Dr. Julio Romero Agüero is Vice President, Strategy and Business Innovation at Quanta Technology. He has 20 years of industry experience and specializes in grid modernization, technology strategy, smart grid, planning, reliability, operations, and analysis of power distribution systems, and integration of distributed energy resources and emerging technologies. He has developed solutions in these areas for utilities in the USA, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, Chair of the IEEE Distribution Subcommittee, Chair of the IEEE Working Group on Distributed Resources Integration, Editor of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, and member of the Advisory Committee of DistribuTECH.

Pat Avery is the General Manager for Distribution Automation at G&W Electric Company. Pat brings extensive international experience to evaluate new markets, potential acquisitions and execute localization strategies that serve G&W’s distribution automation customers. He aligns G&W’s resources with industry partners to design specific solutions for customer’s needs, building long lasting relationships. G&W is a valued global supplier of electrical power equipment since 1905, and is the major Supplier of SF6 distribution Switches & Reclosers in North America.

Prior to G&W, Pat served as Director of Sales and Marketing at QuadTech, VP of North American Sales & Marketing at CTC Cable, Director of Product Marketing and Director of Division Marketing at Cooper Power Systems. Pat also held various executive Sales and Marketing positions with ABB. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology from Cornell University and a Masters of Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Jacob Chacko is the Utility Marketing Manager at Eaton. He is responsible for the development, coordination and implementation of utility marketing programs across North America. He has a BSEE from Iowa State University and a MBA from St. Ambrose University. He is a registered Professional Engineer (Colorado) and a certified project management professional. Mr. Chacko’s experience includes Engineering, system modernization, training, construction, operations and project management both in the electrical utility and industrial environment.

Ron Chebra, EnerNex Vice President of Grid Modernization, is a recognized thought leader and industry expert in utility modernization. He has a deep operating knowledge in technology solutions in areas such as MicroGrids, Renewable Energy Integration, Smart Grid, Distribution Automation (DA), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Demand Response. He provides strategic consulting services to leading energy organizations and to industry suppliers of products and services in the following areas: MicroGrids, demand response, battery energy storage solutions and “Behind the Meter” technologies. Ron has over 35 years of experience, including previous positions with Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Schneider Electric and DNV GL.

Katherine Cummings is a product manager in the Distribution Automation group responsible for switchgear automation and has been with G&W Electric for 7.5 years. She was previously the supervisor of the production electronics engineering group which supports sales orders from quote stage to aftermarket. Kate received a BSEE from the University of Illinois at Chicago in December of 2000.

Stephan Geiger graduated from the Technical College of Bregenz (Austria) with a focus on Electrical Engineering in 2007. He joined OMICRON electronics GmbH in Austria in 2008 as an Application Engineer for protective relay applications, where he worked on application notes and custom applications, provided training and later took over project management responsibilities.

In 2012 he became Product Manager with responsibility for OMICRON's recloser control testing solutions.

Ariana Hargrave earned her B.S.E.E., magna cum laude, from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, in 2007. She graduated with a master of engineering degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University in 2009, specializing in power systems. Ariana joined Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. in 2009 and works as a protection application engineer in Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas. She is a registered professional engineer (PE) in the state of Texas.

Wayne Hartmann is Vice President of Customer Excellence for Beckwith Electric with responsibility for developing messaging strategy and positioning. Additionally, he provides application engineering, training and product development expertise.

Before joining Beckwith Electric, he performed in Application, Sales and Marketing Management capacities at PowerSecure, General Electric, Siemens Power T&D and Alstom T&D. During the course of Wayne's 25 years of participation in the Industry, his focus has been on the application of protection and control systems for electrical generation, transmission, distribution, distributed resources and power utilization.

