Meet The Next Generation

Hosted by AREMA and Committee 24 – Education & Training
The Meet The Next Generation Event has been extremely successful in years past and continues to grow each year with more attendees and companies hosting tables at the networking reception. Let’s make the 16th Annual Event even better for the next generation of railroad industry professionals!

This Event will provide:

• Prospective employees and students the opportunity to learn about the railway industry and meet industry representatives.

• Industry representatives a chance to establish relations with potential employees.

Schedule - Monday, August 29

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Panel Discussion
Five panelists with varying years of experience and backgrounds within the railway industry will discuss the types of projects they have worked on, the career paths they’ve taken, and answer questions from the audience.

3:00 – 5:00 PM 
Networking Reception
Two-hour Networking Reception featuring the Meet the Next Generation sponsors who are looking to hire prospective railroaders and those who are new to the industry.

Panelists

Vanoy Harris, Jr., PE
Manager Track Design
BNSF Railway
Vanoy Harris is Manager of Engineering Hub-Facility Development for BNSF Railway in Fort Worth, TX. In this role, he leads the 0-30% design efforts for intermodal and automotive expansion projects and manages the pavement maintenance program for the eastern half of the system. Vanoy began his career at BNSF in 2016 as a maintenance-of-way intern and joined full-time in January 2017. Upon completing the management trainee program, he served as a Project Engineer for three years executing the mainline capital expansion program and was a Manager of Track Design on the newly formed internal track design team. Vanoy is a member of AREMA Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations and a licensed professional engineer in Texas. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Dordt University and is currently in a graduate program at Baylor University completing a Master of Business Administration in Supply Chain.

Philip M. Ogram
Assistant Chief Engineer – Bridge Construction
Genesee & Wyoming, Inc.
Philip Ogram is Genesee & Wyoming’s (G&W) Assistant Chief Engineer of Bridge Construction, where he is responsible for the system bridge construction program. His duties include capital and maintenance planning, and project execution utilizing their internal system bridge forces. In his previous position, he was responsible for the development and implementation of G&W’s internal bridge inspection program of over 10,000 structures. Philip is a Civil Engineering graduate of Youngstown State University with an MBA from Excelsior College. He most recently completed a Business Analytics Certificate Program from The Wharton School of Business in 2019. Philip began his railroad career in 2011 with CSX as a Bridge Management Trainee where he later advanced through several bridge roles with varying responsibilities. He joined G&W in 2015 as Director of Structures for their Southern Region railroads where he oversaw the management, construction, and inspection of over 900 structures in the southeast U.S.

Kalin R. Ojert, PE
Project Engineer
Arcadis
Kalin Ojert is a Project Engineer with Arcadis, who specializes in providing environmental engineering and facilities engineering design and construction services for Class I railroads. Kalin joined Arcadis in Houston, TX in the fall of 2017 after graduating from Lehigh University with a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, with a focus in wastewater collection system and treatment facility design. Kalin received her Professional Engineering license from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers in 2021 and has been a member of AREMA since 2020.

Bharat Kumar Peddu, PE, PMP, ENV-SP, MBA
Project Engineer
Gannett Fleming
Bharat Kumar Peddu is a Project Engineer within Gannett Fleming’s Transit and Rail Systems (GFTRS) Global Business Line, a position he has held for the past 14 years. Five of these years were spent serving in the roles of Project Manager and QA/QC manager in a staff augmentation role with Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and Maryland Department of Transportation Office of Freight and Multimodalism (MDOT OFM). He joined GFTRS after two and a half years as a Track Designer for URS in Charlotte, NC. Bharat Kumar holds an MS in Civil Engineering from University of Kentucky and an MBA from Morgan State University. As a licensed Professional Engineer working and living in Maryland, he is a certified Project Management Professional and an Envision Sustainability Professional. Bharat Kumar is currently Chair of the Education and Seminars subcommittee of AREMA Committee 11, a participant in AREMA Committee 24 – Education & Training, President Emeritus of WARES, a STEM mentor, a Volunteer Firefighter, and an Airman in the Delaware Air National Guard. 

To become a Meet the Next Generation Sponsor, please make your reservation today .