Region 1, 2 & 4 Combined Meeting

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.

Ben Berry currently serves as the Business Line Manager for the Midwest Region in Burns & McDonnell’s Networks, Integration, and Automation group. He has been in the industry for nine years supporting utility clients on their journey towards reliable, robust, and private telecommunication networks.  He has technical and project management experience in a variety of areas including fiber deployment and field area networks. Outside of work, he enjoys being outdoors and enriching his community.

Gage Bickler is the Regional Telecommunications Engineer for the Upper Great Plains region in Western Area Power Administration. Responsibilities in this role include coordinating the planning, organization, directing, and execution of telecommunications projects that affect the power system and communications network across WAPA’s territory throughout the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from North Dakota State University and is a registered engineer in the state of North Dakota. Over the past 10 years he has worked in both the private and public sectors in the electric utility industry with an emphasis on operations technology and telecommunications. He has been integral to the design, procurement, planning, deployment, and maintenance of Upper Great Plain’s current MPLS network utilized to transition away from the legacy SONET/TDM communications system and acts as the regional technical advisor supporting communications-related items impacting Engineering, Operations, and Maintenance efforts.

Greg Coherd is a Telecom Engineer with AES Ohio with over 32 years of experience in providing broadband and telecommunication engineering for area wide fiber and RF networks and associated communications systems overlays. Greg has a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering Technologies (BSEET) from Florida A&M University.

Dan Frein is a Senior Architect in West Monroe Partners’ Technology Practice. He brings over 15 years of experience providing IT/OT infrastructure expertise across several industries, especially in Energy and Utilities. Dan’s areas of focus include OT network design and infrastructure, as well as transport WAN design using IP/MPLS or MPLS-TP. He is also regularly involved in IT strategy and due diligence engagements across a variety of industries.

Dan continues to provide OT network architecture and technical guidance on several Nokia MPLS-based transport networks. These networks are built to provide secure, resilient, and scalable transport of SCADA, physical security, and other business traffic to support critical infrastructure operations consistent with NERC/CIP requirements. Using OT experience from Energy and Utilities, Dan has been involved with traditional OT network design in the manufacturing space, leveraging PERA/ISA-95 and Rockwell Collins CPwE frameworks to institute network segmentation to mitigate risks with network-based malware propagation, reducing the likelihood and duration of manufacturing downtime.

Dan has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management (BSIM) from Purdue University.

WHAT MAKES DAN DIFFERENT

In his free time, Dan likes to ride his motorcycles, try good beer, and travel to new places – although he is still partial to summers in the Chicago area.

WHERE DAN MAKES AN IMPACT

Dan enjoys providing technical architecture and strategy guidance to his clients; helping extract additional value from existing infrastructure assets and planning for future infrastructure growth to enable new business services. He also provides enthusiastic leadership within our Networking and Utilities Industry Leadership Team.

INDUSTRIES SERVED

• Energy & Utilities
• Manufacturing
• Private Equity
• Healthcare (Payer)
• Retail
• Capital Markets

SKILLS & SPECIALTIES

• OT secure network design and architecture
• Transport network design and implementation using IP/MPLS and MPLS-TP
• Traditional LAN/SD-WAN/datacenter build-out
• IT strategy and Due Diligence
• Cloud strategy and application disposition (AWS and Azure)

Marwan is an emerging solutions expert. He brings over 20 years of experience across the government and private sectors, driving industry growth, innovation, and digital transformation, leveraging a strong understanding of infrastructure technology with business acumen.  Marwan oversaw over $125M in emerging technologies deployments and policy, managed large government and private sector contracts and oversaw performance for cross-functional teams of subject matter experts.

At the New York Power Authority, Marwan is the Director of Digital Transformation, overseeing the rebranding of innovation to help accelerate the identification, adoption, and deployment of digital solutions across the organization.

Bill Pugh is the Co-founder of Smart Connections Consulting LLC, a firm that focuses on strategies and solutions for Cities, Utilities and other municipalities.  Bill is also the Co-founder of True North Software Solutions LLC, a SaaS company that builds and manages solutions for global customers.  These solutions include Digital Twins, Audit Trails for trust and transparency and many “Real Time” operational dashboards.   Bill has over 25 years of experience in developing, deploying and managing technologies for several private and public companies, and holds several technology patents. For the past 12yrs, Bill has had a significant focus on building both companies as “Employee Owned” and ensuring that Equity and Community are core to the culture and solution offerings

Anthony works as a Project Manager with Public Service Electric and Gas in Newark, New Jersey.

Anthony is responsible for the management of wireless co-location on all electric transmission towers and distribution poles for PSEG.

Anthony is a 1981 graduate of Newark College of Engineering ( NJIT ) and is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the state of New Jersey.

Gary Vondrasek, Manager Telecom Sales & Services

In his role as Manager of Telecom Sales & Services, Gary Vondrasek leads JEA’s communication initiatives and manages the 800-mile utility fiber optic network and utility transport networks in addition to the utility wireless networks which includes the utility owned communication towers and other vertical infrastructure.  Gary also manages the Pole Attachment, Wireless Collocation, and Dark Fiber enterprises for collocation and leasing.  Gary is highly skilled in both business development and operational management with the responsibility of developing and implementing strategies across all communications verticals.

Gary joined JEA in August of 2000 as a Product Development Coordinator and ascended through the ranks to become the Manager of Telecom Sales & Services.  Throughout his tenure at JEA, he has held the responsibility for managing multiple types of products and services, new product development, achieving operational and project metrics, budget and vendor management, business case development, and new product integrations.

Gary has over twenty-five years’ experience in the energy, gas, and telecommunications sectors with 15 years specifically with Pole Attachment, Wireless Collocation, and Fiber optic sales and operations.

Gary is a certified Six Sigma Greenbelt and is pursuing his Blackbelt certification.

Gary attended Valparaiso University and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in Business Economics.

Gary has been active with Utilities Technology Council (UTC) for over 19 years and is one of the original founding members of UtiliSite.  Gary is presently Chair of the Board of Directors for UTC.

Wesley Robb is an Account Manager with Network Innovations Inc., a leader in providing critical telecommunications solutions to the Utilities industry.  Drawing on more than 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Wesley has supported North American electrical Utilities define, develop and implement telecommunications solutions for Business Continuity, Fieldworker Communication and Infrastructure Connectivity (M2M/IoT/SCADA).  Over the course of his career, Wesley has held roles in new product development, product management and account management supporting wireline, cellular and satellite technologies.

Paul Zawada is a Staff Engineer in American Electric Power’s Energy Delivery Real Time Operations department, serving as a subject matter expert for Telecommunications, SCADA, and other Operational Technology systems used to support real-time transmission monitoring and assessment functions across AEP’s 11-state footprint.