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Keynote | Plenary | Breakout

Honorable Gary Peters
U.S. Senator, State of Michigan

Senator Gary Peters has been honored to represent the State of Michigan in the U.S. Senate since 2015. In the 117th Congress, Gary is the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the Department of Homeland Security and is the Senate’s top oversight committee. He also serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

During the last Congress (2019-2020), Gary was recognized as the #1 most effective Senator in the U.S. Senate, despite serving as a member of the minority party – an achievement that hadn’t been accomplished since the non-partisan Center for Effective Lawmaking began collecting data over 50 years ago. Some of his bills signed into law include: increasing protections for the Great Lakes and securing historic funding for restoration efforts, increasing our nation’s security at our borders, addressing rising water levels and shoreline erosion in Great Lakes communities, expanding apprenticeships for veterans, improving the VA Caregivers Program and saving taxpayer dollars.

Gary volunteered for the U.S. Navy Reserve at age 34, where he earned a Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist designation and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Gary worked in the private sector for over 20 years as both a financial advisor and in a variety of management positions with two major financial service firms.

Gary attended Alma College, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science. While working a full-time job, he went on to earn an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Detroit Mercy, an M.A. in political science from Wayne State University, an M.A. in Philosophy from Michigan State University with a focus on the ethics of development and a law degree (J.D.) from Wayne State University Law School. He also earned a diploma from the College of Naval Command and Staff, U.S. Naval War College.

Honorable Robert L. Sumwalt
National Transportation Safety Board 

Robert L. Sumwalt was sworn in as the 14th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on August 10, 2017, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was reappointed as chairman by President Trump in August 2019, after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Sumwalt began his tenure at the NTSB in August 2006 when President George W. Bush appointed him to the Board and designated him as Vice Chairman of the Board. In November 2011, President Barack Obama reappointed Mr. Sumwalt to an additional five-year term as Board Member.

Former Chairman Sumwalt is a fierce advocate for improving safety in all modes of transportation, including teen driver safety, impaired driving, distractions in transportation, and several aviation and rail safety initiatives.

Before joining the NTSB, Mr. Sumwalt was a pilot for 32 years, including 24 years with Piedmont Airlines and US Airways. He accumulated over 14,000 flight hours. During his tenure at US Airways, he worked on special assignment to the flight safety department and served on the airline’s Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) monitoring team.

Following his airline career, Sumwalt managed the corporate aviation department for a Fortune 500 energy company.

In other notable accomplishments, he chaired the Air Line Pilots Association’s Human Factors and Training Group and co-founded the association’s critical incident response program. He also spent eight years as a consultant to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and has written extensively on aviation safety matters. He has co-authored a book on aircraft accidents and has published more than 100 articles on transportation safety and aircraft accident investigation.

Former Chairman Sumwalt earned an undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Aeronautical Science (with Distinction) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with concentrations in aviation/aerospace safety systems and human factors aviation systems. In recognition of his accomplishments, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina, and an honorary doctorate from Embry-Riddle. He is an inductee into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame.

https://www.ntsb.gov/news/speeches/RSumwalt/Pages/bio_sumwalt.aspx

Chris Urmson
Aurora

Chris Urmson is the co-founder and CEO of Aurora, the company delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. Chris has been instrumental in instigating and advancing the development of self-driving vehicles and the industry for the last 15 years. Before founding Aurora, Chris helped start Google’s self-driving car program and served as CTO. Prior, Chris was a faculty member of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University where he worked with house-sized trucks, drove robots in the desert, and was the technical director of the DARPA Urban and Grand Challenge teams. He earned his Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and his BSc in computer engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1998.

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                 Plenary

Sam Abidi
Embark Trucks

Sam Abidi is the Head of Business Development for Embark, a leading developer of self-driving trucks. Prior to Embark, Sam worked at Deloitte Consulting where he led the development of the autonomous trucking program. In this role, Sam worked with F500 companies from across the freight ecosystem to define pilot programs, partnerships and commercialization strategies that would accelerate the adoption of autonomous trucking and smart logistics technologies. Prior to Deloitte, Sam was responsible for scaling an early-stage video analytics company that produces products for the defense and national security sector. During his tenure, Sam grew revenue by over three hundred percent, established key distribution partnerships and brought the business to profitability. Sam Abidi earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Tom Alkim
European Commission

Tom Alkim is Policy Officer Connected & Automated Driving at the European Commission, Directorate General Research & Innovation. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of ITS, C-ITS and Automated Driving and was a constant factor for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management at Rijkswaterstaat, the National road operator. He was part of the core team that was responsible for the Declaration of Amsterdam and the European Truck Platooning Challenge during the Dutch EU presidency in 2016. Tom Alkim is now working with the European Commission on advancing Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) to deliver societal benefits. In this capacity, he was co-organizer of the second and the third European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving. He is co-chair of the Working Group on Cooperation and Coordination of R&I in the European CCAM Single Platform for Open Road Testing. He was also involved in an expert group to advise the European Commission on specific ethical issues raised by automated driving which was published in September 2020.

