Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Nadine Lee
Deputy Chief Innovation Officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Nadine Lee is the deputy chief innovation officer for Los Angeles County Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation. In this role, Nadine launches innovative concepts to provide an accessible, convenient and reliable mobility system for the citizens of Los Angeles County. Prior to her tenure in L.A., Nadine led the development and implementation of the Flatiron Flyer Bus Rapid Transit for Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD), a project that produced a 40% growth in corridor bus ridership in its first few months of revenue service. Nadine is a graduate of Leadership APTA and past director on the WTS International Board. She is a registered professional engineer in Colorado and Kansas.
Session Speakers
Margaret-Avis Akofio-Sowah
Asset Management and Business Strategy Consultant, WSP USA
Dr. Margaret-Avis Akofio-Sowah is an asset management and business strategy consultant with the WSP USA Advisory Services group. In this role, she provides services for clients in asset management strategy and implementation, federal asset management guidance, asset management training, business process improvement, and program management. In her work, she also leverages her knowledge of organizational development and change management in advancing asset management programs. Margaret received her BS in engineering science from Smith College and her MS and PhD in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is co-author of the FTA Asset Management Guide for Small Providers and the primary developer of the Tier II Asset Management Plan Template, and has an Advanced Teaching Certificate for engineering education from Georgia Tech.
Fred Andersky
Director, Customer Solutions-Controls, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC
A member of the Bendix team since 2005 Fred is a marketing, business development, and government affairs professional who has presented and written about active safety technologies and future automated and autonomous applications, with commercial vehicle fleets, owner-operators, media and industry stakeholders throughout North America. Possessing a Class A CDL in Ohio, Fred spearheads a variety of demonstration events across the country, enabling commercial vehicle industry participants to witness, firsthand, the benefits of advanced safety technologies. During his tenure with Bendix, he has become a strong advocate for active safety technologies that are designed to advance commercial vehicle safety. He is also a frequent contributor to the Bendix thought leadership blog, has written a number of papers and participates on the Bendix TruckTalk podcast series.
Erik Bigelow
Senior Engineering Consultant, Center for Transportation and the Environment
Erik Bigelow is a senior engineering consultant and the director of Midwest operations with the Center for Transportation and the Environment. Erik manages advanced transportation projects, including battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles. For over nine years he has worked closely with transit agencies and other stakeholders developing, demonstrating and deploying new vehicle technologies, as well as supporting analysis to make complex long term decisions in vehicle planning.
Nancy Brown
Procurement Manager, Duluth Transit Authority
Nancy Brown is the procurement manager for the Duluth Transit Authority (DTA) and is the project manager for their electric bus deployment. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and a master’s degree in advocacy and political leadership, and together with the DTA management team, is looking forward to seeing the success of the buses operating in an extreme climate and challenging topography.
Alva Carrasco
Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Sacramento Regional Transit
Alva Carrasco is the deputy chief operating officer at Sacramento Regional Transit. Alva has worked in the public transit field for nearly 25 years. She has dedicated her time in public transit to providing communities clean alternative modes of transportation, reducing congestion, service, and promoting workforce development in what she considers a “green collar” industry. In 2017, Alva was recognized as Alumnus of the Year by the University of San Jose State, Mineta Transportation Institute. She currently serves as the vice president of the board of directors of Latinos in Transit.
Jewels Carter
Fleet and Facilities Division Manager, WSP
Jewels Carter, AIA is a licensed architect and WSP’s fleet and facilities division manager for transit bus facilities as well as the firm’s technical principal for battery electric bus (BEB) maintenance facility design. Jewels has performed numerous BEB projects including existing facility modifications to accommodate BEB’s; BEB feasibility studies; BEB master plans; detail design, permitting and construction of BEB en-route and depot charging facilities for Albuquerque ABQRIDE, King County Washington, Indianapolis IndyGo, Dallas DART, Winnipeg Transit, and is currently performing projects involving BEB designs for Seattle Sound Transit, New Jersey Transit Port Authority Bus Terminal, Rochester Minnesota RPT, and MBTA and MassDOT / MBTA in Boston.
