The Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board (IAB) is an integral link in supporting and strengthening the Department’s relationships with key industries, fostering increased collaborative research, enhancing student experiential learning opportunities and increasing industry engagement. Our IAB is comprised of a group of experienced industry professionals who are all committed to the advancement of our students, faculty and the Department.
Purpose
The Industry Advisory Board (IAB) will provide assistance and guidance to the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering to support the Department’s collaborative research activities with industry and also enhance opportunities for experiential learning for the Department’s undergraduate and graduate students.
Chris Andrews
Former Senior Vice-President,
Ellis Don
Chris Andrews
Former Senior Vice-President,
Ellis Don
Hugo Blasutta
President and CEO,
Comtech Group Inc
Hugo Blasutta, a professional engineer and business executive, has more than 45 years’ experience in the consulting engineering industry, both in Canada and internationally. He has extensive experience at the senior management and board level and has held business leadership roles in strategic planning and execution, corporate development, business development, marketing, risk management/compliance, merger and acquisition activities, and financial and operational management.
He has a proven track record of building, developing and leading high-performance teams and companies that deliver industry leading results across the broad spectrum of staff engagement, client satisfaction, technical and project delivery excellence, and enterprise financial performance.
Hugo is currently the President and CEO of Comtech Group Inc., a leading provider of program / project management and project controls consulting services. Previously, he was CEO of MMM Group Ltd and WSP Canada Inc.
Hugo is a University of Toronto - Civil Engineering graduate (B.A.Sc, 1977; M.Eng, 1978).
Hugo Blasutta
President and CEO,
Comtech Group Inc
Eleanor McAteer
Director, Water Infrastructure Management, City of Toronto
Eleanor McAteer
Director, Water Infrastructure Management, City of Toronto
Scott Butler
Executive Director,
Good Roads
Scott’s career has been a deliberate and methodical immersion into the world of building better communities. His experiences have touched on immigration, labour markets, agri-food, corporate social responsibility, transportation, public finance, infrastructure, governance and correctional services.
On August 1, 2020, Scott became the tenth Executive Director in the 128-year history of Good Roads, one of Canada’s oldest and largest municipal associations. Through training, advocacy and research, Scott leads a team that has focused on everything roads since 1894. Prior to this, Scott served as the Association’s government relations lead. His previous roles have included being a part-time member of the Ontario Parole Board, establishing the national Corporate Social Responsibility function for a large Canadian financial corporation and working in various policy capacities with the Government of Ontario.
Away from the office, Scott sits on the Board of a number of community organizations. Most recently, as chair of the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors, Scott led the GPL through a challenging period that culminated in realizing a 30-year ambition to construct a new, $62 M central library in the heart of Guelph.
Originally from Wheatley, Ontario, Scott lives in Guelph with his family. He is a graduate of the University of Guelph, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland and the Detroit music scene. Soccer, basketball, cultivating tomatoes and music occupy far too much of his time.
Scott Butler
Executive Director,
Good Roads
Anna Robak
Director, Research & Innovation,
WSP Canada
Anna Robak
Director, Research & Innovation,
WSP Canada
Christopher M. Harhay
President
Harhay Developments
Chris Harhay has pioneered numerous residential/commercial developments in downtown Toronto with over 25 years of experience in all aspects of strategic land assessment and acquisition, zoning, design, construction, leasing and sales. Over the last two decades, his company Harhay Developments, has developed fourteen different mid-rise mixed used developments in the downtown Toronto core. The company is focused on high-quality architecture, design and responsible urban intensification, specializing in boutique style condos.
Chris is actively involved in the real estate community. He has been serving on the University of Toronto Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board for the last 5 years. He has participated in the Building Owners and Managers Association, NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association and the Real Estate Forum Land Conference. Chris has been committed to helping educate and develop younger real estate professionals through his past work as a mentor in the NAIOP Mentorship program and speaking engagements at both Ryerson University and The Entrepreneurship Society
Christopher M. Harhay
President,
Harhay Developments
Maria Kelleher, MEng, P.Eng
Principal,
Kelleher Environmental
Maria Kelleher is an environmental engineer with over 30 years of experience in the environmental consulting industry. She graduated with a B. E in Civil Engineering from University College Cork, Ireland and with an MEng in Environmental Engineering from University of Toronto. She has worked as a Project Engineer and Project Manager for consulting companies including Lavalin and CH2M Hill, and joined RIS Ltd to specialize in recycling, forming her own company Kelleher Environmental in Toronto in 2002.
Over the past 30 years she has worked on a wide range of waste policy and strategy, quantification, management, planning and stewardship projects for a range of different materials for both private and public sector clients. Her areas of expertise include: extended producer responsibility (EPR) and product stewardship for various materials (printed paper and packaging, tires, electronics, appliances, batteries) green energy and climate change.
In the last eight years Maria has carried out a number of projects focusing on batteries from electric vehicle (EVs) for clients including the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Auto Recyclers of Canada (ARC); American Petroleum Institute (API); and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), and most recently Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). In 2021 she was involved in a project for Natural Resources Canada evaluating options for Canada to develop a complete domestic supply chain for all the materials required to make EV batteries, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite; she was involved in market development for a synthetic graphite supply from a historical stockpile in Southern Ontario to make EV battery anodes in 2021 and carried out a confidential assessment of the North American market for EV battery recycling and reuse early in 2022.
Maria Kelleher
Principal,
Kelleher Environmental
Richard Cooper
Executive Vice-President,
Alterra
Richard Cooper
Executive Vice-President,
Alterra
Terms of Reference
- Three-year term for Members
- Mutually agreed upon responsibilities & concrete deliverables:
- Each Member will be responsible for giving one student talk per year
- Other specific deliverables of tangible benefit to the Chair/Department
- Members will:
- Attend Civil Engineering functions throughout the year
- Provide guidance on industry challenges, emerging trends and R&D gaps that could be supported by collaborative research with the Department
- Assist with the identification, cultivation and stewardship of industry partners to the Department
- Identify research projects that are relevant to their segment of the Civil Engineering industry
- Identify experiential learning opportunities (e.g. Professional Experience Year (PEY) placements, graduate student internships) for the Department’s students
- Where appropriate, facilitate introductions for Faculty and students to their networks
- Actively engage and support multi-disciplinary design programs across all aspects of Civil Engineering