Darran Anderson
Texas Department of Transportation

Darran Anderson is the Director of Strategy and Innovation for Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).  He is responsible for TxDOT's strategic innovation, emerging technology, and research initiatives; and performance analytics and business process improvements; with the objective of providing a forward-thinking efficient approach for an enhanced future of mobility throughout the state.

Avinash Balachandran
Toyota Research Institute

Avinash Balachandran is a Senior Manager at the Toyota Research Institute. He leads hardware, software and operations teams to investigate advanced topics in motion planning and control. This includes exploring motion planning and control in extreme environments, incorporating machine learning into traditional approaches and sharing control with the driver. He also works closely with Stanford University where he is a co-PI with 5 faculty members on TRI-sponsored research projects. Avinash obtained his BSc degree from Cornell University and his MS and PhD degrees from Stanford University where his research focused on automated driving technologies. Prior to joining Toyota Research Institute, he was one of the early engineers on Uber’s self driving team and also worked on self driving at Faraday Future Inc.

Richard Bishop
Bishop Consulting

Bishop Consulting provides strategy and partnership development in the domain of intelligent, connected, and automated vehicles, advising automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and tech firms.  Current clients span auto-makers, sensors, AI, automated trucking, automated buses, and infrastructure owner-operators.  BC advises government agencies around the world as well. Mr. Bishop serves as 2^nd Vice Chair of the American Trucking Association’s Automated and Electric Truck Study Group.

He is founder and chair of the International Task Force on Vehicle Highway Automation, which recently held its 22^nd Annual Meeting. 

Prior to establishing Bishop Consulting in 1997, Mr. Bishop was Program Manager for Vehicle-Highway Automation at the U.S. DOT Federal Highway Administration, where he was government lead for the National Automated Highway Systems Consortium.

He holds engineering degrees from Auburn University and Johns Hopkins University, plus an M.A. Transformational Leadership and Social Change from Tai-Sophia Institute.

Marjory Blumenthal
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Marjory S. Blumenthal is a senior fellow and the director of the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  She maintains an adjunct relationship to RAND, where she led two major studies on measuring and assessing safety in automated vehicles as part of a broad portfolio of work centering on innovation and emerging technologies.  Prior to joining RAND, she was executive director of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where one of her projects examined how AVs and other technologies might affect cities.  Trends, applications, and impacts of information technology have been a theme in these and her earlier positions, especially her time as the founding executive director of the National Academies' Computer Science and Telecommunications Board.

Grayson Brulte
Brulte & Company

Grayson Brulte is an Innovation Strategist and Co-Founder of Brulte & Company. He also hosts The Road To Autonomy and the SAE International Tomorrow Today podcasts.

Kirk Burcar
New Flyer and MCI

Kirk Burcar is a seasoned production engineer, having held progressively advancing roles in automotive and heavy-duty manufacturing for over three decades. He currently leads New Flyer and MCI’s engineering operation as Vice President, Engineering Services. Since joining NFI Group in 2009, Kirk has provided direction and guidance to its critical design processes and engineering programs, lending expertise in vehicle controls, statistical problem solving, product quality, and lean strategies focused on process improvement. Previously, Kirk had spent 20 years in the automotive industry with General Motors in various engineering management positions. He is a certified Professional Engineer, and holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from McGill University, and a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Toronto.

Hilary Cain
Alliance for Automotive Innovation

Hilary Cain joined the Alliance of Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators) as Vice President of Technology, Innovation and Mobility Policy in April of 2021.  In this role, Hilary oversees policy development on technology and future mobility issues, including regulation of connected and automated vehicles, data privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and telecommunications. Prior to joining Auto Innovators, Hilary spent nearly 8 years as Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at Toyota and almost a decade working in the U.S. House of Representatives. She holds a J.D. and a M.A. in Public Affairs from the University of Texas and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington. In June of 2020, Hilary was recognized as a Rising Star in the automotive industry by Automotive News for her work at the forefront of emerging technology policy.

Cian Cashin
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators

Cian Cashin currently serves as the Director of Government Affairs for the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).  AAMVA is the valued and trusted organization representing and serving the motor vehicle and law enforcement community across North America. Cian has accumulated more than two decade’s worth of experience in government advocacy, legislative strategy, and political analysis for the association and its North American membership. Cian has served as a legislative resource on issues such as transportation administration, highway safety, identification management, data and technology implementation, law enforcement, and privacy protections.      

Prior to legislative work, Cian served in a communications capacity, writing and editing professional transportation trade reports and contributing to numerous studies and publications.    

Cian has studied and holds degrees in Pre-Medicine/Microbiology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and English and Public Policy and Management (with distinction) at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His interests include literature, hiking, ice hockey and strategy games. 

Derek Caveney
Toyota Motor North America Research & Development 

Derek Caveney is an Executive Engineer within the Integrated Vehicle Systems division at Toyota Motor North America Research & Development (TMNA R&D) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr Caveney’s team is supporting the global development of automated and connected driving technologies for safety, comfort, and fuel-efficiency applications. Dr. Caveney joined Toyota in 2005 as a Senior Research Scientist.

Amy Chu
Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium

Amy Chu is the Director of the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC), a program of SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC®).  In this role, she leads a group of industry member companies focused on refining and sharing safety principles for SAE Level 4 and 5 automated driving systems. Amy has devoted nearly 20 years to the automotive industry, previously at HARMAN International where she stood up the automotive cybersecurity engineering center of excellence.  She has vast program management and product delivery experience and holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University. 

Steven Cliff
U.S. DOT - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Dr. Steven Cliff, Acting Administrator of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), oversees the nation’s vehicle safety agency that sets vehicle safety standards, identifies safety defects and manages recalls, and educates Americans to help them drive, ride, and walk safely.

Cliff brings an extensive scientific and regulatory background to his leadership role at NHTSA. Most recently, he served as the deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board, an organization he first joined in 2008 as an air pollution specialist. Since then, he held a variety of positions at CARB, eventually overseeing its climate program. From 2014 to 2016, Cliff joined the California Department of Transportation as the assistant director for sustainability. He returned to CARB in 2016 when then-Governor Jerry Brown of California appointed him senior advisor to CARB’s board chair.

Cliff’s most recent work as deputy executive officer at CARB included program oversight of regulations for passenger vehicle emissions, medium- and heavy-duty engine emissions, implementation of vehicle and engine emissions and on-board diagnostics certification, transportation land-use planning and analysis, and incentive and investment programs for reducing emissions. He worked with environmental and equity advocates, senior industry officials, association representatives, and other stakeholders on program development.

Cliff received a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. He then completed a postdoc on atmospheric sciences at the University of California, Davis’ Department of Land, Air and Water Resources.

Carole Delion
Maryland Department of Transportation

Carole Delion is the division chief for the Connected and Automated Transportation Systems (CATS) division within the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), where the Connected Automated Vehicles (CAV) program and Zero Emission Vehicle coordination for MDOT SHA resides among other emerging technology ‘incubation’ initiatives related to the management of the transportation ecosystem. She has eight years of experience at MDOT SHA, with a strong background in transportation systems analysis, forecasting, strategic planning, and performance measure evaluation for emerging technologies. She acts as a liaison between MDOT SHA and the Maryland statewide CAV working group and is involved nationally in emerging technology coalitions, committees, and pooled fund studies leading the charge for transportation mobility innovation. Carole is a graduate from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she completed both her BS and MS in Civil Engineering. She is also originally French and a total foodie!

Jane Doherty
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Jane Doherty oversees the development and implementation of federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) automotive fuel economy and efficiency standards, promotes adoption of U.S. federal motor vehicle safety standards worldwide and international harmonization of vehicle safety standards.  She also administers NHTSA’s theft prevention activities and oversees consumer programs including the Uniform Tire Quality Grading and Rating Standards (UTQGS).

Ms. Doherty brings a wealth of expertise to NHTSA, with over thirty years working in international negotiations and government policy involving trade, food safety and environmental policies.  In her previous position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ms. Doherty served as the International Coordination Executive in the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).  She supported FSIS’ mission to enhance compliance of domestic and foreign-produced products with safety regulations and guidance. 

Ms. Doherty also served as the Director of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Affairs at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Chief Negotiator for the United States at the World Trade Organization on trade policy affecting food safety, animal and plant life and health issues.  Under her leadership, the USTR achieved groundbreaking trade agreements with Canada, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea related to USDA organic equivalence arrangements, which eliminated trade barriers for organic producers while maintaining USDA’s quality standards. Prior to that, Jane was the Senior Attorney for Trade in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Special Assistant to EPA Administrator Carol Browner.

Ms. Doherty earned a Bachelor of Sciences in International Affairs and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University.

Kevin Dopart
U.S. DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO)

Kevin is the U.S. DOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office’s Program Manager for Vehicle Safety and Automation. His research program develops connected vehicle communications technologies and applications to increase the safety and mobility of surface transportation users while reducing their environmental impacts. Previously, Kevin worked for Noblis, Inc. and the (now defunct) Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and began his career flying P-3 Orion aircraft worldwide for a U.S. Navy oceanographic research squadron. Kevin has B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.

David Friedman
Consumer Report

An experienced leader, engineer, and longtime consumer advocate, David Friedman serves as Consumer Reports’ Vice President of Advocacy. He leads the organization’s efforts to secure consumer safeguards, to improve corporate practices, and to realize a fairer, safer, and more transparent marketplace.

David is a respected and trusted innovator whose work has helped improve the lives of consumers. He served as both Deputy and Acting Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, where he led the agency’s mission to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce the economic costs of automobile crashes. He also served at the Department of Energy as Deputy and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, where he led the organization’s efforts to accelerate the ongoing transition to clean energy.

David earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and is a Ph.D. candidate in transportation technology and policy at the University of California, Davis.

Kevin Gay
Aurora

Kevin Gay leads the external development of safety standards and best practices for Aurora and previously Uber ATG. Kevin leads Aurora’s technical engagement activities with the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as with a number of standards development organizations including the IEEE P2846, the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC), Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring Systems (ASAM) and SAE On-Road Automated Driving Committee (ORAD). He also serves as the Secretary of the IEEE P2846 Working Group. Prior to joining Uber ATG, Kevin served for 16 years in the U.S. Department of Transportation in various roles across multiple modal administrations. At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration he was the Senior Advisor for Technology Policy to the Deputy Administrator where he provided strategic oversight of the vehicle cybersecurity and Vehicle‑to‑Everything (V2X) Communications programs. At Federal Highway Administration, Kevin was the Chief of Policy at the Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office where his team’s research portfolio included radio frequency spectrum, cybersecurity, standards, architecture, data management and privacy. Finally at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Kevin led cross-functional teams of technical experts to conduct research projects in the research areas of automated vehicles, field operational tests, public-key infrastructure cryptography, program evaluation and analysis, and statistical model development. Kevin is certified as a Project Management Professional and has a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Pnina Gershon
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Gershon is a Research Scientist in the MIT AgeLab, Center for Transportation and Logistics where she directs the naturalistic driving research. As a Human Factors Engineer, she provides theoretical and applied insight into driver behavior by fusing traditional psychological methods, advanced statistical modeling, and big data analytics. Dr. Gershon is investigating driver behavior and the use of commercially deployed automated driving features and active safety systems. Her research covers a wide range of topics including the assessment of crash risk and risky driving behaviors, alcohol, and drug-impaired driving, fatigue, driver distraction, speeding and street racing, motorcycle conspicuity, the crash risk associated with psychopathologies (depression, anxiety, and ADHD), high-risk driver populations including young drivers, older drivers, and professional drivers. Dr. Gershon is an invited member of the National Academies of Sciences Transportation Research Board's Committee on Operator Education and Regulation, a member of the Young Driver Subcommittee, and a member of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety.

Jack Gillis
Consumer Federation of America

Jack Gillis is Executive Director & CEO of the Consumer Federation of America representing over 250 national, state, and local pro-consumer groups.  He is the author, co-author, or editor of 75 books including 40 editions of The Car Book.  In 1979 he joined the Automotive Ratings staff at NHTSA where he worked with Joan Claybrook in developing the UTQGS and NCAP programs and created the first edition of The Car Book. Gillis joined NBC in 1994, where he served for ten years as a contributing consumer correspondent for The Today Show.  He has testified numerous times before Congress and is a former adjunct professor at The George Washington University.  He is a member of the board and former co-chair of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

As one of America’s foremost auto safety advocates and experts, Jack Gillis has changed the way consumers buy their cars and how car companies build them.  With the publication of The Car Book, one of the most unique and popular books in the history of the federal government, Gillis was the first to present complex safety and performance information in his now-famous format, giving consumers access to previously unavailable information.  Because Gillis, with the Center for Auto Safety, continued compiling The Car Book when the government failed to do so, the auto industry has been forced to respond. Cars are safer and better performing and the government changed its rating system to be more consumer friendly.  The Car Book is a powerful example of what Gillis calls "regulation by information." 

Nick Hegemier
Ohio Department of Transportation

Nick Hegemier is currently the Managing Director of Infrastructure for DriveOhio, a center formed within OhioDOT to focus on Smart Mobility. His current duties include the development of standards for connected and automated vehicles to be deployed in the state. He received his degree in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University and has over 19 years of ITS experience.

MAJ Benjamin Hormann
US Army

MAJ Benjamin Hormann is the Science and Technology Project Officer for Emerging Capabilities with specific focus on Robotics & Autonomous Systems Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Expedient Leader Follower (ExLF) program. This assignment combines both his operational and program management experience, delivering increased capabilities to the field faster. MAJ Hormann served as CBRNE Recon Platoon Leader with 3ACR, Fort Hood, TX where he deployed in support of OIF 07-09. He also performed as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at Northern Michigan University. MAJ Hormann functioned as the 1/1 ID CBRNE officer and commanded the 172nd Chemical Company earning the Sibert Award at Fort Riley, KS. After transitioning to the Acquisition Corps, he was assigned with the Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems in the Stryker Project Management Office at the Detroit Arsenal, operated as an Assistant Product Manager for Stryker Production and Variant Management. MAJ Hormann completed the CBRNE Captains Career Course as distinguished honor graduate, the Command and General Staff College with honors, and the Army Acquisitions Professionals Course as honor graduate. He received a Bachelor’s in Engineering Management from Western Michigan University and a Master’s in Environmental Management from Webster University.