Scott Conroy
Area Vice President, First Transit
Scott Conroy is the area vice president for First Transit’s East Region Campus Transit and Shuttle operations. Scott oversees 25 university and airport systems across a broad spectrum of service needs. Scott joined First Transit following the acquisition of Cognisa Transportation in January of 2007. With over 25 years of experience in contract management for public and private institutions, he has developed a team which brings together talented mobility specialists to meet unique customer needs.
Jill Drury
Director, Charlevoix County Transit
Jill has over 28 years of experience in transit at the county level; spending 21 years with the Newaygo County Commission on Aging as the senior services and transportation coordinator, and the past seven years as director of Charlevoix County Transit. Prior to being employed by Newaygo County COA, she held several administrative assistant positions in private industry. Jill is currently the secretary/board member for the Michigan Association of Transportation Systems, is on several statewide transportation committees, and is a member of the Community Transportation Association of America’s National Bus Roadeo Committee.
Kevin Egan
President, EGAN - Transportation Logistics Consultants
Kevin Egan began his career in advertising on Madison Avenue and made his move into the financial services industry in the 1990’s. During his tenure in the financial services industry, he found himself a road warrior and consequently very familiar with the travel and hospitality industries. His trajectory landed him in the limousine business where a significant portion of his experiences revolved around corporate affairs, large events and the bus business. Before taking the plunge into his own business, he honed his skills working for market-leading limousine companies in Atlanta. His innate understanding of the client perspective helps him deliver a custom approach and consistently meet and exceed expectations.
Len Engel
President/CEO, solutionLAB, Inc.
Len Engel joined solutionLAB, Inc. in June 2018 as president/CEO. solutionLAB is a non-profit association advancing zero emissions public transportation solutions with breakthrough levels of environmental and economic performance. Previously, Len served as executive director/CEO of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority. He joined AVTA in 2012 as the director of operations and maintenance, and in 2015 was named executive director. Under his leadership the AVTA adopted a goal to be a 100% battery electric fleet by the end of 2018. By May of 2018 the agency had acquired the funds needs to make the transition. Prior to his role at AVTA, Len served as vice-president and COO at Southland Transit, vice-president and chief technical officer at Horizon Internet Solutions and vice-president, marketing at Laidlaw Transit Services.
Ed Eucker
Director of Operations, Senior Transportation Connection
Edward Eucker has more than 30 years of experience in the transportation industry in many differing capacities and levels of responsbility. He has been involved in the transport of everything from freight and parcels with some of the largest transportation companies in the world, to moving billions of dollars every day for the Federal Reserve Bank, to making sure that some of societies most precious cargo, at up to 102 years old, gets to a doctor’s appointment on time. His background includes operations, sales, training and industrial engineering, and operations management comprises the bulk of his career.
Eric Foellmer
Director of Marketing, XL | Fleet Electrification
Eric Foellmer is the director of marketing for XL, the leader in fleet electrification solutions for class 2-6 vehicles. In this role, Eric is responsible for developing and implementing the company’s marketing strategy across its full range of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric pickup trucks, buses, passenger/cargo vans, delivery vehicles, and more. One of Eric’s favorite responsibilities is helping to tell the stories of XL customers, who have driven 75 million miles (and counting) with XL-equipped vehicles – saving over 1.4 million gallons of fuel as well as 13,000 tons of CO2 emissions over that time.
Frances Grinstead
CEO, CURIS System
Frances Grinstead has been working in bio-decontamination for over a decade and has been at the forefront of innovation in high-level disinfection in high traffic facilities nationally and internationally. As the first to develop a truly portable decontamination device and the first to establish a bio-decontamination service for the purpose of outbreak control, she has created a market that others now emulate, all in an effort to improve innovation and understanding of infection prevention and control. Specializing in organizations with high traffic areas, she has personally worked with multiple facilities to develop and implement fact-based programs to minimize risks, helping prevent the spread of infectious disease.
Carl Harr
Director of Sales and Marketing, LiquidSpring LLC
Carl Harr retired from the U.S. Navy as a master chief petty officer after 23 years working in the aviation community. His aviation training encompassed hydraulic and pneumatic control systems, structural repairs, and received his certification in aircraft welding. He spent the next seven years designing and developing suspension systems which included the introduction of electronic air controls for the EMS community. This innovation led the company to become a major supplier of ambulance air suspensions. Once introduced to the LiquidSpring technology, Carl joined the company in 2012 as the director of sales and marketing, bringing the LiquidSpring technology to the commercial market.
