Speakers 2023

TRESPAD on 14 June

Master of ceremony, both days

Conrado Moreno Maste

Conrado Moreno

Master of Ceremonies (MC), Media and Television personality, Actor, Journalist, and TV presenter. He gained recognition thanks to the TV program "Europa da się lubić" (Europe Can Be Liked). A participant in many entertainment programs. For years he has also been one of the LOTTO draw presenters. He is the author of the book "My Madrid". He developed his passion for writing as editor-in-chief of Face and Look magazine. Currently, he collaborates with Radio dla Ciebie (Radio for You), where he hosts his own radio show "Życie jak w Madrycie" (Life in Madrid), and the program "Przychodnia" (Clinic).The experience he has gained over the years he uses in his work as master of ceremonies. He is happy to take on challenges and host various types of events.

Opening

Katarzyna Kucharek, PKP (…)

Katarzyna Kucharek, PKP Group Foundation, Poland

President of the Board of the PKP Group Foundation and Vice Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
Manager with over 15 years of experience in the railway industry. She holds a Master of Business Administration. Student at Porto Business School. A graduate of the University of Warsaw and Business Studies in English at the University of Leon Kozminski. Certified in English for Business from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She started working in the railway industry in 2007 for the national manager of the railway network. Between 2014–2016, she held positions in the body of the central government administration and a non-governmental organization. Since the beginning of her career, she represented the Polish railways in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the International Union of Railways as Vice-President of the Global Level Crossing Network. Mentor in the Safety Leadership Program (Metrolinx, Canada 2020). Member of the Supervisory Board of Motor Transport Company "Polonus" in Warsaw S.A. Since 2016 she has been on the board of the PKP Group Foundation and became President in 2017. As of 2022 she is also a member of the board of Xcity Investment Limited Liability Company.

Dr. Ann Mills, RSSB, UK (…)

Dr. Ann Mills, RSSB, UK

Deputy Director for RSSBs System Safety and Health Directorate. She is also the Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network. Visit https://uic.org/safety/trespass-and-suicide-prevention. She leads a mixed disciplined department that is responsible for the delivery of the GB Rail Industry Health and Safety Strategy.
Ann is a safety professional of over twenty-five years’ experience, mostly rail related. She joined RSSB in 2000 as a Human Factors Specialist, before moving to head up the HF department which she built up to a total of 14 professionals with an international reputation. She spent the early part of her career at Cranfield University as a Researcher undertaking aviation safety research for the UK and American Aviation Authorities and Shell.
Ann’s academic background is in Psychology (BA from Coventry) and Applied Psychology (MSc and PhD from Cranfield).


Speakers

Graça Brígida, IMT, Portugal

Graça Brígida, IMT, Portugal

Railway safety assessor for the Portuguese national safety agency ANSF-IMT, in Lisbon, for the last 2 years. Enthusiastic professional with strong focus on continuous improvement, she is now committed to making the railway a safer environment.
Having worked 14 years in London for both for the client and for an international consultancy, she delivered small and large railway projects to big organizations.
She feels privileged for having had the opportunity to work on the Crossrail project, London, from enabling works to testing & commissioning stages, having done structural design and Engineering management for both station and railway systems.

Nuno Duarte Gregóri, IMT, (…)

Nuno Duarte Gregóri, IMT, Portugal

He is a civil engineer specialized in Transport Systems.
He has a background on transport safety, in which he worked as a researcher. Since 2020, he has been a railway safety inspector at IMT, the Portuguese National Safety Authority, where he has been involved in safety certification and authorisation, supervision activities, as well as studies regarding trespassing and suicide prevention in the Portuguese National Railway Network.

Hilary E. Konczal, Metra (…)

Hilary E. Konczal, Metra Commuter Railroad, USA

Metra’s Chief Safety & Environmental Officer has over 30 years of service with Metra. He has an extensive background in safety, environmental compliance, industrial hygiene, railroad operations, regulatory compliance and security.
Hilary is responsible for the administrative oversight and management of Metra’s safety programs and risk reduction initiatives, environmental compliance and industrial hygiene activities. He leads a team of safety and environmental professionals who are responsible for safeguarding Metra’s employees, passengers and contractors.
He is an Associate Instructor for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) teaching Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) System Safety and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Safety Management Systems (SMS) to railroad and transit professionals throughout the United States.
Hilary is on the Board of Directors for the World Safety Organization (WSO), Board of Director of the DuPage Railroad Safety Council, Board of Director Operation Lifesaver - Illinois Chapter, past Chairman of the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Commuter Rail Safety and Security Committee, and Co-Chair of Metra’s Labor Management Committee. He is an active member of the FRA Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) and the American Association of Railroads (AAR) Safety and Operations Committee.
He is certified by the World Safety Organization (WSO) as a Certified Safety and Security Director (CSSD-WSO), Certified Safety Manager (CSM-WSO) and Certified Safety Technician (CST-WSO).

