2025 Agenda

Dr. Ariaratnam is a Professor and Sunstate Chair of Construction Management & Engineering at Arizona State University with over 25 years of experience in trenchless engineering research and education.  In 2012, he was named North American Trenchless Technology Person of the Year by Trenchless Technology Magazine.  He is a past recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) John O. Bickel Award, Arthur M. Wellington Prize, Pipeline Division Award of Excellence, and the Stephen D. Bechtel Pipeline Engineering Award. Dr. Ariaratnam is a member of the European Academy of Sciences & Arts, Canadian Academy of Engineering, U.S. National Academy of Construction, and is a Distinguished Member of ASCE.  In March 2022, Dr. Ariaratnam was appointed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to serve a on the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Dr. Ariaratnam is a registered professional engineer in the State of Arizona and the Province of Ontario. 

Martin Cherrington has been creating horizontal drilling technologies and methodologies since 1964. He is credited with accomplishing the first Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD), placing a gas pipe under a waterway in 1970. Martin has designed and developed related HDD equipment and in-hole tooling. He operated his own HDD companies, first Titan Contractors and then Cherrington Corporation, for more than 50 years successfully completing countless HDD projects with many firsts in his long career. He has given several technical papers regarding HDD in-hole physical conditions, and has been granted 27 HDD related U.S. patents. His name is synonymous with HDD and he is sometimes referred to as the “father of HDD”.

Mark Gallucci is nearing his 27th anniversary with Digital Control Incorporated. In that time Mark has held a variety of positions, including Western US Field Manger, Training Manger, General Manager of DCI Australia, US and International Field Manger, and In-house Customer Service Manager.  Currently, Mark heads up DCI’s Customer Insight efforts with the goal of reducing the “needs gap” between what customers need/want and what DCI produces.  Mark had seven years as a Field Superintendent with the world’s premier hard rock Tunnel Boring Machine manufacturer prior to joining DCI in 1996. 

Siggi Finnsson has an engineering background and has been involved in the underground construction industry since 1989.   He started his career with The Robbins Company, a leading manufacturer of Tunnel Boring Machines primarily working on defining optimal solutions and recommendations for tunneling projects all over the world.  Siggi joined Digital Control Incorporated in 1995 has had various roles during his tenure ranging from customer service management through to more engineering focused roles.  He has been involved in the development of most of DCI’s locating products and is currently a Senior Product Manager, primarily involved with new product development and product and design definitions. 

Jed Sheckler has over 20 years of experience in the development and operation of underground guidance systems for the trenchless industry. He has viewed these industries from both the field side, operating equipment and advising clients on-site, as well as in a variety of hardware and software development roles.

Matthew Wallin is a Principal Partner and Senior Project Manager with Bennett Trenchless Engineers, located in Folsom, California. BTE’s engineering practice is focused entirely on trenchless technology design, construction management, and claims assistance with clients and projects located throughout California, as well as Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, and Canada. Matthew holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He began his career working for URS in Oakland, California in 2000 in their geotechnical group. Since that time, Matthew has focused his practice on geotechnical engineering and the design and construction management of new pipeline projects using horizontal directional drilling, microtunneling, open-shield pipejacking, pipe ramming, tunneling and auger boring.

Matthew Wallin is a Principal Partner and Senior Project Manager with Bennett Trenchless Engineers, located in Folsom, California. BTE’s engineering practice is focused entirely on trenchless technology design, construction management, and claims assistance with clients and projects located throughout California, as well as Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, and Canada. Matthew holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He began his career working for URS in Oakland, California in 2000 in their geotechnical group. Since that time, Matthew has focused his practice on geotechnical engineering and the design and construction management of new pipeline projects using horizontal directional drilling, microtunneling, open-shield pipejacking, pipe ramming, tunneling and auger boring.

Mary Neher is a Senior Project Engineer/Project Manager with Bennett Trenchless Engineers in Folsom, California.  She earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and her MS in Civil/Geotechnical Engineering from UC Davis. Mary has worked in the field of trenchless technology since 2007 and has led the design of many trenchless projects using HDD, microtunneling, guided boring/pilot tube method, pipe ramming, and other installation methods.

