Speakers

Lauren Marer

Lauren Marer works within the Stakeholder Engagement team for Inland Rail in northern NSW, bringing local knowledge and passion for regional communities. Lauren worked in media in Brisbane, before moving to a mixed livestock and cropping farm 40 kilometres from North Star, where she now lives with her husband and two sons. She is committed to advocating for rural and regional communities and seeking positive outcomes for the Northern NSW, while balancing the requirements Inland Rail to ensure the successful delivery of the project. Lauren has more than 15 years’ experience in stakeholder engagement and communications, and has held roles within regional and metropolitan newsrooms prior to joining Inland Rail which has assisted in genuinely engaging with the diverse cross- section of stakeholders linked to the Inland Rail project.

Peter Stutchbury

Peter is the principal of Peter Stutchbury Architecture (PSA) who’s thinking stems from the land and principles of respect. His work is regularly acknowledged internationally.
A UON graduate, Peter lived with Indigenous people in Australia in 1978, Papua New Guinea from 1980-81 and then in 1989 won a national scholarship, travelling to Africa to study Indigenous villages.
Since 1993 PSA has constructed over 150 buildings, receiving both state and national AIA awards on over 73 occasions. PSA has won several national and international competitions.
Peter has; held the Luis Barragan chair (Mexico), visiting professor (Arizona, Columbia, Chile, South Africa and Bangladesh) and is one of the Masters for the Architecture Foundation Australia, a non-for- profit established in 2001 which has involved over 1600 students from over 82 countries.
He was practise professor at UON 1999 – 2019 and WSU 2025 – having delivered lectures and key note addresses in over 31 countries.
In 2015 Peter Stutchbury and Fernanda Cabral formed the PSA Foundation, a non-for-profit organisation undertaking voluntary community building work in favelas in Salvador Brazil. And more recently the Gibson Desert, WA.
Peter received the Alumni Medal (UON) 2004, LFAIA 2012, Australian Gold Medal 2015 and the International RIBA fellowship 2016.

Tamara Donnellan

Tamara is a Studio Director of ASPECT’s Sydney Studio and has over twenty years’ experience working across architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. She has a history of leading and delivering large scale, complex urban and strategy projects and is a Registered Architect. Tamara has worked on numerous strategic, urban and master planning projects from inception, through to management and delivery. Tamara has been a member of the GANSW State Design Review Panel for several years. Through this involvement she champions high quality place and public benefit outcomes. She has also contributed to the Australian Institute of Architects through involvement on both the Practice and EmAGN NSW committees and has taught in both design studios and professional practice courses at UTS. The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledged her significant achievements in architectural practice, education and advocacy with the AIA (NSW Chapter) 2010 Emerging Architect Prize.

Jeremy Roberts

Jeremy Roberts is the Program Director for HumeLink, where he oversees the delivery of one of Australia’s most significant energy infrastructure projects. HumeLink is a 500kV transmission line spanning 365 kilometres, connecting Wagga Wagga, Bannaby, and Maragle in New South Wales. This critical project aims to enhance the National Electricity Market by facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources, supporting the transition to a low-carbon future. Under Jeremy's leadership, HumeLink is projected to create up to 1600 jobs and generate over AUD $1 billion in market benefits. With a strong background in infrastructure delivery and stakeholder engagement, Jeremy Roberts plays a pivotal role in advancing Australia's energy infrastructure to meet future demands and sustainability goals.

Amanda Stanaway

Amanda is an accomplished international strategist and designer who transforms cities, precincts, and organizations through an innovative 'inside-out' approach. Her work seamlessly integrates strategy, design, and change management to create lasting impact across public and commercial sectors.

By drawing on her multidisciplinary expertise, she develops solutions that strengthen organizations internally while enhancing their external presence and influence. This unique methodology has consistently delivered measurable results, whether revitalizing urban districts, reimagining corporate spaces, or fostering positive organizational change. Her deep understanding of both human-centered design and strategic planning enables her to create solutions that resonate at every level - from internal operations to citywide initiatives.

Fiona Brockenshire

Fiona's career in the department spans 24 years. Her role is to build and maintain effective industry-government partnerships, with a particular focus on engaging with small and medium business. Fiona supports the implementation of the 2023–2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy by raising awareness of cyber security initiatives.

