Barbara White Bryson

Principal

DesignIntelligence Strategic Advisors

Barbara White Bryson Ed.D. FAIA is an architect, author, and consultant as well as principal for DesignIntelligence Strategic Advisors. Dr. Bryson recently retired as Associate Dean for Research, and Director of the Drachman Institute of the College of Architecture Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) at the University of Arizona. Bryson previously served the University of Arizona as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Analysis before joining CAPLA in 2016 and led Rice University’s construction program as well as planning and facilities for 14 years as associate vice president successfully overseeing more than $1.4 billion in design and construction. Bryson authored Creating a Culture of Predictable Outcomes: How Leadership, Collaboration, and Decision-Making Drive Architecture and Construction published in 2021, and co-authored The Owner’s Dilemma: Driving Success and Innovation in the Design and Construction Industry with Canan Yetmen. Bryson recently launched a podcast with Fred Gutierrez named Curious Teams, for design, construction, and owner communities.

Dr. Luciana Burdi

Director for Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs

Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport)

Dr. Luciana Burdi, Intl. Assoc. AIA, CCM, MCPPO, is the Director for Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs for the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). As Director, she is responsible for the development, administration and execution of the CIP (Capital Investment Program) for all Massport facilities. In her role, Burdi is leading the shift of Capital Programs towards a more innovative, progressive, Data and Design Technology-driven department. By adopting Lean, Scrum and Lean Construction principles, she is also very committed to create a culture of continuous improvement focusing on delivering “best-in-class” infrastructure projects for our customers. Her commitment to sustainability, diversity and talent development provides a wide spread of opportunities for staff and ultimately improving quality outcomes. Burdi received her Doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Design. Previously, she was a SPURS Fellow (Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies) at MIT and she holds a Master's Degree from the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV) in Venice Italy.

“The approach to leadership I try to use is based on three major elements: LISTENING. LEARNING. and TRUSTING.

Listening to understand and listening to learn.

Learning from listening and adapting to move forward.

Trusting and enabling trust. Providing a safety net, supporting one another, allows for acceptance of missteps and tweaking to the current direction to a more suitable path. Together.”

James Martin

Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Shepley Bulfinch

James Martin is Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Shepley Bulfinch, a national architecture firm known for design excellence in healthcare, education and urban development. Drawing on over 20 years of Information Technology experience, Martin leads the development of strategies for technology tools that support and advance design, delivery, and collaboration. He has been particularly successful at creating an innovation center inside of Shepley Bulfinch’s IT department, focusing on new technologies and how they affect the design process. Martin is a Six Sigma Green Belt and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Roger Williams University.

"Failure is always an option if you're pushing beyond what is known; try to do it quickly and make sure you're in a position to learn as much as possible from it."

Todd Orenstein

Vice President of Commercialization

AECOM

Todd Orenstein is Vice President of Commercialization at AECOM, where he evaluates and incubates ideas and technologies that deliver value to AECOM’s clients and employees. He works closely with AECOM’s digital teams, consulting leaders, and subject matter experts globally to evaluate technology commercialization, from proof of concept through proof of scale. Orenstein also works closely with the AECOM Capital team to identify, evaluate, and invest in start-up companies that operate in AECOM’s core markets, taking minority stakes where companies have differentiated offerings and strong growth potential.

"The innovative product or approach that finds traction in the market might be the first we see, but follows a series of iterations – all of which inform the one that sticks. The key is iterating as efficiently as possible and leveraging our learnings along the way.”

Melodie Yashar

VP of Building Design & Performance

ICON

Melodie Yashar is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Yashar oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally-performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supports design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. She teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios at Art Center College of Design. In previous roles Yashar was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Her background is in industrial design, architecture, and human-computer interaction with an emphasis in robotics.

"When we’re prototyping and engineering new features and building applications for 3d-printing, we look to push the limits of how our system performs. Testing to failure is a part of how we learn the limits of our system, and we use it as a means of driving technology development forwards. It’s an inherent part of how we continually aim to construct new geometries and architectures only achievable through additive construction, and that have never been realized before."