PMFORUM Breaking News
Breaking News in the Project Management World
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
University Executives Open 2nd UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Texas
The 2nd UT Dallas Project Management Symposium was opened in Richardson, Texas on Monday, 18 August, by James Joiner, Director of the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas. Jim welcomed attendees to the second annual conference and the first one held on the UT Dallas Campus. Approximately 200 executives, project management professionals, speakers, volunteers and university staff attended the event’s first day.
Mr. Joiner was followed by at the podium in the School of Management’s auditorium by Dr. Hasan Pirkul (pictured at right) Dean of the School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas, who provided a warm welcome to delegates.
Dr. Pirkul also concurrently holds the Caruth Chair of Management at UT Dallas. Prior to joining UT Dallas, Dr. Pirkul was at Max M. Fisher College of Business of the Ohio State University, where he was Director of Information Systems Programs and Founding Director of the Center for Information Technologies in Management, as well as Professor of Accounting and Information Systems. A graduate of the University of Rochester, he received the M.S. degree in Management Science in 1980 and the Ph.D. degree in Computer Information Systems in 1983, after earning a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in 1977.
Dr. Pirkul’s research interests include design of telecommunication networks, distributed computer system design, knowledge based systems, locating facilities, neural networks, genetic algorithms, tabu research and other heuristic algorithms. Dr. Pirkul is a member of the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations and Dallas Council on World Affairs. He participates on the Dallas Morning News Technology Board. He was a member of MTBC (Metroplex Technology Business Council) Entrepreneurship Committee and a founding member of Dallas Chamber of Commerce Technology Business Council. He is a member of "21 Leaders for the 21st Century" class. Recently, he was selected as one of Inside Collin County Business's Most Influential People in Collin County.
Dr. Pirkul was immediately following by Dr. David E. Daniel (pictured at left), president of UT Dallas who delivered a keynote speech on the topic of "Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina and Implications for Managing Critical Infrastructure Systems".
In 2005 through 2008, Dr. Daniel served as Chair of the External Review Panel of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which reviewed the facts surrounding the performance of New Orleans’ levees during Hurricane Katrina. His speech highlighted management and technical failures leading to the failed levees, and lessons learned that can be applied to developing new and better infrastructure systems across the United States. His message, of course, could be applied anywhere.
Dr. Daniel is the fourth president of The University of Texas at Dallas. He received his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and served on the faculty at UT Austin from 1980 to 1996. In 1996, he moved to the University of Illinois, finishing his service there as Dean of Engineering before being appointed UT Dallas' president in 2005.
Dr. Daniel’s professional work has focused on environmental controls for contaminated land and groundwater. He has published more than 100 technical articles and authored or edited five books. His work has been recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which awarded him its highest honor for papers published in its journals (the Norman Medal) and on two separate occasions awarded him its second highest honor, the Croes Medal. In 2000, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the nation’s most prestigious organization recognizing engineering achievement.
The 2 Day Project Management Symposium was being held on the UT Dallas campus in Richardson, Texas during 18-19 August 2008. In addition to the Opening Ceremony with Keynote Speakers, day one included more 23 presentations over five tracks of topics, a vendor exhibition, and a Monday evening networking reception. Day two on Tuesday will feature an opening keynote by Michael Kennedy, CEO of Targeted Convergence, 16 paper presentations, three panel discussions and closing keynote addresses by Ricardo Viana Vargas, member of the board of directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI), and Veikko Valila, President of the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
The symposium is being sponsored by the Graduate Program in Project Management at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), in cooperation with the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and PMForum, Inc. Papers and presentations featured at this year’s symposium will be posted after the event on http://pmsymposium.utdallas.edu, where additional information about the conference and keynote speakers can currently be found.
For more information about the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project/. For information about the PMI Dallas Chapter, visit www.pmidallas.org. For information about PMForum, visit www.pmforum.org.
Dr. Pirkul also concurrently holds the Caruth Chair of Management at UT Dallas. Prior to joining UT Dallas, Dr. Pirkul was at Max M. Fisher College of Business of the Ohio State University, where he was Director of Information Systems Programs and Founding Director of the Center for Information Technologies in Management, as well as Professor of Accounting and Information Systems. A graduate of the University of Rochester, he received the M.S. degree in Management Science in 1980 and the Ph.D. degree in Computer Information Systems in 1983, after earning a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in 1977.
Dr. Pirkul’s research interests include design of telecommunication networks, distributed computer system design, knowledge based systems, locating facilities, neural networks, genetic algorithms, tabu research and other heuristic algorithms. Dr. Pirkul is a member of the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations and Dallas Council on World Affairs. He participates on the Dallas Morning News Technology Board. He was a member of MTBC (Metroplex Technology Business Council) Entrepreneurship Committee and a founding member of Dallas Chamber of Commerce Technology Business Council. He is a member of "21 Leaders for the 21st Century" class. Recently, he was selected as one of Inside Collin County Business's Most Influential People in Collin County.
In 2005 through 2008, Dr. Daniel served as Chair of the External Review Panel of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which reviewed the facts surrounding the performance of New Orleans’ levees during Hurricane Katrina. His speech highlighted management and technical failures leading to the failed levees, and lessons learned that can be applied to developing new and better infrastructure systems across the United States. His message, of course, could be applied anywhere.
Dr. Daniel is the fourth president of The University of Texas at Dallas. He received his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and served on the faculty at UT Austin from 1980 to 1996. In 1996, he moved to the University of Illinois, finishing his service there as Dean of Engineering before being appointed UT Dallas' president in 2005.
Dr. Daniel’s professional work has focused on environmental controls for contaminated land and groundwater. He has published more than 100 technical articles and authored or edited five books. His work has been recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which awarded him its highest honor for papers published in its journals (the Norman Medal) and on two separate occasions awarded him its second highest honor, the Croes Medal. In 2000, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the nation’s most prestigious organization recognizing engineering achievement.
The symposium is being sponsored by the Graduate Program in Project Management at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), in cooperation with the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and PMForum, Inc. Papers and presentations featured at this year’s symposium will be posted after the event on http://pmsymposium.utdallas.edu, where additional information about the conference and keynote speakers can currently be found.
For more information about the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project/. For information about the PMI Dallas Chapter, visit www.pmidallas.org. For information about PMForum, visit www.pmforum.org.
