Committee Leaders

Committee 1 – Roadway & Ballast

Class of 2027

Chair

Eric J. Frostestad, PE

Sr Railroad Project Engineer

HDR

Email: eric.frostestad@hdrinc.com

Vice Chair

Shawn R. Coombs, PE

Federal Engineering Manager

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.

Email: shawn.coombs@adspipe.com

Secretary

Felicia Morgan

Manager Track Design

BNSF Railway

Email: Felicia.Morgan@bnsf.com

Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems 

Class of 2027

Chair

Lariza Stewart

Director, Business Development

ENSCO, Inc.

Email: stewart.lariza@ensco.com

Vice Chair

Timothy Boland

Sr. Manager Engineering Systems

Union Pacific

Email: tjboland@up.com

Secretary

Nao Nishio

Manager of Engineering Technology

Brightline

Email: nao.nishio@gobrightline.com

Committee 4 – Rail

Class of 2027

Chair

W. Brian Mullins

Mgr Rail Welding

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: brian.mullins@nscorp.com

Vice Chair

Anna Albers

Director - Track Compliance

Amtrak

Email: anna.albers@amtrak.com

Secretary (NV)

Douglas Nikl

Technical Service Engineer

EVRAZ Inc.

Email: douglas.nikl@evrazna.com

Committee 5 - Track

Class of 2027

Chair

Joshua Brass

Chief Engineering Services

CSX Transportation

Email: josh_brass@csx.com

Vice Chair

Donald H. Arant, PE

Vice President-Engineering

North Carolina Railroad Company

Email: donaldarant@ncrr.com

Secretary

Brandon K. Smith

Metallurgical Engineer

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: brandon.smith3@nscorp.com

Committee 6 - Rail Facilities, Utilities and Buildings

Class of 2027

Chair

Alois J. Kostelnik, PE

Principal Engineer

ARCADIS

Email: Al.Kostelnik@arcadis.com

Vice Chair

Derek Brown, PE

Manager Engineering

BNSF Railway

Email: derek.brown3@bnsf.com

Secretary

Anamaria Bonilla, PE

Chief Engineer - MOW

Metro North Railroad

Email: anamariabonilla@mnr.org

Committee 7 – Timber Structures

Class of 2025

Chair

Stephanie E. Swanson, PE

General Director

ARE Corporation

Email: sswanson@are-corp.com

Vice Chair

Jonathan Winer, PE

Project Manager

Alfred Benesch & Company

Email: jwiner@benesch.com

Secretary

Nicholas Bayer, PE

Regional Engineer Structures - Central Region

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: nicholas.bayer@nscorp.com

Committee 8 – Concrete Structures & Foundations

Class of 2027

Chair

Paul B. Michiels, PE

Structures National Practice Lead - Rail/Industrial

Wilson & Company, Inc.

Email: paul.michiels@wilsonco.com

Vice Chair

Damian Wallner, PE

Senior Manager of Structures Design

Union Pacific

Email: dgwallne@up.com

Secretary

Lisa Hoekenga, PE, SE

Director- Rail Bridges & Structures

Michael Baker International

Email: lisa.hoekenga@mbakerintl.com

Committee 9 – Seismic Design for Railway Structures

Class of 2027

Chair

Sean Cooney, PE

Senior Project Manager - Rail and Movable Bridge

HNTB Corporation

Email: scooney@hntb.com

Vice Chair

Mark Giesmann, PE

NE/IA Freight Rail Structures Section Manager

HDR

Email: mark.giesmann@hdrinc.com

Secretary

Eric Thornley, PE, SE, SPRAT 3

Bridge Engineer & Inspector

Collins Engineers

Email: ethornley@collinsengr.com

Committee 10 – Structures Maintenance & Construction

Class of 2025

Chair

Nila Abubakar, PE

Principal / Managing Director / Diagnostics

Walter P. Moore

Email: NAbubakar@walterpmoore.com

Vice Chair

Michael Schaefer

Assist Dir Br Const

BNSF Railway

Email: michael.schaefer2@bnsf.com

Secretary

Rebecca Wingate, PE

CREATE Program Manager

Association of American Railroads (AAR)

Email: rwingate@aar.org

Committee 11 - Commuter & Intercity Rail Systems

Class of 2026

Chair

Amanda Kessler, PE

Senior Program Manager

Amtrak

Email: amanda.kessler@amtrak.com

Vice Chair

Michael Fields

Sr. Program Manager

Amtrak

Email: fieldsm@amtrak.com

Secretary

Emily A. Nash (Yessick), PE

Email: emilyyessick@gmail.com

Committee 12 - Rail Transit

Class of 2026

Chair

Peter W. Fedun, PE

Senior Project Manager

KKCS, Inc.

