Brian Myerholtz is a Partner & Managing Director with BCG where he is a core member of the industrial goods and operations and practice areas. Brian has worked primarily with manufacturers of engineered machinery and building products on operational, strategic, and corporate development topics. His recent work has focused on using technology to reduce cost, shorten build times, improve quality and safety, and enable aftermarket parts and service support.  Brian was a Tuck Scholar at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University

Jake Olsen is the Vice President of Field Engineering at DEWALT. He holds an Undergraduate Degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering. He is a registered Professional Civil Engineer in California. Jake has more than 15 years of experience in the construction field from engineering consulting to construction product design and manufacturing. Jake has built and led teams in both USA and Asia where he spent 5 years building a company as Managing Director that was sold to Stanley Black & Decker. In his current role, he leads a team of engineers at DEWALT that work with designers and contractors from the office to the fabrication shop to the jobsite improving safety and efficiency by educating on new products and code changes as well as developing both innovative products and industry specific technology solutions.

Stan Pepper has returned to his family's construction business after a 13-year hiatus. Pepper, 61, was named chairman and CEO of Pepper Cos., a Chicago-based holding company of Pepper Construction Group. Company spokeswoman Shannan Ghera said it's a new position created for Pepper, who left the company in 2002. Most recently, he was CEO of StratusVue, a a construction software business. Pepper Construction was the sixth-largest Chicago-area construction company in 2013, with local revenue of $438 million, according to Crain's 2014 list of the largest local contractors.

An architect and engineer by training, Carlo Ratti practices in Italy and teaches at the MIT, where he directs the Senseable City Lab. Ratti has co-authored over 250 publications and holds several patents. His work has been exhibited in several venues worldwide, including the Venice Biennale, New York’s MoMA, London’s Science Museum, and Barcelona’s Design Museum. Two of his projects – the Digital Water Pavilion and the Copenhagen Wheel – were hailed by Time Magazine as ‘Best Inventions of the Year’. He has been included in Blueprint Magazine’s ‘25 People who will Change the World of Design’ and in Wired Magazine’s ‘Smart List: 50 people who will change the world’. He was curator for the ‘Future Food District’ at Expo Milano 2015, and is currently serving as Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Future Cities.

Ryan Salvas serves as the Director of Innovation at Skanska USA Commercial Development. Salvas has a diverse background with over 15 years of experience as a technologist, entrepreneur, designer and educator working with Universities, Designers, and Technology Startups. These diverse experiences allow him a unique perspective on innovative new technologies within the design and construction space and has overseen the development of a number of new technologies. Most recently he worked with nano-materials startup Ubiquitous Energy in helping them to secure a successful series B round of funding. Ryan has completed building projects across the country including the Time Inc. headquarters in New York City, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY and Cornell Milstein Hall in Ithaca, NY. He holds a Master of Science in Built Ecologies and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Tom Scarangello leads the strategic direction and oversight of the firm while also being highly engaged with clients, projects and staff development. He has more than 35 years of experience in the structural engineering of a wide variety of building types, from long-span sports and entertainment arenas and stadiums to high-rise commercial and mixed-use buildings. 

Tom has also led Thornton Tomasetti into the forefront of project delivery services and engineering technologies for building analysis, design and construction. When he became chairman in 2008, he oversaw the development of the firm’s strategic plan for growth and innovation in areas such as building information modeling and integrated project delivery. More recently, he has been instrumental in development of TTWiiN, the firm's innovation accelerator, and CORE, its internal technology incubator. 

A spirit of mentorship – both professionally and personally – lies at the core of Tom’s role as CEO and chairman, from providing inspiration to bright, young engineers, to challenging the leadership team to push the boundaries to better serve our clients and the industry. He tells young engineers and his colleagues that it’s hard to lose passion for what you truly love doing. 

