Felipe Tello is a commercial energy professional specializing in crude oil and feedstock logistics, marine transportation, and third-party commercial agreements supporting large-scale U.S. refining operations. He currently serves as Commercial Lead for Crude Oil & Feedstock Logistics at Motiva Enterprises, where he focuses on supply reliability, cost optimization, and operational resilience across complex maritime, terminal, and infrastructure networks.

Felipe previously served on the Board of the U.S. Crude Oil Quality Association, where he worked alongside producers, refiners, and logistics providers to address quality standards, coordination challenges, and systemic risks across the U.S. crude supply chain. He brings a practitioner’s perspective on how maritime capacity, asset ownership, and commercial alignment directly impact U.S. energy and food security.

Will be speaking on:
NEXT GENERATION PORT OPERATIONS: UNLOCKING THE FUTURE WITH MANAGED PRIVATE NETWORKS
The session would be designed as both visionary and practical: looking at the role of digital ecosystems in supporting energy transition, physical and cybersecurity, automation, and smart logistics while grounding the conversation in measurable benefits like reduced downtime, higher throughput, and improved worker safety. Through a blend of technology insights and operational storytelling, the presentation would position ports not just as gateways for goods, but as next-generation innovation hubs, ready to meet global trade demands with resilience and efficiency.

Ray Newby is a professional geoscientist with over 25 years of experience in coastal restoration and resilience planning. He is a Waterways Coordinator for the TxDOT Maritime Division where his duties include dredged material management, real estate acquisition, beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) project coordination, and strategic planning. Prior to joining TxDOT in May 2022, he worked in private consulting and at the Texas General Land Office (GLO) leading coastal restoration and shoreline protection projects. While at GLO, Ray was on the Houston-Galveston Beneficial Uses Group and coordinated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District to implement coastal habitat restoration projects using dredged material. Ray was also the GLO’s project manager on the USACE Sabine to Galveston Bay and the Coastal Texas mega project feasibility studies.

Alfred B. Henson, Ph.D., is a professor and urban planner in the Houston Metropolitan Area. He is a native Houstonian who has studied architecture, construction technology, urban planning, and environmental policy. He attended the University of Houston and Texas Southern University where his coursework led to professional, academic, and civic service in the Houston Metropolitan Area.

Alfred Henson has provided community development support for public and private land planning activities for over 30 years. He has worked with the TxDOT plans, housing programs, residential design, community engagement, and development feasibility at the private, public, and institutional capacity. He has over a decade of disaster recovery experience and has provided geospatial services for government-funded housing plans and programs.

Alfred Henson has contributed to community service, business development, city management, and academia. His tenure as a business developer, as well as a GIS Manager at the City of Houston advanced design and planning software applications to assist decision-makers with addressing problems and communicating best practices with solutions. He currently practices as a Principal Planner with AB Land Planning and provides planning and development consulting, with technological and innovative support for state agencies, local government, local agencies, and Houston’s communities within Houston’s super neighborhoods.

One of Alfred's most continuous contributions to society is motivating and training students to utilize emerging technology and data science as tools to answer questions from the local perspective to the global perspective.

He’s currently an Assistant Professor at TSU's Transportation Studies Department, and most recently worked as an Instructional Professor at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering. His teaching focuses on transportation and GIS logistics for maritime transportation and supply chain logistics. He's also taught as Visiting Professor at Prairie View A&M and as an Adjunct Professor at Texas Southern University in construction science, community development, and urban planning programs.

Yvonne “Rita” Setser is a dredging coordinator for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Maritime Division. She holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and master’s degree in resource management from Texas State University. After college she thoroughly enjoyed her time as a park ranger at Guadalupe Mountains National Park and as a field scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey. Not ready to sit behind a desk, she transitioned to a field geologist position at Arcadis installing monitoring wells with drilling crews and managing remediation projects across Texas. Most recently she has worked as an environmental project manager for state agencies. In her down time, she runs, listens to music, and plays fiddle.

William Busey is Vice President of Technical Sales at NORBIT Subsea and brings more than 20 years of experience in coastal geophysics and bathymetric surveying. He currently serves as Chairman of the Houston Chapter of the Texas Hydrographic Society and works closely with ports, dredging contractors, and survey professionals to deploy next-generation sonar technologies in challenging sediment environments. At NORBIT, Bill focuses on enabling reliable access to true 3D data of the navigable bottom, particularly in fluid mud conditions through advanced multibeam systems and automated subsurface detection.

Providing strategic advisory support to clients on topics such as policy, energy infrastructure, resilience, business strategy, and technology innovation. Dan advises private and public sector clients on their strategic objectives, collaborating to promote business partnerships and optimize strategic development and innovation objectives. Skilled in Energy Infrastructure, Strategic Development/Delivery, R&D, Implementation, Project Management and Business Development, he currently leads on the North American Growth Strategy with a focus on Canada, US and Caribbean advisory services.

Josh Ley has over 28 years of global experience in electric powertrain technology. A former executive at Danfoss Editron and UQM Technologies, he specializes in scalable electrification, electric machines, power electronics, and production ready system development.

Sharon currently serves as an Independent Director for BWC Terminals, a portfolio company of the Infrastructure Investments Fund.

Sharon has worked with both domestic Fortune 500 companies and international organizations. Most recently, Sharon was Managing Director for Vopak Americas. She began her career as a pipeline and project engineer for various companies, including The Williams Companies, Sun Pipeline, Delhi Gas Pipeline, and P66 (formerly DCP Midstream).

Sharon earned a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa. Sharon’s achievements were recognized by the Oil & Gas Diversity Council in 2020, awarded “Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Oil & Gas”, in addition to the Houston Business Journals, “Women Who Mean Business in Energy” in 2020.

She has served on various industry boards and is currently a board member of Rice Business Partners at the Jones Graduate School of Business, and a former Chair for the Executive Advisory Council for Port of Houston Partners in Maritime Education, a former board member of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, and International Liquids Terminal Association

Martin founded Curtin Maritime Corp. (CMC) in 1997. Martin is a tugboat captain by trade, but his knowledge of the marine landscape is much broader than the view from the wheelhouse. The evolution and growth of CMC is the direct result of Martin’s vision and vast industry knowledge. Over his 28-year career, Martin has successfully designed and executed projects of all kinds. From complicated tows, large and small vessel salvage, deep water work, subsea cables and pipelines to dredging, Martin brings needed innovation to existing practices. This constant evolution of process and creativity captures efficiencies and drives value for the customer.