The Association for the Capital Projects Engineering & Construction Community.

2018 Future Leader Update: Breakout Forum Teams

July 23, 2018

One of the most impactful ways that the Future Leaders contribute to the ECC Annual Conference is through the Future Leader Forum Committee efforts.  The process begins several months before the conference with the assigning of committee leads from the Future Leader community. The leads initially brainstorm ideas that fit the conference theme and frame the description of the topics. From there, the best ideas are tested for relevance compared to the conference theme and formally assigned to the teams to deliver.

During the March ECC Future Leader Mid-Year Meeting, the committee leads promote their topic to the attendees in order to recruit and form their team who work together to develop the panel topic and make it “show ready” by September’s conference. The team works together to develop a survey sent out to active and Alumni Future Leaders in order to sharpen the content focus and to solicit potential subject matter experts across the network to serve as speakers.  The panelists work with the committee to develop a presentation and goes through a mid-summer Dry Run to ensure that the content and delivery meets the high standard of the ECC program. 

This year’s theme is The Next 50 Years: Capturing Transformational Possibilities, and the Future Leader Forum Teams have hit the mark at providing all conference attendees an opportunity to hear from industry experts who will discuss two topics not only relevant to the overall theme, but also full of well thought out and practical take-aways.

Based on the interest indicated during the conference registration process, both Future Leader led topics will be delivered twice, maximizing the potential attendance. Please review the summaries of the two Future Leader led Breakout Forums below and consider being a part of the conversation by attending these sessions.

Future Leader Forum Team #1:
Effectively Leveraging Big Data in Capital Projects

Future Leader Forum Team #1

Significant advances in portable technology has enhanced data measurement, and mammoth stock piles of data are available. The datasets have grown faster than our ability to use or even understand the story these data can tell. Big Data comes at a cost. Research has shown that this measurement technology acceleration has resulted in largely unused data sets with decisions still based on gut feel. The cost to define a metric, to process the collected data, and the turn from data point to metric is often too high or too slow. The lack of the immediate availability of meaningful data has stalled the development of true forward looking algorithms leveraging these Big Data. We have collected experts from the industry to share their experience in moving data from an expensive hobby to real world, revenue enhancing processes. Our panel will be facilitated by Cormac Ryan (Aveva) who will orchestrate the discussion between our owner (Jan Shumate, Eastman), our contractor (Suzanne Motica, Kiewit), and our vendor (Josh Girvin, O3 Solutions) representatives. The panelist will share the work that has moved their companies from the typical to the front runners of data utilization. The group will explore what, where and how the industry must evolve so that we can Effectively Leverage Big Data in Capital Projects.

Future Leader Forum Team #2:
Improving the Future of Construction Productivity

Future Leader Forum Team #2

Construction productivity on major projects in the process industries is declining, while productivity in other industries has significantly increased.  This trend has had substantial implications for our industry being able to achieve predictable and profitable cost and schedule outcomes on major projects.  The Future Leaders have organized a panel discussion with a balanced perspective on the causes of poor construction performance as well as potential near-term and long-term solutions.  Jim Rammell (Wood) will facilitate this must-see discussion with Randy Mill (Shell), Todd Novak (Fluor), and Ira Samm (Bechtel) at this year’s ECC Conference in San Antonio, TX.  The conversation will extend beyond typical workforce development topics and will provide insight into the various ways that people, processes, and technology can be leveraged to improve field productivity and predictability within our industry.  Anecdotes from recent projects will illustrate what is (and is not) working today, while panelists will also provide a glimpse into future solutions for our industry.