We are delighted to welcome you back at Northwestern for the Fall 2024 BAC meeting!
NUTC continues to thrive in the transportation and logistics industry through research, education and industry engagement. Strong relationships with our BAC Members are essential to increase opportunities for our students, implement our research findings and stay ahead of the curve in identifying problems and developing solutions.
Our Fall BAC Meeting features three panel discussions: Artificial Intelligence Use Cases in Transportation, Mexico’s Capacity to Support Nearshoring Growth, and Freight Theft and Loss: Managing the Risk.
The first panel, Artificial Intelligence Use Cases in Transportation, is moderated by John Larkin, Strategic Advisor & Chair of Advisory Board, Clarendon Capital, LLC, and includes Bart De Muynck, CEO, Bart De Muynck LLC, Scott Friesen, EVP, Strategic Analytics, Echo Global Logistics, Val Marchevsky, Head of Engineering, Uber Freight, and Brian Reed, WW AWS Supply Chain & Pan-Amazon Supply Chain Leader, Amazon Web Services. Panelists will discuss how effective AI has been in their organizations, and problems or solutions they may have encountered while implementing new systems.
The second panel, Mexico’s Capacity to Support Nearshoring Growth, is moderated by Gene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles. Jesus Cañas, Senior Business Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas will present his and his colleagues’ research findings on Mexico’s nearshoring growth potential, with Michael Baumgardt, SVP - Intermodal, Schneider and Mr. Seroka sharing insights from the business community.
The final panel, Freight Theft and Loss: Managing the Risk, is moderated by Daniel Murray, SVP, American Trucking Research Institute, and features Cassandra Gaines, CEO, Carrier Assure, LLC, Krister Holladay, Vice President Government Relations, CMA CGM (North America), and Will Johnson, Chief Special Agent, Assistant Vice President, BNSF Railway. One of the major components of freight theft and loss is recovering from the millions of dollars in goods that have been reported missing during transport. The panelists will discuss the crime (types, magnitudes), policing and policy trends involved, as well as opportunities for freight stakeholders to collaborate and mitigate freight theft.
We hope that you have found great value in our Industry Technical Workshop, “Logistics of Food Waste and Loss Management,” panelists who discussed the strategic approaches that the food industry takes to reduce food waste and loss, and also reduce hunger, throughout the food distribution system.
Thank you for your continued support of NUTC programs and research. We sincerely value our association with all of you.
Hani S. Mahmassani
William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation Director, Northwestern University Transportation Center
AGENDA
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024
Northwestern University Transportation Center (Chambers Hall) 600 Foster Street, Evanston, IL, 60208
7:30 AM 8:00 AM 8:10 AM 8:25 AM 8:50 AM 9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast
Call to Order – BAC Chair Jeff Silver presiding
Welcome from the University – Erik Luijten, Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Education, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Director’s Report – Hani Mahmassani
BAC Membership: New Member Introductions
Panel – Artificial Intelligence Use Cases in Transportation
• Moderator – John Larkin, Strategic Advisor & Chair of Advisory Board, Clarendon Capital, LLC
• Bart De Muynck, CEO, Bart De Muynck LLC
• Scott Friesen, EVP, Strategic Analytics, Echo Global Logistics
• Val Marchevsky, Head of Engineering, Uber Freight
• Brian Reed, WW AWS Supply Chain & Pan-Amazon Supply Chain Leader, Amazon Web Services
10:15 AM
10:45 AM
11:30 AM
Break
Panel – Mexico’s Capacity to Support Nearshoring Growth
• Moderator – Gene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles
• Michael Baumgardt, SVP - Intermodal, Schneider
• Jesus Cañas, Senior Business Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Panel – Freight Theft and Loss: Managing the Risk
• Moderator – Daniel Murray, SVP, American Trucking Research Institute
• Cassandra Gaines, CEO, Carrier Assure, LLC
• Krister Holladay, Vice President Government Relations, CMA CGM (North America)
• Will Johnson, Chief Special Agent, Assistant Vice President, BNSF Railway
12:30 PM
12:45 PM
Introduction of Students
Adjournment and Lunch
Speakers
Michael Baumgardt
SVP - Intermodal
Schneider
Michael Baumgardt is the Senior Vice president of Intermodal at Schneider. In this position, he oversees Schneider’s Intermodal division, including commercial strategy, sales, customer service, network planning and operations.
