We are no longer accepting applications for 2023 program committee members. 

The WEFTEC Program Committee accepts applications from the beginning of August until the end of October. If you are interested in joining the program committee, please visit this page next year.

What is the Steering Subcommittee?

To cover a wide-range of topics within the WEFTEC program, the committee is made up of 12 symposia. Each of these symposia are led by a chair and vice chair. These chairs and vice chairs make up the Program Committee's Steering Subcommittee.

What does the subcommittee do?

The Steering Subcommittee members are considered the leaders of the program committee. Their purpose is to organize and lead the efforts of the Program Committee.

Chair, Program Committee

Tom Sandy is a Vice President, Associate Director of Industrial Water and the Private Sector Enterprise Design Manager for Brown and Caldwell. He has over 34 years of experience in industrial water, wastewater, and residuals treatment; reuse; cooling towers; brine recovery; industrial pollution prevention program studies. He is accomplished in the design and operation of physical, chemical, and biological treatment systems. Mr. Sandy’s experience spans across the Chemicals, Food & Beverage, Forest Products, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Petrochemicals, Power, Landfill liquids, Mining, and Manufacturing industries with focus various constituents of concern in wastewater discharges from those industries. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in various states. He has a MS degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and BA degree in Chemistry from West Virginia University. He is a sustaining WEF and Industrial Water Technical Committee Member since 1984 and 2003, respectively.  

Vice Chair, Program Committee

Mr. Nichols is Professional Engineer who applies his expertise to help public clients address environmental challenges. As a Vice President and Practice Leader at Weston & Sampson, he has experience with the study, planning, design, procurement, construction and operation of wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater projects. He currently leads Weston & Sampson's Wastewater Treatment Practice, with a focus on planning to address regulatory contraints for systems, as well as addressing the needs of existing facilities to meet sustainability, resiliency and general modernization needs. Mr. Nichols has been a member of the WEFTEC Program Committee since 2009, and is a past chair of the Program Committee's Utility Management Symposium. He also serves on the Board of Driectors for the Massachusetts Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship, a non-profit organization that advocates for communities and public utilities in the challenging area of water, wastewater and stormwater regulations.   

Chair, Collection Systems & Distribution Symposium

Jim Shelton is a Vice President and National Technical Director for Buried Infrastructure for ARCADIS, focusing on condition assessment, rehabilitation, construction management, capacity assurance, operational assistance, and capital planning and management.  He specializes in large program development and in the delivery of turnkey pipeline rehabilitation projects using Construction Manager at Risk and Collaborative Design-Build.  He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Pennsylvania, is a licensed water and sewer contractor, and holds Professional Engineering licenses in Civil Engineering in 14 states. 

Vice Chair, Collection Systems & Distribution Symposium

Karyn Stickel, P.E., is an Associate in charge of the Asset Management Department of Hubbell, Roth & Clark in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she has been employed since 2001. In addition to a wide variety of municipal and utility engineering projects, Ms. Stickel has assisted communities with storm water management, green infrastructure and environmental enhancement assignments. She currently oversees over 60 asset management projects ranging in size from several hundred thousand to over two million dollars. Ms. Stickel has received certificates of training asset management from Indiana University/Purdue University in Indianapolis; is a certified floodplain manager; and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Chair, Disinfection & Public Health Symposium

Melanie Mann is the Chair of the Disinfection and Public Health Symposium of the WEF Program Committee and is an Associate Vice President with Hazen and Sawyer in Raleigh NC. 

Chair, Future Insights & Global Issues Symposium

Bernadette is a process engineer at Black & Veatch with 3 years of experience focused on optimization and design of wastewater treatment systems. She is passionate about biosolids (just ask her!), holistic waste management as it relates to the water-energy-food nexus, and addressing climate change. Bernadette is the 1st Vice Chair of the WEF Students & YP Committee, where she strives to build upon programs that show high school and college/university students the amazing opportunities and community awaiting them in the water industry. 