Michael Kilgariff

Michael Kilgariff is the Chief Executive Officer of Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia - the peak body for the heavy construction materials industry in Australia. CCAA members produce the majority of Australia's cement, concrete, and aggregates, which are crucial to Australia's building and construction sectors. These materials support the development of our nation's transport, energy, water, housing, defence, and social infrastructure. The industry generates approximately $15 Billion in annual revenues and employs approximately 30,000 Australians directly and a further 80,000 indirectly. Michael Kilgariff has a strong background in stakeholder engagement and collaboration. He has always sought to build strong working relationships between industry and government, with the aim of supporting and achieving public policy outcomes that are beneficial to industry. Michael has a keen understanding of the major economic, social and government policy drivers, combined with a broad understanding of the key issues impacting on industry. In recognition of his work in this area, Michael won the Transport and Logistics Executive of the Year in the CEO Magazine 2014 Executive of the Year Awards. Michael holds a degree in Economics from the Australian National University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ diploma and advanced diploma courses. He also completed the Cambridge University Judge Business School Advanced Leadership Programme in November 2017.

Sam Mendoza

Sam is a well-established infrastructure and transport expert with proven success advising clients in business cases, cost and commercial management, risk, procurement, project advisory and delivery.

He has extensive experience in all infrastructure sectors with a particular focus on light rail and metro, marine, aviation and zero emission infrastructure.

Throughout his career, Sam has played a key role in planning and delivering some of the most city-shaping projects including Parramatta Light Rail, TfNSW Zero Emission Buses, Coffs Harbour Bypass, Circular Quay Renewal, Western Sydney Airport and others.

Kanchana Perera

Kanchana has over 18 years of experience in renewable energy development of sell side and buy side transactions in both a technical, project management, commercial, financial and investment advisory. She has worked across a range of technologies as they emerged into the market, including Lincoln Gap Wind Farm and Coober Pedy Microgrid as well as working across various infrastructure projects including port and transmission upgrades as well as building out renewable energy zone infrastructure. She has experience in transaction advisory and working with private and public capital funds to fastrack infrastructure build outs.

Davina Rooney

A property professional with a passion for sustainability, Davina has led the Green Building Council of Australia since 2019. As a qualified engineer, Davina worked on large-scale construction projects in Sydney and London, and spent nearly a year building an award-winning school in the Himalayas. She devoted a decade to driving sustainability at one of Australia’s largest diversified property companies, Stockland, which culminated in Stockland’s recognition as the world’s most sustainable property company. Now leading a member organisation with 550-plus members with a combined value of $46 billion, Davina brings together practical knowledge, on-the-ground experience and a systematic approach to champion leadership in sustainable design and construction. Davina works with government and industry to advocate for supportive policy and transform complex supply chains. Building on a strong legacy of leadership, Davina is elevating the GBCA’s reach and impact into new markets. Davina is on the Board of Evolve Housing and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, as well as Chairing the Sustainable Procurement Roundtable for the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre. The property industry has recognised Davina’s leadership with multiple awards.

Kestrel Stone

Over a 20-year career in projects, Kestrel has built an outstanding reputation working with clients from across industry in the private, public and third sectors – from ‘hard’ projects, such Defence, engineering, transport, and construction; through to ‘soft’ (complex adaptive) projects, such as organisational transformations, policy implementations, health, community service, Indigenous, and climate change initiatives.
Through this broad experience in project and program delivery, Kestrelhas developed a practical understanding of how to tailor projectmanagement frameworks, concepts, processes, tools, and techniques,to suit different types of projects in different industries and sectors. Hersignature approach combines this broad industry experience with deepexpertise in project management, vocational learning, and psychology. Kestrel has developed and delivered dozens of project and programmanagement training programs, stakeholder workshops, planningsessions, lectures, industry presentations, and project managementsimulations across Australia, and overseas. She brings creativity,enthusiasm and professionalism to each engagement and has earned areputation for exceptional delivery and a warm, approachable style.Fellow, International ProjectManagement Association(IPMA) Director, Global Alliance forthe Project Professions(GAPPS) Industry Advisory Panel,University of Sydney - School ofProject Management Industry Partner, John GrillInstitute for Project Leadership Chair (2013-2017), NSW PMOCommunity of Practice, AIPM Chair (2012-2013), Women inProject Management, AIPMMaster of Project Management,University of Technology,Sydney TAE40116 Certificate IV inTraining and AssessmentKestrelStoneFounder & CEO - Elemental ProjectsSpecialising in:designing and delivering high-impact project management courses designing and delivering award-winning gamified simulations project leadership development stakeholder engagement including workshops and consultation culture and talent management programs assessing and uplifting organisational PM capability and maturity

Dr Nicholas Fearnley

Dr Nicholas Fearnley is Head of Global Construction Forecasting at Oxford Economics. Nicholas oversees the teams that produce the various global construction services, and also the Australian mining and maintenance outlooks. He works over the full construction spectrum, and has experience forecasting cost escalation and material demand. Nicholas has a PhD in economics from the University of Sydney, and regularly presents and provides commentary for the construction industry.

John Engeler

John joined Shelter NSW as CEO in early 2020, having been involved in the formation, development and operation of Social, Affordable & Specialist housing for most of his professional life. He has a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning, and has undertaken post-graduate legal studies. Having spent a number of years in the private, public and community sectors, he especially enjoys the opportunity to contribute to innovative housing responses, delivering solutions to those for whom the market falls short.