Previously, Baumgardt was the Vice President of Network Optimization for Schneider’s Intermodal division. Baumgardt started his career with Schneider in 2001 in customer service and has served in many leadership roles across sales, network management and operations.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Science from Denver University.
Jesus Cañas
Senior Business Economist
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Jesus Cañas is a senior business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas where he analyzes regional economic growth. His research also focuses on issues pertaining to the Mexican economy, the U.S.–Mexico border economy and cross-border manufacturing.
He has written articles for academic journals such as Annals of Regional Science and Growth and Change and co-edited Ten Gallon Economy: Sizing up Economic Growth in Texas. His publication “Texas Border Cities Illustrate Bene fi ts and Challenges of Trade” has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal as well as in all major Texas newspapers.
Cañas is a member of the Mission Foods Texas–Mexico Center Faculty Advisory Board at Southern Methodist University, charged with the task of improving the Texas–Mexico relationship in its economic, political, social and cultural aspects. He is also an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University.
He holds a BA in economics and fi nance and an MS in economics from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Bart De Muynck
CEO
Bart De Muynck LLC
Bart De Muynck is an Industry Expert and Thought Leader with over 30 years of Supply Chain and Logistics experience. Bart has worked for major international companies such as EY, GE Capital, Penske Logistics, PepsiCo as well as several Tech companies. Bart spent 8 years as a VP of Research at Gartner and most recently served as the Chief Industry Officer at project44. Bart is a sought-after speaker who is currently advising multiple companies and industry organizations in Logistics. Bart is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council, SCLA, WEF and CSCMP’s Executive Inner Circle.
Scott Friesen
EVP, Strategic Analytics
Echo Global Logistics
Scott currently leads the analytic and data science function at Echo Global Logistics, a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services. He serves as an advisor to an Artificial Intelligence startup company and is amongst the most sought-after members of the expert network for the International Institute of Analytics. He Prior to joining the Echo leadership team, he held analytics and insights leadership roles at Best Buy, ULTA Beauty, and Drumline (formerly Quadratic). Outside of his immediate responsibilities, he enjoys teaching on the topics of applied analytics and fighting innumeracy wherever he can. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia Business School in New York and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Swarthmore College.
Cassandra Gaines CEO Carrier Assure
Cassandra Gaines is a transportation attorney and founder and CEO of Carrier Assure, the industry’s first carrier performance scoring software that brokers and shippers add to their onboarding platform to help prevent fraud and theft. Cassandra Gaines is also an industry influencer, peers seek her input on transportation matters, drawn to her straightforward approach, experience, and eager enthusiasm. Indeed, Cassandra was named one of the 100 People Transforming Business in North America by Business Insider, joining alumni such as Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Jeff Bezos, solidifying her status as a visionary leader in transportation.
Krister Holladay
Vice President Government Relations
CMA CGM (North America)
Prior to joining CMA CGM/American President Lines in June 2021, Krister Holladay was Director of Government Relations at United Technologies Corporation (UTC) and previously served as Director of Government Relations for Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 global supplier of systems and services to aerospace and defense markets.
Krister began working on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant and then Legislative Director to then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. He then served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) in the House of Representatives. When Cong. Chambliss was elected to the United States Senate, Krister served as Chief of Staff from 2003-2007.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Krister has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and received a Master of Arts degree in National Security Policy from Georgetown University. Krister is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College.
Will Johnson
Chief Special Agent, Assistant Vice President
BNSF Railway
Chief Will Johnson has thirty years of law enforcement experience and serves as the Chief Special Agent and Assistant Vice President of the BNSF Railway Police Department. BNSF Railway is one of the largest railroad companies in North America, operating in 28 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.
Before joining BNSF Railway, Chief Johnson served eight years as the Arlington, Texas, Chief of Police, leading a team of nearly 1,000 employees. Under Chief Johnson’s leadership, APD earned national recognition as a premier law enforcement agency in the United States for promoting community policing, procedural
justice, and protecting all people’s civil rights while reducing crime.