Chair, Facility Operations & Maintenance Symposium

Liam Cavanaugh is the Director of Operations for Metro Wastewater Reclamation District in Denver, CO, overseeing the treatment operations at both the Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility and the Northern Treatment Plant.  Liam has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering and Science from Colorado School of mines, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado School of Mines.  Liam has worked in treatment operations at multiple utilities since 2009, and is a licensed Professional Engineer and Class A Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator. His main interests lie in sustainable wastewater treatment technologies and resource recovery opportunities. A native of Colorado, Liam enjoys hiking, skiing, fishing, and other activities that take advantage of our most precious natural resource; water.

Vice Chair, Facility Operations & Maintenance Symposium

Ms. Mayer is an Associate at Hazen and Sawyer in their Cincinnati office.  She has over 10 years of experience with wastewater process evaluation and facility design. She currently specializes in wastewater treatment process modeling using BioWin, GPS-X and SUMO for process optimization and capacity evaluations. She has been involved in modeling and process optimization projects at over 40 wastewater facilities throughout the county. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and is a professional engineer licensed in the state of Ohio. She is a member of the WEFTEC Facility O&M Symposium Committee and is the Co-Chair of the local Southwest OWEA Plant Operations Committee.

Chair, Industrial Symposium

Lucy Pugh is a technical practice director and market sector leader for industrial water and wastewater treatment at AECOM.  She has developed and applied solutions to water and wastewater challenges in a broad range of industry sectors for more than 35 years.  Lucy's experience includes process troubleshooting, treatability and pilot tests, design, construction, and operations support for removal of a broad range of conventional and emerging pollutants through application of biological and physical/chemical technologies.  She is a member of AECOM's team that is developing and demonstrating DE-FLUORO^TM electrochemical technology for PFAS destruction, and holds Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Environmental and Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan.  

Vice Chair, Industrial Symposium

Kristen Jenkins is the Vice President of Sustainability Solutions with OLI Systems, Inc. Kristen has over 25 years of professional engineering and consulting experience in the area of industrial water and wastewater treatment, water quality compliance, and water management. She specializes in the area of conceptual evaluations, conceptual engineering, process simulation and bench/pilot testing. Kristen holds a BSChE degree from the University of Tennessee, an MSChE degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and is a Registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina.

Chair, Municipal Wastewater Treatment Process & Design Symposium

Dr. Belinda Sturm is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas. She also serves as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. Belinda earned her B.S. in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her PhD in Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame. Belinda currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Water Environment Federation’s Municipal Design Symposium and as Chair of the International Water Association’s USA National Committee Executive Board. At KU, Dr. Sturm leads a consortium Kansas Research for Environment and Water Sustainability, which conducts research for industry and utility partners.

Vice Chair, Municipal Wastewater Treatment Process & Design Symposium

Tim Constantine is Jacobs’ Global Technology Leader for Wastewater Treatment and works primarily out of their Toronto office.  He has 25 years of industry experience and has been involved in the design, optimization, and assessment of over 200 wastewater treatment plants around the world.  Tim’s expertise leads him to support projects worldwide, especially those that involve the development and application of innovative treatment options.   He holds two United States patents, both related to energy efficient biological nutrient removal processes. 

Chair, Research & Innovation Symposium

Eakalak Khan is a Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Department, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He received his Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering from Chiang Mai University, Thailand in 1990, M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from University of Hawaii in 1993, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1997. In 1998, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute of Environment, UCLA. Eakalak has published more than 150 refereed journal articles. His honors include the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2005; and Water Environment Federation Fellow, 2019.

Co-Vice Chair, Research & Innovation Symposium

Dr. Pusker Regmi is a process engineer/wastewater innovation leader with Brown and Caldwell. Pusker is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia and Maryland. He leads the applied research and implements a new wave of compact and efficient biological nutrient removal technologies. He began his applied research career at Hampton Roads Sanitation District, where he invented AvN for carbon-efficient nitrogen removal. His work has been published in top peer-reviewed water Journals, and he is a regular presenter at WEF and IWA conferences worldwide. Dr. Regmi is a vice-chair of WEF research and innovation symposium and member of IWA nutrient removal and recovery specialist group management committee. 

Chair, Residuals & Biosolids Management Symposium

Jeanette Brown is a Research Assistant Professor at Manhattan College, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is a registered professional engineer, a Board Certified Environmental Engineer, a Diplomate in the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers, and a past-president of the Water Environment Federation. Her areas of expertise include biological nitrogen removal, biosolids processing and management, and energy recovery from wastewater. She has published and presented numerous papers on these topics nationally and internationally.

