Our Speakers
Adam Krupper
Manager, Active Transportation
BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit
Speaker Profile
Adam rediscovered commuting by bike at aged 19. Ever since, he’s been working to convert everyone to bike riders. He was the first Active Transportation Coordinator for the northern city of Thunder Bay, ON. After 10 years and numerous awards, he moved to Victoria, BC. For 4 years he was Executive Director of Capital Bike, the region’s cycling education and advocacy organization. In January 2024, he started at the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, as Manager, Active Transportation
Allan Russell
CEO Emeritus
McElhanney
Speaker Profile
Allan Russell is a professional with over 35 years of experience in major civil construction projects. He has played key roles in managing or overseeing more than 40 of Canada’s most prominent award-winning capital projects over the last 25 years. These alternative delivery projects currently include both the Surrey Langley Skytrain, and Hwy 1/Tank Hill.
Currently CEO Emeritus at McElhanney, Allan recently retired after an 11-year tenure as President & CEO, as it grew from 400 to 1,500 staff.
Currently CEO Emeritus at McElhanney, Allan recently retired after an 11-year tenure as President & CEO, as it grew from 400 to 1,500 staff.
Brian Maksymetz
Managing Director
Better Projects Incorporated
Speaker Profile
Brian is a Civil Engineer with 30 years of project experience in working for the Owner, Designer, and Contractor in civil and industrial construction. He optimizes project procurement and delivery by focusing on contract terms, collaboration mechanics, and human interactions.
Brittney Speed
Senior Manager, Engineering Programs
BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit
Speaker Profile
A seasoned leader with extensive experience in workforce planning, program design, and strategic human resources. Since joining the BC Public Service in 2004, Brittney has played a key role in shaping and delivering key programs within the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and she is particularly dedicated to fostering the growth of emerging professionals, managing the Ministry’s EIT/GIT Program to help young talent advance their careers and achieve professional success.
Cheryl Nelms
General Manager, Project Delivery
Metro Vancouver
Speaker Profile
Cheryl Nelms is the General Manager, Project Delivery for Metro Vancouver. She oversees a portfolio of major infrastructure projects worth over $6 billion for BC’s most populated regional district, serving 21 municipalities, one Electoral Area and one Treaty First Nation. Previously, Cheryl was the Deputy General Manager of Engineering Services at the City of Vancouver, a department of 2,200 employees, and oversaw $800 million in annual budgets.
Christoph Rufenacht
Vice President, Airport Development & Asset Optimization
Vancouver Airport Authority
Speaker Profile
Christoph Rufenacht is the VP, Airport Development and Asset Optimization at Vancouver Airport Authority. The airport plays a vital role in the region, enabling trade, travel and the exchange of knowledge, in service of the community and the economy that supports it.
He is responsible for ensuring the realization of long-term value from all assets and infrastructure through effective planning, project delivery and maintenance.
Christoph is an Engineer, holds a Bachelor of Applied Science.
He is responsible for ensuring the realization of long-term value from all assets and infrastructure through effective planning, project delivery and maintenance.
Christoph is an Engineer, holds a Bachelor of Applied Science.
Daniel Naiman
Manager, Physical Activity Policy & Promotion
BC Ministry of Health
Speaker Profile
Daniel is a manager on the Physical Activity Policy & Promotion Team at the BC Ministry of Health. He holds an MSc. in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia, and has worked for over 15 years in a variety of roles aimed at improving physical activity participation of those living in British Columbia.
Donald Trapp
Executive Director
Transportation Investment Corporation
Speaker Profile
Donald Trapp is the Executive Project Director at Transportation Investment Corporation for the Fraser River Tunnel Project. Donald has held several leadership roles within the public and private sector, including engineering, and project and construction management in the energy, mining and hydropower industries. Most recently Donald has been supporting major transportation infrastructure delivery in BC’s public sector at both Infrastructure BC and now TI Corp.
Gilles Assier
Executive Project Director, SLS
Transportation Investment Corporation
Speaker Profile
Gilles is currently the Executive Project Director for the $6B Surrey Langley Skytrain project that will transform the region South of the Fraser. Gilles spent his career delivering impactful projects to enhance how people work, move, and communicate, how goods move and are delivered, and restoring wildlife ecosystems . Prior to joining the Transportation Investment Corporation, Gilles was with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. An electrical engineering, he also holds a master’s in mgmt.
Gordon Zhou
Director, Transit Expansion
TransLink
Speaker Profile
Gordon Zhou is the Director of Transit Expansion at TransLink, overseeing programmatic coordination for rail and bus expansion projects. He leads the integration of SkyTrain expansions, including the Broadway Subway and Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, and manages major bus infrastructure initiatives, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the transition to zero-emission fleets. A licensed Professional Engineer in Canada and the U.S., Gordon holds an MBA and a Doctor of Engineering.