Wayne is a Senior Member of IEEE, serving on the IEEE Power System Relaying Committee as a Main Committee Member where he is Chair Emeritus of the Rotating Machinery Subcommittee (’07-’10). He has contributed to numerous IEEE Transactions, Tutorials, Standards and Guides addressing power system protection, delivered Tutorials at the IEEE T&D Conference, lectured at local IEEE Chapters and contributed to McGraw-Hill's “Standard Handbook of Power Plant Engineering, 2nd Ed.” He has authored and presented numerous technical papers at key conferences including DistribuTECH, Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition, Georgia Tech Relay, Western Protective Relay, and Western Power Delivery Automation.

Jeremi Jermakowicz is an electrical engineer with over 10 years of experience in the power industry. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a Masters of Business Administration from Indiana University. Jeremi began his professional career working for Schneider Electric as an application engineer specializing in substation protection and control. He joined S&C Electric two years ago as a product manager and has helped to improve and promote S&C's distribution automation product offering.

Adolfo Maldonado has been in the utility industry since 2001. He has worked in both the Generation and Transmission and Distribution (T&D) side of the business. He spent 7 years in the T&D Standards evaluating new material deployed in the APS system with specific responsibility over line reclosers. Adolfo’s current role is in the T&D System Health department at APS responsible for reporting of T&D reliability.

Marina Mondello is a manager in Distribution Capacity Planning and has been with ComEd for 17 years. She was previously in the Reliability Programs department and the Distribution Automation Group which monitors and troubleshoots the Distribution Automation system at ComEd, along with developing settings for DA equipment. Prior to the DA Group she was in the Distribution Testing and New Business Departments. Marina received a BSEE from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2000.

Alan Ross is the Vice President of Reliability at SD Myers, Inc. in Tallmadge, Ohio. He is responsible for developing and executing long-term reliability strategies and next generation leadership for all operating units, both domestically and internationally. He often presents at industry conferences and has authored several trade publication articles on transformer maintenance and reliability, including articles featured in Solutions and Uptime magazines and has written two books: Unconditional Excellence and Beyond World Class.

Alan completed his undergraduate work in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and MBA in Marketing from Georgia State University, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Alan is a Certified Reliability Leader and member of the IEEE Reliability Society.

Andre Smit graduated from the Vaal Triangle University in South Africa in 1988. He joined Siemens in 1989 has been working in the field of protective relaying for the past 26 years. He specialized in protection systems for base load generators. From 2004 to 2008 he managed and directed the USA Siemens Protective relay business unit. His current position is Product Development & Engineering Manager of Distribution Feeder Automation products and systems. He has 4 patents and patents pending on new methods to protect and automate distribution feeders. He is a member of the IEEE.

Dan Smith joined Austin Energy in 2003 and is currently the Vice President of Electric Service Delivery responsible for leading Austin Energy’s Transmission & Distribution organization. Prior to Dan’s current role, he held positions as the Director of Smart Grid & System Operations, Director of Transmission & Substation, and Engineering Manager of Substation and Relay Engineering. Prior to joining Austin Energy, Dan worked for Advanced Micro Devices in Austin, Texas and Dresden, Germany managing Site Electrical & Mechanical Engineering. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Texas A & M University, has completed a number of graduate and post graduate courses, is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas, a Member of IEEE, and has presented and authored numerous papers at technical conferences and educational venues. Dan is passionate about company transformation that starts and is rooted in safety.

James E. Van Zandt is a Field Application Engineer for Eaton based in Dallas, TX. He is responsible for development and implementation of product training across the Gulf Region for Utility customers. He has a BSEE from Mississippi State University and has been in sales and technical support for 31 years. He was also a Combat Engineer with the Army/Army Reserves for 17 years.

Tiffany Wynne is a reliability engineer in the Distribution Automation group at ComEd in Chicago, Illinois. In her role, Tiffany creates settings for distribution automation equipment as well as analyzes events involving DA equipment. Prior to the DA group, she worked in Operations as a Distribution System Operator where she controlled the planned, emergent, and emergency switching performed by field personnel. Tiffany received a BSEE from the University of Illinois-Chicago and is currently pursuing an MBA at Saint Xavier University.