Chief Johnson serves as 4th Vice President for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the 1st Vice President for the Texas Police Chiefs Association. Previously, Chief Johnson served as the chair of the IACP Human and Civil Rights Committee, the chair for the Police Professional Standards, Ethics, and Image Committee, and served on the IACP Financial Review Committee. He is a lifetime member of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and served as an executive board member from 2019 to 2020. Chief Johnson also currently serves on the executive board of the FBI National Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Chief Johnson is a subject matter expert for the Department of Justice and is an executive fellow for the Police Executive Research Forum. He is credited with developing the first national best practices for the use of conducted energy weapons in policing. Chief Johnson is a past recipient of the Police Executive Research Forum Gary P. Hayes Leadership Award, the Ethical Leadership Award from the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, and the Civil Rights Award from the IACP.
Chief Johnson holds a master’s degree from Texas Christian University and a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University. He graduated from the FBI National Academy 245th Session, where he was honored to serve as the session president. He is also a graduate of the 35th session of the Senior Management Institute for Police, the 40th FBI National Executive Institute, and the Texas Law Enforcement Management Institute’s 45th Leadership Command College.
John Larkin
Strategic Advisor & Chair of Advisory Board
Clarendon Capital
John joined Clarendon in 2019 and has over thirty-five years of experience in prominent transportation and logistics leadership roles in buy-side research, investment banking and as a corporate executive.
Prior to joining Clarendon, John was Managing Director of Stifel’s Transportation & Logistics Investment Banking Team and has advised numerous publicly traded and privately held transportation and logistics companies as well as many financial sponsors with investments in the transportation and logistics space.
Prior to joining the Investment Banking Team at Stifel, John led Stifel’s transportation & logistics research effort for 17 years, having founded the original at Legg Mason (later sold to Stifel, Nicolaus & Company), where he developed one of the largest and most prominent annual investment conferences in the industry.
Previously, John served as Chairman and CEO of RailWorks Corporation, a consolidator in the rail services sector. Prior to that, John was Managing Director with Alex. Brown and Sons’ transportation team and AVP Planning and Analysis at CSX Transportation, Inc.
Over the years, John has been recognized as an all-star analyst by Institutional Investor magazine numerous times, a Wall Street Journal All-Star analyst on several occasions, and has been awarded multiple Starmine stock picking and earnings estimate accuracy awards.
John received an MBA from Harvard University, an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont. Mr. Larkin is a CFA charterholder
Erik Luijten
Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Education, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
As associate dean for research and doctoral education, Erik Luijten manages research administration, research development, and Northwestern Engineering’s PhD programs. Erik advances research initiatives by providing the resources for faculty to do the most impactful work.
Erik Luijten has led policy development and implementation for academic personnel in the Northwestern Engineering, provided support for Global Initiatives within the school, and has served as chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His research and teaching are in computational materials science of soft matter.
Luijten earned a master of science in physics from the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Utrecht University and a PhD in physics from Delft University of Technology, both in the Netherlands.
Hani Mahmassani
Director, Transportation Center
William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation Northwestern
Dr. Hani S. Mahmassani is Director of the Transportation Center, and the William A. Patterson Distinguished Professor in Transportation at Northwestern University, which he joined on September 1, 2007, with joint appointments in the McCormick School of Engineering and the Kellogg School of Management. Prior to Northwestern, he served on the faculties of the University of Maryland and the University of Texas at Austin. He has over 35 years of professional, academic and research experience in the areas of multimodal systems modeling and optimization, freight and logistics systems, autonomous vehicles, data science and predictive analytics in transportation and logistics.
Mahmassani has served as principal investigator on over 150 funded research projects sponsored by international, national, state, and metropolitan agencies and private industry. He is past editor-in-chief of Transportation Science, senior editor of IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, and founding associate editor of Transportation Research C: Emerging Technologies. He is a past president of the Transportation Science Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and a past President of the International Association for Travel Behavior Research. He serves on the Board of Advisors to the Panama Canal Authority, and Prince Albert of Monaco’s Digital Transformation Advisory Council. He was the recipient of a Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of the American University of Beirut in 2006, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Outstanding Application Award of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2010, the Transportation Research Board’s Thomas Deen Distinguished Lectureship in 2016, and the inaugural Martin Beckmann Transformative Research in Network Modeling in 2019. He was elected Emeritus member of the Transportation Research Board (of the National Academies) committees on Telecommunications and Travel Behavior, Transportation Network Modeling Committee, and Traveler Behavior and Values Mahmassani received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in transportation systems and MS in transportation engineering from Purdue University.