Meera Joshi
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Meera Joshi serves as the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Most recently Joshi served as General Manager of the New York office of Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants and visiting scholar at NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation policy. Previously, Joshi served as chief regulator of New York City’s for hire vehicle industry. Under her leadership, New York City mandated the reporting of granular trip data from large app operators, which informed landmark data-driven safety reforms, enforceable pay standards for drivers and meaningful access to service for the disabled. Joshi was also an executive manager in city agencies charged with oversight of the New York City Police Department and Department of Corrections.

Kristin Kolodge
JD Power

Kristin Kolodge is Executive Director of Driver Interaction and Human Machine Interface (HMI) at J.D. Power. She is responsible for global research that inserts the Voice of the Customer into the product development process, both for vehicles currently in production as well as for the Future of Mobility. She provides insight into the human element of vehicle technology to ensure the end user will find it usable and, equally important, useful. Since joining J.D. Power in 2014 and establishing the HMI practice, she continues to serve as an industry thought leader for automotive technology user experience and how those experiences shape consumers’ expectations for tomorrow’s mobility solutions. 

Alexander Kraus
TÜV SÜD, Munich

With a MSc in automotive engineering, Alexander has over 16 years of experience in international management and leadership in the field of automotive, e-mobility, automated driving, functional safety, cyber security, homologation, and testing. With international exposure to Americas, Asia and Europe, he has lived in Germany, Austria and Singapore and developed an extensive network within the industry and governmental institutions globally.  As Senior Vice President Mobility Industry at TÜV SÜD based in Munich, his responsibilities include strategy, P&L, and investments for TÜV SÜDs global operations with large international customers like the automotive and supplier industry, fleet operators, importers, and dealerships worldwide. He is a co-Founder of the International Alliance for Mobility Testing and Standardization (IAMTS), an international initiative among leading organizations to pave the way towards safe and secure automated and connected driving. Since April 2019, he is the Chairman of the IAMTS Executive Committee. 

Seigo Kuzumaki
Toyota Motor Corporation

Seigo Kuzumaki received his Ph.M. in Aeronautical Engineering from University of Kyoto in 1985. He is now a Fellow at Advanced R&D and Engineering Company of Toyota Motor Corporation. He also works as a Chief Professional Engineer of vehicle safety. He received “Special award of appreciation from U.S. Government in ESV 2007. Since 2016, He has been appointed as a Program Director for SIP-adus, or Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program ‘Automated driving systems’ at Cabinet Office, Government of Japan 1st phase of SIP-adus finished in 2018, and has been followed by 2nd phase of SIP-adus, which is 5 year project from 2018 till 2022.

John Maddox
Lyft 

John Maddox is leading the Safety and Compliance organization for Lyft’s automated vehicle effort, called Lyft Autonomous. He is responsible for safety program strategy and execution, including ensuring that Lyft’s commitment to customer and public safety is fully demonstrated in all phases of development and deployment. He also leads product safety and compliance for Lyft’s Bikes and Scooters divisions.    Mr. Maddox has a wide variety of experience in the automotive industry focused on safety, including having founded and led the American Center for Mobility, and co-founded Mcity at the University of Michigan. He served as the Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Before working at NHTSA, Mr. Maddox spent over five years with Volkswagen Group as their Compliance Officer, and fourteen years with Ford Motor Company as a senior safety research engineer.

Sam Mintz
POLITICO

Sam is a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro, covering DOT and Congress, and the author of the Morning Transportation newsletter. He worked previously at E&E News and the Cape Cod Times in southeastern Massachusetts.

Robert Moss 
Stanford University

Robert Moss is a computer science Ph.D. student at Stanford University studying algorithms to validate safety-critical autonomous systems. He holds an M.S. in computer science from Stanford where his research received the best computer science master’s thesis award and he also received the Centennial TA award for his teaching efforts. He earned his B.S. in computer science with a minor in physics from the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA. Robert was an associate research staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he was on the team that designed, developed, and validated the next-generation aircraft collision avoidance system for commercial aircraft, unmanned vehicles, and rotorcraft. Robert was also a research engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center, developing decision support tools for the VIPER autonomous Lunar rover mission searching for water deposits on the Moon. Robert is a member of the Stanford Intelligent Systems Laboratory and part of the Stanford Center for AI Safety conducting research on methods for efficient risk assessment of autonomous vehicles in simulation using reinforcement learning, deep learning, and stochastic optimization.

