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2023 Agenda

Wednesday, October 25th


9:00 am – 5:00 pm Pre-Conference Training

IT Training Pisa Room

Introduction to Wireshark, Betty Dubois, IT Dojo

Engineering Training Sienna Room

FLIR – Taimen Taylor with ICI, and Rick Brethorst with CBM


12:00 pm Lunch Ravello Room


6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Networking Event

Dogwood Social

Join us at the Dogwood Social House on Wednesday, October 25 starting at 5 pm for axe throwing, arcade games and networking! A taco bar dinner will be served and drink tickets are included! Hope to see you there – 2601 State Hwy K

Thursday, October 26th


7:30 am – 8:30 am Registration & Continental Breakfast Venetian Pre-function Area


8:45 am – 9:50 am Welcome & Keynote (1 PE Credit)

Legal and Government Relations Update Tuscany Ballroom East

Craig Sondgeroth and Nick Reitz, Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives


10:00 am – 10:50 am Breakout Sessions

NRECA Essence 3.0 Pisa Room

Doug Lambert

Effective Methods for Constructability Surveys and Performing Makeready Assessment Sienna Room

Rob Bilodeau, Osmose


11:00 am – 11:50 am Breakout Sessions

Zero Trust Architecture and Addressing the Rising Threat of Ransomware Pisa Room

Cam Grigsby, VDA Labs

Microgrids Sienna Room

Nathan Leonard and Angelos Kokkinis, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.


12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch

Sponsor Spotlight Tuscany Ballroom East


1:10 pm – 2:00 pm Breakout Sessions

DNS Filtering, Why it’s Important  Pisa Room

Ben Story, RedEye Networks Solutions

NERC Compliant Substation Hardening, Access Controls and Security Cameras Sienna Room

Andrew Petroline, Utilitra


2:10 pm – 3:00 pm Breakout Sessions

Backdoors and Breaches  Pisa Room

Jon Watkins – Watkins Consulting, Claud Wilson – Norris Electric Cooperative and Chris Franzen – MJM Electric Cooperative

Bird and Animal Guard at Substations Sienna Room

Darren Barker, TransGuard


3:10 pm – 4:00 pm Keynote

DHS CISA Update, Risk Assessments, and Cyber Performance Goals (CPG) Tuscany Ballroom East

Tony Collings, Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)


4:10 pm – 7:00 pm Exhibitor Reception

Vendor Showcase Tuscany West Province

Come learn about new products and services as you network with vendors and sponsors during an evening of fun! Vendors will be hosting games and giving out door prizes. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served.


Friday, October 27th


8:15 am Breakfast Venetian Pre-Function Area


8:30 am – 9:20 am Keynote

Is Modeling Software Properly Handling Winter Peak Voltage Drop? A Real World Case Study Tuscany Ballroom East

Adam Toth, Toth and Associates


9:30 am – 10:20 am Breakout Sessions

University of Illinois ReCIPE Cyber Exercise Panel DiscussionPisa Room

Dan Gerard – AIEC, Dominic Saebeler, Casey O’brien, Matt Luallen – University of Illinois, Justin Harris – FBI, Sean Middleton – RECC, Tim Huber – Norris Electric, David Welsh – Coles Moultrie

EV Stations and the Importance of On-Site EV Charger Testing Sienna Room

Ravi Gupta and Shahryar Farhang, Megger


10:30 am – 11:20 am Breakout Sessions

Demystifying Nmap: A Practical Workshop for BeginnersPisa Room

Casey O’brien, University of Illinois 

Dissolving Gases in Oil; Testing for Transformers Sienna Room

Melissa Zajac, Doble Engineering


11:30 am – 12:20 pm

Lunch & Grand Prize Giveaways Tuscany Ballroom East