"Projects today have become more complex, larger and more costly to execute than any time in the past. As every owner and EPC firm has more work, the competition for experienced engineers is fierce; just at the time we most need the skills of experienced project engineers we face a shortage due to retirement of a large portion of the work force. Today we’re seeing a wide gap in skills and experience between those mature engineers who have left or are leaving the business, and the younger group struggling to fill their shoes at the worst possible time.

The result is that we are now paying the price for the failure to pay attention to project controls. This price is manifested in steep cost overruns.

The good news is that the very severity of the problem forces the industry to recognize that it’s time to start taking the discipline of project controls seriously, paying close attention to costs and commitments. New organizations and industry action teams have arisen, providing guidance, standards and recommended practices. Information technology in particular has made great strides that allow us to work together more efficiently as a project team and an industry, providing us with new tools to facilitate effectiveness and guide novice engineers to use best practices.

Today for the first time in decades there is a balance between innovation and proven, reliable technologies that can help us address the crisis in capital project quality. Putting the right technologies, practices and people together is key to unlocking enormous savings through maintaining careful control over your project costs."

Mike Milinusic, P.Eng, MBA

Bio

Mike Milinusic, P. Eng., MBA, is an internationally recognized specialist in project controls. For over thirty years he has advised major international clients, provided solutions designed to help control costs and schedules, and resolve management challenges on capital projects.

Mike graduated from Institute National de Sciences Appliquees (INSA) in France with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and from McGill University in Montreal with an MBA. Mike’s MBA thesis was “Project Controls for the Construction Industry” which reflected his passion for project controls and in turn set in motion his future career path.

After ten years as Project Controls Manager for SNC /Foster Wheeler in Canada , Mike left industry employment and began his private practice as a consulting engineer specializing in project controls. In 1984 he founded OnTrack Engineering Ltd., a privately held company focused on developing solutions and consulting services to help resolve project controls issues for complex engineering and construction projects.

In 1990, Mike formed a partnership with Peter Morgan, and founded KM Industrial. Together they took this EPC company from $0 to $20 million in lump sum contracts in less than eighteen months. Mike sold his interest in 1992 to return full-time to consulting and software development. The company was subsequently acquired by VECO.

Mike teamed up with other successful project management specialists and leading program designers to review his proprietary programs and ensure that best practices in project management were incorporated into a fully integrated software package for client use. In 1996, this software, then called CostTrack, was released. Ten years later the mature product now known as OnTrack Project Manager, is SQL based, web enabled and rapidly becoming a product of choice for owner, engineering and construction companies.

Mike is currently an active participant in the Construction Industry Institute affiliate FIATECH (Fully Integrated Application Technology) a formidable collection of industry leading companies that are engaged in capital intensive projects, and who have organized to accelerate the discovery, evaluation and implementation of technologies to improve their bottom line, including the development of the Capital Projects Technology Roadmap. Mike serves on work teams for Integrated Automated Procurement and Supply as well as on the team for Real Time Project and Facility Management Coordination.

Mike also belongs to the Assoc for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), an international organization which provides technical programs, research and recommended practices for cost and schedule management. As a participating member for over 25 years Mike has contributed to the Total Cost management (TCM) body of knowledge, a process map that integrates the many cost engineering sub processes and which provides a framework or structure for development of AACE's Recommended Practices.

Mike and the management team at OnTrack continue to be actively involved in industry innovations not only ensuring that OnTrack Engineering’s evolving products and services remain aligned with best practices, but working with colleagues in the project community to pioneer those standards.