Dr. Paul Mazerolle (BA’89) is the 19th president and vice-chancellor of the University of New Brunswick.
Prior to his appointment to UNB in July 2019, Dr. Mazerolle was pro vice-chancellor (arts, education and law, 2009-19), provost for Mount Gravatt campus (2009-19) and the director of the violence research and prevention program (2006-19) at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. He was also director of Research and Prevention at the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission (2002-2005) and head of the criminology program at the University of Queensland (2000-2006).
An active scholar in criminology, Dr. Mazerolle has led several funded research projects examining processes that shape offending behaviour across the life-course. His primary focus is in building knowledge on violence to inform theories, advance understanding and improve policy and practices to reduce or prevent violence.
Dr. Mazerolle is a past editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology and is the founding co-editor (with Tara McGee) of the Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology. He has published widely on topics including understanding and preventing different forms of homicide, including Intimate partner homicide and femicide, police attitudes and responses to domestic violence and youth violence.
Dr. Mazerolle obtained his bachelor of arts in sociology from UNB in 1989. He went on to complete his master’s degree in criminal justice at Northeastern University in 1990 and his PhD in criminology at the University of Maryland in 1995.
A proud native of New Brunswick, having grown up in Fredericton, he returned to New Brunswick and UNB with the goal helping his alma mater create positive change in the province and world.
Dr. Josh Leon is currently the Dean of Engineering. Before joining UNB, he spent 17 years at Dalhousie where he served one term as Chief Information Officer and Assistant Vice President for Information Technology and three full terms as Dean of Engineering.
Previous to that he was Professor and Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary, and before that Dr. Leon was a faculty member in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal.
Josh completed a B.Sc. and Master’s degrees in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Biophysics at Dalhousie University. He is a Professional Engineer registered with APEGNB and he is a life member of Engineers Nova Scotia. He is also a Fellow of both the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Engineers Canada.
M. John Cigana est directeur du développement de projets chez NGen. Il soutient, depuis 25 ans, l'innovation, le développement technologique et la commercialisation de produits, aussi bien en Europe qu'en Amérique.
M. Cigana a occupé de nombreux postes de direction au Conseil National de Recherches du Canada, notamment en tant que directeur R&D, directeur général par intérim et conseiller principal. Il a été Vice-Président de la filiale technologique canadienne pour Veolia Environnement pendant 7 ans, en plus de diriger pendant 4 ans le département industriel au sein de Veolia Environnement Recherche & Innovation, en France.
M. Cigana est diplômé de l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, où il a obtenu un baccalauréat et un diplôme de maîtrise en génie civil. Il a obtenu un certificat en gouvernance de l'Université Laval (titre ASC) et un titre équivalent (C.Dir.) de l'Université McMaster. M. Cigana a contribué à plus de 100 articles et publications techniques et a obtenu deux brevets.
Mr. John Cigana is director of Project Development at NGen. For the past 25 years, he has supported innovation, technology development and product commercialization, in both Europe and the Americas.
Mr. Cigana has held numerous management positions at the National Research Council of Canada, including R&D Director, Acting General Manager and Senior Advisor. He was Vice-President of the Canadian technology subsidiary for Veolia Environnement for 7 years, and for 4 years headed the industrial wastewater department at Veolia Environnement Recherche & Innovation in France.
Mr. Cigana is a graduate of École Polytechnique de Montréal, where he obtained a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in civil engineering. He holds a Certificate in corporate governance from Université Laval (ASC designation) and an equivalent designation (Chartered Director, C.Dir.) from McMaster University. Mr. Cigana has contributed to over 100 technical articles and publications and holds two international patents.
Robert Mastrotto, B. Mech Eng., is NGen’s Vice President of Projects and joined the organization after 30 years in operations leadership roles across several global manufacturing organizations. Robert was Vice President Operations at StackTeck Systems and prior to that was Vice President Operations (Americas) for Mold-Masters Ltd.
In each of those roles Robert specialized in leading lean transformation, driving operational excellence and championing the change toward world-class performance. Robert also held senior Human Resources and Operations Leadership roles at Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited.
Most recently, Robert led a successful consulting business that focused on helping to move people, leaders and organizations forward to achieve outstanding business results. Robert derives great satisfaction from NGen’s work and his personal goal is to bring long-term success to Canadian manufacturers and the advanced manufacturing ecosystem in Canada.
