Abstracts/Bios

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2008 Conference Home Overview Training Program Conference Committee Abstracts/Bios
Abstracts/Bios

Abstracts:

Bios:

 

Finding Value Through Function Cost Techniques

By Muthiah Kasi PE, SE, CVS (Life)

Function cost is a tool used in value studies to help illustrate the relationships between project elements. Interactions between elements and their perceived value are examined and then used to provide insight into cost.

Through a function cost analysis each project component (function) is identified and assigned an estimated cost. Then, these figures are compared to their perceived value. The exercise yields determinations about value mismatches, shedding light on problem areas. The primary objective of this concept is to achieve the highest user satisfaction while decreasing function costs. This powerful tool is the keystone of effective value planning.

The concept of function cost is widely recognized in theory, but lacks an abundance of documented practical examples. In this presentation, five case studies are drawn from various infrastructure design projects. A series of function cost analyses were incorporated in these projects during the planning phase, and invaluable insight was realized as a result.

The following case studies were conducted:

Case Study 1 - Value is achieved through function cost increases.
Case Study 2 - Value is achieved though reducing cost via selection of an alternate.
Case Study 3 - Value is increased through comprehensive understanding of function cost through the eyes of the client.
Case Study 4 - The perception of cost allocation is explored, with reallocation of the proper function cost elements.
Case Study 5 - Simple solution leads to decreased cost and increased value.

This presentation will walk attendees through the processes of an actual function cost exercise. The information shared here will provide an understanding of how the delicate balance between cost and user satisfaction can be managed. A variety of graphical exhibits will be presented that help explain the importance of this tool and its impact on the engineering industry.

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Muthiah Kasi PE, SE, CVS (Life)

Muthiah Kasi is a recognized leader in the field of engineering, and has over 30 years of experience with value engineering. Through the efforts of Mr. Kasi, Alfred Benesch & Company became a pioneer in the value engineering field, and was the first consulting firm to receive the SAVE International Excellence in Value Engineering Award in 1989. Mr. Kasi is also an accomplished designer having created plans for high and low-rise buildings; long and short-span river bridges; and urban and rural highways. In addition, he co-authored a textbook titled “"Function Analysis - The Stepping Stones to Good Value".

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VAVE Applied in Electronics Contract Manufacturing Services

By Pierre Marquis

At Sanmina-SCI, we have used the VAVE technique on many products in the telecommunications and industrial sectors, such as internet routers and switches, wireless RFID (radio frequency identification) and industrial controller. In the last ten years, we have conducted numerous joint VAVE sessions with our major customers, which resulted in tens of millions of dollars in cost reductions, improved quality and waste elimination. We will present to the audience our approach and a few case studies done recently.

Since year 2001, we have co-developed with a major customer, an accelerated way of conducting VAVE sessions, which was necessary due to time limitations. We can complete a VAVE session on a complex PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) or a chassis within one day. To achieve it, we prepare and distribute all required information two days prior to the group session. Three phases are completed during the one day session: Function and cost analysis, creativity and ideas evaluation. Finally, the phases of development and presentation, followed by implementation and follow-up are done in the next few weeks after the joint VAVE session, via weekly conference calls.

Sanmina-SCI’s core VAVE expertise consists of four engineers and is promoted by the sales department, to which they belong. Two engineers specialize in electronics, and two in mechanical design. Activities are mainly conducted in North America, but VAVE services are also available in Europe with local, additional resources. Among Sanmina-SCI’s customers, all sizes of companies are eligible to benefit, as long as they provide their resources and commit to follow the process. For example, the customer’s designers are invited at the session to present the functionality of the product in scope. That information is a must to do the functional analysis. It also contributes to educate the multidisciplinary team of Sanmina-SCI on the product’s characteristics.

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Pierre Marquis

Pierre Marquis, Project Manager of VAVE since 2001, has been with Sanmina-SCI Montreal since 1995, and was trained on VAVE module one in 1999. Since then he participated in or animated over twenty VAVE sessions. During the 1995-2000 period at SANM, Pierre was a successful manager of engineering, training, stores, and quality, within the Montreal PCBA assembly plant. Prior to 1995 his work experience included industrial engineering and supervision positions in the consulting companies, Circo Craft, Bell Canada and Nortel.

Pierre graduated in industrial engineering from l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) in 1985, and completed a MBA from HEC Montreal in 1999.

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Howard Avenue Grade Separation - A Value Partnership

By Brian Ruck, TSH & Doug Macrae, MTO

The Let’s Get Windsor-Essex Moving strategy is a commitment by the federal and provincial governments to jointly invest $300 million for the implementation of short- and medium-term projects to improve traffic flows to existing crossings and address congestion and security issues in the Windsor Gateway. The strategy includes grade separation of the cross-border Canadian Pacific Railway line at Howard Avenue and Walker Road. The projects are being delivered by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation in cooperation with the City of Windsor and Transport Canada.

Howard Avenue is a major north-south arterial road in Windsor. Significant traffic delays are experienced from the 26 trains that cross Howard Avenue at the CPR tracks each day and these delays have become longer following the installation of the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), which is required by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency for US-bound trains.

The project to construct a grade separation at Howard Avenue received environmental assessment approval in Spring 2007 and is currently in design with an anticipated construction start in 2009.

A value engineering study was held early in the design phase of the project to identify opportunities to increase the value of the project based on an analysis of the EA recommendations and early pre-design work. The VE brought together all the key stakeholders in the project including representatives from Canadian Pacific Railway, Hydro One Networks, City of Windsor and Transport Canada. Key members of the newly acquired design consultant also participated to maximize the flow of ideas from the workshop to the design team.

