Join the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapters of WTS and ASHE for the latest on driverless cars.  Our panel consists of the following industry leaders and will be moderated by Natalie Bettger:

 Natalie Bettger is a Senior Program Manager for the North Central Texas  Council of Governments (NCTCOG).  The North Central Texas Council of  Governments serves the region as its Metropolitan Planning Organization  by developing transportation plans and programs that address the complex  needs of the rapidly growing Dallas-Fort Worth area.  Natalie serves as the  manager of the Congestion Management, Safety, Security, and Information  Systems program areas for NCTCOG.  She earned her undergraduate  degree in Geography from Northwest Missouri State University, and a  graduate degree in Urban Planning from the University of Akron.  

Jim Barbaresso is Vice President and National Practice Leader for Intelligent  Transportation Systems at HNTB Corporation. He has more than 37 years of  experience in  transportation planning, traffic operations, and ITS in both the public  and private sectors.  Throughout his career, Jim has demonstrated leadership in the  development of emerging  technologies, transportation safety, ITS deployment, and  new concepts in transportation  financing. In recognition of Jim’s international  reputation and leadership in Intelligent  Trans

portation Systems, he was selected to  chair the 2014 ITS World Congress, which was  a springboard for new developments in vehicle connectivity and automation.

 Jennie Ecclestone has served as the Manager, Arlington Assembly and Western    Regional Communications since December of 2014 based in Dallas, Texas. Prior to  this  role, Jennie supported the external communications manager for the global  engineering,  cybersecurity and safety teams at GM’s headquarters in Detroit, Mich. 

  In her current position, Jennie leads internal and external communications efforts  for GM’s  most financially significant assembly plant, Arlington Assembly. She also serves as an  extension of the West Coast Regional Communications team acting as a brand advocate for regional auto shows, managing regional media relations and vehicle fleets and creating innovative grassroots programming.

  Dr. Christopher Poe is the Assistant Director at the Texas A&M Transportation  Institute for  Connected and Automated Transportation Strategy.  In his current  position, he is leading  connected and automated vehicle, intelligent transportation  system, transportation  operations, and toll road research projects for a number of  sponsors nationally.  Dr. Poe is  currently involved in the I-35 Connected Work Zone  deployment, eco-signal operation, and  truck platooning research.  Prior to his  current position, Dr. Poe spent six years in the  private sector leading ITS projects  in the Central U.S. Region.  

 Dr. Jianming Ma is a Transportation Engineer with the Texas Department of  Transportation (TxDOT).  Prior to joining TxDOT, he worked as a Transportation  Safety  Engineer for the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT).   Dr. Ma has  more than twenty years of professional and research experience in  connected vehicle,  econometric modeling, human factors, intelligent transportation  systems (ITS), systems  engineering, traffic engineering, and traffic safety.   Dr. Ma  is a member of the  Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Safety Data, Analysis and Evaluation, ANB20 and SAE DSRC Technical Committee.  He also sits on TRB’s Traffic Speed and Safety – Cross-cutting Issues Joint Subcommittee (ANB20-5) and TRB Active Traffic Management Joint Subcommittee (AHB20-5).  He is a friend of TRB’s Freeway Operations Committee (AHB20).