Email: peter.fedun@kkcsinc.com

Vice Chair

Lucas Reed, PE

Vice President, West Coast Freight & Passenger Rail

Wilson & Company, Inc.

Email: Lucas.Reed@wilsonco.com

Secretary

David McCune, PE

Senior Project Manager

HDR

Email: david.mccune@hdrinc.com

Committee 13 - Environmental

Class of 2027

Chair

Peter T. Masson

Principal

TRC Companies

Email: pmasson@trccompanies.com

Vice Chair

Matt A. Williams, PE, PMP

Senior Program Manager

Amtrak

Email: matthew.williams@amtrak.com

Secretary

Ned Bagniewski, PE

Railroad Engineer

HDR

Email: ned.bagniewski@hdrinc.com

Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals

Class of 2025

Chair

Kirsten N. Bowen, PE

VP/National Director, Rail and Transit

Michael Baker International

Email: knbowen@mbakerintl.com

Vice Chair

L. Brack Brown, PE

System Engineer Design

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: leslie.brown@nscorp.com

Secretary

Darwin H. Schafer, II, PE

Railroad Civil Group Manager

Alfred Benesch & Company

Email: dschafer@benesch.com

Committee 15 – Steel Structures

Class of 2026

Chair

Ruth V. Brown, PE

Chief Engineer Bridges & Structures

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: ruth.brown@nscorp.com

Vice Chair

Christopher L. Johnson, PE

Scientist

MxV Rail

Email: Christopher_johnson@aar.com

Emeritus Secretary

Gary S. Powell, SE

Principal, Structural Manager

10-4 Engineering, PLLC

Email: gsphawk@comcast.net

Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations

Class of 2026

Chair

C. Tyler Dick, PhD, PE

Assistant Professor

University of Texas At Austin

Email: ctdick@utexas.edu

Vice Chair

Timothy D. Robinson, P.Eng.

Chief of Staff, President & CEO

CN

Email: timothy.robinson@cn.ca

Secretary

Richard S. Lanyi, P.Eng.

Senior Railway Engineer

Lanyi Rail Solutions Ltd.

Email: richard@lanyirsl.com

Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems

Class of 2027

Chair

Skylar M. Leach

Manager: Work Planning & Major Outages

Amtrak

Email: skylar.leach@amtrak.com

Vice Chair

Daniel J. Seery, PE

Senior Trackwork Engineer

HNTB Corporation

Email: dseery@hntb.com

Secretary

Dante J. DeAnnuntis

Director - Integration & Operations | CAPD

Amtrak

Email: dante.deannuntis@amtrak.com

Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways

Class of 2026

Chair

Charles M. Tucker

Project Manager

Farnsworth Group, Inc.

Email: ctucker@f-w.com

Vice Chair

Lucas J. Brewer

Senior Project Manager

Colliers Engineering & Design

Email: lucas.brewer@collierseng.com

Secretary

Kevin Walker, PE

Principal Engineer

CSR Engineering, Inc.

Email: kevin.walker@csrengineers.com

Committee 24 - Education & Professional Development

Class of 2025

Chair

John G. Green, PhD, PE

Lecturer and Researcher

California State University-Fresno

Email: johngreen@mail.fresnostate.edu

Vice Chair

Matthew E. Chrapek, PE

Director of Structures Inspection

Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

Email: matthew.chrapek@gwrr.com

Secretary

Nicolas R. Kern, PE

Kimley-Horn

Email: nicolas.kern@kimley-horn.com

Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment

Class of 2026

Chair

Matthew Albanese

Senior Director of Track Production

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Email: malbanese@mbta.com

Vice Chair

Shane Harrell

Director Work Equipment

CSX Transportation

Email: shane_harrell@csx.com

Committee 28 – Clearances

Class of 2026

Chair

Greg McComas, Jr.

Clearance Manager

BNSF Railway

Email: gregory.mccomas@bnsf.com

Vice Chair

Branson Phillips

Clearance Engineer

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: branson.phillips@nscorp.com

Secretary (NV)

Timothy J. Francis

Vice President US/LATAM

Cordel

Email: timfrancis@cordel.ai

Committee 30 - Ties and Fasteners

Class of 2026

Chair

Steven Melniczuk

Director, Track Engineering

Amtrak

Email: steven.melniczuk@amtrak.com

Vice Chair

Ricardo J. Quiros Orozco

Engineering Manager

Voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak, Inc.

