August 13 - 14, 2025 | Des Plaines, Illinois
Speaker Information
Keynote Speakers
Eric Gakstatter is Principal GNSS Consultant, Discovery Management Group and has been involved in the high-accuracy GNSS industry for 35 years. He has helped hundreds of organizations implement high-accuracy GNSS receivers and workflows. For more than ten years, Eric was a contributing editor to GPS World magazine.
Dr. Steven Liang is a researcher, teacher and entrepreneur. He currently holds the Rogers Internet of Things Research Chair Professor at the University of Calgary and is the founder and CTO of SensorUp. He is a global influencer on the Internet of Things and the author of several international sensor web standards for the United Nations' ITU-T and the Open Geospatial Consortium. In 2014, Dr. Liang founded SensorUp with the goal to interconnect the world's disparate sensing systems into a coherent sensor web for the betterment of humanity. Over the years, SensorUp works with the US Department of Homeland Security to protect first responders, with rail companies to improve logistics efficiency, with construction companies to improve field worker safety, and now SensorUp is focusing on combating global warming by minimizing methane emissions with sensor web. Dr. Liang serves as an expert panelist on numerous esteemed panels for the Council of Canadian Academies, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and more. Steve received numerous awards, including Calgary's Top 40 Under 40, Open Geospatial Consortium's Gardels Award, UCalgary's Peak Scholar, and more.
Monique Roberts, Executive Director of the PODS Association, brings almost 20 years of expertise in energy operations, integrity management, regulatory compliance, and pipeline maintenance. Her career is dedicated to pipeline safety via asset knowledge and technology, focusing on integrity, compliance, data management, and GIS. Under her leadership, PODS membership has doubled since January 2022, with 200+ pipeline operators and service companies across 39 countries, with more than 3 million miles of pipeline and energy systems housed in the PODS Data Standard. Monique advocates for pipeline infrastructure and the digital twin as a foundation for a clean energy future and has been a leader in multiple non-profit and trade organizations. She holds a Bachelor's in Public Relations and an MBA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Monique is a fourth generation pipeliner from Lafayette, LA and resides in Houston, TX, with her husband Michael and their dog Lucky.
Speakers
Shannon Katcher is the Vice President of Digital Innovation at GTI Energy, where she leads GTI’s overall digital strategy. She oversees research, product development, modeling, and investment initiatives in data services and analytics for energy systems. Shannon has built and grown the Digital Innovation team, managing complex data and systems to drive technical advancements in the energy sector. She is responsible for integrating AI solutions to enhance research initiatives, operational efficiency, and innovation.
Kate Smits is a professor in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering and the Maguire Energy Institute, serving as the Solomon Professor for Global Development. Kate is an expert in underground gas transport and has extensively investigated gas migration from NG pipelines leaks along with leak detection and quantification in both the lab and field. She holds joint appointments at CSU’s Energy Institute and is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
Zach Weller is a Senior Manager, Data Science at GTI Energy where he uses statistics and data science to address applied problems in the energy domain. He specializes in working with subject matter experts and communicating technical concepts in a relatable way. He has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and produced several white papers and educational videos around the topic of uncertainty. A major focus of his current work is improving the understanding of methane emissions from oil and gas operations. He holds a PhD in statistics from Colorado State University.
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