Dr. Patrick Sherry, University

Dr. Patrick Sherry, University of Denver, USA

Research Professor and Director of the National Center for Intermodal Transportation, University of Denver. He specializes in safety culture, training of transportation leaders, and occupational safety. Sherry has recently contributed to the development of suicide prevention training programs in two major metropolitan rail systems in the USA. He is a psychologist and a Fellow of the Academy of Counseling Psychology.

Lola Barre, Papageno Programme

Lola Barre, Papageno Programme, France

With a master’s degree in political science (management of public policies and regional planning), she worked in the press, with public authorities and professionals in various public/private sectors always on public issues. Specialized for several years on public mental health issues, she is now suicide prevention consultant in public places (suicidal hot-spots) for Papageno, a French action-research program on suicide contagion supported by the ministry of Health.

Igor Thonnelier, SNCF, France

Igor Thonnelier, SNCF, France

Manager, National accident and terrorist attacks emergency and Coordinator, railway trespass and suicides at SNCF.
After having studied Transport Geography, Igor has been working in various jobs related to railway operations within SNCF since 2007. The different positions he has held are in interface first all SNCF S.A. of the public railway group but also with the other European railway companies and with the governmental authorities.
Igor is in charge of the care of families and relatives of victims of rail accidents or terrorist attacks, and he is the National coordinator of the theme “Accidents to persons”.

Gaëtan Van Overmeiren, INFRABE

Gaëtan Van Overmeiren, INFRABEL, Belgium

TeamLead Safety Monitoring & Safety Action plans
Gaëtan has been working for Infrabel for 15 years in the operational safety department. He has been responsible for managing risk analyses in connection with the implementation of new technologies on the network (like ETCS). He is currently responsible for the safety monitoring and managing action plans relating to third-party issues.

Luc Sillen, INFRABEL, Belgium

Luc Sillen, INFRABEL, Belgium

After a successful career as an IT consultant spanning over 10 years, I transitioned to Infrabel, the Belgian railway infrastructure manager, where I have worked as a trainer, conducted capacity studies, and served as a planner. Currently, I lead the innovative "Access To Railway" project, mapping all railway access points for emergency services. Additionally, I serve as the Project Manager for the suicide prevention action plan on the rail network, reflecting my commitment to promoting safety and well-being. With my experience and approach, I strive to contribute to the railway industry’s promotion of railway safety, ensuring the well-being of all stakeholders involved.

Robert Wainwright, Network (…)

Robert Wainwright, Network Rail, UK

Rob is Network’s Rail’s Head of Public Safety, leading the policy and strategy for level crossing safety, suicide and trespass prevention. Appointed in 2017, he has led the review of Network Rail’s level crossing risk management process making key changes to risk assessment process. More recently, he has also reviewed and agreed changes to the industry approach to suicide and trespass prevention.
Rob is also the chair of Great Britain’s National Level Crossing Strategy Group which brings together stakeholders and organisations from both the road and rail infrastructure leading a coordinated effort to manage and improve level crossing safety. He has also led the UIC’s review into level crossing risk assessment, authoring the UIC’s Best practice for level crossing risk assessment.

Stuart Heaton, LEARNLIVE, (…)

Stuart Heaton, LEARNLIVE, UK

After working in media for over 20 years, Stuart setup Learn Live in 2016 to help bridge the gap digitally between schools and businesses and provide a better understanding of the world of work for students, teachers and parents. Learn Live now has 4 news channels including the Learn Live News Channel which helps connect business with schools and colleges 24/7 by providing a portal that promotes health and wellbeing messages including rail safety.
Over the past 4 years, Learn Live have reached over 19 million young people in schools across the UK delivering rail safety broadcasts using content from Network Rail’s You vs Train video catalogue.
Stuart and his team at Learn Live have now created Rail Safe Friendly with Network Rail, BTP and RSSB to help schools and the rail industry come together to raise awareness of rail safety in the UK and to help drive down trespass incidents involving young people.
So far over 650 schools are Rail Safe Friendly backed by train operators, freight operators and contractors who channel their support through Learn Live and digitally into classrooms around the UK.