Dr. Mohamed Al-Hussein is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. He held the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in the Industrialization of Building Construction and was the inaugural director of the Nasseri School of Building Science and Engineering.
He is a highly sought researcher in the areas of modular and offsite construction, lean manufacturing, construction process optimization, and BIM. Dr. Al-Hussein’s research has been published in nearly 400 articles in leading journals and conference proceedings.
Hammad Chaudhry is currently Vice President, Innovation and Construction Technology at EllisDon. Hammad brings over a decade of experience in the construction and architecture industry.
He oversees the company’s strategic approach to digital construction, leading several teams which drive advancements in the business by matching EllisDon's projects with cutting-edge digital solutions.
Additionally, he spearheads EllisDon ConTech Accelerator and Pilot Program, and is a Board Member at Building Transformations.
Hammad was included in the 2022 Top 40 Under 40 in Construction. Hammad's passion for innovation is driven by a relentless curiosity and a commitment to transforming what could be into reality.
Qian Chen is an assistant professor in Civil Engineering at the School of Engineering at The University of British Columbia (Okanagan campus). She uses digital and immersive technologies, optimization algorithms and fabrication-aware design methods to enable integration of stakeholders while accelerating the digital transformation of construction projects.
Dr. Chen completed her Doctor of Science degree in Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering from ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Her previous research was focused on a systematic approach to enabling digital supply chain coordination in construction projects when utilizing lean production methods, BIM techniques and optimization algorithms.
Her research outputs have brought to the industry additional insights about the BIM-based digital information and material flows among designers, material suppliers, and contractors and encouraged them to standardize communication interfaces and speed up design-to-construction decision-making processes.
Her academic journey has spanned many countries including the United Kingdom, Italy, China, Switzerland, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. Prior to joining UBC, Dr. Chen worked at the University of Cambridge supporting the UK Construction Productivity Taskforce in undertaking a construction performance measurement and benchmarking project.
Since UBC, Dr. Chen established the Construction Integration and Digitalization lab and her research group has collaborated with prefabrication industry stakeholders and municipalities to develop digital circular economy strategies, configurator designs and digital fabrication processes to improve the performance of industrialized construction.
Mark is a Principal and the Director of Design Technology at HOK, where he works on various architectural, innovation, and research projects. He has worked on a wide variety of complex project types, both domestically and internationally.
Mark is an expert in the use and development of digital process implementation, complex data-rich systems, and strategic solutions that solve business-related challenges through advanced technologies. Additionally, he serves on various committees within HOK and at various academic institutions.
As an experienced technical innovator and developer, Mark's work spans many different market sectors, including science and technology, aviation, defense, healthcare, sport, transportation, and government. He believes that the definition of our built fabric results from intense collaboration between many professionals across multiple disciplines and stakeholders. This collaborative approach is central to his work philosophy and success in various projects.
Mark is dedicated to ensuring that all stakeholder needs are satisfied through the intelligent application of technology throughout the design to construction process. His commitment to leveraging technology effectively ensures that every project meets the highest standards of excellence and innovation, addressing the diverse needs of clients and stakeholders alike.
Sabrina Fiorellino is the CEO and Co-Founder of Fero International Inc. A serial entrepreneur, Sabrina launched Fero in 2020 after completing the sale of a large private road-building company she founded in 2017 and following 10 years as counsel at two large firms on Toronto’s Bay Street.
In her current business, Sabrina has directed her attention to finding ground-breaking solutions for healthcare, housing, and other markets through modularization to address today’s critical space shortages by building off-site faster and more efficiently.
At Fero, Sabrina has brought together a highly experienced team of modular construction professionals, leading the company from a startup, through organic growth and acquisition, to operating the largest modular manufacturing plant in Canada.
Scott is CEO of OffsiteNZ, New Zealand’s peak body representing the offsite construction sector. Scott is passionate about how the offsite sector, by applying manufacturing disciplines, new technologies and processes and LEAN disciplines, can achieve a better built environment - better quality, smarter, greener, safer, faster, more innovative and more efficient building solutions.
Scott has extensive commercial and leadership experience in the public, private and NGO sectors and with several membership bodies.
Scott is a current member of the Ministry of Building, Innovation & Employment’s Building Advisory Panel, the Construction Sector Accord’s Residential Building Reference Group, Massey University’s Built Environment Advisory Panel, the Construction & Infrastructure Workforce Development Council’s Offsite Industry Group, the Manufacturing, Engineering & Logistics Workforce Development Council’s Stakeholder Advisory Group and Past Chair of MBIE’s Modular Component Manufacturer Scheme’s Technical Working Group.
