2024-2025 Future Leader Management Program and Forum

Be part of the Level 100 of our professional development offerings. Space is limited to 40 participants. Register today to reserve your spot and avoid disappointment!

Overview

Developed by the consulting engineering industry for the consulting engineering industry, this interactive program is exclusive to future leaders looking to hone their skills through targeted professional development and networking opportunities with peers and senior industry leaders. 

The program and forum are intended for rising individuals within their firm with 3 to 8 years of experience in consulting engineering. They show great potential and want to advance their careers and become resilient managers with integrated skills. 

It will feature various learning styles (interactive virtual, on-demand, live in person, and mixed live with remote trainers/mentors) and opportunities to build a national network with peers and industry leaders.

Is your firm looking to de-risk its team to better service clients? Register your rising leaders today as spaces are limited for this exclusive training opportunity. 

Details

Management Program: 

The program consists of monthly on-demand learning modules and virtual live sessions from September through January. 

Each monthly module explores a different theme with a series of 20-minute videos available on-demand 24/7. At the end of the month, participants will take part in a 1-hour virtual live interactive session with one of the DFS trainers; participants can ask questions and discuss their real-world examples while utilizing the trainer’s expertise and lessons learned/examples.

In Person Forum:

On February 4 and 5, 2025, participants will meet in Calgary to complete the program in person. Over 2 intensive days, they will collaborate to prepare and deliver a presentation to the ACEC-Canada Board of Directors. 

Click here to view the detailed management program and forum agenda and schedule. 

Certification for professional development units (pdu)

At the end of the program, you will receive a certificate of completion and a letter confirming your participation, which may count towards continuing professional development (CPD) in some jurisdictions. Note that whether this or any program qualifies as CPD is at the sole discretion of each regulatory body. Please check with your regulatory for details.

The Future Leader Management Program and Forum consist of up to 12 hours of on-demand videos, 5 hours of live virtual learning, and 16.5 hours of in-person instruction. 

Expectation is that participants will have completed 80% of online learning, and 100% of in-person learning to receive a certificate of completion.

Once complete enrol in our Level 200 Future Leaders Forum!

DFS seminars

ACEC-Canada is partnering with Design Firm Seminars (DFS) to provide this new professional development offering. 

DFS partners have extensive experience in North America, Africa, the Middle East, and internationally. They work in firms large and small, offices in urban and rural locations, and operations overseas. They provide the training program for FIDIC and have custom designed our Future Leader Management Program and Forum for you, the Canadian future leader!

Scroll down to meet and learn more about the DFS trainers.

Registration details

Registration includes:

  • Virtual kick-off session
  • Access to over 32 on-demand videos on a variety of industry-specific topics
  • Access to an exclusive Slack channel for early networking and shared learning
  • Six monthly 1-hour virtual interactive sessions with a DFS trainer
  • 2-day in-person forum (February 4 & 5) in Calgary
  • Exclusive networking opportunities with the ACEC-Canada Board of Directors during the in-person forum
  • Access to an ACEC-Canada Town Hall session with the ACEC-Canada Chair and other Board Executive Committee members
  • All meals at the in-person forum (breakfasts, lunches, breaks, receptions, and dinners)

Registration does not include:

  • Transportation to Calgary
  • Hotel accommodation
  • Incidentals, including costs incurred on the evening of February 3

Registration fee:
$1,500.00 per participant, plus 5% tax. 

Click here to register

Note: Due to the limited spaces available for this program, only 5 registrations per firm are permitted. Additional registrations may be approved by ACEC-Canada based on availability. 

Tool kit – request for support

We've developed a tool kit to help you request support and approval to take part in the program and forum. Click here to download. 

Forum venue and hotel accommodations

The in-person forum will be hosted at the Hotel Arts (119-12th Ave. SW Calgary)

A special rate of $179 per night plus applicable taxes has been secured for participants. Click here to book your stay. 

This rate is valid until Monday, January 6, 2025. After this date, ACEC-Canada can not guarantee the availability of rooms or the room rate. 

Questions?

Contact Angela Van Wingerden by email at avanwingerden@acec.ca or by phone at  343-804-9802.

Meet the DFS Trainers

Michael Walker, P.Eng., PE, PMP: Michael has over 20 years of experience in the consulting engineering industry, including work as a designer, surveyor, inspector, Project Manager, Group Manager, and Branch Manager. He focuses on leading diverse projects and teams and growing professionals to help them achieve their personal and professional goals. Michael has trained hundreds of professionals through multiple programs, including one on one coaching, group management, and FIDIC’s Future Leaders Management Certificate Program. He specializes in Project and Program Management, with a focus on communication and risk management. Additionally, he is the Discipline Head of Project Management for FIDIC Academy, a member of the FIDIC Sustainability Committee, and a long-serving member of ACEC-SK through many roles including the Chair of the Careers in Consulting Committee, as well as a past member of the Board of Directors of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta. He has won multiple project and personal awards throughout his career and helped many others to also achieve success and awards. ​Michael has been involved with DFS both as a student and now as a trainer and partner. Michael has participated in the successful delivery of the FIDIC FLMC program (currently in its third year). He has presented at many ACEC-SK and ACEC-Canada conferences and events and is a regular volunteer for career fairs and presentations to Universities as an ACEC-SK representative. Michael is skilled in delivering DFS courses live, and virtually, and is also leading the on-demand e-learning offering of our courses. 

