Construction & Real Estate

2026 Design-Build Conference & Expo

The 2026 Design-Build Conference & Expo is the largest national gathering of design-build professionals, bringing together over 2,300 industry leaders including public and private Owners, practitioners, and specialty contractors. The three-day event features expert-led sessions on a variety of design-build topics, networking opportunities, an extensive exhib…

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31Speakers
1Sponsors
14Sessions
27Companies · in total

Speakers

Programmed at 2026, in alphabetical order.

Alice Leung
Principal · Brick & Mortar Ventures
Andrew McGoram
BIM Coordinator · F.B. Harding Electrical Contractors
Barbara J. Jackson, PhD, FDBIA
President and CEO · Barbara Jackson, LLC
Brittany K. Giel, Ph.D.
VDC Manager · The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Bryan Franz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor · University of Florida
Carrie Wettstein
MEP Project Director · AECOM
Dennis Poulos, PE
Sr. Associate · JB&B
Doug Taylor, DBIA
Senior Design Manager · Hensel Phelps
Elisa Jue, AIA, RA(CA)
Senior Principal · SmithGroup
Glenn Jackson
Jad Chalhoub, PhD
Sr. Director of Innovation · Rosendin Electric, Inc.
Jim L. Whitaker, FAIA, FDBIA
Partner · HKS, Inc.
John Novak
Construction Project Executive · Oregon Health & Science University
John W. Medvec, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, DBIA
Sr. Design Integration Manager · Skanska
Katie Wells
VP, Design Management & Operational Excellence · Brasfield & Gorrie
Kenz Meliani, PE, LC, LEED AP BD+C
Principal, Senior Electrical Engineer · SmithGroup
KP Reddy
Founder - CEO, Zero RFI · Zero RFI
Marcela Guevara, LEED AP BD+C, DBIA
VDC Manager · Hensel Phelps
Mark Cutair, Assoc. DBIA
Senior Project Manager · The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Mark Cutair, DBIA
Senior Project Manager · Whiting-Turner
Mark Peckover, DBIA, PE
Director of Engineering · Cherry City Electric
Megan Salazar
Associate Vice President · EnTech Engineering

Sponsors

The companies behind the program. Tiers as disclosed.

eShow

Agenda

Selected from 14 sessions.

  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT

    VDCLEx Keynote: Managing Projects with AI on Design-Build Projects

    Many say that the construction industry needs more technology, that is actually not the case. We though BIM and VDC was going to solve many woes, but they didn't. It wasn’t an inte…

    VDCLEx
  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT

    Design-Build VDC Leadership Exchange (VDCLEx)

    A half-day pre-conference event including opening/closing sessions and two specialized tracks: VDC Deep Dive for experienced professionals (covering AI, AR/VR, automation, collabor…

    VDCLEx
  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM EDT

    Connected Teams, Better Outcomes: VDC Progressive Design-Build Synergy for Adaptive Reuse

    A case study on adaptive reuse of a 12-story, 400,000 SF 1980s office building into an educational facility for Georgetown University. BIM and VDC enabled real-time collaboration a…

  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM EDT

    Keeping Up with a $4B Design-Build: The Tech Stack That Connected JFK Terminal One

    A case study on the tech stack and workflows behind JFK T1: project coordination, ACC for design model and as-built turnover management, Revizto as a project-wide CDE, and reality …

  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 3:45 PM - 4:45 PM EDT

    Extreme Modeling and Coordination to Eliminate Deferred Submittals

    A session focused on strategies to fully coordinate project permit sets to eliminate deferred submittals, with early trade partner engagement and model-based collaboration for cons…

  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 3:45 PM - 4:45 PM EDT

    Concrete Uses for AI in Design-Build

    Panel covers practical, current uses of AI in design-build, with leaders across design, trade, and builder perspectives, focusing on what's real vs. marketing in AEC use of AI.

  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT

    VDCLEx Closing General Session - Breaking Down Silos in VDC Integration Across the Design Build Life Cycle

    Panel explores how integrated workflows and open communication keep VDC value driven, using real project examples to show early, continuous VDC engagement in visualization, constru…

    VDCLEx
  • Tuesday, Nov 03, 2026 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM EDT

    Leadership Academy: Building a Strong Foundation - Pre-Conference (Additional Fee Required)

    Collaborative Delivery Leadership Academy: Elevating Leaders - Optimizing Outcomes. Leadership matters. Distinguishing different ways to lead is at the crux of Design-Build Done Ri…

  • Wednesday, Nov 04, 2026 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM EDT

    OPENING KEYNOTE - The Future Favors the Bold: Human Leadership 2.0

    Futurist Mike Walsh explores how leaders and professionals can reinvent themselves in the age of AI, blending human judgment and machine intelligence to amplify impact and redesign…

Company intelligence

An audience of 27 companies, parsed from the program.

27 companies in attendance.

The numbers below are derived from the speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors on this page, cross-referenced into one ledger. They are the only thing here that 10times.com cannot tell you.

Who's in the room
0All threespeak · spons · exh
1Sponsoringsponsor only
26Speakingspeaker only
Speakers by seniority

42% of the speakers carry senior titles: C-suite, Founder, VP, or Director-level.

  • C-suite413%
  • Founder / Owner26%
  • VP-level310%
  • Director / Head of413%
  • Manager / Lead929%
  • Engineer · IC310%
  • Other roles619%

Of 31 speakers · classified by free-text title

Most-represented companies
Sponsors by tier
unspecified1
100% of 1