This is your connection to local utility telecommunications professionals and events. By interfacing with UTC Regions, you can:
UT Conference Center
600 Henley Street
Knoxville, TN 37902
Registration Rates:
Utility Rate – $100
UTC Associate Member – $450
Non-Member Associate Rate – $695
Exhibitor & Sponsor Registrations:
Exhibitors/Sponsors may receive complimentary or discounted rates depending on their level of participation. Before registering through the website please email us by clicking here to confirm any applicable comps or discounts.
Speakers:
All speakers will be registered complimentary by UTC staff.
Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations received by Monday, September 12th, will receive a refund less a 25% cancellation fee. Cancellations must be received in writing at meetings@utc.org.
Questions:
If you have questions or need assistance please click here to email us.
Sponsorship contract – Click here
Exhibitor contract – Click here
Sponsor Information
Cheryl Stratos | Sales Executive
E: Cheryl.Stratos@utc.org | P: +1.703.926.5615
Conference / Registration Information
E: support@utc.org
For assistance please email us at support@utc.org or call 202.872.0030. For membership inquiries please email membership@utc.org
501 West Church AvenueRegion 3 (Southeast) serves the states of:
Have any questions or are interested in hearing more about how UTC can play a role in your company? Contact our Region 3 officers:
Lee Ayers received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University in 1982. From 1982 until 1986, he worked for Central Electric Power Cooperative in Columbia, South Carolina. Since 1986, he has been employed with Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative in Lexington, South Carolina, where he currently serves as VP of Engineering, managing system planning, power supply, substations, metering, system control, and dispatch, and outside plant fiber optic communications and technology. He has worked extensively with electric service rate design and implementation. Presently he is managing MCEC’s FttM (Fiber to the Meter) project that will enable internet service to the MCEC’s entire membership along with system-wide electric distribution automation and data collection, as well as real-time electric service usage data to consumers.
Ron has extensive experience in electronic and communications system design, deployment, and operation – focusing on utility telecommunications, power generation, electric distribution, and their associated industrial control systems (ICS) platforms. He is an advocate of the connected grid, a frequent speaker on subjects related to utility telecommunications modernization, and an active supporter of all things networked.
Bob Buckner joined the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in January 2023 as Director of the Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program, a collaboration between the Haslam College of Business and Tickle College of Engineering, develops leaders who understand the interdisciplinary nature of business and engineering and are adept at breaking down organizational silos to increase collaboration and speed to market, improve engagement and productivity, and strengthen overall business results.
Prior to joining UT, he spent 35 years in IT and business roles in manufacturing, software startups, and large-scale financial services industries. He spent the last 6 years of his industry career working to align IT and business practices focusing on processes and practices that allow product delivery teams to better understand customer needs and deliver measurable business value.
Through those experiences, he has developed a passion for helping students learn diverse business and engineering practices that many industry professionals may not discover until several years into their professional careers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA from the University of Tennessee.
Chrissy has 33 years of experience in Critical Infrastructure. Experienced and successful in scaling operations, building strategic partnerships, instilling client confidence, and consistently delivering large-scale, highly complex projects on time and on budget. Leads with authenticity and integrity, develops individuals to excel, and fosters a culture of engagement, collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Key member of the executive leadership team, knowledgeable resource, and valued partner in creating critical infrastructure and strengthening productivity. Navigates effectively across organizational levels, functional areas, and colleagues, clients, and team members. Chrissy spent 32 years at Burns & McDonnell Engineering and the past year starting Critical Infrastructure at Essentia.
Justin is a Telecommunications Engineer in the Telecom Aggregate Services group at Southern Company Services. His experience includes DWDM installation, TDM to packet network cutovers, and LTE backhaul design and installation. He currently is responsible for evaluating in implementing engineering package improvements as well as the precision timing network upgrades.
As Legal Counsel for Certes Networks, Simon assists with regulatory and compliance issues, contract drafting and negotiations, disputes, intellectual property and general legal matters. Simon has extensive international experience in the technology sector and his combination of both legal and technical skills enables him to translate complex legal regulations and mandates into clear and definitive technical requirements for IT and Engineering teams.
