2024 Conference Speakers

Dr. Caplice is a Senior Research Scientist at MIT and serves as the Executive Director for the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. He created and leads the MITx MicroMaster’s Program in Supply Chain Management for which he was awarded the MITx Prize for Teaching and Learning, the Irwin Sizer Award for the Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education, and the MIT Teaching with Digital Technology Award. He also founded and directs the MIT FreightLab. Chris was named the Silver Family Research Fellow and awarded the CSCMP Distinguished Service Award in 2016. Outside of MIT, he serves as the Chief Scientist for DAT Freight and Analytics.

Rebecca Brewster is President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).  ATRI is the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, whose mission is research to improve the trucking industry’s safety and productivity.
 
Rebecca is the recipient of several awards including Fleet Owner magazine’s 2016 Dozen Outstanding Women in Trucking, the 2013 Influential Woman in Trucking award from the Women in Trucking Association, and the 2010 J.R. Bob Halladay award given by the 50 state trucking associations.
             
Rebecca has been with ATRI for over 30 years.  Prior to that, she was the Public and Governmental Affairs Director for the Cary, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and a Fleet Analyst with Moen, Inc.  Rebecca has a B.A. in English from Wofford College and she is a Fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership.

Joshua M. Evans is on a mission to fundamentally change the way people view their work by bringing deeper purpose into the workplace. The modern workplace has increased levels of uncertainty leading to individuals becoming burned out, disengaged, unfulfilled, and unhappy. Joshua is destroying toxic workplace preconceptions and pursuing a future of work where individuals derive deeper meaning and purpose in the work they do. Starting out in the corporate world, Joshua has spent over 15 years studying human behavior in the workplace. After Joshua's first book became a #1 best seller, he began his journey to dramatically shift how people view purpose in their work. Joshua has spoken to 100's of organizations including American Express, GE, Starbucks, The US Department of the Interior, ExxonMobile, and many others. His insights have been featured in: Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, INC., and others. In truth, Joshua M. Evans is a pretty wild character. He's a Keynote Speaker, TEDx programmer, best selling author, adventure seeker, former white water rafting guide, and corporate executive. Joshua lives in Texas spending his free time seeking out deep life experiences and adventures with his lovely wife and three spirited children.

Award-winning Artist, Roboticist, Filmmaker, and UC Berkeley Engineering Professor Ken Goldberg is a popular public speaker who combines compelling images and videos in dynamic presentations on emerging trends in Artificial Intelligence and Robots. Ken trains the next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs in his research lab at UC Berkeley; he has published over 300 papers inrobotics and social media and holds 8 US Patents. His work has been cited in over 15,000 publications. Ken is co-founder and Chief Scientist at Ambi Robotics. Ken is a pioneer in technology and artistic visual expression, bridging the “Two Cultures” of Art and Science. With unique skills in communication and creative problem solving, invention, and thinking on the edge, Ken has presented over 600 keynote and invited lectures to audiences around the world. Ken was awarded the NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship from President Bill Clinton in 1995 and elected IEEE Fellow in 2005.

Ken and his students pioneer research in robot grasping, motion, and design for applications ranging from surgery to manufacturing to home automation to precision agriculture. Ken’s artwork has appeared in 70 exhibits including the Whitney Biennial and he developed the first provably complete algorithm for part feeding and the first robot on the Internet. Ken served as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions onAutomation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), Co-Founder of: the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM), Hybrid Wisdom Labs, the Moxie Film Studio, the African Robotics Network (AFRON), and Founding Director of UC Berkeley’s Art, Technology, and Culture Lecture Series. Ken’s projects are regularly featured on television, radio, and in publications such as the New York Times, The Atlantic, MIT TechReview, BBC, Fast Company, der Spiegel, and Rolling Stone.

Cal Ripken is baseball’s all-time “Iron Man.” He retired from the game in October 2001 after 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. His name appears in the record books repeatedly, most notably as one of only ten players in history to achieve 400 home runs and 3,000 hits. On July 29, 2007 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, collecting the second highest vote total ever by the BBWAA.
 
Ripken has always placed a strong focus on giving back to the community. In 2001, he and his family established the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation in memory of the family’s patriarch, longtime coach, and mentor, Cal Ripken, Sr. For the last 18 years, the Foundation has worked tirelessly to implement youth development programs and create parks that directly address the problems facing at-risk youth in distressed communities across the country.
 
He has authored nearly 30 books, including a New York Times Bestselling autobiography “The Only Way I Know." In addition, he has written books on baseball instruction, coaching and various children’s selections.
 
Ripken is a co-owner and contributor to The Experts Network (TXN), an interactive digital sports network consisting of sports analysis along with Phil Simms, Cris Collinsworth, Howie Long, Nick Faldo and Boomer Esiason.

Ripken resides in Annapolis, MD with his wife Laura and has two children. 

Eric is a leading researcher in freight modal share analysis and forecasting including rail and truck freight movements and asset equipment purchases.  He is considered one of the premier industry forecasters on transportation equipment demand for rail cars, commerical trucks and trailers. Eric frequently is requested to speak at Wall Street analyst meetings, association events, and private meetings because of his unique ability to communicate to his audiences and easily convey how the macro-economy, logistics, freight and equipment demand impacts the various industry segments. Eric resides in Bloomington, Indiana and is an active member of the transportation community, former board member for NITL and was instrumental in the creation of the Indiana University Transportation Board.

Stephanie Thomas is the Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Supply Chain Management and the Executive Director of WISE (Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence). She earned her Ph.D. in Logistics/Supply Chain Management with a marketing support area from Georgia Southern University and a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee. Prior to coming to the University of Arkansas, she was an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. Stephanie enjoys incorporating her previous work experience with Lowe’s Companies, IBM, and Stanley Tools in her class discussions. She was also recently named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting.