Informed Infrastructure Podcast

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Raj Ubhi, Geospatial Analyst at Arup.They discussed how Arup's digital team collaborates with subject matter experts (SMEs) and clients to solve challenges using a suite of applications based on ArcGIS infrastructure. Ubhi goes into specific details of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) transit project in Toronto.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Kyle Edmonds, GIS Manager at City of Altamonte Springs, Fla., and Shane Melde, Geospatial Solutions Engineer at England-Thims & Miller (ETM).They discussed how the City of Altamonte Springs is redefining urban management with a dynamic, photo-realistic 3D digital twin of Cranes Roost Park.

odd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Adan Banda, Senior Geospatial Data Manager at DFW Airport, and Brandon Mann, Geospatial Analyst at DFW Airport.They discussed how DFW International airport uses digital models to advance asset data collection, real-time visualization, analytics and proactive maintenance to drive efficiency and foster cross-departmental collaboration in an ever-changing environment. 

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Ali Diba, Founder, and  Mark Thacker, Principal, of DSCE, an engineering and GIS consulting firm specializing in developing solutions to help utilities and municipalities.The discussion focuses on the technologies that are making digital twins a vital tool for all aspects of utility asset management.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Ali Diba, Founder, and  Mark Thacker, Principal, of DSCE, an engineering and GIS consulting firm specializing in developing solutions to help utilities and municipalities.The discussion focuses on the technologies that are making digital twins a vital tool for all aspects of utility asset management.

Todd Danielson, editorial director of Informed Infrastructure, interviews Paul Trautmann, the Marketing Director for Infrastructure for Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine.Learn approaches for securing longer service lives from wastewater infrastructure assets to help stretch municipal budgets by selecting the right coating materials for new constructions and rehabilitations. We discuss the importance of getting the materials–and the applications–right as well as how working directly with qualified suppliers and certified applicators can mean the difference between realizing long service lives or encountering premature deterioration and early repairs.The interview covers important considerations for installations and rehabilitations, from specification to surface prep to coatings applications to final holiday testing. It also notes the importance of working with trained and certified crews and how the Sherwin-Williams Certified Applicator Program (CAP) helps ensure applicators can deliver improved reliability, minimized maintenance and extended service lives for critical infrastructure assets.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Atiq Alvi, vice president, National Lead for Bridge Rehabilitation, Florida Bridge Sector manager at TYLin, a part of Sidara’s global collaborative.They had a wide ranging and detailed discussion of bridge engineering, including the fragile state of U.S. bridges, how engineers can help improve the situation, and some of the latest and most-useful bridge technology as well as how Alvi has used them throughout his extensive career. Every bridge engineer should listen to this conversation.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Matern Professional Engineering’s Brad Pascarella, P.E., LEED AP, Director of Commercial Division, Senior Electrical Engineer; and Dorian Maness, GGP, Senior Project Manager, EDU Division, Mechanical Engineer.They discussed the emerging Career and Technical Education (CTE) space that’s trying to develop a pipeline for much-needed new engineers.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Gregg Semler, founder and CEO, InPipe Energy. They discussed how renewable electrical energy can be derived from excess water pressure in pipes, and how engineers can think beyond their individual projects and how they fit into larger systems.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Greg Laugeni, Technical Manager at GCP. They discussed micro-trench infill systems and the role they play in transportation infrastructure projects, including for developing broadband communication networks.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed René Morkos, founder and CEO, ALICE Technologies. They discussed how almost every engineering project is a construction project and therefore scheduling must be a key feature of initial designs. They also talked about how different owners/stakeholders may not need complex 3D and 4D scheduling programs, and simpler 1D to 2D models may be better suited for them.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Balaji Sreenivasan, Founder and CEO, Aurigo Software. They discussed the recently unveiled ASCE Infrastructure Report Card as well as how engineers can get more involved to improve the infrastructure they help build.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed David Burkhart, CEO at Garney Equity Holdings. They discussed the new Perennial Infrastructure Fund I and how this “first of its kind investment vehicle” can help fund water infrastructure assets.Use the following link to contact PERENfra about The Fund: https://perenfra.com/contact/.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Rick Kile, Director of Green and Amenity Business at Siplast. They discussed stormwater flooding in urban areas and how techniques such as detention basins and blue and green roofing can mitigate its negative effects.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Dr. Dominique Meyer, CEO and Co-Founder of Looq AI, on Feb. 11, 2025, at the GeoWeek Conference in Denver. Their latest discussion talks about the company’s incredible growth since the two last talked at the 2024 GeoWeek event. That earlier interview is included below, including more background information on Looq AI and how it’s attempting to automate the creation of digital twins.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Marc Goldman, director of AEC Industry Solutions for Esri, on Feb. 11, 2025, at the GeoWeek 2025 Conference in Denver. They discussed Esri’s growing role in the AEC community and how the geospatial technology industry continues to evolve.This follows an interview conducted exactly one year ago at GeoWeek 2024, below, which discussed the “built world” and the role of geospatial technologies in the AEC community.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Tristan Schwartzman, P.E., principal and director of energy services at Goldman Copeland. They discussed how his firm is helping developers comply with New York City’s Local Law 97, which sets mandates for decreased greenhouse emissions from buildings.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Brian King, executive vice president of product management and marketing for Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS); and Chris Stoneburg, director of product design, ADS. They discuss ADS’ new Engineering and Technology Center and what it hopes to achieve.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed via webcam Jonathan Morey, P.E., senior bridge engineer at WSP USA; and Stuart Rankin, senior vice president at WSP USA, national bridges and structures practice. They discussed this special bridge, its famous designer and what it meant to the engineers who worked on it as well as engineering details about orthotropic deck, vierendeel trusses and main-cable dehumidification

