The Center for Synthetic Biology, in collaboration with the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern, is pleased to welcome Dario Robleto, award-winning multi-media artist, for a screening of his film Ancient Beacons Long for Notice. This third part of Robleto’s trilogy explores the legacy of the “Golden Record”—a gold disc representing Earth's diverse life and cultures, sent beyond our solar system on NASA’s Voyager space probes. The film asks a core question:“ is our moral obligation to fully account for our actions—the good and the bad—in perpetuity, off-planet, and to beings we have yet to confirm exist?” A community conversation after the screening will explore this question in the context of synthetic biology’s history, encouraging us to consider its ethical implications as we forecast the future.

Dario Robleto’s work has been widely exhibited and is held in prominent collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. A portfolio of the artists prints titled The First Time, The Heart (A Portrait of Life 1854–1913) was acquired by the Block in 2018 with support of Northwestern Engineering. His work has also been featured in numerous media outlets, including Krista Tippett’s On Being and The New York Times. Robleto has held numerous artist-in-residence positions at prestigious institutions, including the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. In 2025, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Middlebury College.

From 2018 to 2023, Robleto Served as Artist-at-Large at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and the Block Museum of Art, where he developed and screened the first two parts of his trilogy about the history of the heart and the Golden Record. The residency culminated in the exhibition The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto, as well as a publication of the same name. During his time at Northwestern, Robleto built strong ties with the Center for Synthetic Biology and explored the intersection of art, technology, and ethics in society.

This event leads up to the Center for Synthetic Biology’s 10-year Anniversary, where Robleto is leading the development of a time capsule representing the future of synthetic biology at Northwestern and in the world.

Event Details - Northwestern University, Evanston Campus
📅 Wednesday, April 15, 2026
🕒 3:00–5:00 PM | Film Screening & Discussion
📍 The Block Museum of Art

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Abstract:

In this deep-dive analysis, based on his new book of the same title, Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird will explore emerging automotive and mobility trends, confront their resulting negative consequences, and demonstrate a viable path forward. Learn how leveraging the same technologies can deliver affordable, sustainable mobility access to everyone, worldwide, and examine the strategic roadmap detailing how governments and automakers can achieve significant strategic and economic advantage.

Bio:

Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird is an expert on sustainable and affordable mobility for ALL the world’s people. This builds on his 25-year career leading advanced mobility initiatives at several major companies and universities as well as volunteering in sub-Saharan Africa. With his consulting business, Afreecar, he is a senior advisor on future mobility to McKinsey and EVage (an Indian commercial EV startup) and is also sought out to provide independent technical due diligence on future mobility technologies and companies in vehicle autonomy, connectivity and electrification. Separately, Afreecar is also developing an e-kit that power assists non-motorized vehicles while also transforming them into mobile power sources, which has many applications in both the developing and developed worlds. He served as Waymo’s Chief Engineer for Future Vehicle Programs and has been a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab. From 2012 to 2017, he was Qualcomm’s VP of Strategic Development, responsible for wireless automotive solutions. Prior to this, he led GM’s Electric Networked Vehi-cle (EN-V), the world’s first drivable vehicles to demonstrate today’s accepted vision of future mobility (and extensively deployed at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo). He led GM’s Autonomy, Hy-wire and Sequel “skateboard” electric vehicle concepts, now widely adopted by the Auto Industry, and has 50 patents. He is co-author of “Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century”, with Larry Burns and the late Bill Mitchell (MIT Press, 2010). Before joining GM in 2000, he led Chrysler’s gasoline fuel cell vehicle development. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame as a Young Leader in 2000, was one of Automotive News’ inaugural “Electrifying 100” in 2011 and was profiled by Motor Trend/Blackberry in the “Coding the Car” documentary and book series in 2023. His latest book, “Sustainable and Affordable Mobility for All: Putting the Heart back into Technology” was published by SAE in 2025.

KEITH DIERKX
Principal
Princeton Consultants

When: Wednesday, April 29, 2025 @ 2:00pm CT

Where: Zoom Meeting

o Register Here for livestream (via Zoom) attendance.
o Zoom meeting information will be shared on the day of the event.

Speaker Biography:

Keith leads the expansion of Princeton Consultants’ Rail and Transportation Practices. He brings decades of executive experience, having served as Executive Director of Transportation and Logistics at Oracle and as IBM’s Global Industry Leader for Freight, Logistics, and Rail.'

A recognized thought leader in the industry, Keith has been featured in Forbes, Railway Age, CNN, and CNBC’s Squawk Box. He has co-authored influential papers, including AI in Logistics with DHL and Cognitive Computing in Rail with IBM, and he continues to shape the future of the sector through research, advisory work, and public outreach. In 2024 and 2025 he co-sponsored the Princeton Consultants/Northwestern University AI in Rail Survey, providing insights on the current and future role of AI in transportation. Keith earned his BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Duke University.

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The AI in Transportation Industry Workshop will explore the growing role of AI in managing transportation assets, operations and systems. To address this rapidly evolving landscape the Northwestern University Transportation Center is bringing together subject matter experts to discuss how AI is (or is not) delivering real results. The Workshop will feature leaders from C.H. Robinson, Loop, project44, XPO and Wi-Tronix.