The VE study resulted in significant improvements to the design including new bridge types for the two structures and alignment revisions. Value is being realized by the implementation of recommendations that improve the design and reduce property impacts.

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Brain Ruck, P.Eng

Professional Qualifications

Professional Engineer with over 26 years experience. Specialized in project management of transportation projects and Value Engineering.

Education

  • Bachelor of Applied Science, University of Toronto, 1982
  • SAVE MOD I, 1997
  • SAVE MOD II, 1999

Professional Associations

  • Professional Engineers of Ontario/Alberta - P. Eng.
  • SAVE International “The Value Society” - CVS (Certified Value Specialist)

Work Experience

Totten Sims Hubicki Associates - 1998 - Present; Manager, Transportation and Value Engineering, Whitby.

Ontario Ministry of Transportation; 1982-1998; various positions including Head Planning and Design, construction administration, and geotechnical engineering.

Highway 69 – Estaire Ontario – Project Manager for the detail design of 12km of new freeway through the Canadian Shield. Project includes 12 new bridges, the excavation of over 4M cubic meters of rock, and one new interchange. Project value is estimated to be in excess of $120M.

Value Engineering

SR 600 - SR 600 US 17/92 from SR 530 to Pleasant Hill Road – City of Kissimmee FL, FDOT Dist 5 Deland – VE Team Leader to review the proposed reconstruction of SR 600. The project included a heavily urbanized section connecting to a rural area at the south end. The VE team made several recommendations to revise the proposed typical section to accommodate bike lanes, and to avoid ROW impacts south of the CPX railway crossing. The recommendations totaled a potential savings of $7M representing about 22% of the total project cost. (February 2008)

Howard Avenue CP Rail Grade Separation, City of Windsor Ontario – VE Team Leader to review the proposed road/rail grade separation and associated road reconstruction for an urban roadway. The project involved intersection reconstruction and review of constructability issues to maintain road and rail traffic at this busy crossing. The VE team made several recommendations that eased construction conflicts and reduced impacts on commercial properties. (November 2007)

Interstate 4 at SR 434 in Seminole County Florida – VE Team Leader to review the detail design for widening of I4 and major reconstruction of the SR 434 interchange. The VE team identified opportunities to reduce structure costs and change the interchange geometry to save ROW costs while improving interchange operations. Client was FDOT District 5 – Deland. January 2007.

SR 46 from US 17/92 to SR 415, Seminole County Florida - VE Team Leader to review the PD&E study that for this project. This project involves the proposed widening from 2-4 lanes of this 3.7m section and several intersection improvements. The VE Team identified opportunities to improve intersection geometry and operations at SR 415, address settlement in a muck area, and re-align proposed service roads to better serve the adjacent airport while reducing costs. Client was FDOT Dist 5 – Deland. (March 2006)

Nanton and Claresholm Realignment Study, Realignment of Highway 2, Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation – Value Engineering Team Leader to investigate alternative alignments and connections from Highway 2 at the Towns of Nanton and Claresholm. The VE Team identified several interchange alternatives to facilitate the bypassing of the Towns while maintaining reasonable visibility and connections for businesses and residents. (November 2005)

Highway 1 Twinning, Saskatchewan, from Whitewood to the Manitoba Border, Saskatchewan Highways – VE Team Leader for Stage 2 VE study for an 82.5 km section of existing Highway 1. The study was undertaken to review the previously completed function design to twin this section of highway. The VE team identified several additional alternatives for treatment of the highway around the Towns of Whitewood and Moosomin. (September 2003)

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Douglas Macrae, P.Eng

Work Experience

Ministry of Transportation, Ontario
  • Senior Project Engineer, Windsor Border Initiatives Implementation Group
    November 2005 to Present
    -Delivery of municipal and provincial transportation projects in the City of Windsor and County of Essex
  • Project Engineer, Planning & Design Section
    June 2004 to November 2005
    -Project management of multi-functional highway engineering assignments
  • Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Geotechnical Section
    May 2002 to June 2004
    -Implementation of the MTO pavement management system and priority setting for the minor capital program
  • Project Soils Engineer, Geotechnical Section
    June 2000 to May 2002
    -Engineering services related to pavement design and evaluation, materials and foundations engineering
Peto MacCallum Limited
  • Project Engineer
    July 1993 to June 2000
    -Geotechnical and environmental engineering for government, developers and contractors

Value Engineering

  • Let’s Get Windsor-Essex Moving Grade Separations, Windsor, Ontario
    June 2005
    -Value engineering and risk assessment for two grade separations
    -Winner - AASHTO Value Engineering Award 2007
  • Canadian Border Services Agency, Windsor, Ontario
    October 2007
    -Functional performance specification and value engineering of a proposed customs inspection facility in a confined area of the Canadian Plaza of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel
  • Detroit River International Crossing Access Road, Windsor, Ontario
    June 2006
    -Two week workshop for this project valued at over $1 Billion
  • Highway 401 Preliminary Design, Cambridge, Ontario
    June 2004
    -Value Engineering of a project to widen Highway 401 from six to ten lanes

Education

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, 1993, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario

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John Counter Blvd Reconstruction Risk Assessment: A Case Study, City of Kingston

By Tony Wing, P.Eng.

John Counter Boulevard is a 3.6 km section of roadway that runs east-west within the City of Kingston. It accommodates large volumes of traffic serving local and regional traffic demand. The roadway has become a critical arterial providing an east-west transportation corridor midway between Highway 401 and downtown Kingston. This route will make up part of the corridor for a future third crossing of the Cataraqui River.

