Join us on February 2nd from 10am-11am CT for this engaging forum!

Engage with industry leaders and gain unique insights in this panel put on by the Women in Concrete Alliance, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA).  The panel, featuring executives at state highway agencies and moderated by Brandye Hendrickson, AASHTO Deputy Director, will provide their perspectives on issues facing every Department of Transportation (DOT) including:  building for the future, state funding, challenges during the pandemic, and the engineer’s right to choose.  The group of senior leaders will shed new light on pressing topics and provide implementable career tools.

Panel participants:

About Our Virtual School

Pipe School is the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA)’s annual event where members, DOTs, consulting engineers, subject matter experts, and other industry personnel get together to discuss, learn, and engage with one another.  The school advances the industry by teaching classes on production, advanced production, and quality, while engaging with industry stakeholders to ensure that they are provided with information vital to their decision making process.  Keeping the safety of the participants at the forefront, the 2021 Pipe School will move to a virtual platform, but promises to provide as engaging of presentations and allowing for more participants than ever before.

Kim Spahn, PE

Vice President – American Concrete Pipe Association

Vice President of the ACPA for Strategy and State Operations representing one of the largest National/International Associations that support the Nation’s Transportation and Infrastructure needs. As Vice President, she leads the American Concrete Pipe Association as the spokesperson for the concrete pipe industry in all matters affecting the industry’s welfare. ACPA represents over 400 Manufacturing Plants in the USA and Canada, and represents over 125 Members both Nationally and Internationally. Spahn drive initiatives for 7 Strategic ACPA Committees (Quality, Safety, Education, Marketing, Government Relations/Lobbyist, Infrastructure, and Research) that are the foundation of the Associations success, mission, and vision. Spahn develops technical resource teams and executes national and local strategies that supports America’s Infrastructure.

Spahn also serves as the President of the ACPA Research and Education Foundation. The Foundation develops and funds research that supports the goals of the ACPA. Spahn is responsible for managing the Foundation’s budget including fundraising and management of research initiatives. The Foundation also provides educational grants to individuals to attend seminars and schools that foster knowledge of all types of pipe under her management.

Brandye Hendrickson, PE

Deputy Director – AASHTO

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has named Brandye Hendrickson, currently the Federal Highway Administration’s deputy administrator, as its new deputy director.

Appointed as FHWA deputy administrator in July 2017, Hendrickson served as the agency’s acting administrator for two years until Nicole Nason officially became FHWA’s administrator in May.

“I am thrilled that someone with Brandye’s experience and leadership ability is joining the AASHTO team,” said Jim Tymon, AASHTO’s executive director, in a statement. “She has a deep knowledge of the challenges facing surface transportation and that knowledge is going to directly benefit AASHTO and our member departments of transportation.”

Before joining FHWA, Hendrickson served as commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation for two years and served as a member of AASHTO’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee until her FHWA appointment.

Hendrickson originally joined the Indiana DOT in 2006, first as deputy commissioner for human resources, then as a deputy commissioner overseeing operations for the Greenfield District – the agency’s largest district that encompasses the state capital of Indianapolis. She also served as interim commissioner of the Indiana DOT in 2013.

A graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, Hendrickson is also a certified Professional in Human Resources.

“I’m excited about continuing to serve the transportation community in this new role and joining such a great team at AASHTO,” she said in a statement.

Yassmin Gramian, PE

Secretary – Pennsylvania DOT

Yassmin Gramian, P.E., serves as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, a position that she assumed in May 2020. She manages PennDOT’s annual budget of $9.5 billion and oversees programs and policies affecting highways, urban and rural public transportation, airports, railroads, ports, and waterways. Under her leadership, the department is directly responsible for Pennsylvania’s vast system of state and local highways and bridges, as well as oversees the state’s vehicle registration, driver’s licenses and ID operations. Prior to joining PennDOT, Gramian worked for over 30 years in operations, design, and management of transportation infrastructure systems, including highway, tolling, bridge, and railroad projects. Gramian earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Michigan and completed the Tuck Management Training Program at Dartmouth College. She is a professional engineer in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Florida.

Melinda McGrath

Executive Director – Mississippi DOT

The Mississippi Transportation Commission appointed Melinda L. McGrath as Executive Director in January, 2011. The Executive Director has full and general supervision over administrative and technical matters relating to airport and port development, highway construction and maintenance, weight enforcement, public transit, and rail safety. The Executive Director administers the policies approved by the Transportation Commission and prepares reports to the Legislature and the Governor.

Melinda began her career with MDOT in 1985 after graduating from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, she served in many roles, including project engineer in both the northern and southern districts, and district area engineer over six coastal counties. In 2003, she was named Assistant Chief-Engineer-Field Operations. She was promoted to the position of Deputy Executive Director/Chief Engineer in August 2008.

Julie Lorenz

Secretary – Kansas DOT

Julie Lorenz was appointed by Gov. Laura Kelly in January 2019 to lead the Kansas Department of Transportation. With more than 25 years of experience, she is recognized as a national leader in the areas of policy development, collaboration and the use of economic analysis to communicate the value of transportation investment.

Previously, Lorenz led strategic consulting and public engagement services for the Transportation Global Practice at Burns & McDonnell, where she managed transportation projects at the local, regional and national levels. Lorenz led research for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program on topics such as long-term and emerging trends in transportation and how to create and sustain a culture of innovation for state departments of transportation. She is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board and is chairing the Council on Aviation for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Lorenz is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Psychology and Drury University, where she earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Psychology and Business Administration.

Her role of secretary is her second tour of duty for KDOT, as she served as the Director of Public Affairs from 2003 to 2011.

Victoria Sheehan

Commissioner – New Hampshire DOT

Sworn in as the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation on October 19, 2015, Victoria Sheehan oversees a $650 million state agency of over 1,600 employees dedicated to providing safe and efficient transportation systems.

Ms. Sheehan brings both transportation engineering and management experience in projects and programs to her role as Commissioner. In her years as a dedicated public employee, she has worked as a resident engineer in bridge maintenance and as a project manager with a record of delivering contracts on-time and on-budget. She has extensive experience in asset and performance management.

In her previous position as Manager of Strategic Planning and Highway Performance at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Ms. Sheehan was responsible for the Highway Division’s $5 billion capital plan and annual $600 million operating budget. While at MassDOT, Ms. Sheehan also served as the Program Manager for the state’s recently completed $3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program.

Commissioner Sheehan is originally from Ireland and has a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering and Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. In her free time, she also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Camp Wanakee in Meredith NH. She lives in Nashua, NH with her husband Sean.

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