EMERGING PROFESSIONAL
Successfully Developing Professionals Into Leaders and Managers
As technical staff grow in their careers, there is often an onus to take on more management responsibility. What is the best way to support and develop engineers and other technical staff into leaders and managers? How do you grow the career of professionals who don't want to take on management responsibility? These questions, and more, will be discussed by our panel of professionals at every stage in their career—from seasoned managers to those just starting out. Note: if a live presentation is possible, the panel will welcome questions or participation from attendees, most likely through virtual means.
Speakers
Chris Mealing, P.Eng.
Chris Mealing is Mott MacDonald’s unit general manager, and he has spent the past 26 years providing leadership and design and construction management to transportation and infrastructure projects across North America. He has held progressive leadership positions for design and construction engineering consultancies, as well as major heavy civil contractors. In his current role, Chris is responsible for Mott MacDonald’s services across Canada, while continuing to provide clients with advisory, project development, and implementation services.
Dani Delaloye, P.Eng.
Dani Delaloye is a principal engineer with Mott MacDonald, and she helps manage the company’s Vancouver tunnel team. She has over 10 years of experience successfully managing and coordinating large-scale, complex multidisciplinary project teams through preliminary and detailed design, as well as site investigation programs. Dani completed her Geological Engineering Master’s Degree with a specialization in geotechnical and geomechanical engineering and a focus on underground construction.
Homayoun Vahidi, P.Eng.
Homayoun Vahidi is Mott MacDonald’s unit transport technology leader for Canada. He brings over 30 years of experience in the transportation and technology sectors, and he specializes in applying technology to solve complex transportation problems. Homayoun is a recognized subject matter expert in intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and he is backed by an equally strong foundation in transportation planning and traffic engineering.
Peter Procter, P.Eng.
Peter Procter currently leads the Canadian tunnelling practice at Mott MacDonald. He is a senior geotechnical and tunnel engineer with over 26 years of experience, and he has worked in North America and around the world on civil and mining development projects, where has provided investigation, design, project management, and construction supervision services. Peter has extensive practical experience in all phases and aspects of tunnel projects, including project and engineering management, design, and geotechnical characterization, as well as constructability, tunnel cost-estimating, and site investigations.
Selena Wilson, P.Eng.
Selena Wilson is a senior transportation engineer and project manager with Mott MacDonald, specializing in multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder transportation projects. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked as a project manager, designer, and project coordinator on assignments ranging from transportation feasibility studies and large highway design-builds, to local port and municipal infrastructure projects. Selena both leads Mott MacDonald’s growing civil infrastructure team and serves as the Portfolio Manager for transportation and tunnel infrastructure projects in Western Canada.
Teach the Geek to Speak: Presenting to Non-technical Audiences
In this session, attendees will learn a repeatable process to practice and deliver any presentation, along with techniques that will minimize technical jargon while maintaining the integrity of a technical presentation to a non-technical audience. This session will be of particular interest for graduates who are transitioning into the workforce and beginning to interact with non-technical colleagues, management, and customers.
Speaker
Neil Thompson
Neil Thompson is the founder of Teach the Geek, working with engineers on their presentation skills. An engineer himself, he struggled with presenting, specifically in front of non-technical audiences. He improved over time and now helps people who face the same challenges he did. He's also host of the Teach the Geek podcast, interviewing engineers on their public journeys. In addition, he's an adjunct professor in the Engineering Management program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County.