Network & Navigate: Connecting Women in Consulting Engineering

Amélie Thibault, P.Eng.
Alberta Market Lead | WSP
Amélie Thibault is a Senior Geological Engineer based in WSP Canada’s Calgary office, with over 20 years of experience leading environmental programs across Eastern and Western Canada and the Northern Territories. Known for her operational excellence and strategic foresight, Amélie has consistently delivered results in complex, multidisciplinary projects. In January 2025, she stepped into the role of Alberta Market Lead, where she is responsible for driving regional growth, aligning market strategy, and strengthening client relationships. Her leadership is defined by a hands-on approach to team development, performance optimization, and cross-functional collaboration. 

Previously, Amélie served as National Vice President for Environmental Management within WSP Canada’s Earth and Environment division. In this capacity, she built and led a specialized team focused on assessment, remediation, and reclamation programs for key clients in Alberta and British Columbia – demonstrating her ability to scale operations while maintaining technical excellence. Her earlier tenure at Golder Associates saw her leading both the Prairies and North Environmental Management Group and the Upstream Oil and Gas Group, overseeing more than 130 professionals. As Group Leader, Project Director, and Senior Advisor, Amélie was instrumental in shaping business strategy, improving financial performance, and fostering a culture of accountability and innovation. She played a pivotal role in talent acquisition, staff development, and succession planning, while also serving as a trusted liaison to clients and senior leadership.

Blanka Bracic, M.Sc., P.Eng.
Transitioning from Government to Consulting Role, Previously with City of Calgary
Blanka Bracic is a dynamic leader integrating cutting-edge practices and research to create vibrant, healthy, and sustainable communities. During her 20 years at The City of Calgary she specialized in active transportation, infrastructure planning, and community enhancement, with a strong commitment to sustainability and interested party engagement. A career highlight was getting to lead the development of Canada’s first Centre City Cycle Track Pilot Network through public engagement and political approvals in 2014 and seeing the project built out before being made permanent two years later.  

Blanka is now transitioning to a role in consulting, where she will continue to shape mobility systems and infrastructure with priority on active transportation and new mobility. Blanka has a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Calgary and a Master’s degree in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Dani Delaloye, P.Eng.
Tunnel Practice Lead | Mott MacDonald
Dani is the Canada Tunnel Practice Lead and a Principal Engineer at Mott MacDonald.  She leads the delivery for projects varying in complexity: from small trenchless jobs to large-scale multidisciplinary transit projects. Her technical expertise ranges from planning and leading fieldwork assignments, through technical design and coordination, to site condition surveys and inspections. She has worked on a broad range of tunnelling, underground, and trenchless projects from pre-feasibility to detailed design phases, through to construction oversight. She completed her Geological Engineering Master’s Degree with a specialization in geotechnical and geomechanical engineering and a focus on underground construction. She has worked across sectors, including transportation, mining, water and wastewater, and energy projects. Prior to joining industry, Dani gained an abundance of on-site experience at various tunnelling and mining projects in Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Austria, Canada, and the United States.

Erin Bird, P.Eng.
Leader, Grant & Funding Relations | City of Calgary
Erin Bird, P.Eng. is Leader, Grant & Funding Relations at The City of Calgary in Infrastructure Services, Capital Investment Planning. Erin graduated with a civil engineering degree from U of C in 1998 with a minor in transportation. Erin has been at The City since 2006, and her roles have included project delivery and structural oversight of transportation infrastructure projects, infrastructure planning in water resources, and corporate capital project strategy.  She currently leads a team that coordinates external grant funding for City projects. Previous to The City, she worked for a general contractor, for two engineering consulting firms (KTA Structural Engineers and SNC Lavalin France), and has worked in both the USA and in Europe.  In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering with sustainable volunteer groups such as Circular Calgary, Engineers Without Borders and Fair Trade Calgary.

Jennifer Massig
Founder & CEO | Magna Engineering Services Inc.
After years of being employed in traditional engineering firms, Jennifer wanted more. With a vision to make the world better by creating unique stormwater management solutions, she launched MAGNA to give extraordinary minds an amazing place to work (and play!). Initially, a sole proprietor and now the CEO of a bustling 30-plus member team, Jennifer strives to provide unique and innovative solutions to her clients. 

Always eager to get her hands dirty, Jennifer isn’t one to hide behind her CEO title. She’s approachable, helps out as needed, and encourages everyone to bring their ideas to the table, no matter their position. She leads with positivity, understands that the culture is the heart and spirit of any organization, and leverages that into persuasive and purposeful project design. Like Jennifer’s approach with her employees, she nurtures and supports her children at home. Her favourite activity is spending time with her family – watching them battle on a sports field or battle against her at a board game.