Scott is a frequent speaker at construction sector conferences advocating and promoting the merits of building better.
Dr. Gursans Guven Isin is an Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Manitoba. Prior to that, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto. She received her BS in Civil Engineering from Yildiz Technical University (Istanbul, Turkey), and her MS in Construction Management and PhD in Civil Engineering from Istanbul Technical University (Istanbul, Turkey).
Dr. Guven Isin’s research interests are in the areas of automation, sensing and IT applications for construction engineering and management, and Building Information Modeling (BIM). Her current research focuses on the utilization and integration of automation and data capture technologies with BIM for improving processes and operations in construction projects as well as the applications of immersive visualization technologies for supporting the design, construction and operational stages of the built environment.
She currently directs the Construction Engineering and Management Group at the University of Manitoba and serves as the Manitoba Section Chair of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE).
Dr. Mojgan Jadidi is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Lassonde School of Engineering, York University. Her research interest includes Digital Twins (BIM, GIS, sensor data Integration), Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Spatial Quantum Computing for the applications of Smart Environment/Building/Infrastructures/Cities.
As founder of Geospatial Visual Analytics (GeoVA) Lab, she passionately drives the research in cutting edge technology development and engineering education using virtual/augmented reality (AR/VR) and gamification technologies intersecting with UN Sustainable Development Goals to prepare the future change makers.
She received her PhD in Geomatics from Université Laval in 2014 working on development of Fuzzy Spatial Datacube for Risk Assessment. She has MSc in Earthquake and Seismology Engineering from ROSE Center (Reduction of Seismic Risk), Italy and Université Grenoble Alpes, France and BSc in Civil-Survey Engineering from Iranian University of Science and Technology.
Her research has been funded by multiple grants from NSERC, Microsoft Research Accelerator Fund, Mitacs, COMREN, York University Academic Innovation Fund (AIF). She is secretary of ISPRS Commission IV/WG9 Spatially enabled urban and regional Digital Twins.
She is currently associate Director of ESRI Center of Excellence at York University. She is also IEEE member Women in Engineering and Geoscience group, chair of PEO Etobicoke chapter, academic chair of Toronto BIM Community (tBIMc) and certificate committee member of buildingSMART Canada (bSC).
Dr. Jadidi won a number of international awards and scholarships during her tenure at Lassonde and for post doctorate, graduate studies, such as American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Campus Representative Award, Best Paper Award from American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Zone II in 2023, Best Research Paper and Research Poster from ASEE Saint Lawrence Section in 2022, Best Paper Award from 3D GeoInfo Conference in 2018, the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2016, ESRI Students Award in 201 and Erasmus Mundus Master Scholarship from the European Commission in 2006.
Aaloak Jaswal is a seasoned leader in digital transformation with over 25 years of international experience spanning private and public sectors, including notable roles at Raytheon Missile Systems, IBM, UNICEF, The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (WHO/UNAIDS), the UN Technology Innovation Lab (UNTIL) and as CEO/Founder of Shakti Power Systems.
Most recently, he served as Head of Digital Transformation for the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), creating leading the creation of Botswana's first SmartBots Digital Innovation Lab.
His expertise spans ICT, innovation, and sustainable energy, with successful projects such as solar installations in conflict zones and UNESCO World Heritage sites. Fluent in multiple languages, Aaloak excels in engaging diverse stakeholders and has provided technical and policy advice to global organizations.
His background in International Public Health, Technical Management, and Computer Science, along with certifications in AI and Project Management, highlights his multifaceted skill set.
Mohamad Kassem is Professor of Digital Construction Management and the Lead of the Digital Construction Research theme in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. He is also the International Committee Chair at the International Centre of Connected Construction (IC3).
Professor Kassem has an established leadership and reputation in Digital Construction with a proven track record across research, enterprise, and teaching. Previous roles include the Lead for the Digital Built Environment research group, the Head of Subject for the Project and Construction Project Management Group, and the Director of Enterprise at Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering at Northumbria University. He was also the Chair of the Human Data Interaction (HDI) technical committee of the European Council for Computing in Construction (EC3) between 2019 and 2021.
Prof. Kassem has spent short visiting academic time at prestigious universities including ETH Zurich and the University of Cambridge. He has published more than 120 outputs in international journals and conferences. His successful funding awards include multi-million-pound research and enterprise grants, co-funded by Horizon Europe, Innovate UK and other international research and innovation councils.