To address existing and future demand, the City is proceeding with plans to widen the arterial from 2 to 4 lanes. The Project offers considerable challenges including a proposed grade separation (road over rail) to be constructed in poor soils and through a wetland, contaminated soils issues, property and funding constraints. The estimated cost included in the ESR for the improvements was $32M (2003 Dollars). The City proposes to fund the project entirely through development charges.

MRC undertook a Risk Management Workshop and Risk Analysis in the early stages of their Preliminary and Detailed Design Assignment prior to the final selection of the grade separation alignment. Although not normally undertaken as part of a Risk Assessment Workshop, a brief Value Engineering brainstorming session was integrated with contributions from all of the Workshop participants. This presentation, a case study of MRC’s RECAP Risk Management Process, will include remarks on the integration of some Value Engineering in the Risk Management Process as well as some comments on the suitability to Municipal Government Transportation Projects.

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Tony Wing, P.Eng.

McCormick Rankin Corporation (MRC)

Tony Wing is MRC’s Deputy Chief Engineer where he is actively involved in quality control, independent peer review, risk assessment and risk management on major projects undertaken by the firm. He has over 26 years of professional experience in the consulting sector. After graduating from the Mathematics and Engineering program, Structures Option at Queen’s University Kingston in 1982, he joined McCormick Rankin Corporation. The majority of his professional career has been devoted to the project management, planning, design and construction of roads, bridges, station buildings, tunnels and structures for transportation projects.

Mr. Wing combines his current position as Deputy Chief Engineer for MRC with project management consulting services on a wide variety of major transportation projects. His international experience includes large budget, planning, environmental assessment, evaluation, inspection, contract administration, and construction supervision projects for several international bridge authorities. He is currently managing MRC’s involvement in the largest transportation project in the world, the design and construction of the $15B East-West Motorway in Algeria.

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Dan A. Seni P.Eng., Ph.D., University of Quebec

Dr. Dan A. Seni is a scientist, engineer and economist. He holds a Ph.D. in the foundations and the management of technology from the Wharton School of Business and Finance of the University of Pennsylvania. He has authored and co-authored over 75 scientific publications. Dr. Seni has also led or has contributed to numerous major consulting projects in industry over a 20-year period for various groups, both private firms and public bodies.

Dr. Seni is Professor of innovation and technology management in the Department of Management and Technology in the business school at the University of Québec at Montreal. He was also head of the Science, Technology and Industry Center at the Institute for the Management of the Bio-Industries, in Montreal, Canada. He has, for some years now both taught and done applied work in the areas of function modeling, value engineering, value analysis and value management and their application to innovation in the firm, particularly at the level of business strategy. He has made presentations and read papers at both the meetings of the Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE) and the Canadian Society of Value Analysis CSVA. His function based approach to systems modeling (DfV or Design for Value) has been tested and used in classes and workshops over the last six years. His most recent research has centered on the relation between invention, innovation and wealth in the life science industries, that is, between technological and economic value, and how these kinds of value can be analyzed, modeled, linked, and planned.

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Steve Taylor, P.Eng., M.Eng., CVS

Mr. Taylor is a Certified Value Specialist with over 10 years experience completing VE Studies for national and international projects. He is currently President of the Canadian Society of Value Analysis and has been a Board Member since 2002 and a CSVA member for over 10 years . Mr. Taylor is Vice-President of Tranportation, Ontario for GENIVAR managing transportation projects across Ontario.

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Value Engineering/Value Analysis and Sustainability

VE Can Help Teams and Projects Be More Sustainable:

  • Multi-disciplinary approach helps explore sustainability from other perspectives
  • Sustainability can be used as a performance criterion
  • Social, economic and environmental sustainability can be weighted
  • Sustainability can be a brainstorming target
  • VE teams can consider sustainability in making recommendations
  • Improved sustainability can be the goal of a VE workshop

 

Sustainability focused Performance Measures evaluation criteria can include:

  • New Land Area Impacted
  • Farm/rural land affected
  • Property Impact
  • Forest / Vegetative Area Impacted
  • Wetland / Water Body Impact
  • Storm Water Management
  • Alternative Transportation Modes
  • Recycling / Reuse of Materials
  • Use of local Materials

 

Sustainability issues are addressed within other performance criteria such as:

  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    • Traffic Operations – Avoid Queuing
    • Maintainability – Fewer Delays and Queuing throughout life cycle
  • Economic Impact
    • Access – Access Businesses and community
    • Traffic Operations – Move People and Goods Efficiently

 

Outcomes

  • VE process enables social, economic and environmental values to be considered in developing alternatives.
  • VE process does not depend on a single “right answer” for sustainability, or a specific calculation that represents sustainability.
  • VE report documents how sustainability was specifically address on the project.
  • The process is quick. It balances ideas to improve sustainability (and often increase the capital cost) with ideas that reduce capital and life cycle costs.

 

 

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Stephen Holmes, P.Eng, CVS

Stephen Holmes graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BASc in Civil Engineering in 1985 and has worked for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for 23 years. His technical background includes highway planning and design, foundation design, and highway safety. Stephen has coordinated MTO’s VE program since 1999. The VE program has accumulated savings and cost avoidance of over $340 Million since 1999.

Stephen was the first Canadian government official to become certified from SAVE International as a Certified Value Specialist (CVS). He is a member of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) VE technical committee and a director of the Canadian Society of Value Analysis (CSVA).

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Transportation Agencies’ Development of Project Risk Management Programs

By Dr. Travis McGrath

As consultants, we have been involved with the development and maturation of several transportation agencies’ programs for managing project cost and schedule risk. Along the way, the agencies’ programs evolved in various ways to meet their particular needs and to overcome challenges. We offer our external perspective on some lessons learned and continuing challenges for these and other agencies in their pursuit of effective project risk-management programs.