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Sivan Zamir, vice president of innovation & corporate venture at Xylem and leader of Xylem Innovation Labs, the company’s venture arm.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Bruce Chalmers, Vice President and General Manager, Environmental Solutions, Jacobs; and Susan Moiso, Vice President and Global Water Market Director, Jacobs, via webcam.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Joseph Sczurko, President of WSP USA, via webcam. They discussed in detail WSP’s acquisitions strategy and why mergers and acquisitions are such an important element in the engineering industry.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Piers Dormeyer, CEO of EagleView, via webcam. They discussed uses for several types of imagery as well as how EagleView’s Disaster Response Program is utilized by engineers and first responders.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Dan Isaacs, CTO and GM, Digital Twin Consortium; and Chief Strategy Officer, Object Management Group, via webcam.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Spike Narayan, interim executive director for the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA); and former manager of IBM’s California Research Lab, focused on innovative research in AI, semiconductor technology, and quantum computing, via webcam.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Anthony Casciano, President and CEO of Siemens Financial Services Inc., via webcam.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Jasper Shi, Senior Analyst, Energy and Natural Resource Ratings for Morningstar DBRS, via webcam.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Apoorv Sinha, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Upcycling, via webcam.

Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure, interviews Seth Guthrie, P.E., S.E., director of product management for Structural Engineering products at Bentley Systems; and Geoff McDonald, senior product manager for Offshore Structural Engineering products at Bentley Systems.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure's editorial director, interviewed Frances Yarbrough, civil engineer and director of the SeamonWhiteside (SW+) Charlotte office, via webcam.

Amy Bunszel Executive Vice President, Architecture, Engineering and Construction Solutions

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Dr. Dominique Meyer, CEO and Co-Founder of Looq AI, on Feb. 12, 2024, at the GeoWeek Conference in Denver. The conversation included background information on Looq AI and how it’s attempting to automate the creation of digital twins as well as how it uses LiMAR (light matching and reconstruction) technology.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Marc Goldman, director of AEC Industry Solutions for Esri, on Feb. 11, 2024, at the GeoWeek Conference in Denver. They discussed the “built world” and the role of geospatial technologies in the AEC community.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Dr. Este Geraghty, the Chief Medical Officer at Esri, on Feb. 11, 2024, at the GeoWeek Conference in Denver. Before delivering her keynote speech the next day, she discussed topics such as how geospatial technology is crucial in the health and human services industries as well as how they can unlock the full potential of available data.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Tiffany Gispanski, Schneider Electric’s national software strategic pursuits leader for the water/wastewater industry.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Dale Crawford, the executive director of the Steel Tube Institute (STI) as well as director of its Conduit Committee.

Many structural engineers are looking for greater safety, resiliency, and economy in design. To serve these needs, Bentley Systems recently acquired ADINA nonlinear finite element analysis software. ADINA expands the range of problems where Bentley engineering applications can be applied, making advanced analysis accessible to all. Seth Guthrie, Director of Structural Product Management, shares how leveraging the analytical power of ADINA software can help you perform more flexible analysis of your nonlinear systems.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Tawkiyah Jordan, senior director of housing and community strategy, Habitat for Humanity International.