EVENT CHAIR
Bret Johnson - Interim Director, NUTC

AGENDA

2:00 PM Welcome / Opening Remarks
* Bret Johnson, Interim Director, NUTC

2:10 PM Presentations
* Ryan Hammett, Director, Market Intelligence & Insights, C.H. Robinson
* Larry Jordan, Chief Executive Officer & President, Wi-Tronix
* Nick Ruggiero, Director, Product Management, project44
* Jay Silberkleit, Chief Information Officer, XPO

3:15 PM Networking Break

3:45 PM Panel Discussion
* [Moderator] Jonathan Shaver, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Loop

4:30 PM End of Program

BIOGRAPHIES

RYAN HAMMETT [speaker]
Director, Market Intelligence & Insights, C. H. Robinson

Ryan Hammett is the Director of Market Intelligence and Insights at C.H. Robinson, where he oversees C.H. Robinson’s North America thought leadership team. With $22 billion in freight under management and 19 million shipments annually, C.H. Robinson solves logistics problems for over 90,000 customers and 450,000 contract carriers on their platform globally. This unique industry perspective allows Ryan and his team to help the shipper and carrier communities simplify transportation-related complexities into actionable insights. His responsibilities also include C.H. Robinson’s collaboration with research universities to publish academic studies relevant to supply
chain and transportation.

In his time at C.H. Robinson Ryan has held multiple roles mostly focused on the shipper
community, including technology implementation, business development, M&A integration(Freightquote), project management, commercial strategy, and as chief of staff to the Chief Commercial Officer. Ryan graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana Tech University (2000). Prior to joining C.H. Robinson, Ryan worked in the civil engineering and consulting industries. Originally from Louisiana, Ryan has lived in the Twin Cities of Minnesota since 2013 with his wife and two sons.


BRET JOHNSON [host]
Interim Director, Northwestern University Transportation Center

Bret Johnson is the senior associate director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC), and the director of the Center for the Commercialization of Innovative Transportation Technology at Northwestern. Prior to joining Northwestern, Bret held senior engineering and project management positions at 3COM, Grayhill, Northrop-Grumman, and GE Astrospace. He received an M.A. in Science, Technology and Public Policy from The George Washington University, an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

LARRY JORDAN [speaker]
Chief Executive Officer & President, Wi-Tronix

Larry Jordan, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Wi-Tronix, is committed to a global vision of saving lives by improving the safety, service reliability, and operational efficiency of transportation systems for the rail industry. Prior to founding Wi-Tronix, Larry spent 15 years at the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors working on innovative digital solutions for the railway industry. In 2004, Larry created the beginnings of Wi-Tronix in his own basement, deploying the first system in May of 2005. Despite humble beginnings and challenges, Larry adopted the “Make Things Happen” attitude early on. An inventor and innovator, Larry holds multiple patents in locomotive control systems. He believes passionately that innovation can provide the future of rail safety. Through collaborative innovation, Larry was able to gain new customers, deploy Wi-Tronix event recorders, and expand the product line to include interface capabilities, ultimately leading to the Wi-Tronix IoT & Violet Edge systems.

NICK RUGGIERO [speaker]
Director, Product Management, project44

Nick Ruggiero is Director of Product Management at project44, the global leader in supply chain decision intelligence. He leads product strategy for AI-powered automation — including the company's Autopilot platform and AI agents that autonomously resolve supply chain exceptions. Nick played a key role in the creation of Movement, project44's Decision Intelligence Platform, as well as core supply chain visibility products. Prior to project44, he held product roles at Uptake, an industrial AI company. Nick attended the Illinois Institute of Technology and is based in the Chicago area.

JONATHAN SHAVER [moderator]
Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Loop

Jonathan Shaver is the co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Loop. Jonathan previously co-founded and was CEO of StrategIQ Commerce, which worked with many of the largest e-commerce and retail brands assisting in design, oversight, and measurement of their shipping networks. He built the company to 100 + employees who processed and analyzed billions of shipping and commerce transactions before an acquisition by Loop. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management with an emphasis in Transportation and is a supporter and advocate of Entrepreneurship and Diversity initiatives at Kellogg. Jonathan resides in Chicago IL with his wife and two sons. His family foundation, Limitless, supports scholarships for both academic and extra circular activities for Chicago’s underserved youth.

JAY SILBERKLEIT [speaker]
Chief Information Officer, XPO

Jay Silberkleit leads XPO’s technology organization, the capstone of an 18-year career as an enterprise systems leader with Fortune 500 companies that have complex technology-centric operations. Mr. Silberkleit joined XPO as vice president, enterprise architecture in 2012, shortly after the company was founded, and was instrumental in creating XPO’s technology ecosystem, including its digital brokerage platform. In 2021, he was named senior vice president, technology, with responsibility for the company’s optimization initiatives in less-than-truckload. Mr. Silberkleit came to XPO from Waste Management, Inc., where he served as principal software engineer.

