Professional Summary

Sam Liao, PhD, MBA, PE, P.Eng.

Sam is a Registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts, New York and Ontario, Canada with a career of over 35 years in strategy and business development, project procurement, firm operations, and project management on large infrastructure mega-projects and programs.  He recently started the firm Strategics, LLC to provide strategy, operations and project management consulting.  

Sam has a Ph.D. from MIT, an MBA from Boston University, and the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Cornell University in Civil & Environmental Engineering. He has taught Operations Management at Babson College and tentatively will be receiving an appointment to teach Project Management at the University of New Hampshire next Spring. 

The projects and assignments he has worked on as a consultant and manager include the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“Big” Dig”) for a combined 13 years, a 4800 MW power plant in South Africa, and Transit & Rail projects in Toronto, San Franciso, and Washington, DC.  Most recently, he was the Project Manager for the rehabilitation and enhancement of a major station on the MBTA Red Line station.  

Sam has been appointed by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey to serve on the Designer Selection Board (DSB), which selects architects and engineers for rehabilitation, enhancement, and design of new buildings and facilities for the Commonweath of Massachusetts.

Accomplishments

Over 35 years of professional experience in consulting and project management in infrastructure design, engineering and construction:

  • As National Director in Canada for Transit & Rail Facilites, competed and won a $40 million 10-year Systems Engineering contract and a $2 million Train Vehicles Maintenance Contract for the firm at which he developed the marketing and operations strategy for the Transit & Rail Practice.

  • Manager of a Joint Venture Company for 2 -1/2 years for design support during the construction phase of stations for the over $1.2 Billion newest underground subway line for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

  • For Washington, DC Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA), served as augmented staff and assisting in the development a compressive capital program for 5-year, 10-year, and 20-year time horizons for WMATA’s Office of Capital Planning & Management (OCPM)

  • Lead Negotiator and Manager, worked with McKinsey & Company consultants reporting to him on the negotiation of hundreds of millions of dollars of Design-Build contracts for one of the largest (4800 MW) power plant projects in the world for Eskom, the national electric public utilty of South Africa.

  • Project manager for one the most significant (over $130 Million) station rehabilitation projects on the MBTA Red Line.

  • Managed a pioneering project in the early 2000’s for the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance - DCAMM (then DCAM), delivering the first comprehensive condition assessment and database of the Commonwealth's 5,800+ buildings and vertical capital assets.

  • Manager on the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“Big Dig”) for 13 years.

  • Experience in Ports & Marine, nuclear power, wastewater, and water treatment facilities, earthquake and natural hazards and risk mitigation.

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

  • MBA from Boston University

  • Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Cornell University