WSP’s Infrastructure, Transportation and Buildings leaders gathered at Schulich on December 1, 2017 to select the winning team in the inaugural WSP-Schulich Innovation Challenge (from left to right): Eric Peissel, Dave Jull, Joe Sframeli, MREI students Abishek Bhasin and Benjamin Fogel, Terry Tommason and Vincent Ermatinger.
Throughout the unique 12-week course, which is open to students in Schulich’s Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure (MREI) degree program and MBA specialization in Real Estate & Infrastructure, WSP’s executives from the Buildings, Infrastructure and Transportation sectors appeared as guest lecturers delivering pertinent, real life examples and insight on on major topics in real estate and infrastructure. The guest lecturers included Dave Jull (National Business Line Executive, Transportation), Daniel Haufschild (Vice President, Urban Mobility), Janine Turner (Vice President, Major Projects), Jeff Seiders (Vice President, Advisory Services), Roger Puttock (National Vice President, Project Management), and Doug Webber (Vice President, Sustainability and Energy) to name a few.
Vincent Ermatinger, Vice President, Planning & Advisory, said, “WSP saw a unique opportunity to give back to the community by partnering with Schulich School of Business. We were able to tap into WSP’s vast organizational experience to equip students with a thorough understanding of infrastructure growth and trends, the drivers in key subsectors, insights on business models, risk management, and how real estate development and asset management influence infrastructure delivery.”
WSP is proud to offer a cash prize of $1,500 to the first-place winning team of the Innovation Challenge as well as to sponsor a $2,500 scholarship for graduating students in the MREI program. The WSP Future Leader Graduating Scholarship will be awarded annually to the MREI student graduating with the highest academic standing in the program.