Chair, Stormwater Management Symposium

Carol Hufnagel is the national wet weather practice leader for Tetra Tech, specializing in the evaluation and control of sewer systems impacted by wet weather flow, including separate sanitary systems and combined sewer systems. Her background in wet weather controls includes planning, modeling, design and post construction assessment of a wide range of wet weather technology controls. She also has a significant background in green infrastructure with an emphasis on institutional issues, project selection, outreach, design and assessment. She was the consultant lead for the establishment of the Detroit GSI program, and has also worked on CSO and green infrastructure programs in Omaha, St. Louis, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Toledo. She was the lead for the Water Environment Federation’s Green Infrastructure Implementation Manual published in 2014.

Vice Chair, Stormwater Management Symposium

Caroline Burger is the flood mitigation program manager for the City of Madison, WI.  She manages the City’s flood mitigation watershed studies and facilities the implementation of flood control measures.  Prior to the City of Madison, Caroline worked as a consultant for private consulting firms where she specialized in urban water quality and quantity modeling and design.  Caroline also assisted with the development of numerous stormwater utilities.  She was the lead for the Water Environment Federation’s Stormwater, Watershed, and Receiving Water Quality Modeling published in 2020.

Chair, Utility Management & Leadership Symposium

Aditya Ramamurthy is an Asset and Utility Management leader at Hazen and Sawyer. He has over 19 years of experience driving multiple projects for water and wastewater clients primarily in the Mid-Atlantic Region. His focus areas include utility management areas including asset management, capital infrastructure planning and assessment, data analytics and governance, and business process optimization. Mr. Ramamurthy has a MS in Civil Engineering, and an MBA in Operations Management. Mr. Ramamurthy currently serves as the Chair for the CIP Planning & Delivery sub-committee part of the WEF Utility Management Committee.

Chair, Water Reuse & Reclamation Symposium

Graham was born in Africa and moved to southern California with his family over 20-years ago. He works for Carollo Engineers, and currently serves as the Chair of the Water Reuse Symposium Planning Sub-Committee for WEF.

Vice Chair, Water Reuse & Reclamation Symposium

Germano is the HRSD’s manager of the SWIFT Project. He is responsible for serving as a technical resource and manager for all HRSD work related to SWIFT processes, operations, research and equipment and currently responsible for day-to-day operations of the SWIFT Research Center. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master's degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Germano has 10+ years of experience in various aspects of water, wastewater and watereuse infrastucture. He was recognized by the WateReuse Organization as the Young Professional of the year 2017 per his notable contributions in the research and application of water reuse, water quality, and new directions in water treatment technologies. He was recently appointed by WEF to be the Vice Chair of the Water Reuse Planning Committee.

Chair, Watershed Resources Management and Sustainability Symposium

Geoff has more than 27 years of experience in planning and management responsibilities for a wide range of environmental engineering projects relating to drinking water, wastewater, and storm water including: sampling and monitoring programs, regulatory compliance, and design/construction supervision. Most recently, Geoff has worked closely with large municipal clients to evaluate solutions for Consent Decree projects by integrating sustainable improvements and other cost effective initiatives to reduce the need for traditional grey infrastructure projects. He has represented clients in both the public and private sector and has experience working for a regulatory agency, which offers clients the perspective of both the regulator and regulated community when developing solutions for projects.

Vice Chair, Watershed Resources Management and Sustainability Symposium

Jamie Hughes is a Water Resources Analyst in the Regulatory Affairs Department at Clean Water Services, a water resource management utility in Washington County, Oregon.  At CWS, Jamie assists in the implementation of the watershed-based NPDES and stormwater permits and permit-related programs including the water quality credit trading program for temperature, is the lead for all of CWS’ regulatory reporting to DEQ and EPA, and is also actively involved in CWS’ integrated planning and subbasin planning efforts.  Jamie is an active member of WEF, Oregon ACWA, and PNCWA and serves on several committees within those organizations.  Prior to working at Clean Water Services, Jamie graduated from Oregon State University with a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and a minor in chemistry.