ABOUT NUTC
The Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC) is one of the world’s leading interdisciplinary education and research institutions, serving industry, government and the public sectors. Founded in 1954 to generate substantive and enduring contributions for the better movement of materials, people, energy, and information, NUTC stands at the forefront of transportation research and education. NUTC brings together academic researchers, students and business affiliates in a joint open exploration of transportation and supply chain operations. NUTC aims to influence national and international transportation policy, management and technological developments with the goal of making transportation and supply chain operations more productive, efficient, safe, secure, environmentally friendly and socially beneficial.

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About Mario Harik

Mario Harik leads the execution of XPO's strategy, including growth investments in customer service excellence and employee satisfaction. Leveraging his previous service as XPO’s chief information officer, Mr. Harik also oversees the expansion of network capacity and proprietary technology that are transforming the company’s operations. Prior to XPO, Mr. Harik held positions as chief information officer and senior vice president of research and development with Oakleaf Waste Management, chief technology officer with Tallan, Inc., and co-founder and chief architect of web and voice applications with G3 Analyst. He holds a master’s degree in engineering, information technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a degree in engineering, computer and communications from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Mr. Harik also serves as chairman of XPO's board of directors, and is on the board of directors of QXO, Inc.

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Abstract

As urban populations continue to increase in the U.S. and globally, there is growing concern

about the impact of urban environmental determinants on population health, ranging from traditional pollutants to emergent issues such as natural disasters. This talk will focus on modern exposure science approaches to characterize exposures to air pollution, extreme weather, and green space as well as to incorporate them in health research to understand potential biological mechanisms. These approaches include engineering methods, advanced statistical models, GIS, and machine learning methods. The approaches highlighted throughout the talk are applicable to environmental engineering, transportation, civil engineering, epidemiology, risk assessment and public health.

Bio

Kai Zhang, MS, MA, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Population and Community Health at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. Dr. Zhang received a PhD degree in Environmental Health and a MA degree in Statistics at the University of Michigan, and a MS degree and a BS degree in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua and Southeast University in China, respectively. Dr. Zhang’s research interest focuses on characterizing climate-related exposures, reducing the human health effects associated with disasters, and exploring the role of social and environmental stressors (air pollution, natural environment, built environment, and green space) in relation to chronic diseases. Dr. Zhang serves as the Secretary of the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES). He is also an Associate Editor for Science of the Total Environment and the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. His research has been featured in prestigious international journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Climate Change, Nature Communication, Science Advances, Circulation, Circulation Research, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Environmental Science & Technology, among others.

Abstract:

This talk summarizes recent rapid progress in integrating machine learning techniques with cloud computing and automation in the context of mixed-autonomy (i.e. contexts in which humans interact with machines). The results are developed in the context of traffic automation. We present a new platform in which a cloud-based system broadcasts high-level “speed plans” (generated through optimal control and neural approximations of hyperbolic partial differential equations) via lossy communication channels such as the cellular network to a fleet of vehicles with a given level of automation. The vehicles, using their local automation stack, run deep reinforcement learning algorithms collaboratively to control surrounding traffic. The algorithms and the platform are designed to smooth “stop-and-go” waves on freeways, which are a significant cause of energy waste and accidents. Results from a large-scale experiment involving 100 automated vehicles are presented, in which Nissan, Toyota, and GM vehicles collectively run the algorithms on the I-24 freeway in Nashville, TN, demonstrating up to a 10% improvement in overall energy consumption.

BIO

Alexandre Bayen is the Founding Associate Provost for the Berkeley Space Center, the Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute, and the Liao-Cho Professor of Engineering at UC Berkeley. He is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science(link is external), and Civil and Environmental Engineering(link is external). From 2014 - 2021, he served as the Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies(link is external) at UC Berkeley (ITS). He is also a Faculty Scientist in Mechanical Engineering, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory(link is external) (LBNL).

He received the Engineering Degree in applied mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique, France, in 1998, the M.S. and Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in 1999 and 2004, respectively. He was a Visiting Researcher at NASA Ames Research Center from 2000 to 2003. Between January 2004 and December 2004, he worked as the Research Director of the Autonomous Navigation Laboratory at the Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aerodynamiques, (Ministere de la Defense, Vernon, France), where he holds the rank of Major. He has been on the faculty at UC Berkeley since 2005. Bayen has authored two books and over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals and conferences. He is the recipient of the Ballhaus Award from Stanford University, 2004, of the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, 2009 and he is a NASA Top 10 Innovators on Water Sustainability, 2010. His projects Mobile Century and Mobile Millennium received the 2008 Best of ITS Award for ‘Best Innovative Practice’, at the ITS World Congress and a TRANNY Award from the California Transportation Foundation, 2009. Mobile Millennium has been featured more than 200 times in the media, including TV channels and radio stations (CBS, NBC, ABC, CNET, NPR, KGO, the BBC), and in the popular press (Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times). Bayen is the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award from the White House, 2010. He is also the recipient of the Okawa Research Grant Award, the Ruberti Prize from the IEEE, and the Huber Prize from the ASCE.

TBD