Expert Speakers

Meet the experts who will be sharing their knowledge and insight!

Our expert speakers are coming from across the rail industry,
and we are honored to have them be a part of this program.





















Meet our experts:

Week 1

Ty O. Smith

CSRM Ty Smith

California State Railroad Museum
Museum Director

Ty Smith, Ph.D., is the Museum Director at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. As museum director, he is responsible for managing the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento Southern Railroad, Old Sacramento State Historic Park and the historic Southern Pacific Shops.

Smith has worked within California State Parks for the past 20 years, and joined the Museum from Hearst Castle where he was the chief of museum interpretation. He earned a Ph.D. in Public History from the University of California Santa Barbara, an M.A. in Public History from California State University Sacramento, and a B.A. in History from California Polytechnic University State University-San Luis Obispo. He also serves as a professor of Museum Studies in the Graduate Public History Program at Sacramento State.

Russell Moore

Russell Moore square

California State Railroad Museum
Curatorial Assistant & Sr. Park Aide

Russell Moore is a curatorial assistant at the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) and helps care for both the equipment and archival collections. He supports the research and implementation of appropriate maintenance and care methods for the CSRM’s equipment collection. He also researches artifacts – ranging in size from the cab forward to handheld timetables – to help further the understanding and interpretation of the collection.

He started at the museum as an intern in 2020 while studying history at UC Santa Cruz. He spent time working in the library, archives, and the restoration shop during his internship, learning a wide variety of skills necessary to care for CSRM’s unique collections. His internship gave him access to the CSRM archives which provided valuable primary sources for an award Senior thesis about 19th Century locomotive paint schemes he wrote as part of his studies at UCSC.

Since officially joining the CSRM team in 2023, Russell has written restoration feasibility studies for several pieces of equipment in the collection and is a member of the Museum’s collections committee where he researches and writes about potential acquisitions and about how to best care for and interpret artifacts already within the collection.


Week 2

Panel Moderator: Eric Plosky

Eric Plosky Mobility Data square

MobilityData
Executive Director

Eric Plosky leads MobilityData, the international nonprofit organization dedicated to “better transportation through data” by developing data standards and tools that enable access to safe, reliable, sustainable, empowering transportation options. Eric is also a Harvard instructor, teaching a course he developed, "Transportation and Sustainability," that is part of the HES master's program in sustainability.

Previously, Eric worked for nearly 24 years at the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, including 12 years as the chief of transportation planning. Eric earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in planning from MIT, where he is still a mentor and guest speaker.

MaryClara Jones

Mx V MC Jones headshot square

MxV Rail
Executive Director of Corporate Strategy and Technology

Mrs. MaryClara Jones is Executive Director of Corporate Strategy and Technology at MxV Rail. She formulates strategy with the Senior leadership team and oversees tactical initiatives. MC, as she likes to be called, has been employed by the company for 19 years, starting off as an intern in 2005.

Born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado, MC has several degrees including a BS in Mathematics, a MS in Industrial and System Engineering, and an MBA. MC has worked on a wide range of technical projects at MxV Rail including statistical analyses of wayside detector data, engineering economic analyses, NUCARS® vehicle dynamics modeling and qualification testing of newly built locomotives and passenger rail vehicles as per AAR standards, FRA regulations, and/or end user requirements. MC spent a year as an exchange engineer at Kansas City Southern Railway in 2019. In addition, MC has managed several large government projects including a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funded project focused on standards development for transit rail and Department of Energy projects focusing on specialized railcars that transport spent nuclear fuel. During the 2021 to 2023 period, she led MxV Rail transformational transition to a new facility which included moving MxV Rail off the facility they resided at for over 40 years and the design and construction of MxV Rail new facilities. The design and construction of new facilities over a 2 year period included 20+ miles of new railroad tracks, renovations of 2 buildings to house MxV Rail 200+ staff and specialized laboratory equipment, building of a new rail rolling stock maintenance facility, and implementation of new training grounds that are utilized for the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC, a division of MxV Rail) that train first responders who respond to transportation accidents.

