Conference Speakers
Meet the voices shaping the 2nd EuGLC Conference. Click a speaker to view their full profile and presentation.
Prof. Rateb J. Sweis
Keynote
The Human Blueprint: Restoring Craftsmanship and Flow to Lean Construction
Summary
Lean Construction is widely recognized as a philosophy derived from the Toyota Production System, yet many of its underlying principles — efficient resource use, coordinated workflows, craftsmanship, continuous learning, and respect for people — have shaped successful human endeavors for thousands of years. This keynote traces the evolution of these ideas from nature's resource-efficient systems and the survival strategies of early nomadic societies to the remarkable organization of ancient construction, the fragmentation of work during the Industrial Revolution, and the human-centered philosophy of the Toyota Production System.
Drawing on findings from a systematic literature review, the presentation argues that while Lean Construction has made significant advances in process optimization and technical innovation, its human and organizational dimensions remain comparatively underexplored in both research and practice. By reframing familiar Lean tools such as 5S as mechanisms for enhancing human capability rather than merely improving workplace organization, the keynote proposes that the next stage of Lean maturity will depend not on new technologies alone, but on restoring craftsmanship, trust, collaboration, and flow. Ultimately, it argues that the future of Lean Construction lies in reconnecting the mind, the hand, and the human spirit.
Biography
Dr Rateb J. Sweis is a Full Professor of Project Management at the University of Jordan with over 180 peer-reviewed journal publications in project performance and construction management. His research specializes in Lean Construction, sustainable operations, and the integration of emerging technologies like IoT, BIM, and machine learning into modern project workflows. A dedicated mentor and international collaborator, his recent work explores how Lean principles enhance productivity, decision-making, and organizational health. He remains committed to translating academic research into practical solutions for the global AEC industry.
Dr Trevor McSharry
Presentation
Lean Construction Ireland Maturity Assessment Tool
Summary
Lean Construction Ireland, in collaboration with Atlantic Technological University (ATU), has developed a new Lean Maturity Assessment Tool to help organisations across Ireland's built environment sector understand their current level of lean maturity. The assessment provides valuable insights into organisational strengths and improvement opportunities, enabling companies to establish strategic priorities and accelerate their lean transformation journey.
This presentation will outline the background and development of the tool, explain its purpose and benefits, and provide a live demonstration of the assessment process, including data entry requirements and the insights generated through the reporting outputs.
Biography
Dr Trevor McSharry is Head of the School of the Built Environment at Atlantic Technological University (ATU), with over 30 years of experience across both the multinational and higher education sectors. Trevor is deeply committed to bridging the gap between education and industry through meaningful collaboration. Together with his departments across ATU, Trevor has led the creation of Ireland's largest suite of online programmes and consortium-led apprenticeships for the Irish construction sector.
Trevor holds a Doctor of Education, specialising in change and leadership in higher education. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Ireland, as well as a certified Project Management Professional. His academic and professional qualifications also include an MBA from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Certificate in BIM and the Digital Environment.
His research and consultancy interests span leadership, project and change management, lean construction, and process optimisation. Since 2018, Trevor has served as a founding director of Lean Construction Ireland (LCi) and currently holds the role of Treasurer.
Morten Skaarup Jensen
Presentation
Lean i Praksis (Lean in Practice) — Turning well-known Lean Construction theory into tools that actually work on site
Summary
Danish construction still loses significant value to waste, weak coordination and low on-site productivity — the very problems Lean Construction was designed to solve. Lean i Praksis is a national initiative from Lean Construction-DK (LCDK) that closes the gap between theory and site: rather than developing new theory, it systematically reviews, updates and re-packages the Lean tools the industry already knows — Last Planner System, TAKT planning, 5S, PDCA, Kaizen, A3 and VSM — and tests them against how they are actually used on Danish building sites today.
Several hundred practitioners — site managers, foremen, consultants, contractors and clients — have contributed through workshops and seminars, sharing real project examples and hard-won experience to sharpen each tool before publication. The talk shares the project's model for turning established theory into field-tested practice at scale, presents preliminary findings from an awareness-and-effect analysis showing which tools practitioners know, use and trust, and walks through concrete examples of how practitioner input has reshaped classic Lean tools for today's building sites.
Biography
Morten Skaarup Jensen is a Senior Project Manager at Værdibyg and works within the Lean Construction-DK network (LCDK / LCI Denmark), where he leads the Lean i Praksis initiative bringing established Lean Construction tools into everyday practice on Danish building sites.
Hans Thomas Holm
Presentation
Lean construction: Experiences, reflections, and recommendations after 16 years
Biography
Hans Thomas Holm has worked with Lean Construction since January 2010, across the full spectrum of the discipline — Lean Processes, Lean Strategy, Lean Principles, Lean Design, Lean Construction and Lean Systematic Completion. A senior project manager in the construction industry, his strengths span coordination, operations, organisation and communication, and he has led Transport Management within two Winter Olympic Organizing Committees. He works in five languages and is motivated by visible results, a process mindset, cross-functional relations and clear visual communication.
In 2025 he served as a co-judge in the four-month court case (1 September to 18 December 2025) between the electrical contractor Bravida and the owner Stavanger University Hospital; the verdict is expected to become public around late May or early June.