John Hainsworth

John Hainsworth is a Technical Director with Mott MacDonald in Sydney.

He is currently the Digital Engineering Leader for the AJM design joint venture on the Suburban Rail Loop project in Victoria, and the Digital Director for the Water2Wire design joint venture on the Borumba Dams project in Queensland.

John has over 30 years of experience gained in engineering and the application of digital technologies across sectors.

Founded on expertise gained in the manufacturing supply chain in the UK, he has spent the last 20 years specialising in digital engineering and building information modelling, shaping project strategy and teams to deliver iconic projects across the world with Arup, Aurecon and Mott MacDonald.

Greg Steenbeeke

Greg established a business providing biodiversity credits for the NSW developer market in 2018, having worked with NSW environment agencies for over 25 years across much of the state in roles including vegetation mapping, environmental assessment review, managing threatened species and landholder engagement. He assisted with the design of the existing Biodiversity Offset Scheme and its forebears and now uses that knowledge to assist developers with addressing their biodiversity obligations in the most effective way possible. This comes from the combined experience of being a business owner, expert accredited ecologist, bureaucrat, landholder and manager of a stewardship site.

George Highfield

George is a Principal Consultant in Turner & Townsends Data & Digital team. George specialises in leading digital projects, creating data driven technical solutions and delivering organisational and capital project digital transformations. George’s expertise spans the designing and build of data warehousing, data science and AI platform solutions in the built environment and project management sector. George has recently been instrumental in the delivery of data platforms and project management systems to assist clients optimise their project delivery performance through automated reporting analytics and artificial intelligence digital solutions.

Victoria Sherwood

Victoria is a transformative executive leader with extensive experience driving business optimisation and large-scale change across industries including mining, construction, energy, technology, and manufacturing. Since June 2024, she has served as the CEO of ECORR, a leading organisation dedicated to circularity, where she is focused on driving growth and expanding its impact. Previously, Victoria held leadership roles at Licella Holdings, iQRenew, Boral Limited, and Timis Corporation, managing multi-billion-dollar operations, spearheading business turnarounds, and leading international growth strategies. Victoria holds a double degree in European Business & Engineering, is a Chartered Management Accountant, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Known for her visionary leadership and ability to drive paradigm-shifting results, she remains committed to delivering impactful, sustainable business outcomes.

Daniel Hogan

Daniel is John Hollands Sustainability Manager on the M7M12 Integration Project. With over 20 years of leadership and sustainability expertise, Daniel is a seasoned professional dedicated to advancing decarbonisation and the circular economy. His unwavering belief in the power of positive change drives his efforts to inspire and influence meaningful transformation within the construction sector. Throughout his career, he has leveraged his commercial acumen, strong customer focus, and deep technical knowledge to consistently deliver impactful results. His ability to build and foster relationships has been instrumental in creating cohesive teams that achieve remarkable outcomes. Whether leading initiatives or contributing behind the scenes, Daniels achievements and contributions to sustainable outcomes in construction have created a legacy of change.

Annabel Koeck

Annabel has been lead design architect of major UK and Australian projects (each worth over 1 Billion GBP), which stands Annabel in good stead to contribute meaningfully to complex mixed use, infrastructure, and commercial developments. Annabel is keenly aware of the imperative to balance state infrastructure needs as communities densify, commercial development pressures, and community insights. She thrives bringing together competing design pressures to create successful places that bring people joy. Annabel is passionate about architecture for the public good. She is a founding director of Scalerule.org, a community company that increases access to the built environment through education and community build projects (finalist for the RIBA MacEwan ‘architecture for the common good’ award). As a part of this passion she is fascinated by the application of material reuse in commercial and mixed use projects. She is a recognised thought leader on the circular economy, including leading research funded by the EU on the reuse of timber from demolition sites. Professionally Annabel has delivered an innovative off-grid visitor centre in London. She has been a Committee Member for British Council for Offices, on the RIBA Educational Steering Committee, and Director of the Peer 20 Women in Property Network. Annabel currently sits on the PCA NSW Commercial and Cities Committee.

John Prentice

Hugo Velasquez

Hugo has 10+ years of experience in the renewable energy space in engineering, program management and senior business development roles. Currently he is the Business Development Manager for Australia and New Zealand at Zenobē leading the development of large-scale heavy-duty fleet electrification projects. He holds a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering and an MBA and has international work experience in Europe, Latin America, and Australia.

