BUILDINGSMART CANADA - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• CEO of AECO Innovation Lab
• Director Founding Board Member

Arash is a respected entrepreneur and innovator who is known as a digital technology visionary and recognized for his ability to bring stakeholders together on collaborative initiatives. He was recently named as one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Canadian Construction for his innovative work. Arash holds a PhD in construction engineering and management and co-founded the Building Innovation Research Centre at University of Toronto. As Associate Director of the Centre for six years, he led innovative research, partnership development, and transformational change amongst key stakeholders in the Canadian construction, government, and education sectors. He currently serves as Research Chair of the Toronto BIM Community (tBIMc). Arash is also CEO of AECO Innovation Lab, which he co-founded to lead digital transformation of AEC industries and governments through collaborative R&D projects, innovative products, and expert consulting.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director Founding Board Member
• Founder and Chair of the Toronto BIM Community and a BIM Subject Matter Expert for the Canadian Handbook of Practice V3

Claudia honed her expertise as an architect with over 15 years practicing in Ontario and British Columbia. An expert in the field of BIM in architectural practice, she has led the BIM implementation in two architectural practices and is an advocate for the implementation of BIM in Canada. Claudia is the founder and chair of the Toronto BIM Community and a BIM Subject Matter Expert for the Canadian Handbook of Practice V3. She previously served as a board member of the Institute for BIM in Canada Steering Committee as a Royal Architectural Institute of Canada representative. She is an Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) mentor and has spoken at a number of conferences and events on BIM, openBIM, and technology in architectural practice.

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the Canadian Mirror Committee for BIM
• Director Founding Board Member
• Member of CSC

David has been an active member of CSC for more than 25 years and was inducted into the CSC College of Fellows in 2009. While participating with the International Construction Information Society as a representative of Construction Specifications Canada (CSC), David was introduced to BIM. David's involvement with buildingSMART International dates back more than 20 years, where he's served in many capacities including the technical development of BIM standards. David's contributions to the buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD), including the development of the ISO standard it is based on, date back to the project's origin and continues today. David serves as chairman of the Canadian Mirror Committee for BIM standards, representing Standards Council of Canada (SCC) at the International Standards Organization (ISO) level. This ISO committee is responsible for approximately 20 BIM standards that have been published or are under development. David currently co-chairs the Canadian committee developing a Canadian annex for the ISO 19650 BIM standard. David's primary focus relates to construction documentation and its integration with BIM, where he draws upon his experience developing and marketing specifications and software tools since 1996.

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor at the École De Technologie Supérieure
• Director Founding Board Member
• Vice - President of Groupe BIM

Erik Poirier is an associate professor at the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montreal, Quebec. He also leads the Quebec Construction 4.0 Initiative which aims to support the digital transformation of Quebec's construction industry and built environment. Erik is the Vice-President of Groupe BIM du Québec and the Chair of the Mirror Committee for the Standards Council of Canada relating to the International Standards Organization Technical Committee 59 - Steering Committee 13 (ISO TC59-SC13). He holds a doctorate and master's degree in construction engineering from the École de Technologie Supérieure and a bachelor's degree in architecture from Laval University. He also completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Erik specializes in the integration and optimization of information flows throughout the full lifecycle of development in the built environment.

Job Titles:

• Director Founding Board Member

An ardent supporter of open systems and data interoperability, his experience with GIS and design modelling software gave him the opportunity to see the introduction of GIS and BIM interoperability firsthand. He is one of the Board of Directors of buildingSMART Canada and also the CEO of McElravy and Associates, where Gord provides consulting services to the geospatial industry.

Job Titles:

• President Founding Board Member
• Vice - President Founding Board Member

John has 25 years of experience developing, implementing, and managing computer aided design (CAD), geographic information systems (GIS), and BIM applications and solutions in support of AEC and real property sectors within the federal government. John is the BIM lead for the Department of National Defence, where he works to enable integrated enterprise BIM tools and processes. His current focus is on organizing the Federal Government's move towards BIM through the Digital Built Government of Canada initiative. John is an active contributor to international, national, and regional BIM committees and organizations. He sits as the Vice-president of buildingSMART Canada and is a member of both the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the Standards Council of Canada Mirror Committee. John also serves as Vice Chair of the CSA s250 Mapping of Underground Utility Infrastructure Technical Committee.

Job Titles:

• Fellow
• Director Founding Board Member

Susan is a highly regarded Fellow and Canadian ambassador of buildingSMART International where she also serves as the Manager of the International Awards Program. In addition to serving as Vice-President and Board Member, Susan leads buildingSMART Canada's Affiliates Program which aims to connect local industry leaders across the country. Susan is an active participant with the Standards Council of Canada, where she represents Canada on the International Standards Organization Technical Committee 50 - Steering Committee 13 (ISO TC50-SC13). In addition, Susan established the BIM Lifecycle Management Graduate Certificate program at Algonquin College where she is an Academic Coordinator. Susan also serves as Senior Program Manager of Facilities Management at the House of Commons of Canada.

Job Titles:

• Contributor
• President Founding Board Member

Bill is an active contributor to international, national, and regional Building Information Modeling (BIM) committees and organizations. He sits as the Treasurer and Board of Director member for buildingSMART International and is the president of buildingSMART Canada. Bill is also a member of the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the Standards Council of Canada Mirror Committee. Bill serves on the Consulting Engineers of Alberta's BIM Task Force and is the chairman and founder of the Calgary BIM Community. He has also formerly represented the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Canada (ACEC) as the Chair of the Institute for BIM in Canada. Throughout his more than 30-year career, Bill has been innovating, leveraging, and implementing disruptive technology such as BIM within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry for large & mid-sized firms.