Joann Muller
Axios

Joann Muller is the Transportation Correspondent at Axios, covering the trends, tech and business developments shaping the future of mobility. She has more than 25 years’ experience covering the automotive industry and technology at the Detroit Free Press, the Boston Globe, Business Week and Forbes. She is an officer of the 500-member Automotive Press Association, and a juror for the prestigious North American Car & Truck of the Year Awards. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She lives and works near Detroit. 

Alan Ohnsman
Forbes

Alan Ohnsman is Forbes Senior Editor for future mobility, covering tech-driven changes that are reshaping transportation. He’s written about advanced vehicles and environmental policy for more than two decades and squeezed in stints in the financial and corporate worlds. He spent the 1990s in Tokyo with news outlets including Asahi Evening News, NHK, Businessweek and Bloomberg–which transferred him to Los Angeles in 2001. Alan is an Ohio native with an English degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master’s from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He lives with his wife, son and two cats in Glendale, California, and plays drums and sings for Combo Villains, an L.A.-based rock duo.

Isobel Pastor
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

Isobel has recently joined as Head of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). Previously, she has held several roles in the UK’s Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, including leading on delivery of air quality improvements, a programme to join up the delivery of housing and transport, airspace policy and regulatory delivery policy. 

Akshat Patel
udelv

Akshat, CTO/co-founder at udelv, leads the company's engineering programs. His team develops udelv's autonomous driving, cloud robotics, delivery hardware and fleet management systems for autonomous last-mile and middle-mile deliveries. Prior to udelv, Akshat worked on Tesla's autopilot and autonomous driving team, and Apple's Special Projects program. He has a background in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and a Masters in Engineering Management from Dartmouth.

Mauricio Peña
Waymo

Mauricio Peña is the Chief Safety Officer at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they're going. As CSO, Mauricio oversees all of Waymo's safety efforts and teams, including system safety, field safety, fleet operations safety, and safety research. Mauricio is also responsible for continuing to advance Waymo's Safety Methodologies and road safety performance data and fostering openness and transparency around these methodologies with industry stakeholders. Prior to Waymo, Mauricio spent over 20 years designing, testing, and deploying complex systems, and most recently served as Vice President of Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance for Virgin Orbit. Prior to that, Mauricio served as Director of Safety and Mission Assurance for the Boeing Commercial Crew Program. He's also held various leadership positions within Boeing's Space Division, designing and launching commercial and government satellites.  Mauricio holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering, a Master degree in Systems Architecting and Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering, all from the University of Southern California.

Sam Saad
Gatik, Canada

Sam is the Head of Strategic Initiatives for Gatik. Sam is an experienced leader with a 15-year track record of delivering complex projects across diverse sectors. He currently heads-up strategic initiatives for Gatik,Inc., a company offering AVs for B2B short-haul logistics. Prior to Gatik, Sam co-founded the Innovation Factory's Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility, a 5-year initiative to accelerate the development of CAV technologies. Sam started his CAV journey at the Ontario Centres of Excellence where he managed a portfolio totaling $215M in innovation funding. Before entering the innovation sector, Sam spent his earlier career focused on education, health promotion, and international development at the MaRS Discovery District, the University of Toronto, and the United Nations.

Bernard Schmidt
Jacksonville Transportation Authority

Bernard Schmidt was named Vice President of Automation for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) in January of 2019. In this role he is responsible for providing strategic and technical leadership to the JTA’s Automation Division.

Prior to the JTA, Bernard held multiple executive and senior leadership roles both domestically and internationally. His most recent role was with Amazon® as General Manager in Jacksonville, FL where he led the deployment and operation of a 955K Sq. Ft Amazon Robotics fulfillment center with over 3000 employees and $3.5 Billion dollars of annual sales revenue.

Prior to that, Bernard spent 10+ years at United Technologies Corp. where he served as General Manager of UTAS Customer Service Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul business based in Dubai, UAE. Bernard also previously served as the Operations Director at TEC (Turkish Engine Center) a Pratt & Whitney joint venture with Turkish Airlines in Istanbul, Turkey. Prior to these roles, Bernard was a Global Materials Manager of Pratt & Whitney Engine Centers in Connecticut, Georgia and international sites. He also served as Asst. Business Unit manager and Operations Supervisor.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Rochester and a Master’s in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a graduate of the Darden Business School Executive Education program and MIT Sloan School of Management Artificial Intelligence Certificate Program (CSAIL).

Bernard is a recipient of the 2020 Technology Leader of the year award for Northeast Florida by the Jacksonville Business Journal; he is a member of NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers), the LEAD360 Senior Leadership Organization and serves on the Board of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of North Florida.

Wayne Scott
Loblaw

Wayne has been in the trucking / transportation industry for over 35 years holding various positions from the start of his carrier back in 1986. As an apprentice mechanic, working his way up to teaching technicians for Freightliner Corp across North America then moving on to a district service manager taking care of dealerships and customer concerns for North America’s largest trucking manufacture. Then in 2002, he moved from the retail/corporate side to the fleet side running the maintenance for Challenger Motor Freight across North America. In 2007, Wayne moved over to the privet fleet at Loblaw’s nationalizing their maintenance program along with looking for industry leading technologies to bring in to the fleet.

