Mega Games: Extreme Engineering for the World Cup and Olympics

Mike Szomjassy                                                                                                                                                                    Thursday, October 9, 2014
Executive Vice President, Chief Operational Excellence                                                                                                                      3:30pm - 4:30pm
Officer and Chief Delivery Officer, CH2M Hill                                                                                                                                         138 DeBartolo

Engineering for mega-games like the World Cup and Olympics involves transforming a region or even a country by building not only iconic facilities with lasting legacies but also enormous infrastructure. For the Qatar 2022 World Cup, this includes $120B for roads, bridges, subways, training facilities and eight stadia in a desert setting. For the London 2012 Olympics, it included $15B for venues, transport, housing and infrastructure to create a mini-city in a blighted part of London. “Mega-Games” will address the engineering, construction, logistical and stakeholder challenges faced in completing these highly technical programs with absolute budgets and immovable schedules

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Mike Szomjassy has two distinct roles at CH2M HILL. As Chief Operational Excellence Officer, he leads the firm’s efforts to improve performance in all aspects of the operation. As Chief Delivery Officer (CDO) for all of CH2M HILL and executive vice president, he is responsible for profit and loss for global regions (including the United States) and oversees Tunnels and Earth Engineering, Construction, Operations Management, Strategic Consulting and Enterprise Delivery Excellence (which includes Security, Procurement, Project Controls, Design and Quality). Mr. Szomjassy is a member of CH2M HILL's Board of Directors. Most recently, Mr. Szomjassy served as Global Market president, Energy, and was responsible for the firm’s oil, gas & chemicals and power business units, while also serving as Chief Operational Excellence Officer, a position he maintains. Prior to this role, Mr. Szomjassy served as president of CH2M HILL’s former Energy, Water and Facilities Division. In this role, he was responsible for the Energy and Chemicals, Industrial & Advanced Technology, Operations & Maintenance, Power and Water Business Groups. The division also served as the nexus of energy‐water‐carbon solutions to address emerging market needs. Mr. Szomjassy has also served as president of the firm’s former Environmental Services Business Group, leading and managing CH2M HILL’s environmental services business worldwide. Prior to that assignment, he served for three years as the deputy program director for the CLM Delivery Partner, a joint venture providing program management to the Olympic Delivery Authority for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Mr. Szomjassy’s other work experience includes president of Williams Environmental Services, Inc., which specialized in environmental remediation; vice president of Insituform Technologies, the largest U.S. supplier and installer of cured‐in‐place sewer and water piping; Chief Operating Officer of Aqua Alliance, the U.S. arm of Vivendi’s water business; executive vice president of OHM Corp., at the time the largest environmental contractor in the U.S; and
various roles with power engineering and construction company EBASCO Services.