John Hroncich
Regional Sales Manager, BAE Systems
John Hroncich is a regional sales manager for Power and Propulsion Solutions focusing on electric solutions for transit. Since joining BAE Systems in 2008, he has held positions in market analysis, strategic market development and business development. Prior to BAE Systems, John worked at Corning Incorporated as a program manager and product line manager. He helped commercialize Corning’s diesel particulate filter business, which now generates $500M in annual sales. John served seven and half years on active duty in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer and recently was a member on U.S. Congressman Richard Hanna’s (NY-22) Veterans Advisory Panel. Today, John continues to serve his community as a member of the Vestal School District’s Board of Education as well as other local boards.
Cat Kealey
Manager of Business Development, TransLoc
Cat manages the business development team at TransLoc a Ford Smart Mobility company and the leader in agency-owned microtransit. She believes public transportation will one day be the first choice for all. In her first two years at TransLoc, Cat has spoken with over 225 transit agencies about the future of mobility and how flexible, on-demand microtransit service will support their plans. She brings to TransLoc 10 years of experience relying on the bus in Oakland, train in Mumbai, and metro in D.C.
Halsey King
Fleet Maintenance Consultant, Halsey King & Associates
Halsey King is a bus fleet maintenance consultant with decades of fleet experience all over the world. U.S. clients include public and private transit and paratransit bus fleets, state DOTs and bus manufacturers. Halsey and his associates are members of several professional organizations, including SAE, ASTM, IEEE, State Bars and the American Public Transportation Association.
Vicki Learn
Director of Maintenance, Indianapolis Public Transportation
Victoria Learn has been in the transit/heavy duty market for over 30 years. Since November 2009, Vicki has served as director of maintenance for Indiana’s largest transit agency, IndyGo. During that time, she developed a comprehensive Super Bowl XLVI transit maintenance readiness plan, created the first-ever IndyGo Predictive Maintenance Program, and managed a $2.9 million coach restoration project. She is charged with directing, overseeing, and monitoring 100 employees and all vehicle operations and activities for more than 160 buses at an 8.5 acre facility with a multi-million dollar budget. One of Vicki's recent accomplishments was designing, implementing, and servicing IndyGo’s $12.5 million electric bus program.
Ricardo Margalho
CEO, Stratio Automotive Inc.
Motivated by challenges and the ability to enhance human output through the use of technology, Ricardo heads Stratio Automotive, a company specialized in artificial intelligence and automotive engineering. Stratio transforms vehicle data into predictive intelligence - to detect potential faults early on, predict failures and accelerate root cause analysis. The predictive technology developed by Stratio is paving the way for the vehicles of tomorrow.
James McLary
Mobility Management Advocate, McLary Management
James J. McLary has performed most of his private professional work in small urban and rural transit systems for both fixed-route and paratransit services. He is keenly aware of the needs of demand-response and paratransit systems and is capable of finding and implementing innovative solutions. Previously James was the CTAA/FTA Coordination Ambassador for Region II, was on the Board of Directors of the Taxicab, Limousine, and Paratransit Association, and was on the steering committee for Project Action, Easter Seals for seven years. He also owned and operated a 125 vehicle paratransit company providing ADA, Medicaid, and private pay services along the eastern seaboard.
Jodi Merritt
President, H & L Charter
Jodi Merritt is the president of H & L Charter, a family owned and operated ground transportation company located in Rancho Cucamonga, California. H & L Charter currently has a fleet of 15 vehicles. Primarily a motorcoach company, H & L Charter, recently purchased two Mercedes Benz sprinters and is diversifying its product line. Jodi has been involved in the family business since she was eight years old and has experience with all aspects of day-to-day operations.
Sal Milazzo
CEO, Signature Transportation Group
Sal owned and operated My Chauffeur between 1991 and 1999 before selling it to Carey International. He worked from 1999 until 2006 as regional vice-president for Carey International, responsible for overseeing all Midwest companies. In 2006, Sal founded Windy City Limousine, building it to $25M in eight years. In 2014, he founded Signature Transportation Group, named Inc. magazine's #710 fastest growing companies. Currently, STG has facilities in multiple markets, providing all types of vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, trolleys, Mercedes Benz Sprinters, executive coaches and motor coaches.
