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Olfa Hamdi is an international researcher in the field of project management, independent consultant, founder of the Advanced Work Packaging Institute, co-founder of The Institute of Management and a tech entrepreneur in capital project management office and field solutions.

Olfa Hamdi was a member of the top research joint venture RT272 on Advanced Work Packaging between the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and the Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA). She is a co-author of the 3-volume Industry Research Implementation on Advanced Work Packaging IR272-2. Her Research Master Thesis, published by The University of Texas at Austin in 2013, is the first academic publication to document research on AWP benefits, implementation challenges and maturity.

She is a fellow of the State Bar of Texas Construction Law section. Olfa has numerous publications in prestigious academic and professional journals as well as media outlets. Olfa speaks four languages and is a firm believer in the role of interdisciplinary research in driving capital projects effectiveness and project management knowledge sphere expansion.

Olfa Hamdi founded the AWP Institute with a clear objective in mind: trigger and build the global momentum around Advanced Work Packaging and advance the AWP system by closing its gaps through research and innovation for it to become a recognized comprehensive global industry practice. Today, the AWP Institute has an outreach to more than 40 countries across all industrial and transportation construction sectors.

Olfa Hamdi holds a Master of Science in Capital Projects’ Management from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Science in Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lille (France), and a graduate degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution for construction disputes from Texas School of Law.

Sandra is the Managing Director of Valency, a consulting company that implements best practices from the Construction Industry Institute (CII) that dramatically improve capital project performance. Valency is a Registered Education Provider with both CII and PMI and works globally with client in both the private and public sector.

Sandra is a Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Risk Professional (PMI-RMP) and a Certified PDRI Facilitator. She has over 15 years of project management experience and is a past research team member with CII on front end planning, risk management and portfolio management. Sandra is an active member of CII's Front End Planning Community of Practice.

John has over fifty years’ experience in the Engineering and Construction industry (primarily refining and petro-chemical). He was the architect for the S&B/FB&D Internet Project Information Management System (iPIMS), a web based system for managing the flow of information from Front End Planning to System Turnover. John's CII resume started in 1992 when he was assigned to be a member of the research team that developed the first PDRI and Alignment Thermometer. Since that time, John has participated in the following CII roles:

1. Board of Advisor for S & B/FB&D since 1996,
2. Four PDRI related research teams,
3. Risk Management Team,
4. Co-chair of the Break Through Strategy Committee,
5. Co-Chair of the Innovative Deliverables to the Craft Team,
6. Co-Chair to initiate the Front End Planning Community of Practice.

In addition, John has instructed the Front End Planning session for the CII Best Practices Course at the University of Texas since 2012.

John is considered one of the industry systems experts in Automation, Information Management, Front End Planning, and Best Practice Execution. He has worked with numerous owners to assist them in the implementation of CII Project Management tools and best practices. He is active in the implementation of FIATECH initiatives to improve productivity using technology to utilize integrated information exchanges and automation.

John is best known as an industry change agent. He was instrumental in leading S & B/FB&D from slide rules, pencils and Mylar into the Intelligent 3D Design age. In 1982, John was given an edict by Wally Maurer, an early mentor, to "...challenge everything we do." He is still challenging and does not plan to stop anytime soon.

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting Inc., an Ontario, Canada based management consulting firm with a strong emphasis on organizational transformation, portfolio management and PMOs. Andy has a track record of success managing business critical projects, programs and portfolios in Europe and North America in industries as diverse as investment banking, software development, call centers, telecommunications and corporate education.

Andy is an in demand speaker and moderator who delivers thought provoking content in an engaging and entertaining style, and is also an instructor in project management related disciplines. He always strives to provide thought provoking presentations that drive his audience to challenge accepted norms while providing actionable content that can be applied in the real world. Andy’s first full length book ‘Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations’ is now available.”

Beth Spriggs, PMP, is an experienced coach, trainer and speaker. Currently she serves as the vice president of technology at Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), a major nonpartisan organization. For more than 16 years, she’s solved unsolvable problems, tamed unruly projects, and pulled off the impossible for organizations by deploying technologies that work for customers while positioning clients for what’s coming next.