Gemma Lavery, RSSB, UK

Gemma Lavery, RSSB, UK

Gemma Lavery is a chartered health and safety professional who is currently the Professional Head of Public Safety at the Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB).
Prior to joining RSSB Gemma was the Head of Health, Safety, Environment & Wellbeing at Siemens Mobility and before that worked at both the British Transport Police and Network Rail undertaking numerous safety and risk roles predominantly based around community safety and public behaviour. Gemma has a passion for wellbeing and mental health awareness, and she supports the Samaritans as a listening volunteer in her free time.

Mgr. Pavlína Skládaná, CDV,

Mgr. Pavlína Skládaná, CDV, Czech Republic

Graduated in sociology at Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University of Brno, she has been working since 1996 in Transport Research Centre (CDV) as traffic researcher. She is focused on human factors in road and rail safety, investigating attitudes of road users and the impact of measures and infrastructure on their behaviour. In recent project, she has been dealing with the issues of trespassing, railway crossings and SPAD

Michael Long, FRA, USA

Michael Long, FRA, USA

Director of Railroad Operations and Outreach at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). As such, he is responsible for safe rail operations, as well as outreach to the rail industry, associations and labor. Mike was the Senior Safety and Operations Manager for the Short Line Safety Institute prior to returning back to FRA in 2018. From 2003-2014, Mike served the FRA in a variety of positions, culminating with Regional Administrator, where he oversaw five states in the Midwest, and included long distance passenger and commuter operations, every Class I, and many Class II and III railroads. Prior to his first stint at the FRA, Mike was Sr. VP-Compliance with G&W Railroad Services, Inc., experiencing first-hand the safety environment of short line and regional railroads.

Sanja Paic, Safety Guru (…)

Sanja Paic, Safety Guru Institute, Croatia

Promotional Communications Expert has been working for 21 years in the railway sector, 18 years specifically on level crossing issues. Sanja Paic is also founder of Safety Guru Institute for the Promotion of traffic Culture and Safety. The synergies of different areas will achieve a more successful business and realization of business activities. Modern technical and technological solutions are developing faster than people can follow it. With proactive activities Institute want to inform the individual, to educate and to prevent, to warn of the critical behaviour and risks of such behaviour. Motivate, initiate and stimulate active participation in the community and create a more secure transport environment. Vision of Institute is return to a safe future. Change the angle of view of your own life, human history, traffic and the world around you. To be the inspiration for a better, safer and happier life

Annelies De Keyser, INFRABEL,

Annelies De Keyser, INFRABEL, Belgium

Communication Business Partner at INFRABEL
Since 2007, I have been working for Infrabel. First in internal communication and later as a communication specialist in team Safety. As communication business partner, I support our Safety Competence centre for all their communication questions, both for internal and external awareness-raising. In terms of external campaigns, we mainly work around the themes of trespassing and safety at level crossings. For this, we have developed projects for schools, campaigns for the general public and more targeted campaigns for specific target audiences.

Catherine Gillard, INFRABEL,

Catherine Gillard, INFRABEL, Belgium

Project Manager for more than 3 years at Infrabel, the Belgian railway operator. As a project manager, I am responsible for the realisation of campaigns and projects on different topics such as Employer Branding, communication about building sites and safety. For railway safety, I am specifically responsible for raising awareness among young people, which includes, among other things, the realisation of educational programmes (as we will present to you) and the animation of these programmes among young people.

Nils la Cour, DSB, Denmark (…)

Nils la Cour, DSB, Denmark

With a background within Air Traffic Control and Air Traffic Management Nils la Cour joined Danish State Railways in 2015. Nils holds a university degree as Master of Public Administration and is second to DSB’s Director of Safety. On a daily basis Nils is responsible for the function and continuous improvement of DSB’s Management System including safety and risk management, safety auditing, investigations and management reporting.
Nils is also Vice Chair of the UIC Tresp-Network (on trespass and suicide prevention issues).

ILCAD on 15 June

Master of ceremony, both days

Conrado Moreno Maste

Conrado Moreno

Master of Ceremonies (MC), Media and Television personality, Actor, Journalist, and TV presenter. He gained recognition thanks to the TV program "Europa da się lubić" (Europe Can Be Liked). A participant in many entertainment programs. For years he has also been one of the LOTTO draw presenters. He is the author of the book "My Madrid". He developed his passion for writing as editor-in-chief of Face and Look magazine. Currently, he collaborates with Radio dla Ciebie (Radio for You), where he hosts his own radio show "Życie jak w Madrycie" (Life in Madrid), and the program "Przychodnia" (Clinic).The experience he has gained over the years he uses in his work as master of ceremonies. He is happy to take on challenges and host various types of events.