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Dr. Travis McGrath

Principal and Senior Engineer / Risk Analyst, Golder Associates, Redmond, Washington

Dr. McGrath specializes in the risk-based evaluation of cost and schedule for large infrastructure projects. He has conducted or participated in risk assessments for nearly 100 proposed transportation projects including roadways, bridges, airports, rail transit systems, and tunnels. He has also co-developed and delivered training on infrastructure risk assessment under contract to FHWA and to the Departments of Transportation for Washington State, Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, Florida, Virginia, Ontario, and Andalusia (Spain). He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering (summa cum laude) from Seattle University. He is a former US Army Engineer officer and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Washington.

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Will Willson

Will Willson heads up Davis Landon’s Risk Management Department and is currently based in their Philadelphia office. As a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Associate Value Specialist (AVS SAVE) Will brings 33 years of experience in construction and has a broad background in technical and management areas specializing in cost control, scheduling, value engineering, risk analysis, life cycle costing, project and construction management. Will has presented numerous papers and lectures to companies and professional societies worldwide. Will has instructed semester courses in Risk Analysis at Washington University St Louis, NYU, NY and Oklahoma University. Will was the Project Planning Manager for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link PPP project in the UK for 4 years during preliminary design and then headed up the risk assessment for the project working for Bechtel through to Financial Close.

Will’s most recent projects in Canada include developing the risk matrix for Infrastructure Ontario with partners in MMM and KPMG, the risk assessments for sections of the new 4 laning of Highway 69 and the Detroit River 401 connector in Windsor. Other recent and ongoing projects include risk assessments for the Federal Highways Agency in the United States for the Central Subway Muni extension project in downtown San Francisco, the ULINK light rail project in Seattle, Phase 2 of the light rail extension in Sacramento and the Denver West Corridor Light Rail project in Colorado.

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Cost Risk Analysis and Value Engineering

Khalid Bekka

HDR has successfully combined Cost Risk Analysis with Value Engineering into an integrated process called “CRAVE”. CRAVE identifies and quantifies opportunities while accounting for risk. CRAVE augments risk analysis by assessing within the same framework all possible alternatives and solutions suggested or recommended by the value engineering team, providing a reality check on proposed innovations. The presentation will provide an overview of the process and how it's applied to various type of projects as well as discuss few case studies.

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Khalid Bekka

Sr. Vice President of HDR | Decision Economics Inc., Dr. Bekka managed several risk and economic analysis studies for federal, state, and local agencies including US Federal Highway Administration and US Federal Transit Administration. He is currently leading cost risk analysis engagements for programs in Washington State, Texas, California, Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Dr. Bekka led cost risk analysis for major rebuild projects on behalf of the US Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans and for a water dependability program on behalf of NYC Department of Environmental Protection in New York City. Over the past fifteen years, Dr. Bekka has developed new framework to assess economic feasibility of major investment projects by combing risk analysis, statistical techniques, economic theory, and modeling techniques. He has published and presented several papers in transportation economics in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Dr. Bekka received his Ph.D. and a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Delaware, and an MBA from Widener University in Pennsylvania.

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Value Engineering in Durham Region, Different Approaches Achieve The Same Result - Millions of Dollars in Savings

By Matthew Elliott, Euan Ferguson, Brad Dobson, Thom Sloley and Bob Hook

Value Engineering (VE) has been applied to two recent wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) projects in the Region of Durham with total capital costs exceeding $500 million dollars. The recently completed Courtice WWTP was commissioned in 2008. In 2004 with design nearing completion, construction cost estimates showed the project heading for an overrun of approximately $10 million dollars. To address this potential overrun, the Region commissioned a VE study consisting of the Region representatives and an internal VE team assembled by the design consultant. This team was comprised of senior consultant staff familiar with the project but not involved in the day to day design. An intensive four day session included functional analysis, identification of alternative solutions and development of cost proposals. Cost reduction objectives were realized without compromising project quality. The Duffin Creek WWTP expansion is the second project where the Region's of York and Durham are partnering on the $400 million upgrade and expansion. This project has been delivered including 3rd party VE sessions at the Conceptual Design, Detailed Design and Final Design Stages - it is currently under construction. While overall project value was enhanced at each stage, the cost savings at the conceptual design stage were the most significant. These two projects showed that while the VE was approached differently in each case, the basic VE framework was successful in achieving significant cost savings. In the case of the 3rd party VE, the greatest savings were realized at the conceptual design stage.

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Matthew Elliott

Matthew Elliott is a Professional Engineer and a Senior Project Manager with CH2MHILL Canada with over 20 years experience in environmental engineering. His roles have included project management, process and facility design for several large wastewater treatment plant projects in Canada, the United States and Europe. He has participated as a VE design team member and has also served as a VE facilitator.

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VM - The link for Modern Management Improvement Tools

By Hank Ball

The Value Methodology, the oldest, most complete process for identifying problems or improvement opportunities in products, processes or services, has not been adopted nor does it enjoy the visibility of the more popular management tools in today's competitive environment. Total Quality Management, Theory of Constraints, Quality Function Deployment, Design of Experiments, Design for Manufacturing/Assembly, TRIZ, Target Costing, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, etc., are a few of the tools being employed by organizations to resolve problems and improve their bottom line. While these tools may work well within their focus, many lack the broad scope necessary to resolve the overall business concern.

This paper will provide a brief survey of these tools and how they relate to the Value Methodology Job Plan. In many instances the most beneficial management approach would be to employ the value methodology as an overarching approach to addressing management concerns and inserting the appropriate tool when conditions warrant.