Her extensive portfolio consists of everything from bite-sized undertakings to years-long overhauls that impact every aspect of the organization, but her focus has always been technology project management. Some of Beth's contributions include delivering webinars for ProjectManagement.com and NTEN, speaking at NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference and DC Web Women's Conference; and attending PMI's Global Congress NA 2015 as an Expert. Beth was PM.com's member of the month August 2015.

Bruce Harpham is the author of the forthcoming book "Project Managers At Work," (Apress) which showcases the career paths and lessons learned from project professionals from NASA, Google, Apple and other leading organizations. Bruce Harpham is also a columnist with ProjectManagement.com and runs the ProjectManagementHacks.com blog. Bruce lives in Toronto, Canada. 

Ms. Merdon began her Federal career in 1981 as a cooperative education engineering student for the U.S. Navy. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in 1987, from the University of Maryland in Civil Engineering, she continued her career with the Navy as a project engineer and project manager. In 1998, she received a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering.

In 1990, she joined the White House Military Office as a Project Manager responsible for managing classified design and construction projects at the White House, Camp David, and other Presidential Support Facilities.

In 1998, Ms. Merdon was hired by Clark Construction, LLC, where she was project manager and superintendent on numerous projects including the American Red Cross Headquarters, Bethesda Place II, and the renovation of Baltimore’s historic Hippodrome Theater.

Ms. Merdon joined McKissack & McKissack in 2000, where she ascended to the role of Senior Vice President of Program and Construction Management. Her responsibilities included operations and business development for program and construction management contracts in Washington, DC, Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California. She was instrumental in the growth of the company in Washington, and start-up and management of the program management division in Chicago and Los Angeles. All told, she has been responsible for the successful program and construction management of more than $11 billion in major construction projects and programs including: Washington Nationals Major League Baseball Stadium, O’Hare Modernization Program, Eisenhower Executive Office Building life-safety upgrades, Los Angeles Unified School District, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum for African American History, and Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson Memorial Renovations. Throughout her career, Ms. Merdon has won many outstanding performance awards, as well as project excellence awards for construction projects. She is a Registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a member of the Construction Management Association of America, and a Certified Construction Manager. Ms. Merdon is the President of the DC Chapter of the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering (ACE) mentor program, and is very active in the Women in Engineering program at the University of Maryland.

Colonel Matthew Bogdanos is a homicide prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Raised waiting tables in his family's Greek restaurant in Lower Manhattan, he is a former middleweight boxer who joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 19. He left active duty in 1988 to join the DA’s Office; but remained in the reserves, leading a counter-narcotics operation on the Mexican border, and serving in Desert Storm, South Korea, Lithuania, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kosovo.

Losing his apartment near the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, he joined a counter-terrorism task force in Afghanistan, receiving a Bronze Star for actions against al-Qaeda. He then served in the Horn of Africa and three tours in Iraq—leading the international investigation into the looting of Iraq’s National Museum—before deploying again to Afghanistan in 2009. The first to expose the link between antiquities trafficking and terrorist financing, he has presented those findings in 22 countries, in venues including the United Nations, Interpol, British Parliament, the Peace Palace in The Hague, and the U.S. Senate. He received a National Humanities Medal from President Bush for helping recover more than 6000 of Iraq's treasures in eight countries.

He holds a classics degree from Bucknell University; a law degree, master’s degree in Classics, and Recognition of Achievement in International Law from Columbia University; and a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. In addition to dozens of military decorations, he received the 2004 Public Service Award from the Hellenic Lawyers of America, 2007 Proclamation from the City of New York, 2009 Proclamation from the City of Philadelphia, 2011 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, 2016 International Giuseppe Sciacca Achievement Award from the Vatican, and was Grand Marshal of the 2010 Greek Independence Day Parade.

Returning to the DA’s Office in October 2010, he still boxes for wounded veterans and continues the hunt for stolen antiquities, recently leading an investigation that resulted in the largest seizure of stolen antiquities in U.S. history: $150 million dollars in ancient statues stolen from Southeast Asia. All royalties from his book, Thieves of Baghdad, are donated to the Iraq Museum.