Opening

Krzysztof Mamiński, CEO of (…)

Krzysztof Mamiński, CEO of PKP S.A., UIC Chairman

Associated with the railway sector for over 40 years. A graduate of the University of Szczecin and postgraduate studies at the University of Leon Koźmiński in the field of European management model. He started working on the railway in 1980, at the CDOKP IT Center in Warsaw. From 1990 he was a member of the National Commission of "Solidarity", where he served among others, as the chairman of the National Railway Workers’ Section of NSZZ "Solidarity" and the chairman of the Union’s Transport Workers’ Secretariat. In 1998-2002, he was a member of the management board of Polskie Koleje Państwowe, responsible for restructuring and employee matters. From 2001 to 2012, he was the president of the Association of Railway Employers, and from 2002 to 2012 of the PKP subsidiary - Natura Tour sp. z o.o. In 2012-2013, he was the Plenipotentiary of the Management Board of PKP S.A. for Social Dialogue in the PKP Group, and for the next three years - the president of the company from the PKP Group CS Szkolenie i Doradztwo sp. z o.o. Then, from April 2016, he was the President of the Management Board of Przewozy Regionalne sp. z o.o. In March 2017, he took the position of the President of the Management Board of PKP S.A. In July 2021, Krzysztof Mamiński became Chaiman of the International Union of Railways (Union Internationale des Chemins de fer).

Delegate from the Polish (…)

Delegate from the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (name tbc)

Delegate from the Polish (…)

Delegate from the Polish Ministry of State Assets (name tbc)

Katarzyna Kucharek, PKP (…)

Katarzyna Kucharek, PKP Group Foundation, Poland

President of the Board of the PKP Group Foundation and Vice Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
Manager with over 15 years of experience in the railway industry. She holds a Master of Business Administration. Student at Porto Business School. A graduate of the University of Warsaw and Business Studies in English at the University of Leon Kozminski. Certified in English for Business from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She started working in the railway industry in 2007 for the national manager of the railway network. Between 2014–2016, she held positions in the body of the central government administration and a non-governmental organization. Since the beginning of her career, she represented the Polish railways in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the International Union of Railways as Vice-President of the Global Level Crossing Network. Mentor in the Safety Leadership Program (Metrolinx, Canada 2020). Member of the Supervisory Board of Motor Transport Company "Polonus" in Warsaw S.A. Since 2016 she has been on the board of the PKP Group Foundation and became President in 2017. As of 2022 she is also a member of the board of Xcity Investment Limited Liability Company.

Isabelle Fonverne, Senior (…)

Isabelle Fonverne, Senior Advisor Safety, UIC, France

Started her international carrier in September 1988 in exporting companies. In 1992 she joined the UIC and worked in different domains of activities (high speed, economics, environment, technology and research, interoperability and safety). 
From 2009 until today she is Senior Advisor, Safety and Interoperability in charge in particular of level crossing safety, trespass and suicide prevention issues at the UIC Safety Unit.
She also coordinates several UIC working groups and activities including

  • the Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
  • the Trespass and Suicide Prevention Network (TreSP-Network)
  • the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD)
  • the International Trespass Awareness Day (TRESPAD)

Speakers

Dr. Ignacy Góra, President (…)

Dr. Ignacy Góra, President of UTK

Ignacy Góra PhD Eng., President of the Office Rail Transport (UTK) Doctor of Technical Sciences in the discipline of transport. He graduated from the Cracow University of Technology and the Warsaw University of Technology. Since the beginning of his professional career he worked in the rail industry. He is the author and co-author of many safety, operational and interoperability regulations and regulations concerning i.a. training for train driver’s licences and certificates.
Since October 2013 he acted as the Vice President of the Office of Rail Transport for Technology and Rail Traffic Safety. He has carried out many projects to improve rail safety. The most important of these include: the Examination and Monitoring Centre for Train Drivers, the Rail Safety Academy and the ABC Railway Campaign. He initiated the introduction of measures to provide more assistance to people with disabilities. Thanks to his initiative, more than 250 representatives of the rail market signed the Declaration on the development of the safety culture in rail transport, with standing commitment to treat safety as the main objective. He contributed to reducing administrative burdens, shortening proceeding time and thus the development of rail market, which is now a primary objective for the Office of Rail Transport.
He was appointed i.a. to the Council for Accreditation at the Polish Centre for Accreditation, the Transport Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Accessibility Council. In 2021 he was the national coordinator of the European Year of Rail 2021.