A previous podcast discussed how small businesses could utilize Virtuosity, a Bentley Company, to grow your business, qualify for DOT subcontracts, or improve workflows for your current workload. This follow-up podcast, also featuring Bentley’s Senior Industry Strategy Manager David Settlemyer, focuses on Disadvantaged Business Enterprises and how they can take advantage of the massive funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure’s editorial director, interviewed Tony Kirby, Arup’s Los Angeles Infrastructure Practice Leader.

Hydraulic modeling is not new to the water industry; however, recent industry influences have resulted in utilities expanding use of modeling software: COVID has changed the game for many industries and their workforce, and this has had an impact on water utilities and the experts who serve them. Water utilities are able to use software to operate smarter, in terms of both saving operational time and expense as well as preparing for anomalies and emergencies. The “brain drain” of retiring workforce can result in lost expertise about how the water system responds to operational stresses and where vulnerabilities exist. You do not have to be an expert in hydraulic modeling to gain value from a hydraulic model. In this podcast, Todd Danielson, the editorial director for Informed Infrastructure, interviews Joel Johnson, Manager of Engineering for Water, Wastewater and Stormwater for Bentley Systems; and Angela Suarez, Product Consultant for the OpenFlows product line at Bentley Systems.

Traditionally, many have viewed Bentley software as a solution for large organizations and megaprojects.  Until now many small businesses believed that their projects were too small for the same technology and that the cost was unsustainable for their business model.  Bentley’s transportation software was developed by engineers to improve road projects both small and large and Virtuosity, a Bentley Company, has now made it accessible and affordable for small businesses.    Whether you are looking to grow your business, qualify for DOT subcontracts, or simply improve workflows for your current workload, join this podcast to learn more.  Listen as Senior Industry Strategy Manager David Settlemyer discusses his small business background and how Bentley and Virtuosity will help your small business sustain long term stability.

Recently, Bentley Systems announced the acquisition of transportation modeling and Mobility Simulation Leader INRO Software to enable digital cities to simulate multimodal transportation scenarios, and model resilience and sustainability outcomes in mobility digital twins. Combining the capabilities of INRO’s advanced traffic and vehicle simulation with Bentley’s passenger and pedestrian simulation and civil design software, including CUBE, Streetlytics, LEGION and OpenRoads, places Bentley in a very strong position to deliver comprehensive mobility digital twins of multimodal transportation systems at urban, metropolitan, regional and national scale. This podcast session will unpack the application capabilities for transportation planning including the pains that each of these applications address for its users. And we unpack this very advanced topic of mobility digital twins, including the need to be multimodal, having detailed dynamic traffic assignments and agent-based methods for veracity, and the need to scale up to systemwide and regionwide—and much more. Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure, interviews Bentley Systems’ Michael Clarke, senior director of Mobility Analytics, and Daniel Florian, senior director of Mobility Modeling.

Infrastructure professionals are quickly catching on to the significant gains that can be realized by digital twins with more than half of all large industrial companies expected to use digital twins in some form by 2021. The concept of an infrastructure digital twin is simple. If you have a physical asset and a digital asset that can represent everything in the physical asset, you can join them together, then use the digital asset to understand what is happening with the physical asset in the real world. But the data required to create a digital twin lives in different data repositories, by different vendors and in incompatible formats, and is constantly changing. To aggregate and visualize this data is no easy task. And that’s where open platforms become part of the conversation. Listen as Bentley Systems’ Adam Klatzkin, VP, iTwin Platform and Sheena Gaynes, Director, Business Development, talk with Todd Danielson, editorial director at Informed Infrastructure, about the Bentley iTwin Platform and how you can get started.

Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) David Wright, GIS Manager, City of Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport

Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District (MSD) Marie Schleicher, GIS Analyst Matthew Starley, Long Range Planner James Burton, Senior GIS Analyst

National Energy Technology Laboratory Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Pipeline Route Planning Database Jennifer Bauer, Geo-data Scientist, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure's editorial director, interviewed Nitin Bhandari, the co-founder and CEO of Planera, via webcam.

Todd Danielson, Informed Infrastructure's editorial director, interviewed Ryan McMahon, the director and general manager of Informed Design at Autodesk, via webcam.

New Technology Can Help Fix the Broken Infrastructure Design Process