Mike Kain

Mike Kain is the Lead Technical Consultant for Autodesk Construction Cloud in ARKANCE covering Australia and New Zealand. With extensive experience in the industry, he works closely with a diverse range of clients to explore, implement, and optimise the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform. His expertise spans the entire project lifecycle, from discovery and consultation to hands-on implementation and training. Mike collaborates works with government agencies, asset owners, tier-one construction firms, subcontractors, engineers, and architects, helping them leverage technology to improve efficiency, collaboration, and project outcomes. His deep understanding of digital construction workflows enables him to tailor solutions that drive innovation and enhance productivity across the sector.

Mohamed Nasr

Mohamed Nasr is the Project Lead for the Rouse Hill Hospital development within Western Sydney Local Health District. With extensive experience in hospital planning, design, and project management, Mohamed brings firsthand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities involved in designing hospitals of the future. He has led stakeholder engagement, digital strategy development and integration, and clinical planning and design for large-scale public health projects. At the NSW Major Projects Conference, Mohamed will share forward-looking approaches to embedding smart logistics and waste-management systems into next-generation hospital infrastructure.

Hannah Tribe

Hannah Tribe is the Principal of Tribe Studio Architects. Established in 2003, Tribe Studio is recognised for design excellence in its built and conceptual work in residential and urban design, education, commercial, heritage, installation and interiors. Hannah is an energetic and innovative designer and leader, who works across all scales from city planning to detailed design. Hannah has taught at the University of Sydney, UTS and UNSW. She has tutored in design and lectured in design and design communications. She has sat on the NSW Chapter Council of the Australian Institute of Architects. She has been an invited juror on awards panels, including the Australian Institute of Architects Awards and the IDEA Awards and the Houses Awards. In 2020 she curated the Sydney Architecture Symposium, and she sits on the NSW State Design Review Panel (SDRP) and the NSW Health Infrastructure SDRP.

Andrew Marsonet

Andrew has over 40 years of construction experience, with a focus on the delivery of large-scale civil infrastructure in brownfield environments. Over the past 20 years Andrew has held senior management positions and assumed accountability for winning and delivering design/construction of major projects. He brings a sound understanding of project drivers, transport planning, urban infrastructure and management of key project stakeholders. As Project Director, his projects have included the Western Harbour Tunnel (current), M4–M5 Link Tunnels (current DLP phase), M4-M5 Link Tunnels (WCX3A), M2 Motorway Upgrade, Sydney Water PSP Alliance and Telecommunications projects. Other major projects he has worked on as either Project Manager or Construction Manager include major elements of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and the tunnel packages of the New Southern Rail Airport Link in Sydney between the City and the domestic and international airports as well as construction of the West Tuna & Beam B Concrete Gravity Structures. A natural leader with an open and engaging approach, his collaborative leadership style has contributed to his effectiveness in project and operational management roles.

Rogier Roelvink

Rogier Roelvink is the Asia-Pacific Customer & Industry Value Engagement Director at Oracle Construction and Engineering. In this role he supports clients throughout the region in digital transformation in planning, building, and operating the built environment. Rogier has extensive management advisory experience and a passion for informed decision-making. He has experience delivering benefits to many clients from a diversified background working across a broad range of projects, clients, and sectors. He continuous to advise and support organisations in project operations through digitalisation.

Dr. Glenn Geers

Dr Glenn Geers is currently an independent consultant in the transport domain. Glenn holds honours degrees in electrical engineering and theoretical physics, and received his PhD in the field of computational electromagnetism. He is a member of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the Association for Computing Machinery. He is on the Editorial Board of the journal GeoInformatica. He is an active participant in the Transportation Research Board Simulation Sub-committee. Prior to joining ITLS as an adjunct professor in 2019 Glenn held senior research and research management roles in government and private industry (CSIRO, NICTA & ARRB). Glenn is a member of academic, government and industry transport advisory groups both in Australia and overseas. Glenn’s current research interests include cyber-physical security of transport systems, interdependent networks with particular emphasis on the interaction and failure modes of linked communications, electricity and transport networks; road rule implications for automated vehicles; and the extension of the Movement and Place planning framework to include automated vehicles.

Jason Moran

Jason is a highly skilled and strategic project manager, successfully delivering ten Pacific Highway Projects throughout his career. His ability to engage with TfNSW operatives has ensured the fulfillment of design solutions, community engagement, environmental innovation, quality compliance, and minimisation of delays for road users. Over the course of his career, he has developed high-level technical skills in design development, value engineering, earthworks, bridges, concrete pavements, finishing works, and final project handover, as evidenced by the successful outcomes achieved. His leadership capabilities have been honed through involvement in two alliance projects, and he takes pride in delivering significant infrastructure projects with multi-disciplinary design and construction teams. Embodying Gamuda values, Jason provides visible leadership and fosters a transparent and accountable culture. . He believes collaboration is the key to effective decision-making, stakeholder management, and community engagement to achieve the best project outcomes.

Alex Small

Lang Nguyen

Angus McHugh