Our Mission

Chair; Founding Director Carla Ciepliski has been a student of Lean, systems thinking and operational excellence methodologies for 27 years. She started as an industrial engineer in product supply manufacturing with Procter & Gamble, participating in tactical process improvement, people-centric continuous improvement strategies and value stream optimizations across North America for multiple business units in various leadership roles. The latter half of her career has been spent primarily in Canada exploring multi-sector Lean implementations including working with all players across the design and construction spectrum as a coach on various Lean initiatives and project deliveries. She currently lives in Calgary, and travels across Canada to support Lean and collaborative contract project delivery working as the National Director for Lean Practice with Colliers Project Leaders and consultant with Ternion Results. Carla is passionate about the positive industry transformation and continues to be energized by the intensive collaborations and problem solving currently underway in this pursuit.

Vice Chair; Founding Director Allie Grande is a Principal at Group2 Architecture Interior Design with over a decade of experience in architecture and construction. Allie is an industry leader in her field and widely recognized for her innovation in Lean design and expertise in Integrated Project Delivery. Allie’s work in collaborative delivery models has further developed her desire to integrate design and construction teams to deliver increased value to clients and elevate our industry. Allie empowers teams to utilize LEAN tools and processes from design through construction to increase opportunities for collaboration and innovation. Additionally, Allie holds leadership experience on over 25 IPD projects in a design, construction and advisory role, supporting high performing project teams with an emphasis on facilitating cultural alignment and team health monitoring, developing collaborative processes to promote integration and delivering targeted training to accelerate learning.

Vice Chair; Founding Director Dominic Desmarais is a Professional Engineer with 20 years’ experience deploying lean, with the last 15 being in construction. He has a technical background in the design of production systems. He participated in the integration of lean thinking in several businesses, including several manufacturing plants, a vertically integrated Owner-Operator-Design-Builder, where he became the senior leader of their modular construction operation. He since has been working for general contractors, helping several projects with lean thinking and practices inclusive of IPD, TVD and LPS. Dominic is a relentless student, intense thinker and passionate promoter of all things lean, he currently lives in Edmonton and travels across North America to support the deployment of lean and IPD for Graham Construction and Engineering.

Founding Director Deon H.J. Wilner, P.Eng. is a highly accomplished and respected business leader and project manager with a proven 32-year track record of success in the engineering/consulting industry. He specializes in water and wastewater treatment, Lean, and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). He holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and a Management Development certificate from the University of Alberta.Wilner is known for his technical knowledge, exceptional leadership skills, and ability to build and manage high-performing teams. He has a deep understanding of engineering, IPD and can navigate complex business, design, and construction challenges with ease. In addition to his professional achievements, Wilner is deeply committed to service and actively involved in several industry organizations. He has served on the Boards of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta (CEA), including President and Chairman of the Board in 2015/16, Construction Specifications Canada (CSC), and currently Lean Design and Construction Canada (LDCC), and on committees with CEA, American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Integrated Project Delivery Alliance (IPDA).

Founding Director Eric Lusis has over 25 years in the AEC industry, is an LCI Improved Instructor, and is an Approved Facilitator of the AGC Certificate of Management – Lean Construction. As VP of Continuous Improvement at Aecon Construction Group Inc., Eric oversees the adoption of Lean Construction techniques and promote Continuous Improvement across Canada’s largest publicly-traded construction company. Formerly the National Lean Director at PCL Construction, Eric was instrumental to building PCL’s robust Lean program used today and was responsible for strategic planning and program development to facilitate high-performing and lasting results.

Founding Director Dr. Farook Hamzeh is an Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta since 2019. He was full time faculty at Colorado State University between 2009 and 2011 and at the American University of Beirut between 2011 and 2019. Dr. Hamzeh has worked for more than seven years in the construction industry in Lebanon, Qatar, Dubai, and the United States on several mega projects. These include the $1.7 Billion Cathedral Hill Hospital in San Francisco, the 333 m high Rose Rotana Hotel in Dubai, Losail motor-bike racetrack in Qatar, Olympic Tower in Qatar, Al-Amal Oncology Hospital in Qatar, Serail 1374 Building in downtown Beirut, and Sibline Cement factory 2nd production line in Lebanon. Throughout his career, Dr. Hamzeh has developed a passion for improving construction processes to increase productivity, raise customer value, and reduce process waste. This passion has fueled his research in the areas of lean construction, process improvement, design management, production planning, BIM, Simulation, and supply chain management.

Founding Director Currently working as the Lean Integration Leader with Kinetic Construction, Ritu has been advancing the lean mindset in the AEC industry for 15 years. She is an experienced lean coach, teacher, facilitator, and implementer who passionately works with the project teams and people at all levels to achieve desired goals. As a part of her role at Kinetic, Ritu oversees the lean program. She holds a Ph.D. in Built Environment, was the recipient of the VRCA 2022 Education Leadership Award, 2021 40 Under 40 Award by On-Site magazine, 2020 PMI Young Professional Award for her contributions to the existing knowledge of lean design and construction in the AEC industry. Her work in lean has been acknowledged internationally through journal publications, book chapters, and various conference presentations. Ritu has recently been nominated on the IPDA Board, she is a LCI and AGC certified lean education instructor as well as continues to be one of the core team members of the Vancouver and Vancouver Island Lean Community of Practice (Lean CoP).

Founding Director Vicente is a Professor in Construction Engineering and Management within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Alberta, and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Digital Lean Construction. His research interests are at the interface of Construction Engineering and Management and Computer Science, pioneering the Lean Construction 4.0 concept. He has secured CAN$63+ million in research and teaching grants over his career, and the largest "single" corporate sponsorship in the history of the University of Auckland. Vicente is a prolific author accounting for 1 book (Lean Construction 4.0: Driving a Digital Revolution of Production Management in the AEC Industry. London, UK, Routledge [Taylor & Francis Imprint]), 2 book chapters, 82 journal papers, and 73 peer-reviewed conference papers to date. He is an Editorial Board Member for Advanced Engineering Informatics, General Secretary of the International Group for Lean Construction, and Board of Directors for Bent Arrow, a not-for-profit's society serving indigenous children, youth and families in Edmonton. He has supervised to completion over a hundred undergraduate and graduate students: 69 BE(Hons) final projects and theses, and 7 Master of Engineering and 13 PhD students.

Founding Director Dr. Ivanka Iordanova, professor at the Department of Construction Engineering at ETS, holds a degree in architecture and a Ph.D. from the University of Montreal. After an academic period as a lecturer and researcher, Dr. Iordanova worked for 7 years in the industry as Director of Innovation and Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) at Pomerleau (General Contractor recognized for its leadership in innovation) where she incited and lead the implementation of Lean Construction along with the digital project management. Today, prof. Iordanova's teaching and research focus on digital innovation and new construction strategies aiming at the realization of high quality buildings and infrastructures, such as BIM/VDC, Lean Construction and Digital Fabrication. With a goal of increasing construction productivity, quality and safety, she studies the potential of industrialization of construction and digital technologies for making our built environment more sustainable, harmonious and empathetic.