The Infrastructure Institute participates in academic and industry summits, conferences, and think tanks across the country. These events are an opportunity for the institute to collaborate on innovative academic and industry ideas. Students who attend on behalf of the institute are exposed to real world insight from industry practitioners.
Listed below are brief summaries and reports of past special events SUII attended.
Chairman Pat Foye and Steve Charney Talk Infrastructure with SU Students
April 11th, 2019
Pat Foye, Chairman and CEO of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, visited Syracuse University soon after being confirmed by the NY State Senate. Chairman Foye met with Syracuse University Infrastructure Institute leadership; faculty from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Maxwell School of Public Citizenship, and the Whitman School of Management; and students of Dr. Steinberg’s graduate class in Management and Planning of Public Infrastructure. During his visit, Chairman Foye shared his experiences as president of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and President of the MTA.
Students and faculty also had the privilege of meeting with Steve Charney, Chairman of Peckar & Abramson, the largest construction law practice in the United States, and Founding Advisor to the SU Infrastructure Institute. Charney spoke to students in the Management and Planning of Public Infrastructure course about potential benefits to owners of public infrastructure in engaging in public-private partnerships. Charney’s insights into the complexity of public private partnerships gave students a better understanding of the future of infrastructure delivery. He emphasized the students’ role as future public administrators and engineers in finding solutions to the nation’s aging infrastructure systems. Similar to Chairman Foye’s call for innovative solutions to antiquated systems, Charney noted that solutions need to redefine the industry to match the pressing needs of the future and that the industry will require professionals who are trained across many disciplines including such areas as public administration, finance, supply chain, and design.
SUII in Dallas: AIAI Annual P3 Conference
March 6th, 2019
SUII leadership, Dr. Laura Steinberg and founder Steve Charney, attended the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure (AIAI)’s annual Public-Private Partnership Conference and Expo. The event was held on March 5th, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. SUII hosted an exclusive listening session at the conference to receive insight from industry leaders on what their needs would be from an infrastructure academic program. Some of the topics discussed were infrastructure delivery, public private partnership research, and soft communications skills for students.