Professional Development Conference 2015
EMAIL: pdc@guelphengsoc.com
January 17th, 2015
Guelph, Ontario
SPEAKERS
Brett Cavanagh
Director of Business Operations – SW Ontario
Aerotek
I have been the director of four offices here in SW Ontario (Kitchener, London, Brantford, and Windsor) for a year now. My responsibility is to help our sales managers bring in business that our recruiters can recruit on and fill. We focus our efforts primarily on Engineering, Manufacturing, Distribution, Energy, Environmental, and Office Processional type companies and skill sets. So a wide variety. How Aerotek is set up is each manager is assigned to a geographical territory and a specific industry, we are the largest staffing company in North America (over 220 offices in NA, 20 in Canada), but with this set up still have a niche feel for our customers.
Personally I have been with the company for 7.5 years. I worked for the 6.5 years prior to this in our Chicago market. Selling and running our commercial division which handles manufacturing and distribution staffing. We filled positions such as welders, mechanics, forklift drivers, and general shipping and receiving folks. What I love about Aerotek is the opportunities the company provides internally and externally. I never thought when I started that I would be a directing manager but found out how much I loved to teach and get to do that every day, and much more!
Fred Dawkins
Author at Dundurn Press
The Creative Destruction Lab, at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Fred Dawkins is a successful entrepreneur with achievements in manufacturing, retail, land development, import/export and small business consulting. He graduated with distinction from the
University of Toronto with a degree in Commerce and Finance and a Master’s degree in Economics. Travels around the world, and exposure to developing economies have shaped his outlook. His series “The Entrepreneurial Edge” offers a definitive analysis of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Fred is currently a partner in the Creative Disruption Lab at the Rotman School of Management at the U of T and is committed to advancing entrepreneurship around the world.
John Burnside
President
RJ Burnside and Associates
Following the completion of an undergraduate Civil Engineering degree from Waterloo University, John spent a few years living and working in northern First Nation communities. He then completed a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Guelph in 1996 and also obtained an MBA at Harvard Business School. John subsequently worked for several years in strategic business consulting examining key elements of business management.
In his 10th year as President of R.J. Burnside & Associates Limited, John combines his engineering training with his proven business management skills in leading the firm. Burnside operates from 11 offices within Canada and is active in both municipal infrastructure engineering and also in commercial and residential land development. In the last several years, Burnside has expanded to conduct significant engineering projects in both the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan African, two distinct areas of focus for the firm.
John has continued the company’s founding philosophy regarding the importance of strong values and a team-based culture. It is the culture and commitment to one another as colleagues and as friends that John is most proud of, in addition to being careful to preserve and strengthen. John would be pleased to meet with students nearing graduation, especially those who are passionate about becoming excellent at both professional service, and at being great teammates!
John Runciman
Associate Professor
University of Guelph
John Runciman is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph whose research interests include sports biomechanics including water skiing and canoeing, orthopaedic tool and implant design, assistive device design. Previously, Dr. Runciman has worked for the Terray Corporation, as the Director of Engineering, as well as for the AcroMed Corporation as a member of the scoliosis team.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Tej Gidda
Principal
Conestoga Rovers and Associates
Tej Gidda completed his B.Sc at the University of Guelph in Environmental Engineering in 1995, and later went on to complete both a Masters and Ph.D. also at Guelph. However, Dr. Gidda achieved far more than these degrees while at the University of Guelph. Dr. Gidda was one of the leaders in the legendary moving of the Canon back in 1998, which involved over 300 engineering students, and played a pivotal role in
the planning and execution of the project. Dr. Gidda is now a Principal with Conestoga Rovers and Associates.
NETWORKING SPEAKER
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Paul DeBoer
Manufacturing Engineering Supervisor
Blount Canada Ltd.
Mr. DeBoer has been working as an engineer with Blount Canada for the past 11 yrs. Currently, he is the supervisor of a manufacturing team to supply value to Blount Canada for the production of chain saw chain. Mr. DeBoer specializes in root cause analyses and optimization of existing processes. Mr. DeBoer finished his undergraduate degrere in engineering at Ryerson Unversity and went on to complete a masters in applied statistics at the Sheffield Hallam University.
PANELISTS
Stephanie Wilson
Software Engineer
I graduated from the University of Guelph for Engineering Systems and Computing in 2006. I then took graduate computer science courses at York University, where I worked on semi-automated image segmentation of 3D datasets. I worked at Brisk Mobile and then Fongo Mobile doing iOS development. In 2013, I joined Google on the Fiber team at the Kitchener-Waterloo office, where I've worked on the web portal for Google Fiber customers.
Bryan Ho-Yan
Senior Engineer/Project Manager/Group
AMEC
Bryan is an interdisciplinary engineer, with experience in energy conservation, sustainable development, renewable energy, and project management. Much of his work over the past five years has focused on providing review and consultation on energy optimization to reduce environmental impact and operations costs of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional practices. His experience both as an engineering consultant and as a project manager is broad-based and includes energy auditing and optimization, renewable energy design, and life cycle assessment. From previous work experience he brings with him a firm understanding of wind environment, wind loading, vibrations and structural dynamics. He has provided thorough advice and innovative solutions to complex challenges throughout different stages of international built-environment projects to culturally diverse clients.
Lindsay Richardson
Project Engineer
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
I graduated from the University of Guelph in 2002 with a Biological Engineering degree and a minor in Food Engineering. I participated on the University Senate Committee, and was part of the leadership for the 2001 Ontario Engineering Competition. I have worked for three amazing companies since graduation: Bacardi Canada Inc, Pepsico-FritoLay, and McNeil Consumer Healthcare (a division of Johnson & Johnson). I have frequently interviewed for co-op students and new hire contracts for the engineering department.
Currently the Director of Engineering with McNeil Consumer HealthCare, a division of Johnson & Johnson. The Guelph based plant manufactures the TYLENOL and Motrin brands for the Canadian market place. He began his career as a project engineer and has also held manufacturing supervisory positions. He is a graduate of the University of Guelph, having earned a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Engineering.
Aimée Smith
Principal/Project Director
Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc.
Aimée Smith is a Principal of Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc. (RWDI), an engineering consulting firm headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Guelph, a Master's degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Carleton University, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario. Aimée is a Project Director in RWDI’s Building Science division, and focuses on different aspects of building performance as it is influenced by the local microclimate. In particular, Aimée specializes in air quality and exhaust dispersion studies for the design of building exhaust and air intake systems for laboratory, healthcare and other related facilities.