Professor Kassem had a number of consultancy appointments to several public sector bodies including the European Commission, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and various governments, advising about strategic digital transformation of their construction markets. The impact from his research and enterprise activities in this area was used in a REF 2021 Impact Case Study, entitled 'Transforming the global construction sector through digitalisation' evidencing impact in 11 countries around the world.
Prof. Kassem received the Scherer Award for outstanding service to the computing community in the context of EC3 in 2021.
He is an expert Grant Evaluator for international and national funding programmes including EU Horizon Framework Programme; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada); the Centre for Digital Built Britain (Cambridge), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), Natural Environment Research Council (UK), Newton Fund (UK), Norway Research Council, ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and the American University of Beirut (Lebanon).
He has delivered from than 28 invited keynotes around the world in both industry and academic conferences. He has examined PhD students at more than 10 universities in the UK and abroad.
Prof. Kassem is a founding member of the BIM Excellence Initiative, and one of the leading contributors to their Macro BIM adoption project, an international project aiming to be the worldwide leading research effort for country-scale BIM adoption analysis and policy development.
He has a proven track record of working with the industry having collaborated with more than 30 companies in the UK and internationally. Prof. Kassem is keen to develop collaboration with others in academia and the industry under the following themes: digitalisation of construction and engineering projects; data-centric construction, Digital Twin for construction and operation of built/urban environment; decarbonisation through digitalisation; blockchain applications in construction, BIM-enabled digital transformation policies; performance management studies; and project and construction management. He welcomes applications from prospective PhD students on these themes.
Before joining Faithful+Gould in 2021, Stephen was a Senior Director in the Offsite construction industry for more than 22 years. During this time he managed a variety of businesses in the Offsite manufacturing and contracting markets, in both large corporate entities and smaller dynamic growing enterprises.
With detailed specialist knowledge in volumetric and panelised systems, in both steel and timber frame, Stephen has been personally involved in the delivery more than a thousand MMC schemes in the UK and overseas. These cover all market sectors but with particular experience in Education, Healthcare, Retail and both single unit and multi occupancy residential projects.
Stephen now leads AtkinsRéalis PPS consultancy offers in Modern Methods of Construction, providing client advisory on all aspects of MMC and Offsite. This covers both strategic and project level engagements, from concept through all aspects of project delivery and post occupancy, working with Local Authorities, Private Developers, Housing Associations and Government bodies.
Pierre Battah is an award-winning author and a leadership and HR specialist. He is a longtime nationally syndicated workplace columnist for CBC/Radio-Canada, a TEDx presenter and a former senior manager in HR. He was previously an associate professor in management.
His book Humanity at Work, Leading for Better Relationships and Results is published by Toronto and Miami based Life to Paper Publishing and won the gold medal in the Business and Leadership category at the Nautilus Book Awards in the US.
Pierre holds an MBA, a BBA from UNB and is certified as an HR professional, a management consultant and a professional speaker. He is an executive in residence and moderator at UNB’s Wallace McCain Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership and leads UNB’s Leadership Development Roundtable, a leadership development initiative championed by The Office of the President.
He has been recognized as the Chartered HR Professional of the Year by his peers and received Rotary International’s highest distinction, the Paul Harris Award for outstanding contribution to the community.
He lives with his wife, Gabrielle, in Moncton, New Brunswick, where he performs on the double bass with several jazz and classical music ensembles.
Kaitlyn Gillis is the founder of Human Nature Connections, a consultancy based in Fredericton, NB, focused on the intersection of people, nature and climate. Kaitlyn believes in the power of interdisciplinarity for tackling complex problems and brings to the table a diverse background in building engineering, deep green architecture and environmental psychology.
Kaitlyn has presented, researched, and published widely on green and healthy buildings, leading internal research projects and the development of new service lines while working to shift local building industries.
She has co-led a not-for-profit promoting sustainable buildings and worked for global architecture and engineering firms on a diverse portfolio of projects around North America, the UKa nd the UAE.
Kaitlyn served on the National Advisory Committee for the Alberta Rural Development Network's national step-by-step guide for sustainable affordable housing and is currently a member of Living Future Europe's Biophilia Locus.
