Autonomous Trucks: The Future is Here (Panel Discussion)
Tracks: Operations
Tracks: Operations
The number of autonomous trucks and buses is expected to grow from practically zero this year to 1.2 million by 2032, according to new market analysis by Guidehouse Insights. The heavy anticipation for a surge in autonomous trucks is driven by a number of factors, including the ability to accommodate a growing volume of freight that is stymied by the aging of the current long-haul driver pool and relatively low interest in OTR professional driver opportunities by younger people.
During this provocative panel discussion, executives from autonomous trucking companies share their roadmaps of how for-hire and private fleets are starting to add robotic tractors to their fleets for near-future application. Attend this session to:
Shannon M. Cohen (Facilitator)
Partner
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C.
Shannon M. Cohen (Facilitator)
Partner
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C.
Shannon McClellan Cohen provides legislative counsel services to the firm’s clients. Ms. Cohen monitors forthcoming and active legislation and regulation pertaining to issues affecting motor carriers, with an emphasis on legislation touching on the independent contractor status of owner-operators using her extensive background with and familiarity of owner-operator programs and issues attendant to the design of a successful owner-operator model. She regularly assists in drafting and revising legislation and assessing and communicating the impact of such legislation on the trucking industry. Ms. Cohen has also been a featured speaker on these topics to industry stakeholders and associations.
Amisha Vadalia
Senior Director of Operations
Plus
Amisha Vadalia
Senior Director of Operations
Plus
As the Senior Director of Operations at Plus, Amisha Vadalia helped build and now oversees industry-leading operations, safety processes, trainings, and pilot programs that pave the way for the safe commercial rollout of Plus’s self-driving truck technology. The operations team, under Amisha’s leadership, coordinates testing and data collection, manages the supply chain, and supports national customer deployments of Plus’s first commercial product – a driver-in solution called PlusDrive.
Amisha previously worked in the renewable energy sector, leading operations at a solar monitoring and data analytics company. Amisha graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Management.
Tammy Hamilton
VP Operations
Gatik
Tammy Hamilton
VP Operations
Gatik
Tammy Hamilton is VP Operations at Gatik, the market leader in autonomous middle mile logistics. The company delivers goods safely and efficiently using its fleet of light and medium-duty trucks, focusing on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 retailers such as Walmart, Georgia-Pacific, and Loblaw.
Tammy is a visionary leader bringing over 20 years of experience in establishing operational optimization across diverse industries within North America. Prior to joining Gatik, Tammy spent over a decade as Senior Vice President of Driving Force Inc. and before that held a variety of senior leadership positions with Air Canada and Air North, as well as founding Direct Approach Consulting Inc.
Xinfeng Le
Senior Product Manager for Waymo Via Trucking
Waymo
Xinfeng Le
Senior Product Manager for Waymo Via Trucking
Waymo
In her role, Xinfeng refines Waymo’s product vision and strategy for trucking; develops the roadmap and determines product requirements, leverages user research, product insight and technical knowledge; works with hardware, software, and systems engineering departments to execute and turn new technologies into products; and works cross-functionally with Waymo teams to bring market products that solve customer needs and transform freight transportation.
Prior to Waymo, Xinfeng worked at Uber, where she was first a Product Manager for Global Growth and then a Carrier Experience Product Lead for Uber Freight. Previously, Xinfeng worked at eBay.
Xinfeng holds an M.S. in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Technology from Southeast University in China.
Akila Panneerselvam
Engineering Manager - Perception
Torc Robotics
Akila Panneerselvam
Engineering Manager - Perception
Torc Robotics
Akila Panneerselvam is an engineering manager of Perception in Torc Robotics, leading vision, and machine learning teams. Torc is highly dedicated in bringing autonomous trucks to the road in a safe and technically sound manner.
Akila has been in the automotive industry for 15 years, in leadership and technical roles for National Instruments, Aptiv, Cummins, and Continental. She was crucial in developing the simulation team and the needs of software validation in closed loop manner for the ADAS features in Aptiv. She was head of engineering at NI, overseeing the services organization and the Aerospace/Defense R&D needs.
Akila holds a Postgraduate from University of Texas, Austin in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and an MS in Engineering from Purdue University.
Vivian Sun
Chief Commercial Officer
Waabi
Vivian Sun
Chief Commercial Officer
Waabi