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Hank Ball, CVS

Henry (Hank) Ball, CVS, is President of Ball Associates, Inc. He is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA earning a Baccalaureate in accounting and an MBA. As a value management practitioner for over eleven years Hank has facilitated a broad spectrum of value studies, developing innovative approaches to organizational decision-making tasks. Hank is a recognized expert in VECP contract development and settlements, which contributed an average annual $500,000 in royalties to the company’s bottom line. Additionally, he served over four years as Chairman, Electronic Industries Alliance/ Value Management Group. Hank retired as the Value Management process manager for the Phantom Works operating group of the Boeing Company after a twenty-one year Air Force career where he served as a Flight Examiner Pilot on C-130s and a “Hurricane Hunter” in WC-130s. Other Air Force duties included Tactical Airlift Advisor to the Royal Saudi Air Force, ROTC instructor at Manhattan College in New York, and Chief, Combat Operations for the 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord AFB. He is the recipient of numerous decorations from his military service, was named the "Rising Star" award winner in 1997 by SAVE International and was recognized by the Department of Defense in 1998 for special achievements in the field of Value Engineering.

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Richard Vezina

A civil engineer holding a Master's Degree in Transportation, Richard Vézina has more than 35 years of experience as engineer, manager and corporate executive. He has worked 19 years as an engineering consultant, five years as Senior Manager for municipal civil services and three years as Executive Vice President of an industrial company.

Since 1998, he as worked as Value Management Consultant in over one hundred assignments related to projects, product as well as management, organisational design, operational diagnosis, business processes development and evaluation for public, parapublic and private clients.

His main strengths lie with engineering, corporate management and development, as well as sales and marketing. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a keen interest in productivity improvement within the workplace.

Richard is Certified Value Specialist (CVS) from the Society of American value Engineers (SAVE). He is a member of OIQ (Québec Order of Engineers), SAVE and CSVA (Canadian Society of Value Specialists).

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Dennis Regan

Dennis Regan is a Senior Project Manager with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. He has worked with MTO since 1986 and his technical background includes geotechnical, route planning and detail design. Dennis has been involved with Value Engineering since 1999 as West Region’s Value Engineering Coordinator and has organized and taken part in several VE studies.

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Christian Faucher, Ing, MBA, PMP

Through his career M. Faucher successively worked as a Construction Project Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Quality Manager and Maintenance Manager. In 1996 he became responsible for the Construction & Procurement team of IBM Canada’s Real Estate group. Joining Pratt & Whitney in 1998, he organised the construction of facilities in 3 countries in support of the company globalisation effort. In 1999 he led one of the 4 Manufacturing Business Units of Pratt & Whitney Canada. M. Faucher then joined the P&WC Product Engineering organisation in 2001 where he participated in the development of new Gas Engine Products. M. Faucher currently leads the group responsible for all R&D Projects Planning & Monitoring as well as Engineering Logistics & Productivity.

M. Faucher holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from Laval University, a Master in Business Administration from Sherbrooke University and is a certified Project Management Professional.

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Alain Dubé

Director, Project Management Office, Turcot Complex Interchanges, Transports Quebec

Alain is Project Management Office Director for the reconstruction of the Turcot Complex Interchanges. He graduated from Laval University in Quebec City with a B. Eng. in Geological Engineering in 1986 and completed a master degree in project management in 1989 with the Quebec University in Trois-Rivières. Over a 19 year career with Transports Quebec and the World Bank he has been involved in the design, construction and project management of many large and small projects around the world.

The 1.5 B CAN$ Turcot Complex Interchanges project is the largest road infrastructure reconstruction project ever undertaken in Quebec. It involves the reconstruction of four major interchanges and their linking highways and the displacement several major CN rail tracks in a dense urban environment.

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David Jull

Mr. David Jull, P.Eng., is Senior Vice President of Transportation and a Partner in the firm. Mr. Jull has 30 years of experience in value engineering, environmental assessment, functional design, preliminary design, detailed design and contract administration for both public and private sector clients. Mr. Jull has been involved in all the firm's major highway projects in the design/bid/build, design/build and P3 delivery models. Mr. Jull’s 30 years of experience has been gained through the successful completion of a variety of transit and roadway planning and design projects for Federal and Provincial ministries, state governments and various Municipal authorities and agencies. He provides proactive cost-effective technical solutions.

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David Lewis

Dr. David Lewis is Senior Vice President with HDR Inc. and serves as the firm’s Chief Economist and Director for Economics and Financial Services. He served previously as President and CEO of HLB Decision Economics (acquired by HDR in 2005) prior to which he was a Principal Economist of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport in 2003. His present professional activities include the application of risk analysis to public-private partnerships and the extension of value-for-money analysis to accommodate the productivity effects of private investment in advanced logistics. His Cost-Benefit Analyses of surface transportation investments include transit, highway and aviation infrastructure projects in the United States and Canada. His 1999 book, “Policy and Planning as Public Choice: Mass Transit in the United States” (co-authored by Dr. Fred Williams) is a quantitative accounting of the benefits of public transportation in relation to mobility, disability, congestion management and economic development.

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George Tribe

George Tribe is the Director of the Cost Management in Alberta Infrastructure’s Capital Projects Division. His area has been assigned the task of developing a Cost Planning and Management Program that operates across five program areas involved in capital construction projects. An effective Value Management is a key component of the program. His talk will focus on some of the issues Alberta Infrastructure is dealing with as the Ministry develops its Value Management Program.

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Mike Pearsall, P.Eng, CVS

Michael Pearsall is the Head of the Planning and Design Section for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation in their Northeastern Region out of North Bay. Mike graduated from Queen’s University at Kingston with a B.ASc. (hons.) in Civil Engineering in 1992. He started working for the Ministry of Transportation as a student in 1989 and has continued there for the 16 years since his graduation. His career has mainly been involved with the planning, design and construction of highways. Mike has been involved with Value Engineering with the ministry since December 1996 and functioned as the Value Engineering Coordinator for Northeastern Region for 10 years. Mike spends his spare time with his two sons or dreaming about antique cars.