Simon is a regular speaker on data protecting and cyber security regulations including GDPR, HIPAA, NIST Frameworks and PCI DSS. Simon resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
BSEE from the University of Colorado and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth. R&D and technical marketing in power electronics and power systems: AT&T Bell Labs, Texas Instruments, Siemens and Rockwell. Executive management positions at several smaller technical companies.
Michael is an accomplished expert in the fields of information assurance, cybersecurity, and national cyber policy formulation. He has a knack for addressing the most intricate cybersecurity challenges in the public sector and its allied organizations, leveraging cutting-edge technologies that offer tangible benefits to clients.
Before his current role at MNI, Inc., Michael led the Federal and Public Sector division at OPSWAT. He also offered strategic consulting services to the Department of Defense as well as various domestic and international agencies. His professional journey includes key roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, BlackBerry (formerly Research in Motion), and NowSecure.
Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration from George Mason University. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Legal Studies. His credentials are further strengthened by certifications in SABSA and ITIL, and he is also a Certified Ethical Hacker.
Brett Kilbourne is the Utilities Technology Council’s General Counsel and Vice President of Policy, the Washington-based association representing vital energy and water utilities on their mission-critical technologies by driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and influencing public policy.
In this role, Mr. Kilbourne provides legal guidance to utilities on telecommunications issues both pending before federal and state agencies and being considered in Congress.
He received his Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the South. Mr. Kilbourne is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association.
Kirt Mayson is a 24-year Employee of NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern Corporation) and now serves as Senior Engineer – Business Technology, Network Engineering, and Operations for NorthWestern. He has an extensive background in Utility Communications Technologies in the areas of fiber optic and microwave systems. Previously Mr. Mayson was an employee of Tetragenics Company, a subsidiary of The Montana Power Company, and was involved in automation solutions for Communications Site Monitoring Systems, Substation Remote Telemetry Units (RTUS), and Hydro-Electric Generation Plant Control Systems. Prior to his utility career, Mr. Mayson was an engineer in the Natural Gas Compression Industry for approximately 10 years. During his tenure with UTC, he served in officer positions of UTC’s North West Region, Region 9 as well as Chair of UTC’s Regional Divisions. Mr. Mayson received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech (now Montana Technological University).
As head of the technology enterprise, Senad is responsible for the strategy and technical evolution of Nokia’s enterprise presales organization, solution architecture, and sales engineering teams. As part of his role, Senad is directly engaged with the customer base spanning from Fortune 500, large and small enterprises all the way to public and private utilities and energy companies. Senad’s technical involvement with Nokia’s enterprise customer base spans the entire Nokia ION wireline and wireless portfolio. His current focus is on data center technologies and ongoing DC evolution. Prior to this role, Senad led a sales engineering organization focusing on SDN and SDWAN technologies as part of Nuage Networks BU. Before Nuage, Senad worked as Consulting Engineer within Nokia’s RBC ION organization focusing on the service provider market. And before joining Nokia, Senad spent ten years with Juniper Networks in various customer-facing engineering roles. Senad holds a BS Degree in Telecommunications from Weber State University and has over 20 years of experience in networking and the telecom industry, is a co-author of JUNOS High Availability Book, and numerous IETF RFC Standards in the area of IP/MPLS Control Plane signaling.
Mr. Spratt is a Senior Security Architect at Southern Company and the Team Lead for the Cyber Security Program at Southern Linc. He has spent 15 years in Technology Security and the last 10 years securing Southern Company’s telecommunications networks. Mr. Spratt holds his Certified Information Systems Security Professional distinction as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Cybersecurity & Information Assurance from Western Governor’s University. When not working, he enjoys St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball and spending time with his wife and two children.
Keith Stanfill is the Edwards Assistant Dean and Director of Integrated Engineering Design for the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville. He is responsible for shaping the role of student design and innovation projects in the college, managing college resources and facilities for design projects, organizing college-wide design showcase events, and serving as the outward-looking face of student design and project work for the college’s external partners. In 2019 he led a task force to develop an Honors Interdisciplinary Senior Design course sequence, launching the course in fall 2019 with 9 projects, and 50 students representing 16 majors (11 in engineering and 5 in business).
Prior to joining UT in July 2018, he spent 19 years with the University of Florida (UF) where he served for 17 years as Director of the Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) Program for the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Innovation Institute. IPPD is an experiential multidisciplinary design program where teams of senior students complete authentic design, build and test projects for sponsoring companies and agencies. Dr. Stanfill has recruited over 400 industry-sponsored projects and directed the efforts of over 2500 senior-level engineering and business students for the IPPD program.