Email: ricardo.quiros@voestalpine.com

Secretary

Arthur De Oliveira Lima

Sr. Research Engineer

University of Illinois

Email: aolima@illinois.edu

Committee 33 - Electric Energy Utilization

Class of 2026

Chair

Joanna Pardini

Senior Project Manager

Gannett Fleming, Inc.

Email: jpardini@gfnet.com

Vice Chair

Jonathan C. Schmidt, PE

Vice President

AECOM

Email: jon.schmidt@aecom.com

Secretary (NV)

Grace Baird, PE

Rail Systems Lead - West

Arup

Email: gracembaird@gmail.com

Committee 34 – Scales

Class of 2025

Chair

Damon A. Smith

Assistant Regional Engineer

CSX Transportation

Email: Damon_smith@csx.com

Vice Chair

Shawn C. Good

Sr. Director of Scale Services

Rail Scale, Inc.

Email: shawn@railscale.com

Secretary

David E. Gogolin

Superintendent of Scales

Norfolk Southern Railway

Email: degogolin@comcast.net

Secretary

Joshua Marschke

Director Eng Standards

CSX Transportation

Email: joshua_marschke@csx.com

Committee 35 - Information Technology

Class of 2025

Chair

Robert W. Kramer

Technical Project Manager

Wabtec Corporation

Email: robert.kramer@wabtec.com

Vice Chair

Marty Schlenker

Head of Analytics & Applications

Parallel Systems

Email: marty@moveparallel.com

Secretary

Roger Saborido

Principal Electrical Engineer

Parsons Services Company

Email: Roger.Saborido@parsons.com

Committee 36 – Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Systems

Class of 2025

Chair

Shawn Hall

Assistant Director Signal Design

BNSF Railway

Email: shawn.hall@bnsf.com

Vice Chair

Dale R. Hill

Project Manager

Email: hill82935@gmail.com

Secretary

David C. Flores

Asst. Chief Engineer Signal Design

Keolis Commuter Services

Email: David.Flores@Keoliscs.com

Committee 37 – Signal Systems

Class of 2026

Emeritus Chair

Leonard M. Wydotis

Global Product Line Mgr-Electro Mechan

Siemens

Email: lenny.wydotis@siemens.com

Vice Chair

Carrene Gilbert, PE

Sr. Professional Engineer

Pacific Railway Enterprises, Inc.

Email: cgilbert@pacrail.com

Secretary

Samuel C. Buchanan

Project Manager

Alfred Benesch & Company

Email: sambuchanan@att.net

Committee 38 – Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems

Class of 2027

Chair

John D. Danyluk

Senior Manager, Product Management

Meteorcomm LCC

Email: john@danyluk.com

Vice Chair

Spencer Furgeson

Engineer Systems Detectors

BNSF Railway

Email: Spencer.Furgeson@BNSF.com

Secretary

Paul E. Younger

President

Nebraska Signal Design & Support, Inc.

Email: paulyounger@epbfi.com

Committee 39 – Positive Train Control

Class of 2027

Chair

Carlos Aguilera

Signal R&D - Engineer Signals III

BNSF Railway

Email: Carlos.Aguilera@BNSF.com

Vice Chair

Roger C. French

Systems Engineer

Modern Railway Systems

Email: rfrench@modrailsystems.com

Secretary

Mark Hunter

Hatch

Email: mark.hunter@hatch.com

Committee 40 – Engineering Safety & Training

Class of 2025

Chair

Matt Rossing, CSP

Vice President - Safety

RailWorks Corporation

Email: mrossing@railworks.com

Vice Chair

Adam Shepherd

Senior Operations Manager

National Railroad Safety Services, Inc.

Email: ashepherd@nrssinc.net

Secretary

James Rose

Sr. Technical Instructor - Engineering Compliance

Union Pacific

Email: jmrose@up.com

Committee 41 – Track Maintenance

Class of 2024

Chair

Keith Keene

Manager - Engineering Standards and Specifications

Amtrak

Email: Keith.Keene@Amtrak.com

Secretary

Perditha Sloan

Sr. Engineer Track

Metro North Railroad

Email: Sloan@mnr.org