Construction Tracks in PMIGLC's 19th Annual Symposium

It is my pleasure to announce that our Construction Community has successfully added a Construction Track to this year's PMIGLC's Annual Symposium!

As the Director of Corporate Outreach in PMIGLC, we had a very interesting and challenging year to bring together all the Quality Excellence like-minded project managers together which resulted in the formation of the Construction Quality Management Community.

One of the CQM Community goals was to have a separate construction track for PMPs in the Construction Industry as part of the symposium. We hope with your support and participation, Construction Project Managers take the lead in promoting the application of the PMBoK framework in their projects.

Please make sure to register while it's open at https://pmiglc.org/symposium

With the effort of our passionate Construction Project Management Professionals, the following speakers will be presenting live in our Virtual Symposium on October 30th, 2020:

Project Management Maturity Model – New Approach

Speaker: Basel Djazmati

Project execution excellence depends on the organization's maturity in project management, which requires having a reliable method and a tool to measure the maturity and identify areas for improvement. This presentation describes how the DTE Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) was simplified and updated into a new approach to better fit this need.

BIO: Basel is a professional Project Manager (since 2016) with over 20 years of professional experience and Project Management experience. Basel is also a Professional Engineer (since 2000).

Basel currently works for DTE Energy as a Senior Strategist and Project Manager responsible for developing and implementing a Quality Management System within the Gas Business. Previously Basel held various leadership positions with Framatome, an international leader in nuclear energy. During his tenure with Framatome, Basel worked as an Expat in France for 4 years.

BIO: Basel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Aleppo – Syria, a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Basel has several publications in engineering journals.

Basel lives with his wife Sima and three children (2 sons and 1 daughter) in Troy, Michigan. He enjoys bike riding, soccer and being outdoors. Basel and Sima enjoy traveling and watching movies together.

What’s the Next Step when all your Project Management Skills Lead to Conflict – Win-Win Strategies through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Speaker: Jerome F. Rock

On occasion, outside forces challenge the most effective Project Management efforts, and the project will face a conflict that threatens the success of the endeavor. The presentation will discuss the application of Alternative Dispute Resolution strategies that are focused on resolving the conflicts at the early stage of the dispute with the objective of keeping projects on track and avoiding the perils of litigation. The role of the Neutral, or Mediator as a Dispute Resolution Adviser will be explained, with suggestions and instructions on how project management personnel can be active in designing the framework of the dispute resolution process to best address the complexity of the dispute.

The role of all interested parties must be considered, including owners, senior managers and executives, guarantors and sureties, and other affected third-parties. Interest-based negotiation theories form the background with the objective of achieving a win-win situation within the practical boundaries. Case Studies will be presented that demonstrate the steps undertaken in successful pre-litigation mediation of a construction dispute, and the role of the project management professionals in supporting the process.

BIO: Jerome F. Rock is an Arbitrator and Mediator for Business, Technology and Construction industry disputes. He is on the Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) for Commercial, Construction, and Large Complex Cases. He is a Michigan Supreme Court Certified Mediator and regularly serves as a court-appointed mediator and special master in federal and state courts, as well as a facilitator of negotiations for complex business transactions.

Mr. Rock has degrees in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, as well as Law, and has been a construction and business lawyer, and chief executive of a high tech engineering firm, during which time he was a member of the Project Management Institute. He has also been a licensed residential builder, a LEED accredited professional by the US Green Building Council, and a former adjunct lecturer in engineering and construction law. He is a member of the Engineering Society of Detroit and a contributor to the ESD Institute Symposium- Michigan Green Enterprise Zone Initiative. He served on the board of directors of the Michigan chapter of the Design-Build Institute of America, as well as a Director and Board Secretary of the Detroit Athletic Club. Mr. Rock is also a member of the Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan (PREMi).

He is the Author of the Chapter “Settlement & Negotiation” for Michigan Civil Procedure, the comprehensive treatise published by the Institute for Continuing Legal Education. His focus on academic research and interest-based negotiation theory has a strong practical application that brings additional sophistication to the negotiation and settlement process.

Mr. Rock has earned the Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating of Preeminent, is rated as a SuperLawyer by Thompson Reuters, and Top Lawyer by Detroit Business and Hour Detroit.

Mr. Rock lives in Grosse Pointe with his wife of 40 years, proudly spoiling 4 grandchildren. In his spare time, he plays Squash and is a SCUBA Instructor with a Caribbean diving focus.

Unlimited Potential for Construction Managers and the Green Energy Challenge

Speaker: Joe Vaglica

The continuous increase in the cost of energy is driving the construction industry to pursue new alternatives in design and technologies. To reduce environmental impacts there are two ways to manage power in a building – one is adopting and integrating alternative energy sources in the current power grid and the other is the replacement of electrical devices by enabling energy saving counterparts as well as improving the overhaul of the building’s efficiency.

A thorough understanding of the science of building performance and efficient design is required to achieve maximum energy efficiency and best cost-performance ratio. Therefore, a paradigm shift is needed in a university’s curriculum by adding new courses and endeavors to train the future workforce facing the challenges of green energy construction

As a result, students whom are enrolled in the construction management program at Wayne State University Engineering Technology Division; are encouraged to participate in the annual ELECTRI International/NECA Student Chapter Competition on electrical construction managing projects.

The main component of the competition for the students is the challenge to design an energy upgrade for a facility that provides community services and prepares a proposal showing how their chosen facility can decrease its energy consumption to a net-zero facility. By incorporating energy-saving measures and distributed energy resources.

The proposed systems for upgrading facilities include lighting and integrated window treatments/controls, and the re-design of an energy efficiency program that responds to the unique needs of the building and climate. Students work as a team, study floor plans and visit the facility several times to verify the existing structure setup.

The team ought to provide detailed technical solutions in the proposal by examining the past year utility costs, planning the renovation design, estimating new system costs, and demonstrating how the new systems are more energy-efficient. In addition, students are required to seek possible funding sources, State grants, tax benefits etc.

In this presentation, we represent students’ projects proposed in the past years, discuss the project assessments, and demonstrate new approach and new tools such as software introduced in the projects. In addition, we introduce the potential integration of DC power and smart building to this year’s (2019) competition proposal for further improvement of energy efficiency.

BIO: Dr. Joseph Vaglica PhD., P.E graduated from Wayne State University, Detroit in 1995 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He then went on to continue his studies with Wayne State University and earned a Master of Science, Civil Engineering in 2001. A few years later he began to pursue his PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Wayne State University with a concentration in Construction Management.

Dr Joseph Vaglica is a professional engineer and the founder and owner of Gateway Engineering and Surveying (GES) established in 1995 and located in Shelby Township, Michigan. He is involved in all aspects of civil, structural, architectural and construction. His work includes but is not limited to, Residential, Commercial and Industrial projects throughout Michigan.

For registration and a complete roster of programs go to https://pmiglc.org/symposium