Grab breakfast and begin networking early before programming begins.

Our emcee NewsChannel 5’s Rebecca Schleicher and TennSMART’s board president Dr. Rich Davies will kick off the 2023 expo. 

The Mayors of Tennessee’s largest cities will discuss how they are addressing mobility issues and balancing population growth with traffic jams, long commutes, noise and air pollution, and citizen safety.

• Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell   

• Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon   

• John Lancaster, Memphis Area Transit Authority 

• Erik Schmidt, City of Chattanooga 

• Jeannette Mills, TVA (moderator) 

TEAM TN is a National Science Foundation funded partnership that seeks to place Tennessee at the leading edge of transportation electrification and digitization. The Use Inspired R&D Working Group will discuss the latest technologies and trends fueling the development of the TEAM TN R&D strategy and how industry and community partners can engage in this partnership to advance new innovations and build economic prosperity for all Tennessee communities. 

• Dr. Mina Sartipi, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga  

• Abhishek Dubey, Vanderbilt University   

• Dr. Sabya Mishra, University of Memphis 

• Dr. Kevin Heaslip, TEAM TN; University of Tennessee, Knoxville (moderator)  

Explore the technology showcase and meet your fellow industry colleagues. You can also get behind the wheel of an EV at our indoor test track.

Connect Downtown is a 10-year action plan to improve mobility in Nashville’s downtown core with projects and programs to be delivered in three phases. Leaders from the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) will present the draft study recommendations just released that focus on five high-level “big moves” and include near-term quick wins as well as longer-term projects to make travel more reliable, faster, and safer. 

• Brad Freeze, Nashville Dept. of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure  

• Marty Sewel, Nashville Dept. of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure

Tennessee boasts a first-of-its-kind testbed on I-24, the largest urban Internet of Things deployment of its kind in Chattanooga, and the first commercially available software-configurable quantum network. As the state seeks to grow its innovation ecosystem, listen as researchers and experts talk about different platforms available to test new technologies on these platforms. 

• Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier 

• I-24 MOTION team (Matt D'Angelo, Gresham Smith; Michelle Nickerson, TDOT; Josh Westerhold, Nissan North America; Dan Work, Vanderbilt University) 

• Smart City Corridor in Chattanooga (Dr. Mina Sartipi, UTC) 

• Quantum with EPB (David Wade, EPB) 

Tennessee is a leader in clean energy and recently announced a new initiative to leverage assets to attract mobility research and development investment to the Volunteer State. During this fireside chat, State leaders will discuss the future of sustainable transportation solutions and economic opportunity in Tennessee. 

• Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, Tennessee Dept. of Economic & Community Development 

• Commissioner David Salyers, Tennessee Dept. of Environment & Conservation 

• Deputy Commissioner Preston Elliott, Tennessee Dept. of Transportation 

• Lang Wiseman, Baker Donelson (moderator)  

Mark Smith, Technology Integration Program Manager in the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will discuss the converging trends that are shaping mobility and the need to create knowledge, insights, tools, and technology solutions that increase mobility energy productivity through early-stage R&D, demonstration, and deployment. He will also highlight VTO’s collaboration with and investment in projects across Tennessee. 

Leaders from the Tennessee Department of the Environment & Conservation (TDEC) will join TVA to discuss how mobility innovations and sustainable transportation programs are informing planning efforts for TDEC’s TN Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy, funded by EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, and TVA’s Valley Pathways Study, a roadmap for a Net Zero greenhouse gas emission economy by 2050.

• Deputy Commissioner Greg Young, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (moderator)  

• Michelle Walker, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation  

• Laura Duncan, TVA  

Explore the technology showcase and meet your fellow industry colleagues. You can also get behind the wheel of an EV at our indoor test track. 

Technology and innovation are reshaping traditional transportation networks. From autonomous technology to medium- and heavy-duty electrification to general route optimization, this panel of industry leaders will explore the ways their companies are facilitating this transformational change.

• Brian Cunningham, Bridgestone Americas  

• Eric Fuller, CO.LAB  

• Thomas Griffin, FedEx  

• Dan Pallme, Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (moderator) 

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced the Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO), a new economic development initiative to attract more research and development jobs and make Tennessee the No. 1 destination for mobility R&D investment in the Southeast. This panel will feature multiple perspectives about how TNGO can impact communities, industry, and talent development.  

• Randy Boyd, University of Tennessee System 

• Victoria Hirschberg, interim director of TNGO and University of Tennessee System 

• Mehdi Khaleghian, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga  

• Rena Purdy, Wayne County Joint Economic and Community Development Board  

• Braden Stover, Tennessee Dept. of Economic & Community Development 

Enjoy the exhibits, test drive an EV, and network with industry partners during this reception powered by Nissan.