Jodi Carlow
Manager, Indigenous Relations
RAM Consulting
Speaker Profile
Over the past decade, she has worked with First Nations, businesses, and governments at the community, provincial, territorial, and federal levels, applying a proactive and collaborative approach to ensure Indigenous advancement through successful projects. Jodi specializes in economic development and procurement policy, treaty negotiations, fostering Indigenous relations, strategic planning, and acting as a director for Indigenous businesses to ensure sustainability and prosperity are realized.
Klassen Mok
Project Manager, Associate
Binnie
Speaker Profile
Klassen Mok is a Project Manager / Transportation Engineer with Binnie’s Transportation Major Projects Division. During his time at Binnie, he has been involved with several large Design-Build projects as part of the Owner’s Engineer team. More recently he has been working on transit expansion and improvement projects, such as the R2 Extension, R6 RapidBus Project and Hastings Street Improvement Project.
Laura Chow
Senior Planner
Vancouver Coastal Health
Speaker Profile
Laura Chow is a Senior Planner with Vancouver Coastal Health’s Healthy Environments & Climate Change team. She works with partners to integrate public health into community planning, focusing on building healthier, equitable, and resilient communities. Using a systems-based approach, Laura addresses the inequitable impacts of climate change, transportation, and urban planning, striving to create lasting, positive change for a sustainable, connected future.
Mark Enzer
Strategic Advisor | Visiting Professor
Mott MacDonald
Speaker Profile
Mark is a keen champion of outcomes-focused systems-thinking, collaborative delivery models, digitalization, connected digital twins and the circular economy in the built environment. Mark is a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. As Strategic Advisor at Mott MacDonald, Mark provides advice to key clients on digitalization and broader industry transformation. Previously, Mark was the Head of the UK’s National Digital Twin program.
Nadia Krys
Manager Engineering Project Delivery
TransLink
Speaker Profile
Nadia Krys has a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering with a specialization in Structural Engineering from University of Calgary. She is a registered Professional Engineer in British Columbia and New York State and is a Project Management Professional. She currently holds the position of Manager of Engineering Project Delivery at TransLink and is responsible for overseeing delivery of a portfolio of Capital Engineering Projects as well as leading a team of Project Managers.
Niccolai Wang
Planner
TransLink
Speaker Profile
Niccolai is a transportation planner. He has worked on rapid transit design, bus speed and reliability development, alignment planning, project management, public realm, policy analysis and complete street design. He understands the core value of a multimodal transportation system, with his data-driven approach, and extensive experience in rapid transit development, he has worked from coast to coast, planning and delivering transportation infrastructure to communities.
Raha Darvishi
Site Planner Lead
BC Hydro
Speaker Profile
Raha Darvishi is a Professional Engineer with over 8 years of project development and program management experience in the sustainable energy and utilities sectors. In her current role as Site Planner Lead on BC Hydro’s EV Service Delivery team, Raha combines her passion for sustainability and innovation with her expertise in managing large-scale, complex projects to drive the strategic delivery and expansion of BC Hydro’s Public EV Charging Network.
Renate Sitch
Senior Advisor
TransLink
Speaker Profile
Renate is a tenacious professional in sustainable transportation, behaviour change, and transportation demand management (TDM), with a deep commitment in enabling multimodal solutions. Renate nudges multi-levels of government, community organizations, and internal teams to move plans into action, barriers into solutions, and pushes the notion of infrastructure for people rather than cars. Renate is a pro at fostering relationships to support lasting systematic change.
Sarah Gaib
Engineering Director
BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit
Speaker Profile
Sarah Gaib is the Engineering Director, Capital Projects with Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure working on the Fraser Valley Hwy 1 Corridor Improvement Program, the Belleville Terminal Replacement Project and the Cariboo Road Recovery Projects. She has over 25 years of experience with the Ministry as a geotechnical engineer working throughout BC on a number of interesting projects focused on landslide stabilization, foundation design, and engineering policy work.
Shaun Gill
Regional Leader
Stantec
Speaker Profile
Shaun is the Regional Leader for Stantec BC, based in Burnaby. He steers regional business strategies, cultivates team relationships, and promotes synergies across all Stantec business lines. Previously, Shaun was the Business Center Operations Leader for Stantec’s Water business in BC and Chief Structural Engineer for Stantec’s Water business across North America. He has over 20 years of consulting experience and has taken on the critical responsibility of staff resourcing for major projects.