Dr. Mary Patterson
Director of Cell Engineering and R&D, EnerDel, Inc.
Dr. Mary Patterson is the Director of Cell Engineering and R&D at EnerDel, Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has also served as program manager or principal investigator for several Department of Energy and Department of Defense programs and has performed research in the areas of lithium-ion cell anode and cathode materials, redox shuttles, electrolytes, and cell design and manufacture. Dr. Patterson has published fifteen technical papers, has delivered many technical presentations at electrochemistry and chemistry conferences, and holds several patents.
Ken Presley
Vice President of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs and Industry Relations/COO, United Motorcoach Association
Ken Presley is vice president of legislative & regulatory affairs, industry relations, and chief operating officer for the United Motorcoach Association where his duties include representing the nation’s bus and motorcoach industry before Congress and the many regulatory agencies that oversee the industry. He consults with members regarding legislative issues, regulatory compliance, and business practices. He assists in the development of national and state policies and serves on several state and regional industry boards, as well as a number of industry and government councils. Prior to joining the United Motorcoach Association, Ken was an insurance executive and industry advocate for the bus and motorcoach.
John Schiavone
Program Director, Transportation Learning Center
John Schiavone has been involved with transit bus maintenance and technology for nearly 40 years. He served on the APTA staff, authored several Transportation Research Board studies, and is now working with the Transportation Learning Center to advance front-line worker training and apprenticeships.
Aleja Seabron
Social Media Manager, The LMC Group
Aleja is a social media manager and strategist for The LMC Group. As a social media strategist, she has offered her expertise in diverse industries to clients in the fields of higher education, non-profits, fine arts, classical music, and the limousine industry. Over the years, she's lectured at various events at Harvard University, Framingham State University, Sanford-Brown College, the Pilipino-American Association of New England (PAMAS), Imparture, NELA, and ILA. In addition to lectures and training, she blogs for The Huffington Post, Metro Magazine, The Single Wives Club, LinkedIn Pulse, Fil.Am, Oberlo and The LMC Group.
Michael Taylor
Director Autogas Business Development, Propane Education and Research Council
In 1985, Michael Taylor started his transportation career with Blue Bird Corporation. His 20-year career included appointments to corporate sales, marketing and regional management positions. From 2005-2008, he served as general manager and dealer principal for Cardinal Bus Sales, a Blue Bird distributor in Greenfield, Indiana. From 2008-2012, Michael served as director of fleet management at Heritage Propane, a US Top 50 fleet with over 5,000 vehicles deployed daily. Michael joined PERC in March 2012 as the director of autogas business development. He is responsible for the development and commercialization of certified propane autogas fuel systems nationwide.
David Warren
Director of Sustainable Transportation, New Flyer
David Warren is director of sustainable transportation for New Flyer. David is responsible for supporting New Flyer’s sustainable technology strategy and roadmap, with focus on zero emission technologies, including battery-electric propulsion and fuel cell technology. A mandate of David’s role is working with public and private government agencies; representing New Flyer on technical, industry and regulatory committees related to clean transportation, and supporting sales on the implementation of these new technologies. Prior to his position with New Flyer, David held positions with North American Bus Industries, PACCAR Inc., Peterbilt Motors and Kenworth Truck Company.
Steven Wilson
Director of Parking Operations, Indianapolis Airport Authority
Steven Wilson has worked in the parking and transportation industry for 20 years. He currently is the director of parking operations at the Indianapolis International Airport. He oversees the parking and transportation operations which include the terminal garage, valet, park and walk lot, economy lot, transportation network companies, taxis, limos and shuttles. The parking and transportation operations incurs $54M in revenue and has an expense budget of $10M annually. Steven manages 85 employees, which 45 are bus chauffeurs. Indianapolis International Airport purchased six electric vehicles in 2017 and three additional electric buses in August 2018.
Michelle Wiltgen
Assistant Vice President & National Marketing Manager, National Interstate Insurance Company
Michelle Wiltgen is assistant vice president and national commercial marketing manager for National Interstate Insurance Company in Richfield, Ohio and has been with the company since 1991. Her responsibilities include marketing for National Interstate’s passenger transportation division including traditional and captive insurance programs. Michelle is involved in several national and state associations in the passenger transportation industry including a position on the Board of Governors for the ABA Foundation. Michelle has been in the insurance industry for over 30 years.
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