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Scot McClintock, PE, CVS (Life), PVM, FSAVE

Head of Value Management, Faithful+Gould

Scot McClintock is a well-qualified value engineering / value management practitioner with 26 years of VE/ VM experience. Scot has balanced cost and quality in over 240 VE/VM project and training workshops to identify value improvements of nearly $2.5 billion on projects totaling over $13 billion. He has used customized applications of VE/ VM tools to meet the needs of the client, from facilitation of public meetings through extended VE/ VM workshops. In recent years, Scot has incorporated the use of Risk Management into his VE/VM workshops, as well as leading edge consensus-building techniques such as Performance Criteria and Measures, Choosing by Advantages, and Functional Performance Specification.

Approved by SAVE International to teach Module1 value management training workshops, he has trained over 350 personnel for agencies and corporations in the U.S. and Canada. He has facilitated VE/VM studies for governmental, military, pharmaceutical, medical, correctional, educational, environmental, and national park facilities, and highway, bridge and rail projects in the US, Canada, South Korea, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UK, with average identified construction cost savings of over 18%. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Value Engineering & Management at Syracuse University.

Scot is registered for life by SAVE International as a Certified Value Specialist and is a Professional Engineer in NY, PA, and OH. He is President of the Mid-New York State Chapter of SAVE. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society of Value Analysis (CSVA) and won the inaugural Stars and Stripes award for his contributions to VE and the CSVA. Scot recently achieved certification as a Professional in Value Management (PVM) from the European Governing Board. He has spoken at several SAVE conferences; two annual CSVA conferences, and three AASHTO VE conferences and has been published in Value World and Quality By Design. Scot has Bachelors and Masters of Engineering degrees from Cornell University in civil and environmental engineering.

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Ted Lane, P.Eng, AVS

Ted Lane is the Head of Planning and Design, for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s Eastern Region, in Kingston Ontario. Ted is a graduate in Civil Engineering from the University of Western Ontario in London.

Ted’s 33 year career with the Ministry of Transportation has involved the planning, design, construction and maintenance of bridges and highways.

As Chair of the Ministry's Value Engineering Task Force, Ted was responsible for the establishment of the Ministry's Value Engineering program. Ted continues to be involved with VE, and with the ministry’s VE program.

Ted currently serves on the executive of the CSVA.

Ted and his wife Marilyn have a son Matthew, completing his B.Music at Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick, and a daughter Stephanie, in her final year of high school.

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Tom Fletcher, P.Eng, CVS

Tom Fletcher is an experienced senior results oriented manager with over 35 years experience in the public and private sector including Project and Program Management, Value Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Construction Management.

Tom is the senior engineering manager responsible for all technical projects within the Fletcher Group. The primary focus of the Group is to provide independent Value Engineering and Functional Performance Specification services to projects in the construction, transportation, utility (nuclear), water/ wastewater, business process, manufacturing and automotive sectors.

The VE projects are conducted to approved standards of the Canadian Society for Value Analysis and SAVE International.

Tom acts as the team leader in Value Analysis projects in the public and private sector leading teams of technical and business experts to determine the most cost effective solution to their particular project or business process.

Prior to establishing the Fletcher Group, Mr. Fletcher held many senior management positions at the Ministry of Transportation, Ontario (MTO) including Senior Value Engineer, Manager Traffic Office, Area Construction Engineer and Manager Resources Planning & Scheduling Office.

Tom has excellent presentation and facilitation skills that have been developed through many years of facilitation training, presentations to senior management and conducting many VE workshops.

Tom is a Past President of the Canadian Society for Value Analysis/ Engineering and Vice Chair of the Upper New York State Value Engineering Chapter.

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Ziad Eldada, Meng, CVS

Ziad Eldada has a diversified background in engineering, manufacturing, procurement, Value Management and evaluation of business and technological projects. For over 20 years, he served as Value Management Engineer for Nortel Networks, a world leader in the manufacturing of telecommunications equipment.

Mr. Eldada is a certified value specialist (CVS) and a registered engineer; graduate from McGill University in Montreal and received his master degree from L'école Polytechnique de Montreal, specializing in microcomputer design and applications. He has developed multiple VM software tools aimed at reducing product cost, design improvement, and reverse engineering.

Mr. Eldada has personally led or participated in over 30 VM studies in the research and development of new products and cost reductions of existing products. He is a senior partner at Silentec Technologies where he designs custom electronic equipment for various industrial applications.

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The Winning Strategies for Odour Reduction (Humber Treatment Plant Odour Control ) and Management of Wet Weather Flows at the City of Toronto Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant

By Ajay Puri and Katrina Blom

The presentation will discuss two successful case studies that provided the City with a strategy for each project that not only enhanced the original baseline, but also introduced new concepts. In both cases the VE sessions were undertaken upon completion of the study stage and each session included a risk management phase. The new strategies developed by the VE teams are now being carried forward into the design stage.

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Ajay Puri

Ajay holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and has been working in the water/wastewater field for over 18 years. Presently he has been working as a Project Engineer in the Technical Services Division of the City of Toronto and is responsible for managing Capital Projects in the City’s wastewater treatment plants. Prior to joining the City, Ajay worked in the consulting field and also worked in the provincial/territorial government.

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Katrina Blom

Katrina holds a Master’s degree in Construction Management and has been managing projects in the water/wastewater field for over 18 years. Presently she has been working as Senior Project Engineer in the Technical Services Division of the City of Toronto and is responsible for the delivery of the Capital Works Program in the City’s wastewater treatment plants. Prior to joining the City, Katrina worked in Halton Region.