Sam Sargent

Sam Sargent Caltrain square

Caltrain
Director, Strategy and Policy

Sam Sargent serves as Director of Strategy and Policy for Caltrain in the Bay Area. Prior to joining the railroad’s executive team, he served as Director of Strategy, Director of Government Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Capital Metro in Austin, Texas. A planner and lawyer by training, Sam holds a bachelors and law degree from Boston University.

A lifelong lover of railroading, he is a Mass Transit 40 Under 40 and Railway Age 25 Under 40 award winner. When he is not working on the railroad, you can find Sam running, reading and exploring California.

Jordan Reynoldson

Jordan Reynoldson SJRRC sq

San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission / San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority
Chief Mechanical Officer

Jordan Reynoldson has spent 24 years in heavy diesel and transportation maintenance, 17 years of which in rail vehicle engineering, development and commissioning including 4 years in the United States Marine Corps. After spending 7 years consulting for numerous clients Jordan began as the CMO for San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission and Joint Powers Authority.

As part of the development team at Siemens he managed the commissioning, validation and test plan development of the new Amtrak ACS-64 electric locomotive, Tier IV Charger locomotive for Caltrans and Venture single level trainsets for Brightline Florida.


Week 3

Brian Smith

Brian Smith Mx V Rail square

MxV Rail
AVP Vehicle Track Interaction & Instrumentation

Brian Smith holds the position of Assistant Vice President of Vehicle Track Interaction & Instrumentation (VTI&I) for MxV Rail, formerly known as TTCI. Brian has been a part of the MxV Rail team for 36 years, working in engineering for 26 years in a variety of roles including a test engineer focused on vehicle dynamics testing, with experience with dynamic modeling suite including NUCARS®, TOES™, and TEM™ models.

Brian has managed the Association of American Railroad (AAR) Strategic Research Programs in areas of Radio-Based ECP braking, freight axle cracking, and train automation at MxV Rail’s Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST®). In addition, he provides technical support to AAR’s Locomotive Committee and manages AAR’s joint railroad In-Use Locomotive Federal Test Procedure Emission Testing Program in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements. In 2014, Brian migrated into the Operations group as Director Operations managing all on-site testing programs. In 2022, he returned to the engineering group focused on VTI&I, where he manages engineering and instrumentation staff focused on both on-track and laboratory testing efforts.

Mike Swaney

Mike Swaney BNSF

BNSF Railway
Director of Advanced Energy Innovation

Mike Swaney is the Director of Advanced Energy Innovation at BNSF Railway. He is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and adoption of zero and near-zero emissions technologies at BNSF. Mike joined BNSF in 2006 and has led multiple software and hardware technology deployment programs across various Operating departments.

Mike holds a BBA in finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Mike is married with three sons and lives outside Fort Worth, Texas.


Week 4

Tom Rutkowski

Brightline Tom Rutkowski headshot square

Brightline
VP & Chief Mechanical Officer

Tom Rutkowski is the VP & Chief Mechanical Officer for Brightline, a privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad in the United States. He has extensive experience in train maintenance and design as well as facility operations and design. After arriving at Brightline (named All Aboard Florida at the time) in November 2014, Tom was tasked with the design, construction and commissioning of the Brightline rolling stock as well as the maintenance facilities in West Palm Beach and Orlando.

After successfully launching Phase 1 of Brightline service between West Palm Beach and Miami in 2018, he was part of the team that completed the 170 extension between West Palm Beach, FL and Orlando, FL. Phase 2 rolling stock and the maintenance facility in Orlando were completed in 2022 to facilitate the expansion. Tom is currently working in a similar capacity with Brightline West to deliver the first High Speed Train system between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Prior to joining Brightline, Tom spent over 20 years with NJ Transit spending the last 7 years as the General Superintendent of Equipment.

Tom is a married father of three that enjoys being a suburban dad in his free time. Hobbies include working out, golf, and coaching soccer.

