For the second consecutive year, the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Government Relations Office in Washington, DC will partner with the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Project Management Center for Excellence to sponsor the Federal Programs track during UMD’s two-day Project Management Symposium. This unique partnership provides the opportunity to build a program of direct interest to government employees and the organizations that support government agencies. With the goal of ‘Improving government efficiency and effectiveness through better project management’ in mind, PMI’s Government Relations Office assisted in the selection of session speakers and helped identify industry professionals willing to share their experiences and lessons learned.
Taking place May 4-5, 2017, at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland, College Park, the fourth annual symposium will include more than 50 breakout sessions and five keynote presentations, including ones from Lisa Blumerman from the U.S. Census Bureau, Karl Wunderlich from Noblis, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Stephen Shinn.
In her current position as the U.S. Census Bureau’s Associate Director for the Decennial Census Programs, Lisa Blummerman will present on the topic of “Counting Our Nation: How Project Management Paves the Way,” during lunch on day one of the two-day symposium agenda.
Fellow PMP, Karl Wunderlich, will kick off day two of the symposium with his presentation “Creating a System of Automated and Connected Vehicles.” Attendees will hear Wunderlich’s view on how decentralized control of shared transportation system resources can be influenced to reduce risks and meet consumer demands.
Chief Financial Officer for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Stephen Shinn, will tackle the topic of “Challenges in a Changing Environment” where he will discuss the cultural challenges project managers face when leading complex technical missions. He will also discuss his change initiatives at Goddard to overcome barriers and provide a process for lasting change.
The Federal Program track will span the two-day event and feature presentations on a broad range of related topics.
As a member of the Program Management Office (PMO) of the Office of Financial Research (OFR), Project Management Professional, Jonn Lau will discuss Delivering Value in a Federal Government Start Up. His presentation will describe the approach that the PMO uses to add value to the OFR as it initiates the programmatic approach to achieve OFR’s mission. Challenges and methods for overcoming them, tools and processes, program management model, factors contributing to success, organizational and process changes, outputs and results, lessons learned, and the timeline will all be discussed.
Jessica Kunkle, Program Management Office Director in the Office of Safety, Infrastructure and Operations at the Department of Energy’s NNSA, will present “The Enterprise Program Management Office: Another Best Practice at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).” She will share the purpose, activities and results of the NNSA PgMO to date.
On Friday morning, May 5th, project managers working with federal programs will come together for a panel focused on Government Project Management in 2025 which will discuss the future of project management with the newly enacted Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act. The group will also discuss how recent changes in agile procurement, agile project management, and digital transformation has made more effective project management vital to delivering public services.
Besides sessions focused on Federal Program, attendees will also have the opportunity to join sessions focused on a variety of other topics including: people in projects, construction management and building information modeling (BIM), agile/IT, integrated program management, risk and big data, education, and stakeholders. New this year, attendees who participate in a people in projects track will be able to choose from four specific focus areas including change management, conflict resolution, motivation, and negotiation. The full two-day agenda for the event is posted on the Symposium website and includes a description of each session along with speaker information.
For those looking to maintain a PMI credential, the Symposium offers an opportunity to earn up to 13 professional development units (PDUs) in the PMI Talent Triangle. Each presentation will specify which of the three talent triangle skills it will address.
Two additional keynotes from esteemed speakers will also take place throughout the symposium: Jeff Gravatte from CADD Microsystems and Patricia Carper with The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer the project management community the opportunity to learn from so many industry professionals willing and eager to share their experiences and lessons learned,”,” said John H. Cable, director of the Project Management Center for Excellence. “Not only will attendees learn about big-picture opportunities in project management, but they will also hear from a variety of focus-area experts covering the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ behind many applications of project management today.”
UMD’s Project Management Center for Excellence is proud to announce that besides the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Government Relations Office in Washington, DC, other symposium sponsors related to Federal Programs include CADD Microsystems, iTech AG, PMI Southern Maryland Chapter, Project Management Experts, the UMD Office of Advanced Engineering Education, and media sponsor PM World Journal.
Regular and one-day early registration rates are available until April 2nd. Government, military, non-profit, and Project Management Institute (PMI) members are eligible for a discount. Register now while the early bird rates are still available!