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West Transitway Tunnel Value Engineering Study

By Steve Stoddard

The presentation will provide an overview of the results of the recent value engineering review of the West Transitway expansion project in Ottawa. An exclusive transit corridor for Bus Rapid Transit (convertible to Light Rail) to be constructed thru an established urban environment. The project value has been estimated at $140 million. This VE review assessed the staging of the extension of the transitway system and the previous EA recommendations that included a tunnelled section of transitway.

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Steven Stoddard

Steven Stoddard is a Senior Project Manager at the City of Ottawa in the Construction Services Division of the Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability Department. His career has focused on the planning and implementation of public sector transportation facilities with the City of Ottawa and previously with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. Mr. Stoddard is a member of the CSVA board.

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Green Sustainable Design Using Function Analysis: A Case Study

By Lucie Parrott, Nguyen-Parrott

Nguyen-Parrot is a firm involved mostly in product development using value tools among others. In the past few years, product development has taken a "green" turn and sustainability must be designed into the products right from the start, to satisfy the various stakeholders. This presentation will show how sustainable development of products can be acheived using function analysis with a slight twist to it. An example will help understand the process.

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Lucie Parrott, ing. CVS (Life)

Mrs. Parrot is an industrial engineer. Since 1991, she is involved in optimization projects of products or processes, using the value engineering methods. She has worked before with Bell Helicopter and CGI.

As a Value Engineering consultant, Mrs. Parrot has helped numerous clients in increasing the value of their products, either by reducing the costs and/or increasing the performance and the needs satisfaction. This approach has been used successfully at small and large companies, such as Alcan, Nortel, Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier and others.

Her vast experience in many sectors along with her talent for coaching have made her an ideal person to train your work teams to the Value Engineering methods.

Mrs. Parrot has facilitated over 100 workshops. She is a certified value specialist from the Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE International) with Life recognition and is a member of the Canadian Society for Value Analysis, which gave her in 2003 an award for her outstanding contribution to the methodology.

She has also spoken many times on this subject.

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Failure Mode and Effect Analysis Summary

By Timothy Jason Alleyne

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  • Introduction
  • FMEA Definition
  • Basic Assumptions
    • Our products are fine
    • Testing should be fine without any risk assessment
  • Reasoning behind why FMEA should be considered
  • How it can be used-
    • Using a real client example
  • Results of FMEA are presented
  • Lesson learned from a failure to foresee the error
    • Leading to an understanding that FMEA is important!
  • Conclusion

Timothy Jason Alleyne

Timothy Jason Alleyne is a project engineer, in electrical/electronics engineering. He has been employed by Nguyen-Parrot for a year where he co-facilitates value engineering workshops in new products and projects. He is also involved in the implementation of product development processes at manufacturing companies that want to shorten their development lead time while increasing the value of their products.

Timothy exhibits creativity in not only his work in Value Engineering but in his other pursuits, as he also has a degree in music and continues to teach music.

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The VE Workshop at McGill University: Benefits for Students and Industry

By Dr. Vince Thomson

The McGill University Value Engineering Workshop provides a unique forum for the interaction of students and industry towards solving a real world problem given by a company. All participants learn the Value Engineering (VE) methodology, but mostly they learn cooperation and a team approach to solving problems. The mutual exposure raises the engineering professionalism of the students, provides solutions to problems for companies, and contributes to the education process. Companies of all sizes have participated in the workshop over the years, obtaining significant value enhancement to product design, manufacturing processes and services, as well as learning the VE methodology.

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Vince Thomson, McGill University

PhD Physics McMaster University 1976

Dr. Thomson has been involved in manufacturing and information technology related research for the past 25 years at McGill University and the National Research Council (Canada). His research interests include manufacturing, realtime control and process management. His process management research has focused on new product introduction, concurrent engineering and coordination of development projects. He is currently working with many companies in electronics, consumer products and aerospace on product life cycle management issues. He teaches a course in Value Engineering which has 6 industry projects each year.

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Storer Boone

Dr. Boone is an Associate with Golder Associates Ltd. He is responsible for directing, managing, and completing technical evaluations for risk analyses and geotechnical engineering projects with a focus on civil infrastructure. His work related to risk analyses has involved probabilistic assessments of technical risks as well as risk-based cost and schedule analyses for large transportation projects. He has completed risk-based cost and schedule analyses for multiple projects in Ontario for MTO and other agencies, and others in Pittsburgh and New York, and conducted a number of training workshops related to application of probabilistic techniques in civil engineering.

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Developing a Risk Analysis Program for Waterfront Toronto

By Veronica Bergs

Waterfront Toronto (WT), an arms-length corporation funded by and accountable to city, provincial, and national governments, is taking the lead on revitalizing some 2,000 acres of underutilized former industrial lands into sustainable mixed-use communities. An initial step in this $17-billion+ endeavour involves delivering a $2.1-billion program comprising brownfield remediation, civic infrastructure, and public amenities. Innovative design approaches are being widely employed, interface management is complex, and cost/schedule performance is being intensely scrutinized.

To meet these challenges and to better understand and manage the many risks inherent in such complex and multi-faceted projects, WT has been adapting and enhancing the Cost Estimating Validation Process (CEVP®) originally developed by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to quantitatively assess cost and schedule risk on individual transportation projects.

The presentation outlines the process WT is following to create risk-based range estimates for program components of varying type, scale, and completion status, integrate estimates on a program level, select budget and schedule targets, set rational contingencies, and communicate analysis results.

