Facilitator: Debbie Hicks, B.Sc. DSH Consulting
With a comprehensive and varied education background, learning has been at the core of her career. As former President of the Southern Interior Construction Association in BC for 22 years, liaising with the buyers of construction services, architects, engineers and contractors in advocacy and education brings a solid base to her expertise. In addition, her experience as the owner representative for the construction of the new Clubhouse for the Kelowna Yacht Club has provided additional perspective. She has been fortunate to work with the Alberta Construction Association to facilitate industry dialogue on “Optimizing the Flow of Money” and “Non-Standard Contract Clauses and their Costs”. Through these experiences, with a lot of passion and enthusiasm, Debbie is able to bring both knowledge and insight into her work and presentations for the construction industry.
Mark Scharf
Mark recently retired from the University of Calgary where he was responsible for the delivery of capital projects across the organization. The annual workload entailed approximately 400 capital and renovation projects per year with an annual project spend of approximately $150M. During his 12- year tenure as Director, the Project Management Office delivered 9 new buildings including multiple teaching and applied research buildings, major infrastructure renewals, new residence halls and a new main library. Mark was actively engaged with procuring design and construction teams and negotiating and overseeing a wide variety of contracts including Design Build, Construction Management at Risk, Lump Sum and performance-based engagements. Mark brings 30 plus years of public sector experience with both post-secondary and health organizations including the Calgary Health Region and Age Care Senior Communities. Mark takes pride in building strong teams, mentoring the next generation of project professionals and engaging diverse stakeholders in achieving outstanding results.
Bill Chomik, AAA, SAA, OAA, AIBC, FRAIC, RCA
A leading Canadian architect and considered a visionary in his field, Bill has 40 years of experience in architecture, overseeing the design and construction of over 750 buildings worldwide.
Bill’s accomplishments include the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library; National Music Centre, Calgary; Calgary Courts Centre; Guangzhou Planetarium, China; Alder Planetarium, Chicago, Illinois; Grande Prairie Library and Art Gallery, Red Deer Performing Arts Centre and Simon Fraser University Trottier Observatory. As a Senior Principal at Kasian, he leads the delivery of architectural, strategic planning (master planning and programming), and interior planning and urban planning services.
Walter Strachan, RSW, PQS (F), CSC (F)
 CSC (F).jpeg)
With 40+ years’ experience in the consulting engineering industry, Walter has worked in multiple roles, serving as department manager, project manager, corporate quality manager (ISO 9001), corporate risk manager, principal, director, and Chair of the Board at a major Atlantic Canada based engineering and environmental services company. Upon retirement from CBCL Limited, Walter opened Act 3 Advisory Services to continue a life-long obsession with all things related to project delivery in the design and construction industry.
Walter’s design and construction interest center around standard practices, project delivery methods, cost planning and control, risk management, and dispute resolution. These interests resulted in tenures as Chair, Canadian Design Build Institute (CDBI); President, Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS); Chair, Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC); and Board Member, Canadian Construction Association (CCA). He has also served on several significant Task Teams including MasterFormat; CSC/CSI Uniform Drawing Systems; and the Integrated Delivery (IPD) Task Team.
Walter is the 2021 recipient of the Nova Scotia Consulting Engineers (CENS) Distinguished Service Award.
Dean Slater, P. Eng, GSC
Dean Slater is a Professional Engineer APEGA Life Member with 40 years’ experience in the construction and development industry. He is a Past President of the Calgary Construction Association (CCA) and has held various executive level positions working in General Contracting, Development, and the Alberta Health Services (AHS) project management group. Dean has worked on many significant projects in Alberta including Calgary’s Petro-Canada (Suncor) Centre, the Olympic Saddledome, the Hyatt Hotel, Telus Convention Centre, SMART Technologies Building, major hospital expansions, and the South Health Campus. His roles spanned estimating and construction management as both the General Contractor with CANA (Vice-President) and Ledcor Construction, Project Manager on the Smart Technologies Building, and Project Owner’s representative / Vice-President with AHS and Triovest Realty Advisors. Retiring in January 2018, Dean has embarked on a new role as a fundraising volunteer with Wellspring Calgary – a cancer support group providing programs and education to individuals diagnosed with cancer. Due in part to his volunteer efforts, Dean was recognized in 2018 with CCA’s “Person of the Year” award.
