Keynote Session
Monday, June 3, 2024
Time: 8:00 – 10:00 AM
Brian M. Kozy, Ph.D., P.E.,
2024 IBC General Chair
Michael Baker International
Dr. Brian Kozy is a Senior Vice President and National Technical Director for Bridges at Michael Baker International. He has a breadth of experience in providing design, independent review, owner’s representation, federal oversight, and design quality assurance on complex bridges and other major infrastructure projects. He is known for his technical expertise, practical sense, and leadership skills to represent stakeholder interests, deliver solutions, and support sound decision-making in large, complex projects.
Prior to his current position at Michael Baker, Brian served as Principal Bridge Engineer for Federal Highway Administration for ten years, where he led the FHWA review and approval of most major and unusual bridge and tunnel projects across the U.S. In his position he provided technical support to DOTs for complex structural engineering problems where no standards or specifications exist. He conducted investigations into structural failures to explain the probable cause(s) and developed associated recommendations. Through ongoing support services to FHWA, he continues to provide technical guidance and training to DOTs across the U.S. on topics related to bridge construction, design, and evaluation. He has served on the IBC Executive Committee for approximately ten years.
Graham Bettis
Graham is the Texas State Bridge Engineer, and in that role he helps to oversee the design, construction, inspection, and maintenance of the statewide inventory of 56,000 bridges. His background is primarily in structural evaluation and preservation. Graham graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999 and worked as consultant in the forensic engineering field before moving to TxDOT in 2006.
Krishna Kumar
Krishna Kumar is an assistant professor at the Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering and an affiliate member at the Oden Institute of Computational Sciences at UT Austin. Krishna received his PhD in Engineering at the University of Cambridge, UK, in multi-scale and multiphysics modeling. Krishna’s work involves developing AI-accelerated multiphysics and multi-scale numerical methods. His research is on physics-based machine learning techniques, such as graph networks and differentiable simulators, to solve inverse and design problems and application of AI-accelerated and DiffSims to model robot-soil interactions. He is the PI and Director of Chishiki AI, an NSF-funded AI in Civil Engineering Ecosystem.
Roger Allen Polson
Roger Allen Polson is a radio broadcaster, writer, producer and professional communicator now based out of Wimberley, Texas, about 60 miles north of San Antonio. He began his radio broadcasting career in 1968 and, though mostly retired, continues working into his 6th decade with the Wimberley community radio station. In 1989, he began a career with the Texas Department of Transportation. During his 20-plus years with the department he was editor and director of internal communications, spokesperson, speechwriter and finally coordinator of the monthly Texas Transportation Commission meetings held in Austin and various locations around the state. Upon retiring from TxDOT in 2012, he embarked on an ambitious project to produce a privately-financed book celebrating the centennial of the Texas Highway Department observed in 2017. Miles and Miles of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas Highway Department was published in partnership with Texas A&M University Press in Fall 2016. Roger has a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin. The irony of having a BS degree in communications is not lost on him. He lives in Wimberley with his wife, Cash, and foster dog Timmy.
Craig Thompson
In January 2019, Governor Tony Evers appointed Craig Thompson to serve as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). WisDOT is one of Wisconsin’s largest state agencies, with more than 3,100 employees and a biennial budget of more than $8 billion.
The department supports all modes of transportation, including state highways, local roads, railroads, public transit systems, airports, and harbors. In addition, the department includes the Division of Motor Vehicles, which serves about 50,000 customers each week in-person and through online services, and the Division of State Patrol, a premier law enforcement agency that enforces laws and assists motorists throughout the state.
Craig plays an active role in transportation policy at the national and regional levels. He will serve as 2024 president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) after serving as the organization’s vice president in 2023. He also served as the 2020 president of the Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO).
Previously Craig was the executive director of the Transportation Development Association (TDA) of Wisconsin. He has more than 30 years of experience working with Wisconsin businesses, communities, legislators and units of government. Prior to leading TDA, he served as the legislative director for the Wisconsin Counties Association, managing legislative initiatives at the state and federal levels.
Craig is a native of Racine and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Madison with his wife. They have a daughter and a son.