Jim Mabrey has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Resource Management from the University of West Florida and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Florida. Jim began work with Baroid Drilling Fluids as a Drilling Fluids Engineer in the oil field in 1998.  He quickly transitioned to a Lab Tech working on R&D projects. He then became Regional Manager for Baroid Industrial Drilling Products. Jim then moved over to Bentonite Performance Minerals (BPM) where he managed a Consumer Products Group for 10 years.  After that business was sold in 2020, Jim began working as a Business Development Manager for BPM. Jim has now spent over 25 years in the Baroid PSL of Halliburton, an energy service company.

Clint Pitman, President and Founder of Drilling Mud Direct (DMD), is an HDD industry veteran with over 25 years experience in the Drilling Fluids Industry.  Clint founded DMD in 2002 with the goal of making drilling mud supply as cost effective as possible – 20 years later DMD is an industry leader.  In addition to drilling mud/bentonite DMD also supplies drilling fluid additives, slurry solidification, replacement shaker screens and jobsite mud engineers. Clint graduated from the University of Arizona in 1990 and started his career in Washington DC, then started in the drilling fluids industry in 1994.  Before starting DMD in 2002 he worked at M-I Swaco and Inrock.  Clint lives in Colorado, where DMD is headquartered, and enjoys golf, snowboarding, hiking, biking and all things Colorado.

Chris Thompson is a Product Manager at Ditch Witch with responsibility over the Vacuum Excavation product line. He holds a BA in Organizational Leadership from the University of Central Oklahoma and an MBA from Oklahoma Christian University. Before taking on the Vacuum Excavation product line he covered the CUE and Utility Locator product lines. Chris focuses on providing Ditch Witch customers with innovative, customer-driven products and solutions with the goal of damage prevention and jobsite solutions.

For more than 15 years, Cory Maker has worked within the Ditch Witch organization. Currently serving as the manager of product marketing for Subsite Electronics, Cory works to address the demands of those working in the underground construction, inspection and maintenance industries. Having worked in a variety of roles, he started in manufacturing before becoming an electrical and hydraulic technician. He spent the next five years of his career as a product support specialist, then another two years working as a regional sales manager for the western United States before becoming an HDD product manager at Ditch Witch.

Tom has led the Underground Solutions, Inc. development of Fusible PVC® from its inception to record setting product it now is in the HDD industry for thermoplastic pipe. He has also led development of the necessary tools for the training, handling, and installation of Fusible PVC® in trenchless applications.

Brent Bardwell has over 10 years of experience in the telecommunication industry as a field engineering manager and with an engineering background prior to coming to Vermeer. Brent joined Vermeer in June 2022 as a Product Specialist and has been involved with the Vermeer productivity tools. Brent’s focus at Vermeer is to assisting construction companies with their bore planning, and telematic needs. 

Matt Cott is the director of Sales and Business Development with Behrens and Associates Inc., Environmental Noise Control. Matt has spent the last 11 years, and 15 overall, in the noise impact evaluation and mitigation field with a primary focus on Oil and Gas and Pipeline Construction. Matt puts an emphasis on tying together the technical side of acoustics, sound level impacts and sound control “fixes” along with the real-world applications and feasibility of working on an active HDD or construction site to ensure that projects are evaluated and mitigated properly with performance, safety and operational concerns all being addressed. Matt is based out of the Longmont, Colorado office but has been instrumental in the development of Environmental Noise Control’s operations in Canada, including British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

For the last 6 years Nick has been working for Transwest’s hydrovac division covering the Western United States from Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Hawaii, and Alaska. He has clients operating trucks in all states in the Western US, along with several other states. He was promoted to Hydrovac Sales Manager for the US in 2021, and is responsible for a sales and support team that covers the US.  He has gotten a true “hands on education” by working in the field side by side with customers, operators, and their teams on their job sites to help better understand the roles hydrovacs play in the underground construction industry. Nick works hand in hand with companies to help with their hydrovac, truck, & equipment needs & solutions, along with operator training, and helping get systems in place to improve operations, training, efficiencies, and safety around hydro excavation equipment and jobs. ” “Being active in the field and in the mud with the crews is a vital part to really understanding what operators and teams are faced with everyday. If you can do that, you are better suited to help with real world solutions that work.

Aaron Cohen, CPC, is the Estimate Product Manager at InEight and is responsible for defining product requirements to foster the evolution of InEight Estimate products as a best in class solution for today’s market demands.  Aaron also teaches courses at Arizona State University on Estimating and Project Controls.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University as well as a Master of Science degree from DePaul University and is a Certified Professional Constructor.