Val
Marchevsky
Head of Engineering Uber Freight
Val Marchevsky, Head of Engineering at Uber Freight, leads the company’s global engineering, research & development, and IT teams to deliver cutting-edge software, services and platforms enabling the future of logistics. Val is responsible for spearheading Uber Freight’s dynamic marketplace powered by AI and machine learning, helping to innovate the business’ software and build one of the best mobile apps in the logistics industry.
Previously, Val was Head of Logistics Technology at Uber Freight, where he successfully led and scaled the company’s technology hub in Chicago. Val has 17 U.S. Patents and over 20 years of experience leading engineering and technology teams at North American Bancard, Motorola, Google, and Verifone. He earned his master’s in engineering management from Northwestern University (2006-2008).
Daniel Murray Senior Vice President
American Trucking Research Institute
Daniel Murray has more than 30 years of experience in a broad range of transportation fields including trucking research and economics, transportation safety technologies and autonomous vehicles. As Senior Vice President for ATRI, Dan is responsible for managing ATRI’s transportation research, testing and evaluation, and leads multiple national activities including the U.S. DOT-sponsored Freight Mobility Initiative. Dan’s efforts have led to transportation research awards from ITE, ITS America and the University of Minnesota, among others. Dan received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and his MS from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Brian Reed is a tenured supply chain expert with 20+ years of experience across the globe in all aspects of supply chain from Customer Service through Final Mile Fulfillment across all industries having spent time supporting customers on both the business and IT sides of digital and physical supply chain solutions. In addition to his time at technology and consulting organizations, he has also led a high growth supply chain organization focused on execution at a large CPG manufacturer in the US. Brian has worked with some of the world’s largest technology and manufacturing companies helping them transform their supply chain with technology as a tool that enables automation, insight, and resilience. This has included broad transformations which cover multiple area of Planning (Demand, Supply, S&OP, etc), Execution (warehousing and transportation), and Visibility (control towers, inventory visibility, etc) where cost savings or revenue enablement measured in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. He is the AWS Supply Chain & Pan-Amazon Supply Chain GTM Leader working with its largest and most strategic customers and partners developing and delivering new capabilities that drive success across the many areas of supply chain.
Gene Seroka
Executive Director
Port of Los Angeles
Gene Seroka is the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, which has experienced a series of historic, record-breaking performances since his appointment in 2014. A respected global trade expert, Seroka has distinguished himself as a leader throughout his illustrious career in shipping, global logistics and executive management. As Executive Director of the busiest container port in North America, Seroka is responsible for managing a $2.6 billion budget, advancing major capital projects, growing trade volume and promoting innovative, sustainable practices that strengthen the region’s economy.
Jeff Silver Chief Executive Officer Mastery Logistics Systems
Jeff Silver joined American Backhaulers in 1984, fresh out of the University of Michigan with an undergrad degree in Economics. He helped grow the business by focusing on customer interactions and the sales force, training, and designing its ground-breaking technology. When ABH was sold to CH Robinson, Jeff spent a year helping to integrate the businesses and working to adapt the ABH system to the needs of the global company, and then retired. During his retirement, Jeff completed an MBA at Michigan as well as a Masters of Engineering in Logistics at MIT. In 2006, he and his wife Marianne, who created the methods of recruiting and training and focus on culture that have been copied by many in the industry, co-founded Coyote Logistics, which he led through its acquisition by UPS in 2015, after which he spent several years working with the broader UPS group on automation and advanced technology.