Steven Shladover
University of California at Berkeley PATH

Dr. Steven Shladover has been researching road vehicle automation systems since 1973, beginning with his masters and doctoral theses at MIT. He was the Program Manager, Mobility at the PATH Program of the Institute of Transportation Studies of the University of California at Berkeley, where he worked from 1989 until his retirement in November 2017.  He led PATH’s pioneering research on automated highway systems, including its participation in the National Automated Highway Systems Consortium from 1994‑98, and has continued research on fully and partially automated vehicle systems since then.  Dr. Shladover is an internationally renowned expert on both technological and policy issues associated with road vehicle automation.  He chaired the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems from 2004‑2010, and the TRB Committee on Vehicle-Highway Automation from 2013‑2019.  Dr. Shladover leads the U.S. delegation to ISO/TC204/WG14, which develops international standards for “vehicle-roadway warning and control systems."

Valerie Shuman
Shuman Consulting Group, LLC

Valerie Shuman is Principal of SCG, LLC, a DBE-certified ITS consultancy, where she partners with global industry leaders to develop new products, new markets and new ventures. Ms. Shuman has been involved with the intelligent transportation industry for three decades, leading the establishment of new wireless and automotive communities and technologies, national and international standards, and cross-industry liaison efforts to enable safer, more efficient, and more convenient systems. Ms. Shuman currently serves as Chair of the TRB CORVA Joint Subcommittee, which coordinates the breakout session program for the world’s most extensive AV research symposium; VP, Industry Programs & Standards, Teleoperation Consortium, a non-profit business league established to facilitate the interaction, and advance the interests, of the entities involved in the teleoperation ecosystem; Vice President, Industry Programs for the Connected Vehicle Trade Association; and Member of TRB's Standing Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems. Ms. Shuman is the author of numerous papers and articles on ITS topics, a frequent public speaker, and a patented inventor.

Dennis Solensky
Connecticut Department of Transportation 

Dennis Solensky is the Transit Administrator for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. He is a result driven executive with a passion for customer service and a successful history of providing progressive transformational leadership. Dennis is a career transit executive having been the CEO of four progressive transit authorities in Medina, OH, Kent, OH, Erie, PA, and Richland, WA. All the agencies flourished under his leadership having continual growth in ridership and fiscal prosperity. He is known for creating the valuable strategic partnerships with all available stakeholders that inspire business development. He has consistently implemented comprehensive strategic planning, disciplined financial budgeting, and detailed project management. He is highly accomplished in capturing large amounts of discretionary funding and implementing safe and effective policy. A tireless public servant Dennis has a bachelor’s degree from The College of Wooster and an M.B.A. from Penn State University. 

David Thomas
HP, Inc

David Thomas is the Leader of Global Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization for HP Inc. a $56 Billion business operating in more than 170 countries worldwide. HP’s supply chain delivers more than 100 million products to customers each year through a sophisticated network of factories and logistics partners. During the last 21 years with HP, David has held positions in the Logistics area leading teams in Transportation Procurement, Supply Chain Systems program management and Supply Chain & Logistics Strategy, always committed to innovation and growth.

Prior to joining Compaq Computer in October 1999 before the HP-Compaq merger in 2002, David spent 9 years in the 3rd party logistics industry in a variety of roles covering operations, logistics engineering, solutions development, and TMS.

David´s educational background includes an MBA in Industrial Management from the University of Dallas and a Bachelor´s in Finance from the University of Arkansas.

Ryan Tuohy
Starship

Ryan Tuohy is the SVP of Business Development at Starship and leads all partnerships, sales, account management & public affairs functions.

Previously Ryan worked in Business, Corporate and International Development, leading strategic partnerships for OpenTable executing deals with Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and many others. Prior roles include: Founding and building what is now Australia’s top online fashion and footwear retailer, The Iconic for Rocket Internet ; working at McKinsey as an Engagement Manager; a top sales professional, sales trainer and participant in the Management Development Program at Johnson& Johnson; Ryan got his start as an entrepreneur founding localmusic.com, a live music event discovery platform which expanded into 14 cities across the U.S. As CEO he raised over $3M.

Ram Vasudevan
University of Michigan

Ram Vasudevan is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and the Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan and a Co-Founder of Refraction, AI. He received a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, an MS degree in Electrical Engineering, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering, all from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and the ONR Young Investigator Award. His work has received best paper awards at the IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation, the ASME Dynamics Systems and Controls Conference, and IEEE OCEANS Conference and has been finalist for best paper at Robotics: Science and Systems.