Prior to joining UF, Dr. Stanfill spent ten years with United Technologies Corporation—including seven years designing fighter aircraft gas turbine hardware with Pratt & Whitney, and three years facilitating Design for X (DFx) workshops internationally and developing and implementing manufacturing systems software with Carrier Corporation.
He received his B.S., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from UF. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Florida and is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Education. He was the co-chair for the 2018 and 2022 Capstone Design Conferences. He was a long-time lead judge in the Alachua Region Science and Engineering Fair.
Lee Ayers received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University in 1982. From 1982 until 1986, he worked for Central Electric Power Cooperative in Columbia, South Carolina. Since 1986, he has been employed with Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative in Lexington, South Carolina, where he currently serves as VP of Engineering, managing system planning, power supply, substations, metering, system control, and dispatch, and outside plant fiber optic communications and technology. He has worked extensively with electric service rate design and implementation. Presently he is managing MCEC’s FttM (Fiber to the Meter) project that will enable internet service to the MCEC’s entire membership along with system-wide electric distribution automation and data collection, as well as real-time electric service usage data to consumers.
Ron has extensive experience in electronic and communications system design, deployment, and operation – focusing on utility telecommunications, power generation, electric distribution, and their associated industrial control systems (ICS) platforms. He is an advocate of the connected grid, a frequent speaker on subjects related to utility telecommunications modernization, and an active supporter of all things networked.
Bob Buckner joined the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in January 2023 as Director of the Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program, a collaboration between the Haslam College of Business and Tickle College of Engineering, develops leaders who understand the interdisciplinary nature of business and engineering and are adept at breaking down organizational silos to increase collaboration and speed to market, improve engagement and productivity, and strengthen overall business results.
Prior to joining UT, he spent 35 years in IT and business roles in manufacturing, software startups, and large-scale financial services industries. He spent the last 6 years of his industry career working to align IT and business practices focusing on processes and practices that allow product delivery teams to better understand customer needs and deliver measurable business value.
Through those experiences, he has developed a passion for helping students learn diverse business and engineering practices that many industry professionals may not discover until several years into their professional careers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA from the University of Tennessee.
Chrissy has 33 years of experience in Critical Infrastructure. Experienced and successful in scaling operations, building strategic partnerships, instilling client confidence, and consistently delivering large-scale, highly complex projects on time and on budget. Leads with authenticity and integrity, develops individuals to excel, and fosters a culture of engagement, collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Key member of the executive leadership team, knowledgeable resource, and valued partner in creating critical infrastructure and strengthening productivity. Navigates effectively across organizational levels, functional areas, and colleagues, clients, and team members. Chrissy spent 32 years at Burns & McDonnell Engineering and the past year starting Critical Infrastructure at Essentia.
Justin is a Telecommunications Engineer in the Telecom Aggregate Services group at Southern Company Services. His experience includes DWDM installation, TDM to packet network cutovers, and LTE backhaul design and installation. He currently is responsible for evaluating in implementing engineering package improvements as well as the precision timing network upgrades.
As Legal Counsel for Certes Networks, Simon assists with regulatory and compliance issues, contract drafting and negotiations, disputes, intellectual property and general legal matters. Simon has extensive international experience in the technology sector and his combination of both legal and technical skills enables him to translate complex legal regulations and mandates into clear and definitive technical requirements for IT and Engineering teams.
Simon is a regular speaker on data protecting and cyber security regulations including GDPR, HIPAA, NIST Frameworks and PCI DSS. Simon resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
BSEE from the University of Colorado and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth. R&D and technical marketing in power electronics and power systems: AT&T Bell Labs, Texas Instruments, Siemens and Rockwell. Executive management positions at several smaller technical companies.
Michael is an accomplished expert in the fields of information assurance, cybersecurity, and national cyber policy formulation. He has a knack for addressing the most intricate cybersecurity challenges in the public sector and its allied organizations, leveraging cutting-edge technologies that offer tangible benefits to clients.
Before his current role at MNI, Inc., Michael led the Federal and Public Sector division at OPSWAT. He also offered strategic consulting services to the Department of Defense as well as various domestic and international agencies. His professional journey includes key roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, BlackBerry (formerly Research in Motion), and NowSecure.
Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration from George Mason University. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Legal Studies. His credentials are further strengthened by certifications in SABSA and ITIL, and he is also a Certified Ethical Hacker.
Brett Kilbourne is the Utilities Technology Council’s General Counsel and Vice President of Policy, the Washington-based association representing vital energy and water utilities on their mission-critical technologies by driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and influencing public policy.
In this role, Mr. Kilbourne provides legal guidance to utilities on telecommunications issues both pending before federal and state agencies and being considered in Congress.
He received his Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the South. Mr. Kilbourne is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association.
Kirt Mayson is a 24-year Employee of NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern Corporation) and now serves as Senior Engineer – Business Technology, Network Engineering, and Operations for NorthWestern. He has an extensive background in Utility Communications Technologies in the areas of fiber optic and microwave systems. Previously Mr. Mayson was an employee of Tetragenics Company, a subsidiary of The Montana Power Company, and was involved in automation solutions for Communications Site Monitoring Systems, Substation Remote Telemetry Units (RTUS), and Hydro-Electric Generation Plant Control Systems. Prior to his utility career, Mr. Mayson was an engineer in the Natural Gas Compression Industry for approximately 10 years. During his tenure with UTC, he served in officer positions of UTC’s North West Region, Region 9 as well as Chair of UTC’s Regional Divisions. Mr. Mayson received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech (now Montana Technological University).
As head of the technology enterprise, Senad is responsible for the strategy and technical evolution of Nokia’s enterprise presales organization, solution architecture, and sales engineering teams. As part of his role, Senad is directly engaged with the customer base spanning from Fortune 500, large and small enterprises all the way to public and private utilities and energy companies. Senad’s technical involvement with Nokia’s enterprise customer base spans the entire Nokia ION wireline and wireless portfolio. His current focus is on data center technologies and ongoing DC evolution. Prior to this role, Senad led a sales engineering organization focusing on SDN and SDWAN technologies as part of Nuage Networks BU. Before Nuage, Senad worked as Consulting Engineer within Nokia’s RBC ION organization focusing on the service provider market. And before joining Nokia, Senad spent ten years with Juniper Networks in various customer-facing engineering roles. Senad holds a BS Degree in Telecommunications from Weber State University and has over 20 years of experience in networking and the telecom industry, is a co-author of JUNOS High Availability Book, and numerous IETF RFC Standards in the area of IP/MPLS Control Plane signaling.
Mr. Spratt is a Senior Security Architect at Southern Company and the Team Lead for the Cyber Security Program at Southern Linc. He has spent 15 years in Technology Security and the last 10 years securing Southern Company’s telecommunications networks. Mr. Spratt holds his Certified Information Systems Security Professional distinction as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Cybersecurity & Information Assurance from Western Governor’s University. When not working, he enjoys St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball and spending time with his wife and two children.
Keith Stanfill is the Edwards Assistant Dean and Director of Integrated Engineering Design for the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville. He is responsible for shaping the role of student design and innovation projects in the college, managing college resources and facilities for design projects, organizing college-wide design showcase events, and serving as the outward-looking face of student design and project work for the college’s external partners. In 2019 he led a task force to develop an Honors Interdisciplinary Senior Design course sequence, launching the course in fall 2019 with 9 projects, and 50 students representing 16 majors (11 in engineering and 5 in business).
Prior to joining UT in July 2018, he spent 19 years with the University of Florida (UF) where he served for 17 years as Director of the Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) Program for the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Innovation Institute. IPPD is an experiential multidisciplinary design program where teams of senior students complete authentic design, build and test projects for sponsoring companies and agencies. Dr. Stanfill has recruited over 400 industry-sponsored projects and directed the efforts of over 2500 senior-level engineering and business students for the IPPD program.
Prior to joining UF, Dr. Stanfill spent ten years with United Technologies Corporation—including seven years designing fighter aircraft gas turbine hardware with Pratt & Whitney, and three years facilitating Design for X (DFx) workshops internationally and developing and implementing manufacturing systems software with Carrier Corporation.
He received his B.S., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from UF. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Florida and is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Education. He was the co-chair for the 2018 and 2022 Capstone Design Conferences. He was a long-time lead judge in the Alachua Region Science and Engineering Fair.
