Eric C. Macfarlane, P.E., M.ASCE, DBIA, ENV-SP, NAC
First Deputy Commissioner at New York City Department of Design and Construction
Eric C. Macfarlane leads a staff of 1200 at the New York City Department of Design and Construction, consisting mostly of engineers, project managers, administrators, and analysts. The agency is responsible for managing the design and construction of public buildings and street infrastructure for more than 25 city agencies. Currently DDC manages a Capital portfolio of more than 800 projects in various, phases, from planning, design, and construction, valued at more than $20 billion. DDC also procures the services of many consultants for both design and construction management who provide supplementary assistance in the delivery of DDC’s annual capital projects commitment plan. He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the City College of New York, and a Master of Science, Civil Engineering degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York (NYU-Tandon School of Engineering). He is a New York State licensed Professional Engineer.
Sessions
Phillip Eng, P.E.
Executive Vice President at LiRo Engineers, Inc.
After a 40-year career in public service, Phillip Eng, P.E., recently joined The LiRo Group as Executive Vice President leading the Engineering, Transportation, and Infrastructure Divisions. Some of his most prominent roles prior were President of the MTA Long Island Rail Road, Acting President NYC Transit, and Executive Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer for NYS Department of Transportation.
As LIRR President, he established a customer-focused vision that managers and the workforce embraced to reverse record low on-time performance (OTP) and customer satisfaction. While leading the LIRR through the Covid-19 pandemic, the workforce rose to the challenge, tackling longstanding issues to improve service and deliver historic record OTP, while incorporating industry-leading technology and innovation that has helped to restore public trust and encouraged ridership to return. Leaving the LIRR team in a position for continued success, is one of his proudest accomplishments, as the LIRR has continued to deliver safe, reliable, and robust service.
As Acting President of NYC Transit, he led the early efforts of the Subway Action Plan setting the foundation to restore service reliability and safety to the subway system.
At the NYSDOT, Mr. Eng led many statewide initiatives including streamlining project delivery and use of design-build to deliver significant projects such as Rochester Train Station, Kosciuszko Bridge in Brooklyn and the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in the Hudson Valley. Another significant design-build project that Mr. Eng was privileged to have participated in was the LIRR Mainline Expansion from Floral Park to Hicksville. While at NYSDOT, he led a crucial component of the project during the EIS; the elimination of eight at-grade railroad crossings improving safety and reliability both for LIRR and for the neighboring communities. Mr. Eng had the opportunity of continuing to work on and deliver this $2.6B design-build project when he transitioned to MTA and LIRR. With his leadership and involvement in this project, the MTA LIRR commissioned and placed into service on October 3, 2022, the full 10 miles of new third track both on time and under budget.
Mr. Eng is a vital contributor across all business sectors of the LiRo family while bringing his public sector and industry experience in guiding and driving LiRo’s continued success in their current markets while driving future growth and expansion opportunities.
Mr. Eng earned a Bachelor of Engineering from The Cooper Union and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in New York.
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Steven Demetropoulos
Traffic Engineering Program Manager at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Steven Demetropoulos is currently a Traffic Engineering Program Manager at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey overseeing transportation engineering services for major Redevelopment Programs such as Port Authority Bus Terminal Replacement, Lincoln Tunnel Helix Replacement, and John F Kennedy International Airport Redevelopment.
Steven oversees a team of approximately 40 full-time equivalent staff members, which is a combination of Port Authority staff and on-site/off-site consultants.
Prior to, Steven served as the lead Principal Traffic Engineer for the Airport Redevelopment Programs of LaGuardia Airport and the Newark Terminal A Program, overseeing Traffic Engineering’s landside support services in planning, design, construction, operations, and traffic management.
Steven has been in the Traffic Engineering group within the Port Authority Engineering Department for over 20 years, since joining the agency as a Trainee in 2001.
He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from The Cooper Union in 2001 and a Master of Science in Transportation Planning and Engineering from Polytechnic University in 2005.
He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in New York and New Jersey and certified as a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer.
Sessions
Ahsan Ali
Traffic Engineer at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Ahsan Ali has worked with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for over three years. His experience at the Port Authority involves JFK Airport Redevelopment Program and more recently Tunnels, Bridges & Terminal (TB&T) Operations. His focus during the Redevelopment Program was ITS deployment to manage the construction as well as post construction transportation. He continues to encourage technological solutions in his new operations role. Prior to PANYNJ, he was with New Jersey DOT in the Mobility Engineering Group. He has his Bachelors from Rutgers University and Masters in Transportation from NJIT.
Sessions
Aditi Patel
Vice President at The LiRo Group
Aditi Patel is Vice President at The LiRo Group. She leads LiRo’s Virtual Design Construction & Operations department. In her role, she is responsible for leading research, development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies to improve project outcome. She has more than 17 years of experience applying VDC methodologies on wide variety of projects on both private and public sector. Ms.Patel has extensive experience implementing BIM solutions for design, procurement, construction, and Asset Management purposes. She has helped develop BIM best practices and standards for LiRo’s many clients, specifically focusing on BIM implementation strategies at an agency level. She has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from India and Master of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology with concentration in Product Architecture. Aditi’s background includes innovation strategy, architectural design, software programming and Mixed Reality application development. She is an adjunct professor at Parson New School, NYC where she teaches Building Information Modeling best practices for Construction Technology program to graduation students.
Sessions
Jonathan Chan
Traffic Engineer at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Jonathan Chan is a Traffic Engineer with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the last 3+ years. At the Port Authority, he has been working on several major infrastructure redevelopment programs including JFK Redevelopment and the Port Authority Bus Terminal Replacement. Prior to PANYNJ he was at NJDOT's Traffic Engineering Group and is familiar with the regional transportation needs. Jonathan is a graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Civil Engineering.
Sessions