Work
Advisory Services / Projects
Strategic Direction & Organizational Management (2021 to date)
Senior Director & Advisor to a Regional Group of a multi-national engineering consultant firm (Parsons) in strategic direction, business development and internal organizational operations. The duties include: advising the Regional Lead on effective leadership practices and strategies; organizing and connect the firm with clients; working as a liaison between senior staff and management and identifying problems and conflicts and assisting in resolving them; assessing company weaknesses and strengths to identify the most appropriate structure for the Region of the company; identifying new business opportunities for companies; and reviewing and improving proposals to clients.
Preparation of the Terms of Reference for Colossus Drive Extension Planning & Preliminary Design, Vaughan, ON (2023 to date)
Advisor to the City of Vaughan Project Team in preparing the RFP and Terms of Reference (TOR) for the mid-block crossing bridge over Highway 400 and Highway 407 mainline and ramps. Michael assists in the writing of the Draft TOR. He also facilitates the coordination of meetings and draft TOR reviews with MTO and 407 ETR.
Highway 413 Individual EA and Preliminary Design Phase 2, GTA, ON (2021 to date)
Advisor to the Consultant Team (WSP) on project management and preliminary design (East Section of this high-profile project). Michael is a core member of the MTO/WSP Executive Management Group. The corridor is a 4 to 6 lane, 59-km 400-series highway with connections to Highways 400, 427, 410, 401, and 407 ETR. A transitway running alongside the highway is also proposed.
Niagara Escarpment Crossing Individual EA Phase 1, Niagara Region, ON (2023 to date)
Advisor to the Consultant Team (CIMA+) on interchange and route alternatives and functional design. Michael Chiu also leads the liaison with the MTO. This is a study for a north-south transportation crossing of the Niagara Escarpment. The crossing will accommodate commercial vehicles and other modes of transportation and increase safety for local communities.
Organizational Management (2021 to date)
Advisor to a national Transportation Planning Department of a Global engineering consultant firm (WSP). The duties include: advising the National Lead on daily operations as required; working as a liaison between staff and management; managing and resolving issues on a multi-year planning project and liaising with the client’s executive management.
Highway 40 Preliminary Design & Design-Build Ready, Sarnia, ON (2022 to date)
Advisor to the Consultant Team (GHD/HDR) on preliminary design and stakeholder consultation. The project is carried out as a Class EA and involves the widening of 7 km of Highway 40 from Indian Road to Wellington Street.
Workshop Facilitations
Senior Executives Institute (SEI) Class 26 Leadership Workshop (2024)
Michael designed and led a two-day workshop on leadership and management for senior executives in the Class 26 SEI program under ACEC, bringing together participants from across the U.S. Michael developed the contents focusing on tree topics: 'Market Consolidation'; "Work Transition - Organizational and Personal Issues Arise in an Acquisition/merger" and "AI, Digital Transformation & Innovation". The workshop empowered senior executives with strategic tools and fostered valuable peer connections, equipping them to drive growth and adaptability within the organizations.
City of Toronto Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Construction Congestion Management and Accelerated Construction Workshops (2024)
Workshop Leader for two workshops to address public concerns on traffic congestions caused by the rehabilitation work on the Gardiner expressway. Michael developed and designed the workshop contents, focusing on brainstorming ideas on a) alleviating congestions on Gardiner Expressway and the adjacent road network in the first workshop; and b) accelerating the construction to an overall shorter period of closing the lanes on the Expressway.
Strategic Plan Workshop (2023)
Workshop Leader for a two-day workshop with senior leaders on a short-term (two years) strategic plan for an engineering consulting firm. Michael Chiu developed the contents and successfully facilitated the workshop with actionable tasks to achieve the plan. Regular follow-up monitoring meetings with task leaders on task progress was held for the following 12 months.
Client Connects Workshop (2024)
Workshop Leader for Parsons Corporation's client-facing staff at client connects workshop. Two sessions were held to understand the challenges of connecting with clients in a post-covid times and shared best practices in connecting with clients. This was one of the initial steps to change the company from a ‘product-centric’ culture to a ‘client-centric’ culture. Michael developed and designed the workshop contents and successfully facilitated the workshop with a overall average rating of 9.4 (out of 10) from all participant’s feedback surveys.
Durham Region’s Congestion Management Plan (2024)
Workshop Facilitator for a workshop with senior staff of the Region to establish the vison and goals of the Congestion Management Plan (CMP). Due to the constraint of a half-day workshop, Michael developed pre-workshop questions to solicit input from the Region staff prior to the workshop, this resulted in a very efficient and engaging workshop with valuable input provided for the next stage in the development of the CMP.
Employee Engagement Workshop (2023)
Workshop Facilitator for a staff engagement workshop with junior/intermediate staff for an engineering consulting firm. Five areas of staff engagement focus areas with actionable and measurable tasks were developed with a follow-up progress monitoring program.
Client Connection Workshop (2024)
Workshop Leader for client-facing staff in WSP on a client connection workshop. Two sessions were held to understand the challenges of connecting with clients in a post-covid times; share best practices in connecting with clients; and introduce the concept of 3i business meeting model. Michael developed and designed the workshop contents and successfully facilitated the workshop with a overall average rating of 9.1 (out of 10) from all participant’s feedback surveys.
City of Vaughan Transportation Planning Data Management Strategy Workshop (2024)
Facilitator in a collaborative environment for the exchange of diverse ideas and insight with the City staff to build a shared understanding in establishing a broader objectives and strategic direction. Several exercises were embedded in the workshop design to ensure the overarching needs, goals, and priorities of the City as a whole are clearly understood and agreed upon by all City stakeholders.