After having studied and worked in the United Kingdom and across Canada over the past decade, Kaitlyn is happy to be back in Fredericton and working with the Department of Civil Engineering at UNB to integrate climate, sustainability, and social impact work into curriculum and research.
Dr. Rankin is a professor and holds the M. Patrick Gillin Chair in Construction Engineering and Management in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of New Brunswick. Prior to joining UNB, Dr. Rankin was the Executive Director of the Construction Technology Centre Atlantic, an innovation broker for the region’s construction industry.
Dr. Rankin’s construction experience has included various project and construction management roles in many types of construction projects including high-rise buildings and larger infrastructure projects such as the Confederation Bridge. He received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Rankin’s current research focuses on improving the performance of the construction industry through innovation: the appropriate adoption and implementation of advanced technologies and sustainable practices for the delivery of public infrastructure.
Brandon is the Director of Innovation and Operations at the University of New Brunswick Off-site Construction Research Centre. In his role, Brandon is responsible for engaging private and public sector organizations to build partnerships, attract investment to UNB, manage and operate the research centre, and support research projects through grant identification and managing key strategic projects and relationships.
Before joining UNB in 2019, Brandon worked in the public sector on capital projects, followed by a five-year position with WSP, where he was an infrastructure management consultant. In addition to his current role with UNB, Brandon sits as a Board Member and Secretary for Building Transformations (formerly CanBIM), an active member of the Off-site Construction working group at the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB), and a member of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Construction Division.
Brandon has been instrumental in growing the OCRC and creating an executive board of construction leaders from across the country. He is eager to collaborate and work with industry partners to grow the Off-site Construction Research Centre and to create innovative ideas that will transform the construction industry.
Dr. Ala Suliman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University, and adjunct professor at the University of New Brunswick.
Prior to joining Northumbria University, he worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and as an industry postdoctoral fellow at the UNB Off-site Construction Research Centre (OCRC). In 2020, he became a licensed professional engineer (P.Eng.) in Canada.
Dr. Suliman has a diverse engineering background. He earned his Ph.D. in Geomatics Engineering and his M.Sc.E in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Before that, he obtained his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and his M.Sc. in Construction Surveying and Photogrammetry from the University of Benghazi (UoB) in Libya. Throughout his academic journey at UNB, Dr. Suliman received several awards, including the Award of the Canadian Construction Research Board for two consecutive years (2018 & 2019), the best research prize in different local conferences at UNB for two consecutive years (2015 & 2016), and the funding award of the MITACS industrial research (2020). In 2008, he was awarded the National Development Foundation Scholarship of Libya in recognition of his outstanding academic performance.
Dr. Suliman's professional experience spans academia and consulting. In academia, he has a proven track record of teaching and research at different universities. He has taught a wide range of Civil, Construction, Surveying, and Geomatics engineering courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He is also the leading author of over 20 refereed research papers and a book chapter published in prestigious journals and book series. In the consulting field, Dr. Suliman has delivered numerous training programs to local consultancy firms and provided engineering consultancy and surveying services to leading construction companies in his home country for several years.
Passionate about applying his diverse backgrounds to real-world problems, Dr. Suliman thrives in collaborative and partnership environments. He is dedicated to enhancing workflows in the industry domain and aiding the academic community in modelling complex qualitative concepts. During his time at OCRC, he played a significant role in multiple research projects with public and industry partners, focusing on productivity simulation and lean-based improvement of steel fabrication, mapping technological innovation in off-site construction, maturity modelling and assessment of urban systems in terms of sustainability and smartness, and applications’ mapping of IoT sensors in smart building management.
Furthermore, Dr. Suliman had the honour of initiating and chairing the Transforming Construction with Reality Capture Technologies (TCRC 2022) event at UNB in 2022. This international construction specialty conference highlighted the innovative applications of remote data capturing technologies (such as Laser and LiDAR scanners, Camera sensors, GPR, Drones and Surveying equipment, IoT devices, etc.) in the field of construction project management.
Dr. Suliman remains active in two disciplines: remote sensing and construction management. He serves as a guest editor and an active reviewer for several academic journals and is a member of various research societies in both Canada and the US.
Dr. Suliman's research interests encompass two distinct areas: industry-oriented research focusing on improved work and workflows of construction planning and control through innovative applications of digital and imaging technologies (BIM, AR/MR, AI, Reality capturing and sensing), and academic-oriented research aiming for better decisions and strategic planning through measuring, benchmarking, abstract mapping, and maturity modelling of construction-related concepts.
