MIC AM Champion
Meetup - AGENDA

Carrie Cox is a registered professional engineer, specializing in environmental and water resources and she has a bachelor’s in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Michigan.  She has over twenty years of experience conducting study and design work associated with utility planning, hydraulic modeling and system control.  Ms. Cox is currently a chief engineer with the Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner’s Office over the Regional Systems Unit, which includes the Capital, Asset Management and Planning group.  She is the chair of the AWWA Engineering and Construction Division, on the asset management committee, and is vice-chair of the MI-AWWA membership council.  She is also a member of the Michigan Water Infrastructure Council (WAMC), whose role is to foster and support a statewide culture of asset management focused on the role of water infrastructure in providing public health and optimizing stakeholder value.

Born and raised in southeast Michigan, Robert Miller's career started as an intern with the City of Monroe, eventually being hired on full-time and serving as the Operations Supervisor at the City’s Drinking Water Filtration Plant. Looking to get closer to Lake Michigan, Mr. Miller and his wife jumped across the state when he was presented with a Superintendent opportunity at the City of South Haven’s brand new Water Filtration Plant. A quick “call” to the private sector had Mr. Miller working for a few years as a Project Manager with Suez North America. Now, he happily serves as the Superintendent with the City of Hudsonville’s Department of Public Works.

Mr. Miller studied environmental science and geology, graduating with a B.S. from Western Michigan University. He holds F-1 and S-1 Water Operator licenses from the State of Michigan, and is a member of the American Waterworks Association serving as a past-Chair on the Education and Training Council.

Please meet, Kathy Winczewski.  Ms. Winczewski is the 2^nd Ward City Councilor from Ludington, Michigan. Ludington is a small, rural town with a population of about 8,000 people and she has been on the council for the past 8 years.  Ms. Winczewski currently sits on the Finance and Personnel Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee. She also sits on several other local community boards and organizations, including the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission.  In her previous careers, before serving the local community as a city councilor, Ms. Winczewski was a mom to three sons and a chemistry teacher at the local high school.

Marco Bruzzano is the senior vice president of Corporate Strategy & Regulatory Affairs for DTE Energy. In his role, Bruzzano is focused on working across DTE's executive team to shape company strategy and identifying and evaluating growth opportunities and for developing and managing DTE Gas and DTE Electric's regulatory initiatives before the Michigan Public Service.

Prior to his current role, Bruzzano was vice president of Distribution Engineering & Construction for DTE Energy, where he was responsible for overseeing the company’s engineering, grid modernization and construction activities, and for driving improvements in asset management and work management practices.

Prior to joining DTE in 2008, Bruzzano worked broadly across the energy industry for nearly 20 years, including as a Principal with Booz Allen Hamilton and as an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Co. During this time, he advised global energy companies, electric utilities and power producers on strategy, operations and organizational effectiveness.

Bruzzano earned Bachelor of Science, with honors, and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Duke University, where he graduated with distinction as a Fuqua Scholar.

Mildred M. Chua is a retired executive from New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the largest transportation organization in North America — comprised of six operating agencies and supported by over 70,000 employees. She played a key role in the MTA as Head of Program Delivery for Transformation where she guided execution of a diverse portfolio of programs to transform the MTA, as mandated by the New York State Legislature. A key aspect of her transformation work was focused on fostering strategic alignment of the MTA’s Finance function with agency Operations through the ISO55000 standards for asset management, activity-based costing and results-based budgeting processes to achieve desired organizational outcomes.

In addition to her Transformation role, Mildred also served as MTA’s Program Executive for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), where she provided leadership and strategic direction for delivering asset management improvement initiatives across the MTA enterprise and ensured that life cycle asset management best practices are being integrated with core aspects of MTA Operations and Transformation.

Prior to her roles at MTA Headquarters, Mildred was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for MTA Bridges and Tunnels — one of the MTA operating agencies.  She was instrumental in implementing a vision that integrated asset management principles and innovative solutions as part of the agency’s historic transformation from Cash to Cashless Open Road Tolling (ORT) operations in 2017.

Mildred currently serves as Chair of the Institute of Asset Management’s (IAM) Global Knowledge and Leadership Committee where she oversees the IAM’s Knowledge Development program and coordinates across the IAM’s chapters world-wide. She is also a member of the Board of Directors and a Senior Fellow for the Asset Leadership Network (ALN).

A seasoned professional with a unique multi-disciplinary perspective, Mildred holds a Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Gareth McKay is a Principal Consultant as part of the WSP Asset Management Advisory team, based in Michigan. After a background of delivering infrastructure outcomes in New Zealand, and the UK, he has spent the last 10 years leading asset management initiatives across the U.S. and Canada.

John Weiss of Byron Center is the Executive Director of the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council. He has served as chairperson of the West Michigan Regional Prosperity Alliance and the 21st Century Infrastructure Pilot for west Michigan.  Prior to joining GVMC, John served as President/CEO of Design Plus Architects and Engineers. He has also been vice president of a large international architectural/engineering firm, Assistant to the City Manager of Wyoming, Michigan and City Manager of Coopersville, Michigan. John has also served the public as Township Supervisor of Cannon Township and for many years was chairperson of the Kent County Road Commission. He has been a board member of numerous public, private and philanthropic organizations.  John has a bachelor's degree from Hope College and a master's degree in public administration from Western Michigan University.

Sam Krassenstein joins us from the City of Detroit Mayor’s Office where he currently serves as the Chief of Infrastructure Planning for the City. He received his MBA and Master of Urban Planning Degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and became an asset management champion representing Detroit as part of the first cohort in 2021. In his role, Sam is responsible for coordination and execution of major capital infrastructure projects across the City, working with private and public infrastructure owners in Detroit.