Keynote Speakers

Prof. Che Khairil Izam Bin Che Ibrahim

Dr Che Khairil Izam Che Ibrahim is a Professor at the School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, where he is currently the Head of School. He holds a PhD Degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

He is currently leading a project on design for safety in construction supported by a Research Environment Links grant from the British Council & Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) and has worked as a principal investigator (PI) and co-investigator on research projects (worth more than MYR 2.9 million) funded by a variety of public and private organisations.

Previously, he led a research project on multi-organizational integration funded by the Ministry of Education, construction safety-related research funded by NIOSH and SOCSO as well as a project evaluation framework funded by Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad. His research focuses primarily on collaborative-based procurement, organisational performance, design for safety, sustainability and digital construction. More than 50 of his papers have been published in various scientific and professional construction engineering and management journals.

In 2016, his publication on team integration won the Emerald Literati Network Awards of Excellence, a ‘Highly Commended Paper of 2016’. He also won the ‘Best Reviewer Award, 2016’ in recognition of his contribution to the Construction Economics and Building journal. More recently, his publication on the alliance team won the Emerald Literati Network Awards of Excellence, the ‘Highly Commended Paper of 2019’.

He currently serves on the editorial advisory board (EAB) for the Construction Management and Economics, Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, The Malaysian Construction Research Journal (MCRJ) and International Journal of Real Estate Studies.

Assoc. Prof. Bambang Trigunarsyah

Bambang Trigunarsyah has started his position at RMIT University since 2018.

Bambang earned his BSc in Engineering (Civil) from Colorado School of Mines in the USA, a Master degree in Civil Engineering (Construction Management) from the University of Indonesia, and a PhD in Engineering Project Management from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

He started his professional career as a Graduate Project Engineer at Hudbay Oil Malacca Strait Ltd., a Production Sharing Contractor for the Indonesian State Own Oil Company, in 1988. He was involved in oil field development projects which included the construction of access road and well site facilities, base camp, process plant, pipeline and offshore structures. He also coordinated two studies on road construction on peat ground.

Bambang started his full-time tenure at the University of Indonesia in 2001, following the completion of his PhD. In 2002 he was appointed as the Deputy Head of Civil Engineering Department and was promoted to the Head Department position in November 2004. From 2007 to 2013, he took a position as Associate Professor and the Course Leaders for Master of Project Management and Master of Infrastructure Management in the School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. In August 2013, he moved to Saudi Arabia, joining King Fahd University of Petroleum and Mineral as Associate Professor in Construction Engineering and Management.

Industry experience:
– Oil and gas industry (in Indonesia), as a project engineer and senior project engineer
– Secretary to the Advisory Board of the Indonesian National Construction Service Development Board (2002-2007)
– Member of Infrastructure Cluster Advisory Board, Australia-Indonesia Centre (2016-2018)

Andre Permana, Ph.D

Andre Permana, PhD is now the COO of PT Penjaminan Infrastruktur Indonesia – PT PII (Persero) or Indonesia Infrastructure Guarantee Fund (IIGF), a state-owned enterprise providing sovereign guarantee to (PPP) infrastructure projects in Indonesia (www.ptpii.co.id).

The position has been assigned from April 2020, after holding project appraisal, business development and central risk management functions in IIGF. He also had handled guarantee risk monitoring and claim management and guarantee underwriting function, e.g. a 2×1000 MW coal-fired power plant and a 1050 l/s municipal water supply project.

He also has been with University of Indonesia, started as research assistant and as co-lecturer in Civil Engineering Department. In mid 2014, he has returned to the graduate program and appointed as lecturer for Infrastructure Project Finance class up to now.

On his over 20 years of professional experience, he started as an engineer in some construction projects and has worked as an analyst on infrastructure project management and feasibility studies development.

He was graduated from University of Indonesia for his bachelor degree of Civil Engineering in 1998 and for his master degree of Project Management in 2003.

Distinguished Professor KC Chan

Over 25 years of educating experience

• Prof. KC Chan is Distinguished Professor in Wholistic Learning (Doctor of Letters). An Academic Fellow of International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI). He is a Senior Research Fellow of The Research Center for Technological Innovation, Tsinghua University. He was an honorary visiting professor to University of Glasgow. Currently, he is the founder of Wholistic Institute of Lifelong Learning (WILL) and a visiting professor to Murdoch University, Pradita University and Petra Christian University. Concurrently, he is an international certified senior management consultant, and Stanford Certified corporate trainer in project management. He has authored a series of contemporary books on management, leadership, and innopreneurship. He has published numerous international management books and over 100 articles in international journals.
• His roles include – PhD & DBA supervisor, MBA supervisor, trusted advisor and executive coach for supreme strategy execution, author, international keynote speaker, international project management consultant
• He has over 25 years of teaching and action learning research experience with Universities of Bradford, Strathclyde, Luton, Western Sydney, Hull, Maastricht, Glasgow Caledonia, Northumbria, University of Indonesia, Petra Christian University, Pradita Univeristy, University of Widya Kartika, Widya Mandala University, Entrepreneurship Institute of Australia (EIA), Tourism Institute of Australia (TIA), Gibaran Graduate School of Business (Australia Institute of Business), Curtin University of Technology, University of Greenwich, UCD (University College Dublin), Murdoch University (Singapore Campus).

Over 30 years of senior management experiences in organisational development from strategic project management and computer integrated manufacturing to service industries

• He was the Corporate Director of SinarMas Group (SMG). He led the SMG to discharge from USD14 billion debt crisis. He had transformed the company into a leading high-performance international business conglomerate with a sales turnaround of US$1 billion in 2004.
• He was the Chief Operating Officer in Ariston Group (Malaysia) with investment of USD3.2 billion in Naga Corp in Cambodia. He has turned around six companies within Ariston Group from a total loss of US$4.5 million to a profit of US$ 0.5 million within a short span of 2 years (1995-1997).
• He was the Regional VP （Asia） of Husky Technologies. He led Husky in turnkey projects from US$2 million to US$13 million within 2 years after setting up Husky’s Centre of Excellence in ASEAN.
• He was the Regional General Manager of Okuma (Japanese MNEs). He pioneered the establishment of “Centre of Business Excellence” to penetrate the ASEAN markets in Asia. Sales record with advanced machine tools grew from US$1 million in 1983 to US$60 million in 1993.
• In 1980, he started as a project manager with George Cohen (Far East) and promoted to be General Manager in charge of three divisions after two years of unprecedented outstanding performance.

April Tai

For over 20 years, April has empowered commercial, product development and service delivery teams across professional services firms, large multinationals and non-profit organisations. From the Asia Pacific to Europe, her ideas and approaches have been tested in a great deal of start-ups, sales enablement, product innovation and efficiency projects. Today, she is the Head of Markets of Project Management Institute (PMI) Asia Pacific, leading growth initiatives with corporate partners, authoritised training partners, academic and higher education institutes, governments and professional organisations.

April is an accredited mediator with dual bachelor’s degrees in law and political science. With certifications in Scrum, Project Management and Six Sigma, and a master’s degree in engineering enterprise management, she brings a holistic perspective to commercial excellence and corporate transformation.

Most recently she has talked about Project Leadership, Project Success, AI & its Impact to Project Professionals, Career-long Learning & Power Skills, Social Purpose Organisations & Project Management. You will find her approach pragmatic, and her case studies resonating. She is based out of Singapore and works globally.