Jessina Commandeur, P.Eng.
VP and Engineering Manager | Platinum Engineering Ltd.
Jessina Commandeur is a VP and Engineering Manager with Platinum Engineering Ltd, a small firm specializing in Traction Power. With 25 years experience in the Light Rail Transit industry, she is seasoned project leader with a talent for coordinating with other disciplines for overall project success. Jessina’s responsibilities have included Overhead Contact Systems (OCS), Traction Power Substations, and Underground and Overhead Distribution systems. Jessina has also been involved in a variety of maintenance and capital upgrade/replacement projects, particularly those involving OCS. Jessina’s success on previous projects shows her ability to produce results and work with other disciplines to achieve the highest quality product for the client.

Outside of work, Jessina and her partner manage two small boys, two rescue dogs, a rescue cat and their collective sanity!

Karen Skjei, P.Eng.
Senior Project Manager and Team Lead | Colliers Project Leaders
Karen Skjei is a Senior Project Manager and Team Lead at Colliers Project Leaders in Calgary. With nearly thirty years of experience, she has successfully managed complex, multi-million-dollar construction projects across both the private and public sectors. Her diverse background-as a contractor, developer, and project management consultant-gives her a well-rounded perspective that enhances collaboration and problem-solving. A dedicated leader, Karen is passionate about strategic planning, organization, and fostering teamwork toward a shared goal. She is committed to mentoring the next generation of project management professionals and excels in effective communication, employee development, and innovative problem-solving.

Melanie Leitch, P.Eng., MBA
Vice President, Infrastructure & Growth | North American Construction Group
Like many in the construction industry, Melanie started out on the ground floor as a laborer and survey helper for her father. He and his partner ran a design-build construction company serving the Fort McMurray area, and most of her days after school were spent at their office or on job sites. Melanie was influenced by the major projects she grew up around in Fort McMurray – “It gave me a keen interest in learning how these projects were planned, designed, and developed.” From those early beginnings, Melanie completed a B. Sc. in Engineering – Civil/Structural from Queen’s University and started work in foundation engineering design in the Toronto area. She was pulled into construction from her work solving problems for the various foundation companies installing her designs. Deep Foundation Contractors – now a Green Infrastructure Partners company – hired Melanie as a Project Engineer, and soon after, she was designing temporary works, overseeing productions, and managing contracts. Work in project management and controls led her to complete an MBA at the University of Alberta. Then she spent some time working for both general and trade contractors throughout Western Canada in increasingly senior roles.

In her private life, Melanie is married with three children. Her husband, who she met at work, is also a structural engineer and runs his own engineering consultancy company. Their kids are 10, 12, and 14, and stay busy with school, sports, and community involvement.

Stacey Hamilton (Brown), MA
National Vice President, Business Development & Growth | WSP
Stacey is a passionate change-maker having spent over 18 years working in infrastructure across North America. She focuses on top-line growth, client service excellence, business development, program management, strategic marketing, and large-scale bid delivery. With her work experience spanning the industry – land development, construction, engineering, and Architecture – Stacey specializes in understanding Canada’s infrastructure pipeline and collaborative delivery models. In her current role, Stacey leads a team of over 30 business development, procurement, and end-market experts to drive top line growth. Stacey has been a guest speaker with the Women in Transportation (WTS) Network and the P3 Bulletin Annual Conference, as well as judging the global P3 Bulletin Awards. Stacey currently chairs the Women’s Infrastructure Network (WIN) Calgary Chapter and has enjoyed previous volunteer opportunities with the Food Bank, YMCA, YWCA, and Dress for Success.

Tasmin Silvester
Program Director | WSP
Tamsin is the Program Director of WSP’s Rail & Transit team in Western Canada, with over 25 years of experience in technical, professional and engineering management roles.  She is an accomplished and multi-disciplined leader and has been responsible for leading design, technical, financial, and program management for projects with a wide variety of values, forms of contract, nature and scope of work. Starting her career in the UK, Tamsin transferred to WSP Canada in 2016, where she has worked as the Design Manager for the Edmonton Metro NW LRT, the WSP Pursuit Lead for the Broadway Subway Project proposal, Project Manager for Additional Works and Systems Integration for the OnTrack Alliance Union Station Expansion Project in Toronto and she is currently Project Director for Calgary Green Line LRT, a Progressive Collaborative procurement model. In these roles, she led collaborative multi-disciplinary teams, liaising and coordinating between many different parties, including internal departments, external consultants, clients, Joint Venture contractors, local municipalities and other stakeholders.