Dr. Michele Kruger, Pr Eng, DEng (Civil): Dr. Michele Kruger completed her Bachelors, Master’s and Doctorate Degrees in Civil engineering at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. She is a professionally registered engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), where she also previously served as deputy chair of the ECSA Communication and Information committee. Michele specializes in Water and Wastewater Treatment and she is the Functional General Manager: Water Infrastructure at SMEC, South Africa. She also recently finished as Advisor to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. Michele has been part of FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) committees since 2007 and currently chairs the FIDIC Diversity and Inclusion Council. She is also currently on the FIDIC Credentialing Limited Certification Board and a Trainer for the FIDIC Future Leaders Management Program that develops the top young engineers from around the world. Michele is a previous Board Member of Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) and has been involved on various CESA committees. Michele has a great passion for engineering and the development of young talent and women in STEM and hopes to make a difference through giving back. In support of this she has written a book called: ”The Development of Young Professionals and Women in STEM careers” together with Dr Hannelie Nel. It is published by Taylor & Francis Group (USA).

Richard Stump, AIA, LEED AP BD+CRichard Stump is a Vice President of RS&H., a global architectural, engineering and construction management company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Based in Chicago, Richard serves in RS&H’s federal practice while working on initiatives across aviation and aerospace sections. Mr. Stump’s work experience spans 27 years, including business development, large project and program management, and managing new and existing markets in the US and globally.  His professional activities have included business development and project execution of multidisciplinary building and infrastructure works in the Pacific, the Middle East/Southwest Asia, Horn of Africa and North Africa, India and Afghanistan. His work experience includes projects in 39 different countries; he has lived outside the continental North America in Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Guam and Hawaii. Richard has been a trainer for DFS since 2020, contributing to the professional education of more than 140 engineering professionals.  He is a regular presenter at conferences for FIDIC, for the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), and he serves as a facilitator for design workshops and charrettes. In the past ten years, Richard has completed 55 design workshops with up to 110 participants for projects valued at up to $350 million USD. Richard is the current Chair of the Integrity Management Committee (IMC) and was a key founder of what is now the FIDIC Future Leaders Advisory Council. He has served in various roles in the FIDIC IMC since 2008. He also served as the American Council of Engineering Companies’ International Committee Chair, on the SAME National Board of Direction, and as SAME Pacific Regional Vice President. Prior to joining the AEC industry, Richard served as an officer in the US Air Force. A registered architect in the United States, Richard is also a LEED-accredited sustainability professional (Building Design and Construction).  His academic degrees include a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 

Andrew Steeves, P.Eng., MBA: Andrew has over 40 years of consulting engineering experience in a variety of technical and management positions.  Most of his experience was with employee-owned firms providing consulting and design services in engineering, architecture and environment science.  At ADI he held several positions including design engineer, Manager of the Public Works Division, Vice-President (Administration) and Secretary-Treasurer. From 2011 to 2017 Andrew was Engineer in Residence at the University of New Brunswick. In this role, he acted as lecturer and industrial mentor for teams of students working on final-year design projects.  He continues to mentor senior Civil Engineering students working on their team design projects. Andrew is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick (UNB) with Bachelors and Master’s degrees in both Engineering and Business.  Andrew’s volunteer and committees experience includes;
Past Chair of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada (ACEC), Past-President of the Consulting Engineers of New Brunswick (now ACEC-NB). Past Chair of the Advisory Board for the UNB Faculty of Business, the CME-NB (Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters), Engineers Canada, FIDIC (international consulting engineering organization) and NSERC (National Sciences and Engineering Research Council). Andrew is the author of several other technical and business articles and presentations.  He has taught business and engineering courses at the University of New Brunswick, Mount Allison University and the University of Prince Edward Island. He has presented papers, webinars, courses and talks at numerous national and international conferences for groups including the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies (ACEC) Canada, ACEC-NB and for several Young Professionals and Future Leaders groups across Canada and around the world through FIDIC (YPMP, FFLMC) and ACEC Canada.

Jeshika Moonsamy, Pr Eng., BSc. Eng (Civil): Jeshika Moonsamy is a professionally registered engineer with over 15 years of experience in the consulting engineering industry across South Africa and the United Kingdom. With extensive experience in the water sector, Jeshika's interest has extended into the sustainable development and infrastructure space. She has a passion for the technical delivery of multidisciplinary projects, and has experience in the leadership and management of project and organizational teams, governance and capacity building. Jeshika is an enthusiastic mentor and trainer. In addition to workplace training of her direct reports and mentees, she is also a trainer for FIDIC's Future Leaders Management Certificate Programme where she focuses on Quality, Risk and Sustainability Management. Jeshika's involvement in the engineering industry extends across several technical organizations as well as in consulting engineering for Consulting Engineers South Africa, FIDIC Africa and FIDIC as a member of the Sustainable Development Committee and as the Discipline Head of Sustainability Management in the FIDIC Academy.

Jomanah Al-Btoush, B.Sc. (Civil), MBA, PMP: Jomanah Al-Btoush holds a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering, MBA degree, and post graduate Diploma in International Construction Contracts. She is a certified PMP Professional, certified Green Project Manager (GPM-b), certified Carbon Reduction & GHG Manager (CRM). She has diverse working experience in water and environmental sectors in Jordan and the Middle East, as a project manager, technical leader, modeller, and contact specialist. Currently, she is working as a Project Management Specialist in the Water Resources and Environment Office at USAID Jordan. She participated in FIDIC Young Professionals Management Training Program in 2011, was a former chair of FIDIC Young Professionals Forum Steering Committee, and an active member in different committees and task forces. In 2018, Jomanah won the FIDIC annual Young Professionals Award.