Margaret Cederoth

Meg Cederoth High Speed Rail sq

California High-Speed Rail Authority
Director of Planning and Sustainability

Margaret Cederoth was appointed by Governor Newsom in 2019 to be the Director of Planning and Sustainability for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Her duties include policy development and implementation, station and station area planning, greenhouse gas emissions inventory, tracking, and offsets, renewable energy planning, sustainable design, and district-scale sustainability approaches.

Margaret is an urban planner with two decades of experience working in sustainable infrastructure, land use and transportation planning throughout the United States and around the world. As an AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) urban planner and Envision Sustainability Professional, she previously led the sustainability division for the Authority as a consultant. Margaret oversaw corporate sustainability initiatives for WSP USA, the Authority’s Rail Delivery Partner. That work included a commitment to carbon neutral operations and the development of training and tools for implementing sustainability approaches on a range of infrastructure projects.

Margaret earned a Master of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.


Week 5

Franziska Lambrecht

F J Lambrecht siemens square

Siemens Mobility, Inc.
North America Locomotives Sales Manager

Dr. Franziska Lambrecht is the North America Locomotives Sales Manager at Siemens Mobility, Inc. Franziska joined Siemens in May of 2017 where she’s held various leadership positions across different businesses and international markets.

With her enthusiasm and aptitude for advanced technologies, she drives the transition to cleaner, energy efficient mobility. In her spare time, Franziska enjoys outdoor activities with her husband and their child.

Scott Ellis

S Ellis Siemens square

Siemens Mobility, Inc.
West Coast Director of Business Development

Scott Ellis is the West Coast Director of Business Development at Siemens Mobility, Inc. Scott has been with Siemens since August 2019. He has been in the public transportation business sector since 2004 where he has held technical sales leadership roles across componentry, system suppliers, and competitive rolling stock manufacturers, both domestically and internationally.

His commitment, and interest in advancing transportation technologies for the betterment of urban mobility is his driving force. When not at work Scott enjoys getting lost in the wilds of the California mountains and deserts or lost in the never-ending DIY renovation projects at home.


Week 6

YOU!

LMIT Young girl at laptop

Students will present in teams their own research projects to friends and family.

Program Instructors & Administrators

Stephanie Couch, PhD

Stephanie Couch, PhD

Lemelson-MIT Program

As the Executive Director, Stephanie leads a team which helps educators and students learn ways inventors find and solve problems important to their communities. She has dedicated her career to K-12 and higher education policy issues and invention education research.

Leigh Estabrook, PhD

Leigh Estabrook, PhD

Lemelson-MIT Program

Leigh, the Invention Education Officer for LMIT, has spent over 17 years working to expand invention education and change the way teachers teach and students learn. LMIT’s InvenTeams® grant program has produced nearly 4,000 high school inventors with 17 teams receiving patents

Carly Starr

Carly Starr

California State Railroad Museum

An avid museum and history enthusiast with a varied background in administration and museums, Carly is the Special Projects Manager for CSRM. She believes that museums are a great place to explore history, art & technology as they relate to our human experience.

Alondra Moreno

Alondra Moreno

California State Railroad Museum

As a biochemist-turned-educator, Alondra has been dedicated to STEM enrichment and community outreach since 2013. She delivers engaging programs, emphasizing hands-on learning and the transformative impact of STEM on our past and future.

Monica Storss

Monica Storss

Lemelson-MIT Program

Monica creates online learning programs with a focus on emergent technology and invention education. She is also a poet and researcher. Her lifelong love of trains began through folk-punk cultureways; her creative work about train culture includes "Rail: Art On The Tracks."

Rachna Nath

Rachna Nath

Lemelson-MIT Program

Manager of STEM Competitions and Outreach at the Arizona Science Center. Rachna is also a Nat-Geo Content developer, Analog Astronaut, Innovator and NASA Solar System Ambassador. She is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship in High School students.

Sarah Abboud

Sarah Abboud

Lemelson-MIT Program

A seasoned educator and researcher at CSUSM, UCSD, and LMIT, Sarah excels in program administration, implementation, and curriculum development. Her work has taken her across the U.S. and world. She is passionate about highlighting STEM in rail transportation for future innovators.

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