In this webinar, leading experts discuss the infrastructure challenges the US Heartland must overcome to remain globally competitive in this rapidly changing world. We’ll also learn, politics aside, what shared challenges and solutions are there for global collaboration in infrastructure. After the panelist discussion, the floor was opened for a question-and-answer session for the webinar participants.
This event is part of USHCA’s ongoing series, The Way Forward, where we discuss different ideas and initiatives used by the US and China and how they can be applied to the Heartland region.Â
Robin A. Kemper
ASCE Past President, PE, LEED AP, ENV SP, F.SEI, F.ASCE
Robin A. Kemper
Robin A. Kemper, PE, LEED AP, ENV SP, F.SEI, F.ASCE and ASCE Past President has over thirty-five years of diverse and extensive structural engineering experience in design, analysis, and forensics, focused mainly on buildings.  Robin currently is a Risk Engineer with Zurich North America.  She works for both the Professional Liability and Construction Properties Risk Engineering Groups providing technical support to construction project policies, developing best practices, and investigating losses on construction projects. Robin represents Risk Engineering on Zurich North America’s sustainability team to help drive sustainability and resiliency. She has a passion for Engineering Ethics and since 2011, in her spare time Robin has given over 30 presentations to various engineering groups.
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Robin is a licensed Professional Engineer in six jurisdictions, and a Fellow of both ASCE and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute. She has been active in ASCE since college, was President of both the Central Jersey Branch and the New Jersey Section of ASCE, and was District 1/Region 1 Director on the Society Board of Directors. Robin also served on the Board of Direction of Engineers Without Borders, and the Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Board of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, her alma mater. She is currently a member of the Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Boards for Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey.
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Robin has been recognized for her service to ASCE throughout her career. Her most recent recognitions are the 2013 William H. Wisely American Civil Engineer Award (a National award), and the 2015 ASCE New Jersey Section Civil Engineer of the Year.
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Robin loves to travel, seaside vacations, and her family. She and Chris have been married for 39 years; they have two wonderful daughters and two great son-in-laws, and Robin loves playing with the newest members of the family, grandsons Jonah and Ari, and granddaughter Riley.
Doug Brake
Director, Broadband and Spectrum Policy at ITIF
Doug Brake
Doug Brake directs the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s work on broadband and spectrum policy. He writes extensively and speaks frequently to lawmakers, the news media, and other influential audiences on topics such as next-generation wireless, rural broadband infrastructure, and network neutrality.
Brake is a recognized broadband policy expert, having testified numerous times before Congress, state legislatures, and regulatory commissions, as well as serving on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Group. His written commentary has appeared in publications such as Democracy Journal, Ripon Forum, Morning Consult, Roll Call, The Hill, and RealClearPolicy, and he has provided analysis on air for broadcast outlets such as Bloomberg, NPR, CNBC, and Al Jazeera.
He previously worked as a research assistant at the Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado, and he interned as a Hatfield scholar at the FCC, assisting with the implementation of the advanced communications services section of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.
Brake holds a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and philosophy from Macalester College.
Dr. Mina Sartipi
Director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP)
Mina Sartipi
Spencer Cohen
Senior Economist, Community Attributes Inc.
Spencer Cohen
For more than seven years, Spencer has served as senior economist for Community Attributes Inc., a Seattle-based consulting firm, where he supervises and leads projects on international trade policy, economic impact analysis, and regional economic forecasting.
He is a frequent speaker on the U.S.-China trade war, China’s growth model, the Pacific Northwest economy, and economic impacts of Covid-19.
Spencer has a B.A. in mathematics and history from the University of Connecticut, a M.A. in China studies from University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in economic geography, also from the University of Washington, where his research focused on China's economic growth model through the lens of local government finance and land issues.
Spencer has advanced fluency in Mandarin Chinese, having lived and studied in China and conducted doctoral research there.
Robin A. Kemper
ASCE Past President, PE, LEED AP, ENV SP, F.SEI, F.ASCE
Robin A. Kemper
Robin A. Kemper, PE, LEED AP, ENV SP, F.SEI, F.ASCE and ASCE Past President has over thirty-five years of diverse and extensive structural engineering experience in design, analysis, and forensics, focused mainly on buildings.  Robin currently is a Risk Engineer with Zurich North America.  She works for both the Professional Liability and Construction Properties Risk Engineering Groups providing technical support to construction project policies, developing best practices, and investigating losses on construction projects. Robin represents Risk Engineering on Zurich North America’s sustainability team to help drive sustainability and resiliency. She has a passion for Engineering Ethics and since 2011, in her spare time Robin has given over 30 presentations to various engineering groups.
Â
Robin is a licensed Professional Engineer in six jurisdictions, and a Fellow of both ASCE and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute. She has been active in ASCE since college, was President of both the Central Jersey Branch and the New Jersey Section of ASCE, and was District 1/Region 1 Director on the Society Board of Directors. Robin also served on the Board of Direction of Engineers Without Borders, and the Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Board of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, her alma mater. She is currently a member of the Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Boards for Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey.
Â
Robin has been recognized for her service to ASCE throughout her career. Her most recent recognitions are the 2013 William H. Wisely American Civil Engineer Award (a National award), and the 2015 ASCE New Jersey Section Civil Engineer of the Year.
Â
Robin loves to travel, seaside vacations, and her family. She and Chris have been married for 39 years; they have two wonderful daughters and two great son-in-laws, and Robin loves playing with the newest members of the family, grandsons Jonah and Ari, and granddaughter Riley.
Doug Brake
Director, Broadband and Spectrum Policy at ITIF
Doug Brake
Doug Brake directs the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s work on broadband and spectrum policy. He writes extensively and speaks frequently to lawmakers, the news media, and other influential audiences on topics such as next-generation wireless, rural broadband infrastructure, and network neutrality.
Brake is a recognized broadband policy expert, having testified numerous times before Congress, state legislatures, and regulatory commissions, as well as serving on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Group. His written commentary has appeared in publications such as Democracy Journal, Ripon Forum, Morning Consult, Roll Call, The Hill, and RealClearPolicy, and he has provided analysis on air for broadcast outlets such as Bloomberg, NPR, CNBC, and Al Jazeera.
He previously worked as a research assistant at the Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado, and he interned as a Hatfield scholar at the FCC, assisting with the implementation of the advanced communications services section of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.
Brake holds a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and philosophy from Macalester College.
Spencer Cohen
Senior Economist, Community Attributes Inc.
Spencer Cohen
For more than seven years, Spencer has served as senior economist for Community Attributes Inc., a Seattle-based consulting firm, where he supervises and leads projects on international trade policy, economic impact analysis, and regional economic forecasting.
He is a frequent speaker on the U.S.-China trade war, China’s growth model, the Pacific Northwest economy, and economic impacts of Covid-19.
Spencer has a B.A. in mathematics and history from the University of Connecticut, a M.A. in China studies from University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in economic geography, also from the University of Washington, where his research focused on China's economic growth model through the lens of local government finance and land issues.
Spencer has advanced fluency in Mandarin Chinese, having lived and studied in China and conducted doctoral research there.