PMI24 Manufacturing Success Conference
Scheduled Activities

The day begins with a keynote from former mixed martial arts fighter Justin Wren, founder of Fight for the Forgotten. In his address titled "Purpose. Performance. Impact.” Wren will tell the story of how he overcame personal challenges by finding purpose through his founding of a nonprofit organization that has made a positive impact on the Pygmy communities of Africa.

The rest of the day will feature:

• "How Startups & Scaleups are Transforming Water Management with AI," with Mahesh Lunani, founder and CEO, Aquasight
• "New PFAS Rulings," with Cally Edgren, vice president, sustainability, Assent
• "PFAS Destruction Technologies Panel," led by Edgren and including Dr. Sarah Parker, senior managing scientist, Exponent; Lingke Zeng, project director, Civil and Environmental Consultants; and David Dunlap, vice president of government relations, CleanEarth/Enviri
• "FCC Labelling Updates," with Brian E. Finch, partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
• "Reinventing the Toilet: A Global Collaboration Turning an Infrastructure into an Appliance," with Kyle Azevedo, branch head, mechanical applications, Georgia Tech Research Institute
• "Urine Diversion: The Next Flush Challenge," with Mathew Lippincott, regulatory consultant, University of Michigan

Starting the day will be the PMI Women’s Breakfast, with Dr. DeRetta Rhodes, executive vice president and chief culture officer of the Atlanta Braves. She will lead a discussion about the importance of finding a personal voice as a female leader.

Wednesday also will feature:

• "Advocacy and Government Affairs Update," with Jerry Desmond and Stephanie Salmon, PMI’s advocacy/government affairs consultants
• "Why It’s a Great Time to be Working in Water: Embracing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities," with Katherine Zitsch, water policy expert, Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center
• "National Residential Water Use Research and Trends," with Peter Mayer, principal engineer, Water DM and Flume Data Labs
• "The 'New' World of Environmental Law: Chemical Exposures to Greenwashing," with Douglas Henderson, partner, King & Spalding
• "The Future is Net Zero Water," with Shan Arora, director, the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, and Mike Snider, field foreman, Batchelor & Kimball, Inc.
• "PMI Market Outlook LIVE: Staying Ahead of the Curve in 2025-2026," with Lauren Saidel-Baker, economist, ITR Economics

Bringing the day's business to a close, PMI will conduct its 70th Meeting of the Membership. During this meeting, PMI will review accomplishments and goals, name the winners of the PMI President's Award and PMI Ambassador Award, conduct a business meeting, and elect 2025 officers.

PMI's 70th anniversary reception and dinner celebrating PMI's past, present and future will bring the day's events to a close.

The final day of PMI24 will feature:

• "Manufacturing Good: Redefining 'Quality' within the Living Product Challenge," with Mike Johnson, senior director of materials, International Living Future Institute
• "New Developments at WaterSense," with Stephanie Tanner, lead engineer, Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense Program
• "Emerging Water Contaminants Impact on Premise Plumbing Systems," with Robert Bowcock, managing director, Integrated Resource Management

The day also will include a presentation from the Georgia Aquarium's Life Support Systems Engineering Team.