May 8, 2020
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM

CANCELLED

Michele R. Mueller began her career with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in 1995 where she currently serves as the Senior Project Manager for the Connected and Automated Vehicles unit. Mueller has more than 12 years leading numerous Intelligent Transportation System projects in the MDOT Metro Region area and is an advocate for the safety and economic benefits provided by connected and automated vehicle technologies. She is also directly involved with PlanetM, Michigan’s mobility initiative and collective of stakeholders spanning non-profit, corporations, government, and academia. Part of Michele’s work includes fostering these partnerships into real-world deployments. She has managed many projects, with direct collaboration with companies like 3M, Continental, and Ford.

Previously, Mueller was the 2014 Technology Showcase chair of the ITS World Congress in Detroit, Michigan for ITS America. Other notable achievements include the overhaul of the regional communications network and the current ITS infrastructure. Mueller also oversaw the construction and integration of the new Southeast Michigan Transportation Operations Center (SEMTOC). Apart from this, Mueller serves as an advisor on the Women in Transportation (WTS) board. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Square One Education Network in Michigan.

Mueller is a graduate of Our Lady of the Lakes High School and Michigan Technological University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Mueller and her husband, Rick, have two children and live in White Lake, Michigan.

Jessica Robinson is Executive Director of the Michigan Mobility Institute where she works to accelerate the development of talent for the growing mobility industry. Starting in 2021, the Michigan Mobility Institute will offer the first-of-its-kind Master of Mobility program. The Institute is the first initiative of the Detroit Mobility Lab which she co-founded to focus on building the mobility talent infrastructure necessary to shape the sector’s future within the City of Detroit.

Jessica previously led the development of next-generation mobility efforts at Ford Smart Mobility where she was Director, City Solutions and at Zipcar where she held roles in growth, operations, and marketing across North America. Jessica’s background in technology and innovation includes prior work launching startup accelerator programs at Techstars with industry-leading corporate partners. She is an active startup mentor and micro lender who invests in women entrepreneurs and business owners in Detroit.

Jonathan Beck has worked in the Aerospace industry for over 18 years. He began his career as an air traffic controller and has been working with Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) technology since 2004. His career has involved fielding first of their kind small, medium and large scale UAS programs and operations across state and federal organizations and most recently in higher education. In 2011, Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, MN launched the nation’s first UAS maintenance program.

Over the past 8 years Jonathan has been on the leadership team of an organization that has raised over $30 million in advancing UAS and geospatial technician education. He has served as a Principal Investigator for 3 NSF ATE projects building professional development workshops and pathways between programs impacted by UAS technology and expanding educational resources. Today, he works across the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System and National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) networks integrating UAS technology into a broad range of programs.

Chris has more than a decade of experience as an Automotive Technology instructor at both a tech college and a high school, as well as 3 years of administrative experience as a dean at Central Lakes College. Chris is in his 4th year as the Director of the Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence.

Chris is a master and advanced level ASE certified technician along with numerous EPA, Subaru, Ford, Chrysler, and GM certifications and aftermarket training. Before teaching he worked as an automotive technician for a GM dealership, an independent, a retail store, and he owned his own business focusing on Hybrid Electric Vehicle diagnostics. Chris has written and published 5 automotive textbooks and continues to consult on projects with Cengage Learning. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Automotive Engineering Technology, with a minor in Manufacturing Engineering Technology from Minnesota State University Mankato and he has a Master of Education degree in Community College Teaching and Learning from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

Chris has authored, participated in, or has had work reflected in 27 technical and education articles in industry magazines and web articles. In his spare time, Chris loves spending time with his family traveling, fishing, camping, snowmobiling, coaching baseball, and is the local Cub Scoutmaster. Chris’s wife Amynda works for the Brainerd School District as the INSIGHT (Adults with Disabilities) Program Coordinator and they have 2 sons, Evan (10) and Caleb (8)

Jill Zande is the associate director and co-principal investigator for the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center in Monterey, California. In addition, she is president and executive director of MATE Inspiration for Innovation (MATE II), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to supporting the MATE ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicles) competition and its other programs that inspire and challenge students to learn and creatively apply science, technology, art, engineering, and math (STEAM) to solving real-world problems in a way that strengthens critical thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

She is a member of the Marine Technology Society (MTS), having served the MTS board as vice president of education and research for six years. She currently serves as the chair for the MTS-Monterey Bay section and as the Underwater Intervention (UI) Technical Program Committee Marine Education Track chair. Jill has a bachelor’s degree in biology (with a minor in marine science) from Penn State University and a master’s degree in oceanography and coastal sciences from Louisiana State University (LSU).

Prior to joining MATE, she worked as a research associate at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. When she’s not running MATE ROV competitions or half marathons, Jill enjoys spending time with her aviator husband and aspiring thespian daughter Addison, who recently started middle school, and cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Michele Economou Ureste is the Executive Director for the Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan (WIN). Michele comes to WIN with an extensive leadership background in developing training programs in workforce development. Formerly, at the non-profit trade association formed by the automotive OEMs, Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), she facilitated over a dozen quality management system committees of industry subject matter experts to develop industry guidelines and training programs.

Michele also worked as vice president of a business system training and consulting firm where she created and established Tier 1 corporate universities for supply chain initiatives. She served two 4-year terms as the immediate past West Bloomfield Township Supervisor, by essentially fulfilling the role of a full-time mayor and city manager. While in this position, she achieved the e-Cities award by streamlining the building permit process; received the JCC President’s Club award for collaborating to develop a community-wide job fair; and completed a downtown boulevard roadway improvement project, market study, and town center ordinance amendment that transformed the community gateway to include the first hotel in the township, and new development and facade upgrades throughout the business corridor.

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