Workforce Development

Dr. Sunil Sinha is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management (SWIM) Center of Excellence at Virginia Tech. Dr. Sunil Sinha is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award recipient in the area of sustainable water infrastructure management systems. Dr. Sinha was seed behind “90-minutes” PBS documentary titled “Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure,” that throws light on a long-buried problem — America’s aging water system. He has given many NPR interviews and featured as a water infrastructure expert in a History Channel documentary titled “The Crumbling of America.”

General Manager - Moulton Niguel Water District

Ms. Lopez is the general manager, which provides water, wastewater and recycled water services to six cities in South Orange County. Before joining Moulton Niguel, she served as the General Manager of Calaveras County Water District located in Northern California. Joone’s prior experience includes working for Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company as its Assistant General Manager and serving as the Deputy General Manager of Central Basin Municipal Water District.

Deputy Director, Capital Improvement Program - Miami Dade Water & Sewer Department

Mr. Anand has over 20 years of professional civil and environmental engineering experience along with a combination of program management and leadership experience within the public and private sector.

He currently serves as the Deputy Director for Miami Dade Water & Sewer Department and oversees the implementation of the $13.5B Capital Improvement Program for the utility to deliver innovative projects with the objective to position Miami-Dade County as a Utility of the Future. He is engaged in incorporating effective utility management attributes, sustainability and resiliency measures as well as identifying and deploying specific technology applications to realize quality, efficiency and utility resilience.

Program Director - Strategic Asset Management and Intelligent Water Systems - Water Research Foundation (WRF)

Directs Strategic Asset Management (SAM) and Intelligent Water Systems (IWS) Research at the Alexandria office, directed the recently completed USEPA Aging Water Infrastructure cooperative agreement with cumulative budgets of $10+ million.

Chief Executive Officer - The Water Tower

Melissa has over 25 years of experience in water resources management, with an emphasis on alternative water supply development and research, workforce development and public engagement. Melissa previously served as the CEO of The Water Environment and Reuse Foundation and was instrumental in the merger of three critical water-related research foundations. She also served as Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District and Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Associate Dean for Global Engagement and Chief Technology Officer for the College of Engineering - Virginia Tech

Dr. Glenda R. Scales also serves as the State Director of the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program (CGEP). As State Director of CGEP, Dr. Scales manages a statewide distance learning program that has a long history – over 30 years – providing working scientists and engineers with access to exceptional graduate degree programs. Dr. Scales also provides leadership for international programs, research computing, and academic computing within the College of Engineering. The Governor recently appointed her to the Southern Regional Education Board. This board works with 16 member states to improve public education, from prekindergarten through postsecondary education.