Symposium Speakers

Symposium speakers play a pivotal role in shaping the overall experience and success of an event. The PGCS organising committee aims to choose individuals based on their experience, expertise, knowledge and ability to engage and inspire the audience.  

Speakers are chosen from various backgrounds, including industry leaders, academics, thought leaders and experts in the project and program management field.

Please view all our confirmed speakers below. Information on their presentations can be found on the program page once available.

Click to see our:
Keynote Speakers
Concurrent Speakers
Masterclass Presenters

Keynote Speakers

Profile


 Dr Maryam Gracias
  Flight Controls Engineer | Bell Flight

Maryam H. Gracias received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), Daytona Beach, Florida, where she also obtained her pilot’s license. She completed her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Her research examined Agile, Waterfall, and Hybrid methodologies in the Aerospace and Defense sector, with a focus on Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and its impact on requirement stability, schedule efficiency, and verification and validation processes. She has 6 years of experience on the F-35 program as a Senior Systems Engineer and is currently a Flight Controls Engineer at Bell Flight working on the MV-75 tiltrotor aircraft being developed for the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program.



Profile


 Dr Joe Gregory
  Assistant Research Professor | University of Arizona

Dr Joe Gregory is an assistant research professor in the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. His research interests include digital engineering, model-based systems engineering, and semantic technologies. His current research focuses on the development of the Digital Engineering Factory, and the development of ontologies to support digital systems engineering. He is the co-chair of the Digital Engineering Information Exchange (DEIX) Ontology Working Group and a member of the INCOSE ‘Systems Engineering in the Digital Age’ task team.



Concurrent Speakers

Profile


 Mr Walt Lipke
  Retired

Walt Lipke retired from federal service with over 35 years of experience in the development, maintenance, and management of software for automated testing of avionics. As a manager, a career highlight was his organization’s winning of the Software Engineering Institute / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers award for Software Process Achievement. Mr. Lipke is a graduate of the USA DoD course for Program Managers. He is a professional engineer with a master’s degree in physics, and is a member of the physics honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma. Lipke achieved distinguished academic honors with the selection to Phi Kappa Phi.

He is the creator of Earned Schedule (ES). Mr. Lipke has published over ninety articles on the method, three books, Earned Schedule, Earned Schedule Plus, and Earned Schedule Application Handbook. As well, he offers a free of charge on-line Earned Schedule Master Class. Additionally, Mr. Lipke has presented research on ES and its schedule performance analysis methods at several conferences in the United States, and internationally.

For his contribution to project control, the practice of EVM, and the creation of ES, Mr. Lipke has received several awards: 2007 Project Management Institute Metrics Specific Interest Group Scholar Award; 2007 Project Management Institute Eric Jenett Award for Project Management Excellence; 2013 Earned Value Management Europe Award; 2014 College of Performance Management Driessnack Distinguished Service Award; In 2017, the Australian Project Governance and Control Symposium honored Mr. Lipke by establishing the annual Walt Lipke Project Governance and Control Excellence Award. The award is made for excellence in research, expanding knowledge of the management and governance of projects, programs, and portfolios in Australasia.

Masterclass Presenters



 Dr Maryam Gracias
  Flight Controls Engineer | Bell Flight

Maryam H. Gracias received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), Daytona Beach, Florida, where she also obtained her pilot’s license. She completed her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Her research examined Agile, Waterfall, and Hybrid methodologies in the Aerospace and Defense sector, with a focus on Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and its impact on requirement stability, schedule efficiency, and verification and validation processes. She has 6 years of experience on the F-35 program as a Senior Systems Engineer and is currently a Flight Controls Engineer at Bell Flight working on the MV-75 tiltrotor aircraft being developed for the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift program.





 Dr Joe Gregory
  Assistant Research Professor | University of Arizona

Dr Joe Gregory is an assistant research professor in the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. His research interests include digital engineering, model-based systems engineering, and semantic technologies. His current research focuses on the development of the Digital Engineering Factory, and the development of ontologies to support digital systems engineering. He is the co-chair of the Digital Engineering Information Exchange (DEIX) Ontology Working Group and a member of the INCOSE ‘Systems Engineering in the Digital Age’ task team.





 Mr Walt Lipke
  Retired

Walt Lipke retired from federal service with over 35 years of experience in the development, maintenance, and management of software for automated testing of avionics. As a manager, a career highlight was his organization’s winning of the Software Engineering Institute / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers award for Software Process Achievement. Mr. Lipke is a graduate of the USA DoD course for Program Managers. He is a professional engineer with a master’s degree in physics, and is a member of the physics honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma. Lipke achieved distinguished academic honors with the selection to Phi Kappa Phi.

He is the creator of Earned Schedule (ES). Mr. Lipke has published over ninety articles on the method, three books, Earned Schedule, Earned Schedule Plus, and Earned Schedule Application Handbook. As well, he offers a free of charge on-line Earned Schedule Master Class. Additionally, Mr. Lipke has presented research on ES and its schedule performance analysis methods at several conferences in the United States, and internationally.

For his contribution to project control, the practice of EVM, and the creation of ES, Mr. Lipke has received several awards: 2007 Project Management Institute Metrics Specific Interest Group Scholar Award; 2007 Project Management Institute Eric Jenett Award for Project Management Excellence; 2013 Earned Value Management Europe Award; 2014 College of Performance Management Driessnack Distinguished Service Award; In 2017, the Australian Project Governance and Control Symposium honored Mr. Lipke by establishing the annual Walt Lipke Project Governance and Control Excellence Award. The award is made for excellence in research, expanding knowledge of the management and governance of projects, programs, and portfolios in Australasia.



Symposium Managers

Consec - Conference and Event Management
PO Box 3127
Belconnen Delivery Centre
BELCONNEN ACT 2617
Tel: +61 2 6252 1200
Email: pgcs@consec.com.au