Tom served as chairman of the New York Building Congress, 2014-2016. He is active in numerous philanthropies and serves as a trustee of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Shane Scranton is the CEO and cofounder of IrisVR, a software company building VR and AR applications for AECO. Shane and his team have worked with many of the largest companies in the U.S. and abroad to implement VR in their offices and on the job site. Using IrisVR technology, firms can generate VR experiences in seconds based on their existing BIM/VDC workflows. Shane is searching for AEC industry professionals to join IrisVR's growing team in NYC.

David Spielfogel is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Ekistic Ventures, a group of urban problem-solvers who are actively cultivating a portfolio of disruptive companies that bring new solutions to critical urban problems. He brings nearly two decades of experience at the highest levels of local government, political campaigns and philanthropy with a focus on setting the short and long-term strategies to guide good ideas to implementation.

Until early 2016, David served as Senior Adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. In that role he oversaw long-term planning and the implementation and communication of the Mayor's priority initiatives. He served in the same capacity on the Mayor’s successful 2015 re-election campaign, and as Director of the Chicago 2011 Transition Project after directing policy and research for the Mayor’s initial 2011 campaign.

Previously, David served as Chief of Staff at the MacArthur Foundation where he worked on special projects that cut across the foundation's domestic and international programs, as deputy policy director for Barack Obama's senate campaign, as policy director for the Senate bid of Alexi Giannoulias, and in the Clinton White House as the Special Assistant for Policy to the President's senior adviser on energy and environmental issues.

David earned his M.S. in International Development Management from the London School of Economics, and his B.S. from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources.

As the entrepreneurial head of a civil engineering company Kelsey is in his lane - at the intersection of developing a company and site development. In 2014 Kelsey leveraged his 15 year portfolio of work as the civil engineer of record for projects such as Exelon City Solar (the nation’s largest urban solar power plant) and the University of Chicago Lab School’s Shapiro Hall as a springboard to the founding of Engage Civil. Focused as much on the culture of purposeful endeavor and relationships as it is on great work, Engage strives to weave itself into the rich tapestry of Chicago’s past and future development. An optimist, Kelsey tends to view every project, every site, every relationship as a chance to learn something new and stretch a new muscle. When not at work, he can usually be found in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, the place Kelsey and his wife call home base for their numerous community and family activities as well as their daughter’s full-time enterprise as a student and ballerina. 

Alain Waha currently holds the role of global head of BIM and Digital Design for BuroHappold, alongside other advisory positions with PWC and digital startups. Alain has a lifetime experience in the application of a digital approach. After a career in Aerospace and Automotive, with roles in UK, Europe and Asia, Alain transferred to the construction industry in 2008. Initially as the CEO of a 500 strong firm providing CAD services, he created his first BIM team and started offering Digital Transformation services. His experience of BIM transformation and digital implementation spans the AEC value chain. His work includes VDC in the Middle-East, Design project in Europe, and Supply Chain enablement in the United States. Alain current active portfolio include BuroHappold Engineering, Cogital, Andeka, Sanveo, SaturnF1 and ACD.

Karen Weigert served as chief sustainability officer for the City of Chicago. She was appointed in 2011. As chief sustainability officer Weigert worked to guide the city’s sustainability strategy and implementation, bringing innovative, practical solutions throughout the work of the city. 

Prior to her appointment she served as senior vice president of ShoreBank (later Urban Partnership Bank) where she built a national consumer group that generated deposits to support environmental sustainability and community development in low to moderate income urban neighborhoods. Before her work in community banking, Weigert was a strategy consultant at McKinsey where she served clients on topics including transportation, finance, energy, and land use. She began her career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and later served as an appointee in the Clinton administration focused on global environmental issues and agriculture.

Weigert is a producer and writer for the documentary film Carbon Nation which is focused on solutions to climate change. She is also a former board member of CNT, Foresight Design Initiative, and Earth School Educational Foundation. Weigert graduated from the University of Notre Dame (Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Business School.