Daniel Biernacik Tra

Daniel Biernacik

Train Driver at PKP Intercity S.A. representing the Polish Trade Union of Railway Drivers and the Federation of European Train Drivers Unions – ALE. Daniel was born in 1991. He is a representative of the Young Generation of Train Drivers. He has been working as a train driver at PKP Intercity S.A. for 7 years now. Since 2020, he has been operating the Express Intercity Premium train - the highest category of trains in Poland.
He had participated in the implementation of the European Train Control System-Level 2 during driving tests in Poland through the line E65. He manages a Trade Union Organisation which defends workers’ rights and takes care of the interests of train drivers. Besides that, he is also a member of the National Polish Trade Union Council of Railway Drivers and a member of Passenger’s Transport Sector of Railway Drivers. Lately, he has embraced the function of Vice-Chairman in Commission of Young and Trade Unions Promotion of All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions. Privately, he is a happy father of two children and a football fan.

Dr. Julian Obaid, President,

Dr. Julian Obaid, President, Junta de Seguridad en el Transporte (JST) Argentina

Lawyer graduated from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), with more than 15 years of experience in the transport sector. He served as Director of Planning at the Provincial Transport Agency of the Province of Buenos Aires and as permanent consultant for the National Undersecretary of Motor Transport. He was a parliamentary advisor in the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation, where he participated in the project that gave rise to Law 27.514, which created the JST, an organization that he has presided since April 2020.

Lisandro López Piñeyro, (…)

Lisandro López Piñeyro, Junta de Seguridad en el Transporte (JST) Argentina

Director of the Training Center of the Transport Safety Board (JST) is IS a lawyer graduated from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) with extensive experience in the transport sector and specialized in the rights of persons with disabilities. Director of the Training Center of the Transport Safety Board (JST).

Papa Malick SAMB, Sénégal (…)

Papa Malick SAMB, Sénégal

Papa Malick SAMB, Les Grands Train du Sénégal (GTS) was born on February 4, 1964 in Louga Senegal, Electrical Engineer graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Donetsk in 1991.
In the same year, he joined the national railway company Senegal (SNCS) before joining in 1998 the multinational hydrocarbons TOTAL SENEGAL in 1998 then Total Guinea in 2006.
Returning to the country in 2009, he once again joined the world of railways with the Petit Train de Banlieue, which in March 2020 became the Grands Trains du Senegal (GTS), where he currently holds the position of Director of Rail operation.

Joey de Mol, Ministry of (…)

Joey de Mol, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands

Senior policy officer at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands. He works within the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport and is involved in policy development related to level crossing safety and in modernizing railway legislation. On behalf of the ministry, he supervises the level crossing programs that are being executed by rail infrastructure manager ProRail. Prior to his current role, he worked at NS, the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.

Robert Wainwright, Network (…)

Robert Wainwright, Network Rail, UK

Rob is Network’s Rail’s Head of Public Safety, leading the policy and strategy for level crossing safety, suicide and trespass prevention. Appointed in 2017, he has led the review of Network Rail’s level crossing risk management process making key changes to risk assessment process. More recently, he has also reviewed and agreed changes to the industry approach to suicide and trespass prevention.
Rob is also the chair of Great Britain’s National Level Crossing Strategy Group which brings together stakeholders and organisations from both the road and rail infrastructure leading a coordinated effort to manage and improve level crossing safety. He has also led the UIC’s review into level crossing risk assessment, authoring the UIC’s Best practice for level crossing risk assessment.

Olle Mornell, Trafikverket,

Olle Mornell, Trafikverket, Sweden

born 1955, is an employee of Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration). He has many years of experience regarding level crossings. From previously working as an engineer with signalling systems and railway safety, his main occupation today is writing requirement specifications and design rules.

Virginie Taillandier, SNCF,

Virginie Taillandier, SNCF, France

Master’s degree in marketing. She is currently in charge of testing and validation of the innovative light train project and level crossing expert at the Innovation & Research Department of SNCF.
She has been level crossing safety manager at SNCF Réseau - Safety Division for 5 years. She started her career in the rail transport sector and worked at different positions related to security and safety at RATP (Parisian Metro and Suburban transport). She also worked in the domain of information systems in the car industry.