David Welch
Bloomberg

David Welch is Bloomberg’s Detroit bureau chief and has covered the auto industry for 20 years.  He also covered merger and acquisitions for Bloomberg in New York. Before joining Bloomberg in 2009, he was BusinessWeek magazine’s Detroit bureau chief, where he was a finalist for Business Journalist of the Year.  He has an MBA from Michigan State and an economics degree from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Kristin White
Minnesota Department of Transportation

Kristin White is Executive Director of Minnesota's Office of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV-X), a public sector tech startup and idea incubator that researches and deploys transformational technology and policy. Kristin is a lawyer, policy strategist, and innovator who brings empathy and leadership into the transportation sector, challenging us to harness revolutionary technologies and grow new partnerships to build tomorrow today. The CAV-X program is one of the leading CAV programs in the nation, with its projects, research, and partnerships winning the National Cronin Award, WTS Innovative Solutions Award, and AASHTO America’s Transportation Award.  Kristin has a B.A. from St. Olaf College, law degree from Hamline University School of Law and global arbitration certification from Queen Mary University of London. She began her career as a Fulbright Fellow with the US State Department and has since represented Fortune 500 companies, cities, and states.

Ariel Wolf
Venable LLP

Ariel Wolf, partner at Venable LLP, leads the firm's Mobility and Transportation Technology team, where he counsels clients facing complex legal and policy issues at the intersection of automation, connectivity, safety, privacy, and cybersecurity. His work includes enforcement defense, regulatory counseling, data breach and crisis management, legislative strategy, and coalition building. Ariel brings significant government experience to bear in shaping solutions for his clients, having previously served as counselor to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, where he launched the Department's new Non-traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT) Council, oversaw the Department's efforts on spectrum policy, and developed policies and regulations governing automated vehicles, drones, hyperloop, and other innovative technologies.    

Ariel works with manufacturers, suppliers, and technology providers to navigate the emerging legal and policy landscape being transformed by autonomy, electrification, and vehicle data collection. Ariel serves as General Counsel to the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets (Coalition), an organization comprised of the leading developers of autonomous vehicles that seeks to realize the safety and mobility benefits of fully self-driving vehicles and support the safe and rapid deployment of these ground-breaking technologies. The Coalition brings together multiple industry sectors—technology, ridesharing, automotive, and freight—to represent the entire ecosystem focused on Level 4 autonomy.     Ariel’s work has been recognized across the country and he is repeatedly sought to provide media comment and testify before legislative and regulatory committees on emerging mobility technology issues. He is recognized by Legal 500 in the area of Media, Technology and Telecoms.

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             Breakout

B101-An Inside Look at Policy-Making for Automated Vehicles

B102-Sharing AVs: Policies and Impacts in a Post-COVID World

B103-Driving AV Data Exchange between Public and Private Sectors

B104-Advances in Automated Transit Buses

B105-Enabling Technologies - A Peek Under the Hood, Part 1

B106-Automated Driving System (ADS) Safety Metrics in Theory and Practice

B201-New Horizons for Connected, Cooperative & Automated Mobility (CCAM) in Europe

B202-Designed, Wheeled, Delivered II: Scaling Up Automated Delivery Vehicles & Devices

B203-Integrated Traffic Management and CVs/CAVs for Freeways and Arterials

B204-Inclusive by Design: Creating an Equitable and Accessible Automated Future

B205-Enabling Technologies - A Peek Under the Hood, Part 2

B206-ADS Simulation and Testing Part 1: What's New?

B208-Proxy Metrics for Social Equity Considerations of Automated Vehicles

B209-Public and Private Sector Collaboration to Advance Automated Driving Systems Testing and Deployment

B210-Automated Shuttles and Buses for All Users

B211-Older Adults and Automated Driving Systems

B212-Computational and Algorithmic Challenges for AI Applications in the Era of CAVs

B302-Trucking Automation: Delivering Freight on Automated Trucks Today, Part 1

B303-AVs in Rural America - Equity and Mobility for All

B304-AV to Road User Communications: What Have We Learned from Research?

B305-Safety Assurance of Automated Driving, Part 1: Safety Argumentation in State of the Art Projects and Initiatives

B306-ADS Simulation and Testing Part 2: Approaches for Collaboration And Validation

B309-The Long and Winding Road: Planning and Network Analysis for CAV

B311-Trucking Automation: Delivering Freight on Automated Trucks Today, Part 2

B312-Preparing for AVs and Shared Mobility: How Critical is Connectivity?

B401-Ensuring Strong Public Support for Automation in the Planning Process

B402- Shark Tank: Everything from Free Freight to AV for Low- Income Travelers to how many AV Firms will Survive?

B403-Remote Support for Automated Vehicle Operations

B404-The Managed and Shared Roads to AV Deployment: How can we get there?

B405-Safety Assurance of Automated Driving, Part 2: Safety Argumentation and Scenario Selection for Safety Assurance Test Cases

B406-What's Next in AV Standards?

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