His work has been recognised twice: in December 2014 he was awarded Statsbygg's Innovasjonspris 2014 for implementing Lean principles in Statsbygg projects, and in October 2017 he received Bygg21's Best Practice award for his work with processes and the use of Lean on a Norwegian construction project (the Academy of Art and Design in Bergen).
Jacqueline Zurke
Presentation
How to Save the World with Takt
Summary
Green, Lean, Digital. — "Okay, but how do we achieve it now without overstretching our financial, logistical, and human capacities?" Building on today's insights into carbon-reducing sustainability initiatives and AI-driven digitalization with TAKT, this keynote converges these themes into a call to action on how we tackle our global climate targets together.
Leveraging Evolutionary AI, Jacqueline Zurke introduces a Takt-enabling resource allocation model to calculate the Pareto-optimum of CO₂ reduction and cost-efficiency for modernizing building stocks and realizing innovative construction projects of the future. By scaling the "heartbeat" of Takt planning to the macro-level of entire building portfolios, we will discuss how to synchronize system-wide construction operations with actual capacities — eliminating misallocation-induced waste and creating feasible pathways to climate neutrality from theory into our everyday reality.
Biography
Jacqueline Zurke is responsible for the DACH region at VisiLean, where she leads and manages the implementation and establishment of Lean Construction projects in Central Europe. Her focus lies on the digitization of operational processes and the transformation of traditional Lean approaches into scalable, data-driven solutions. Her goal: reducing manual effort and standardizing innovation — to make Lean truly "lean." She has been working intensively on Lean and Takt for the construction industry since 2012.
During her studies in Civil Engineering and Business Management at RWTH Aachen, she conducted research at renowned institutes on lean methods, focusing on energy-efficient construction process management and data-based resource optimization (published in Nature). Today, she continues her academic pursuits with Lean 5.0 concepts. Jacqueline has gained significant international project experience and research insights through Lean Construction initiatives in 10+ countries, including the Caribbean.
Laura Pääkkönen
Presentation
Aware Worksite turns one of Lean's core principles into measurable daily practice
Co-presented with Marika Nyyssönen (HOAS).
Summary
The Aware Worksite concept developed by HOAS combines Lean principles and social responsibility into a measurable framework for improving construction-site performance. Its foundation is seven core rules that guide daily operations and support effective collaboration, placing every worker at the centre — regardless of their employer — so that everyone is valued as part of the project team.
Regular surveys assess both site performance and employee well-being, giving workers a voice to share experiences, opinions and improvement ideas. Results are reviewed openly with all site personnel and displayed on-site to promote transparency, and improvement actions are then jointly planned and implemented with contractors based on the feedback received.
Biography
Laura Pääkkönen is Construction Manager at HOAS, working to improve project performance through collaboration, continuous improvement and people-centred leadership. She is actively advancing Lean Construction, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD/IPT) and industrialised construction across the Finnish industry, and serves as a board member of LCI Finland.
Her particular interests include production flow, takt production, construction logistics and prefabrication to improve quality and predictability. Laura also co-hosts the Rakentamisen muutos (Construction Transformation) podcast.
Marika Nyyssönen
Presentation
Aware Worksite turns one of Lean's core principles into measurable daily practice
Co-presented with Laura Pääkkönen (HOAS).
Summary
The Aware Worksite concept developed by HOAS combines Lean principles and social responsibility into a measurable framework for improving construction-site performance. Its foundation is seven core rules that guide daily operations and support effective collaboration, placing every worker at the centre — regardless of their employer — so that everyone is valued as part of the project team.
Regular surveys assess both site performance and employee well-being, giving workers a voice to share experiences, opinions and improvement ideas. Results are reviewed openly with all site personnel and displayed on-site to promote transparency, and improvement actions are then jointly planned and implemented with contractors based on the feedback received.
Biography
Marika Nyyssönen is Sustainability Manager at HOAS, driving sustainability initiatives focused on measurable impact and evidence-based decision-making. A strong advocate of the principle that Lean is the most responsible way to build — reducing waste, improving resource efficiency and creating better outcomes for people and projects — she played a key role in developing the Aware Worksite (Tiedostava työmaa) concept.
She is also active in the sustainability workstream of the Lyra project, helping integrate Lean principles and ESG objectives into industry development, with an emphasis on transparency, collaboration and respect for people.
Hassane Jarar Oulidi
Presentation
Digital Twin for cultural heritage conservation: An integrated framework for monitoring, maintenance and decision support
Summary
Historic monuments and cultural landmarks are living assets that require continuous care, informed decision-making, and sustainable management strategies. This conference explores how Digital Twin technologies are transforming cultural heritage conservation from reactive restoration to predictive, data-driven maintenance. By integrating HBIM, 3D reality capture, IoT-based monitoring, and advanced analytics, Digital Twins create dynamic virtual replicas that support real-time condition assessment and long-term asset management.
Biography
Hassane Jarar Oulidi is a full professor at the Hassania School of Public Works Engineering (EHTP) in Casablanca, Morocco. From 2015 to 2018, he headed the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Geomatics. Previously, he was a researcher at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Germany. His current research focuses on geospatial data infrastructure, with a particular interest in Earth Science Data and Climate Change in Africa. He has also developed strong expertise in Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Digital Twin technologies, especially in the context of urban infrastructure and territorial management. He has led numerous research initiatives, authored several academic works, and collaborated with various companies to oversee and execute GIS, BIM, and Digital Twin projects.
