementation, and championing of systems and technologies to create integrated models using a combination of Point clouds and CAD models from design teams, consultants and in-house models. Patrick is keeping BMWC at the forefront of emerging industry technology trends and has established BMWC as an industry leader in Virtual Construction Technologies.
Dan Stokes
Nooter
Dan Stokes is the Group Manager for Nooter Construction’s St. Louis Area Operations. As a Civil Engineer he began his career as a Field Engineer overseeing large scale Power Plant and Refinery Construction Projects before becoming Project Manager on similar type projects.
Nathan Wood
Construction Progress Coalition
Nathan C. Wood is an innovation influencer across the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Nathan’s experience with Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), Lean process improvement, and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) has led him to realize how even proven technology solutions can often result in adoption failure and lost ROI. As Executive Director of the Construction Progress Coalition (ConstructionProgress.org), Nathan blends his passion for open collaboration with real-world skepticism to produce a pragmatic strategy digital standards adoption in design and construction. When not fighting for open standards, Nathan also supports the people and process transformation as Chief Enabling Officer of SpectrumAEC. Nathan continues to support industry progress through speaking engagements, research publications, and workshop facilitation.
Brad Birck
Enerfab
Business leader with over 15 years of business development, marketing and operations experience. Consistently built and managed successful teams with a demonstrated track record of developing and supporting major contracts with Fortune 500 companies. Experienced with strategic partnerships, team management, proposal development, contract negotiations and building new markets.
Matt Hedke
Barton Malow
Matt Hedke is the senior Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) manager at Barton Malow. Matt has been with Barton Malow for 19 years, where he has held a variety of roles such as reinforcing steel detailer, estimator, project engineer, fabrication manager, detailing manger before taken the current role as senior VDC manager.
In current role, Matt is focused on how Barton Malow leverages technology to improve safety, quality, work flow efficiency and field productivity.
John Jurewicz
Walbridge
John Jurewicz is Walbridge’s Director of Innovation and runs the company’s newly formed business unit, Walbridge Technologies LLC. He comes from LTC Corp., where he was Chief Technology Officer and President of LTC Technologies. Prior to that, he led building information modeling work for the Great Lakes Region for Bovis Lend Lease from 2010 to 2013. From 1985 to 2010, Jurewicz held management and supervisory positions with A Architects, AECOM, Power Construction, Raytheon Technical Services, T5V Venture, Schal, McHugh Construction and Ellerbe Beckett.
Justin McFarland
McCarthy Holdings
Justin McFarland serves as the Executive Vice President of Information Technology at McCarthy Holdings, Inc., the parent company of McCarthy Building Companies and Castle Contracting. Established in 1864, McCarthy is the oldest, privately held national construction company in the country providing general contracting, construction management, design-build, and self-perform services nationwide. In his role, Justin is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Information Technology department including strategy, innovation, business intelligence, field and enterprise applications, service desk operations, and infrastructure and operations.
Sasha Reed
Procore
Sasha’s professional experience is rooted in communication and how it affects a business' ability to connect, serve, and inspire customers, both internal and external. She cut her teeth in the technology space at Bluebeam, initiating the implementation of numerous methods including the “Concierge Approach”. This resulted in a differentiated brand and provided a human-focused strategy for growing the business. Combining over 17 years of AECO industry experience with over 11 years of hospitality experience, she’s gained a unique perspective into the people, technology and process' driving today's biggest changes. As a member of the leadership team that took Bluebeam from startup to exit, she continued to support the company's growth by advocating for industry change.
Jason Thurner
Milwaukee Tool
Jason Thurner leads multi-disciplinary solutions around construction technology and the future of the building industry. At Milwaukee Tool he has worked on early concept products and strategies involving Hand Tools, Power Tools, Lighting & Storage. The depth of his Milwaukee R&D background and his contributions in mapping out product roadmaps in unknown areas makes him well-suited to champion products in this new and engaging space. Jason first gained experience working in the construction trades which continues to fuel his passion in worker-centered design.
Lee Worley
Ironworkers
Lee Worley is a 33-year member of the Iron Workers Union. He completed his 3-year apprenticeship in 1990 in Portland, Oregon and after working in all facets of the trade was appointed apprenticeship coordinator in 1996. In 2009 he was appointed Apprenticeship Director for the Pacific Northwest District Council and in 2011 was asked to lead the International’s apprenticeship and training department in Washington, DC as their Executive Director. Lee sits on many workforce development committees and currently completed a three-year Construction Industry Institute study on Transforming the U.S. Workforce System into a World Leader.
Josh Bone
NECA
For more than two decades Josh Bone has been implementing, training and presenting construction technology solutions to AEC&O (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owners) professionals. Having worked with some of the top technology leaders in the industry, Josh specializes in identifying best practices and methodologies for integrating construction technology into everyday workflows. Today he works with NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) where he is helping drive technology adoption within their member companies. Josh has had the opportunity to share his knowledge with audiences and publications across North America as a frequent professional speaker and guest editorial contributor. Josh is also a frequent host on The ConTech Crew podcast.
Ron Heise
Southland Industries
Ron Heise is the General Superintendent at Southland Industries. He started his career as a sheet metal apprentice in 1985. He has worked on biopharmaceutical, commercial, and advanced technology (data centers) but most of the past 34 years have been on healthcare and OSHPD projects. Ron’s responsibilities as Superintendent include project leadership and oversight for sheet metal functions including project coordination, scheduling, training, sequencing, manpower staffing, shop prefabrication, on-time project delivery, and interfacing with unions.
Dave Knecht
BMWC Constructors
Dave Knecht is a Project Manager with BMWC and has been in the construction industry for14 years. He received his bachelor’s degree in construction management from Michigan State University in 2007 and has worked the power, petrochemical, and semiconductor market segments. As a project manager he has been responsible for leading teams performing process piping installations in facilities with on-going manufacturing operations and requiring critical system shutdowns and tie-ins. He is a current member of TAUC’s Innovation and Technology committee, specializes in building high performing project teams and has a passion for continuous improvement.
Kate Migon
Uptake
Kate is the VP of Strategic Partnerships at Uptake, an Industrial AI software company headquartered in Chicago. In her current role, she leads the business growth initiatives through go-to-market partnerships for advanced analytics across industrial markets including transportation, energy, mining, and manufacturing. Prior to Uptake, Kate led the Automotive & Mobility Americas team at cybersecurity company Gemalto, now part of Thales. There, she built the American auto market from scratch for Gemalto, driving cybersecurity, data privacy, biometrics and furthering connectivity and data monetization to the passenger car and mobility markets. In her earlier career, Kate also spent several years in the IoT connectivity and semiconductor spaces.
Ryan Rohleder
Intel
Mr. Rohleder has over 12 years of international experience in both general industry and construction occupational health and safety leadership. He is currently the Corporate Services Construction Health & Safety Program Manager for Intel Corporation, overseeing multiple General Contractors & Trade Partners in Oregon. He has spent much of his professional career leading the construction of high-tech industrial facilities and infrastructure throughout the United States and Asia Pacific countries. His work experience includes leadership roles for one of the nation’s largest electrical contractor, construction consultant, and directly working for two US Fortune 100 companies.
Chuck Violand
Nooter
Chuck Violand is the Corporate Welding Engineer for the Nooter Construction family of companies. As a degreed welding engineer he has spent his career working in the shop fabrication and field construction industries servicing the power, refining, and petrochemical markets. With a demonstrated background in the practical implementation of welding processes and technology he is able to provide innovative solutions to customers with a primary focus on quality and safety. He is an AWS CWI and a member of the ASME BPVC Section VIII and Section IX committee subgroups.