The Project Production Institute’s technical conference showcased significant industry progress in adopting production management principles, with strong academic partnerships yielding high-quality research presentations from prior PPI award recipients. Educational pathways include Stanford’s intensive six-month Modern Construction Program focused on rapid organizational transformation and hands-on project problem-solving, alongside Texas A&M’s NextGen Project Management certificate program covering production management fundamentals and operations science basics. The conference reinforced core themes including the power of production modeling and optimization, systems thinking approaches to interconnected project challenges, and the imperative that “doing more with less” has evolved from option to necessity, with upcoming opportunities including the 12th Annual Symposium at Stanford featuring leading-edge thought leaders and practical applications of production management principles.
Gary Fischer is the Executive Director of the Project Production Institute (PPI) and Chair of the PPI Energy Working Group. He has over 40 years of experience in all aspects of capital project development and execution across downstream, chemicals and upstream in Chevron. As GM of Chevron’s Project Resources Company, he was responsible for Chevron’s ...