MEMBER DIRECTORY
Leadership Level
Sustaining Level
Association Level
Dan Abramson
Senior Vice President, Head of Sales | FourKites dan.abramson@fourkites.com
David Arganbright
VP | Government Affairs | OmniTRAX Inc. darganbright@omnitrax.com 215.205.0202
Andrew Bata
Regional Manager (North America) | UITPInternational Association of Public Transport andrew.bata@uitp.org 917.403.3445
Jason Birnbaum
Chief Information Officer | United Airlines, Inc. jason.birnbaum@united.com 872.825.4550 630.512.1411
L. Price Blackford
Managing Director | Scott-Macon Ltd. pblackford@scott-macon.com 646.572.2409 917.861.7772
John D. Bowe
Principal | American Maritime Group, LLC johnbowe22@gmail.com 925.631.0590 510.813.9574
W. Keith Prusek Managing Director, Global Joint Head of Logistics & Transportation Investment Banking | Jefferies LLC 804.799.3619 202.276.9209 kprusek@jefferies.com
Hugh Rabb
Managing Director, Global Joint Head of Logistics & Transportation Investment Banking | Jefferies LLC 804.799.3618
804.317.9457 hrabb@jefferies.com
Cherilyn Radbourne
Managing Director Equity Research | TD Securities Inc. cherilyn.radbourne@tdsecurities.com 416.308.3403 416.666.0348
James Rankin CEO | West Star Aviation jrank2004@aol.com 503.678.1222 920.475.3285
Dana Regan
Senior Vice President, Business Development | TranzAct Technologies, Inc. regandana@tranzact.com (630) 530-6474
Reconstructing the Temporal Landscape of Gene Regulation in Aging
National Institute of Aging
Reid, Kathryn; Braun, Rosemay; Zee, Phyllis
Subproject for Dr. Kristen Knutson
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Reid, Kathryn; Abbott, Sabra Margaret; Knutson, Kristen
Rodent Research Standard Housing Mission: Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding Spaceflight Responses
NASA Ames Research Center
Turek, Fred; Vitaterna, Martha
Mechanisms Underlying Sleep Disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease
U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command
Turek, Fred
Circadian Laboratory (Turek and Vitaterna) for Normalizing Timing of Rhythms Across Internal Networks of Circadian Clocks (NTRAIN)
Air Force Research Laboratory
Turek, Fred; Vitaterna, Martha; Zee, Phyllis
Effects of Partial Gravity on Multi-System Mammalian Physiology: Microbiome and Related Systems
NASA Ames Research Center
Turek, Fred; Vitaterna, Martha
Training Grant in Circadian and Sleep Research
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Turek, Fred; Vitaterna, Martha; Zee, Phyllis
National Synthesis Center for the Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Science (NCEMS)
Pennsylvania State University, National Science Foundation
Uzzi, Brian
FMSG: Cyber: Learning Foundation Models for Manufacturing Design Automation
National Science Foundation
Zhu, Qi; Cao, Jian; Chen, Wei; Guo, Ping
Collaborative Research: DESC: Type I: PLEX: Building Future-Proof Learning-Enabled Cyber-Physical Systems with Cross-Layer Extensible and Adaptive Design
CPS: Medium: Batteryless Sensor Enabling Smart Green Infrastructure
National Science Foundation
Zhu, Qi; Hester, Josiah; Wells, George
NUTC STAFF
HANI
S. MAHMASSANI
Director
masmah@northwestern.edu
847.491.2282
BRETON JOHNSON
Senior Associate Director
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847.491.2194
ANDREA CEHAIC
Assistant Director andrea.cehaic@northwestern.edu
847.491.2280
TORENE HARVIN
Senior Program Coordinator torene.harvin@northwestern.edu
847.491.7287
MARINKO KULJANIN
Financial Assistant
marinko.kuljanin @northwestern.edu
847. 491. 2275
KATHERINE GORNEY
Research Project Coordinator katherine.gorney @northwestern.edu 847 491 2275
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTER
600 Foster Street, Evanston, IL
847.491.7287
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Director & Staff
THANK YOU
About the Business Advisory Council
Unequaled by any academic transportation advisory board in the country, the Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC) Business Advisory Council (BAC) has long been a major force behind the Center’s success. The BAC is structured through four distinct levels of membership: Leadership, Sustaining, Individual, and Association. Each category carries with it a set of membership benefits, as well as a suggested level of commitment and financial support for Transportation Center research, education, and outreach initiatives.
All BAC members enjoy access to Northwestern’s world-class faculty, opportunities for networking with industry peers, invitations to and involvement in special programs and events, insights into cutting-edge research and industry trends, discounted tuition fees for the Center’s Executive Education Series, and access to Northwestern’s bright student population and renowned Transportation Library.
The BAC meets twice yearly on the Evanston campus to foster an exchange of ideas among its members and Center faculty, staff, and students. The meetings are designed to explore the areas of interest and relevance to BAC member companies. Each meeting features working sessions, panel discussions, and speaker presentations, as well as opportunities for more informal networking and exchange.
About the Transportation Center
For the last six decades, the Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC) has proudly conducted research, provided education and performed outreach for the benefit of the Northwestern community and transportation networks worldwide.