Dr. Starr Kidda, Federal (…)

Dr. Starr Kidda, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), USA

works for the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Starr is the Human Factors Division Chief in FRA’s Office of Research, Development and Technology. Starr has supported railroad safety research at FRA for 10 years. Her team conducts research related to human performance issues in railroading, and also grade crossing safety and trespass prevention. Starr has a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Georgia.

Dr. Przemyslaw Rakoczy, (…)

Dr. Przemyslaw Rakoczy, ENSCO inc., USA

Holds PhD degree in structural engineering from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He is a Senior Research Engineer at ENSCO, responsible for managing and conducting research programs focused on freight and passenger vehicle crashworthiness and structural integrity. He is responsible for the schedule, budget, and deliverables. He leads the research team and is responsible for technical quality, research planning, execution, and analysis. Over the last 11 years, he managed and led the research team in multiple government and commercial projects that include but not limited to: Passenger Car Crash Energy Management Research Program, Tank Car Crashworthiness Research Program, Locomotive Fuel Tank Research Program, TSA Vulnerability of Railcars to Damage Caused by the Use of Explosives, certification tests for the Avelia Liberty power car, and evaluation of crashworthiness of CRRC high-speed passenger trains.

Dr. Danijela Baric, University

Dr. Danijela Baric, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Full professor and Scientific advisor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. Her educational background is in the transport engineering area and her primary research field is multi-criteria decision-making in transport with a particular interest in safety at level crossings (LCs), education, and safety promotion. She established an LC research group at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences and designed and implemented numerous safety measures regarding accident prevention at level crossings. She actively participates in several scientific and professional associations and organizations dedicated to traffic safety and sustainable mobility. In the UIC, she is a member of two expert working groups: GLCN (Global Level Crossing Network) and the TreSP-Network (Trespass & Suicide Prevention Network). She is a representative of Croatia in the European Union Agency for Railways. Dr Baric organized and moderated domestic and international workshops, round tables, and conferences and was responsible for the organization of ILCAD 2018 in Zagreb, Croatia. For her professional and scientific work, she received many prestigious awards.

Maryam Hedayati, Transport (…)

Maryam Hedayati, Transport Canada

Maryam Hedayati is a professional engineer with over 15 years of experience in the field of Transportation, in particular rail and road safety . She has a bachelor in Civil Engineering from the University of Ottawa. She works as a Senior Railway Engineer with Transport Canada’s Rail Safety directorate, in the Crossings and Signals Group.
Transport Canada is a federal institution, leading the Transport Canada portfolio and working with our partners.
Transport Canada is responsible for transportation policies and programs. We promote safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible transportation.

Wende Corcoran, Operation (…)

Wende Corcoran, Operation Lifesaver inc. (OLI), USA

Vice President of Operation Lifesaver, Inc., the national, nonprofit rail safety education organization based in Washington, DC. Corcoran has over 24 years’ experience in educational materials development, nonprofit operations and administration. She manages the organization’s budget and relationships with federal grant partners, and oversees training, educational materials and tools. Corcoran has been with OLI since June of 1999 and has developed instructional programs and award-winning eLearning programs for the public. Before joining Operation Lifesaver, Corcoran was an educational resource specialist for gifted and talented students in Loudoun County, Virginia public schools, where she managed as many as 91 teachers and 2,100 students in a specialized educational program. Corcoran holds a master’s degree in Curriculum Development and Training from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and a B.S. in Education from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Allan Spence, Chair of UIC (…)

Allan Spence, Chair of UIC GLCN, UK

Allan’s career started as a safety regulator with experience in many different industries. In 2000 he joined the HM Railway Inspectorate, later becoming HM Deputy Chief Inspector of the safety and economic regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation. Allan joined Network Rail in 2012 to create the company safety strategy and vision of Everyone Home Safe Every Day, later leading the company’s work in all aspects of passenger and public safety; overseeing Network Rail’s relationship with the National Safety Authority (ORR) and National Investigation Body (RAIB) and leading industry investigation into the most serious safety events on the British network.
He semi-retired in 2022, now providing independent support and advice to various transport sector businesses. He remains vice chair of the Britain’s railway industry System Safety Risk Group, chair of UIC’s Global Level Crossing Network and a member of the UIC Safety Platform.
His rail experience spans all aspects of the British industry including infrastructure management, operators, major projects, light rail and the heritage sector, as well as work with oversees regulators and railway companies. But he also draws on his experience with many other industries, including his roots in agriculture.