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Veronica Bergs, M.Eng., P.Eng., PMP

Director, Program Controls and Risk Management, Waterfront Toronto

Veronica Bergs earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a master’s degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Toronto. She is licensed as a Professional Engineer and has over 25 years of experience in civil engineering as well as the management of planning, design, and construction projects. She has been involved in a wide variety of project types, such as: airports; water/wastewater, road and transit infrastructure, power generation and industrial facilities, commercial and institutional buildings, parks, sports facilities, and building/structural restoration.

Veronica has developed and implemented project management procedures to improve control of all phases of major projects, working as a member of owner project management teams as well as providing services to multi disciplinary consultant teams, and contractors. She has extensive implementation experience with traditional and alternative forms of project delivery in both the public and private sectors, together with associated risk identification and management. Prior to joining Waterfront Toronto in June, 2006 to set up and lead the organization’s Project Controls group, she was employed in design, field engineering, and project management capacities by various consulting and EPC firms and a major public sector owner.

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George Hunter, P.E., PMP, CVS

George is LZA’s Vice-President with Value Management Systems. He is an experienced team leader and trainer with previous experience as the owner of a value management/ project management practice and as the former Caltrans Value Analysis Program Manager. Over 205 value studies have been carried out under his supervision, with more than 70 of these led personally. He has provided multiple training courses and advised foreign government agencies on value management program development. George’s 21 years of design and construction of public works experience includes nine years of transportation sector value management experience with service in the AASHTO Value Engineering Technical Committee.

George has participated at various international conferences and has participated in the development of value management programs for foreign governments. He has recently served as program advisor to various Latin American, European and Asian government agencies. He has worked diligently at integrating project management tools and value management tools. Earlier in his career, George was the Project Engineer on the Cypress Replacement Project, a $1 Billion project that replaced a four-mile earthquake damaged portion of I-880 in the San Francisco Bay area linking San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento. His career spans twenty-one years working in the public works and mining sectors.

 

Credentials:

  • Bachelor of Science- Civil Engineering, California State University
  • Professional Registered Engineer- California
  • Director of International Affairs- SAVE International (Society of American Value Engineers)
  • Certified Value Specialist & Trainer- SAVE International
  • Former AASHTO* Value Engineering Task Force
  • International Value Management Program Advisor
  • Hong Kong Institute of Value Management
  • Project Management Institute
*American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials

 

 

Languages:

Speaks, reads and writes Spanish and Portuguese fluently

 

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Maureen Moore, B.Comm., C.G.A.

Maureen is working in a senior finance position for the federal public service. She has worked in both the private and public sectors during her career. Until last year, Maureen was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Administration at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (ROHCG), a position she held for seven years. During this time the ROHCG expanded significantly with the redevelopment of Canada's first public hospital to be built under an Alternate Funding Procurement (AFP). In 2003 the Royal Ottawa Hospital, now the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, was selected as one of two hospitals in the province to be constructed using the AFP. Maureen will share with us an overview of the project and discuss the benefits of the AFP from both a value and a risk perspective. Maureen Moore is a Certified General Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University.

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Town of Renfrew Water Pollution Control Upgrade

By Mike Asselin, P.Eng, Director of Development and Works, Town of Renfrew

Mike will review a presentation of lessons learned from their first Value Engineering exercise in Renfrew Ontario. Mike will also outline the impact the VE process has had on the Development of the Water Pollution Control Plant project.

Mike gives an “owners” perspective on the process and summarizes whether the tangible and non-tangible benefits were worth the cost and effort.

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Michel Asselin,P.Eng

Director of Development and Works, Town of Renfrew

Mike is a Graduate of Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology and advanced his education obtaining a degree in Applied Science ( Civil Engineering) in 1989 from the University of Ottawa.

Mike has a total of 18 years of experience with municipal infrastructure, equally split between the Private and Municipal sectors. Mike has worked mainly in Eastern Ontario and has benefited from experience working on municipal systems in Canada’s High Arctic.

Mike is a Director of the CSVA and currently enjoys the progressive work environment at the Town of Renfrew as the Director of Development and Works. Mike has experienced the results of Value Engineering first hand during the planning and construction of a 30 Million dollar Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion which is currently under construction.

Mike is supported by his lovely wife Barb and 2 beautiful girls Jamie and Casey who are 4 and 6 years of age.

Other interests include kit aircraft construction and woodworking.

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Alain LeBlanc, P.Eng.

Alain LeBlanc is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada in Mechanical Engineering, with post-graduate studies at Queen’s and McGill Universities. He has over 25 years of experience in value engineering and project management in the Canadian Forces, at Hydro Quebec and at Pratt & Whitney Canada. Currently he is Manager, Pure Power PW800 Production readiness at P&WC. Alain has been a member of the CSVA since its foundation in 1993 and has since held different positions including four years as President. Alain received a SAVE International President’s Citation award in 2004 as well as the 2006-07 SAVE International Paper of the Year award.

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Geni Bahar

Geni Bahar, P.Eng, P.E., is President of NAVIGATS Inc., a company focused in highway safety engineering. Geni, with over 29 years of experience as a civil engineer, was named the 2007 Transportation Person of the Year by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) and Transport Canada, for her leadership, excellence and achievements in the transportation sector. Geni has successfully led projects for the US Federal Highway Administration, National Academies, TAC, and several State, Provincial, and Municipal road agencies. In Ontario, Geni managed the development of the Science of Highway Safety, which laid the foundation for the practice of explicit safety considerations. Geni has participated in several VE workshops during which she provided practical applications of most recent safety knowledge. Geni focuses in the explicit consideration of safety at all phases of the VE/VA process. Geni is an active member of TRB Committees, TAC Committees, and the ITE Transportation Safety Executive Council. For additional information: www.navigats.com

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