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The Disruptive Innovation Summit was held May 12-14, 2026, at the University of Texas at Austin, hosted by the College of Engineering, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering (CAEE). This interactive, invite-only "search and discovery" workshop was designed to bring together innovative minds from around the globe to discuss the ideas that will shape tomorrow's world and help us better understand today's.
DEN joined participants from a broad spectrum of multi-disciplinary engineering in the built and natural infrastructure ecosystem who are excited about developing new infrastructure and adapting existing infrastructure to enable more effective and efficient means for providing water, food, energy, transportation, healthcare, urbanization and biodiversity. The forum forced participants to think very broadly and ask questions about how we all play a part in developing solutions for the future.
Denise Nelson participated in the final live-stream panel on the event results, findings, and recommendations. Denise's notes and photos from the event are available here.
The Virginia Floodplain Managers Association Annual Conference was April 23-24, 2026, in Richmond, Virginia.
Denise Nelson presented "The Deluge of Data: Leveraging AI and Machine Learning for Proactive Floodplain Management." The presentation coincided with the Association of State Floodplain Managers release of a report recommending the use of AI for efficient processing of vast amounts of floodplain data.
The VWEA Annual Stormwater Summit in 2026 had the theme "Weathering the Unknown: Funding, Climate, and Technology Challenges in Stormwater Management."
DNA was part of a lightening round of talks in Session 4: Stormwater AI & Automation. Denise Nelson presented "Automated Data Integration and Analytics for Stormwater Programs: Leveraging AI to preserve institutional knowledge, streamline compliance, and improve decision-making" and participated in the panel discussion.
$5.46 Million Secured for the Rappahannock River Park Improvements
DNA secured grant funding for the design and construction of a living shoreline and other improvements at the riverside park in the Town of Tappahannock, Virginia. The award was one of the highest from the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Community Flood Preparedness Fund in 2026. The funding will be used to elevate the park from the flood zone and establish a living shoreline to prevent soil erosion. These improvements resilient create habitats, protected critical infrastructure, and provide for safe use of the park for recreation, the farmer's market, and other events, thus supporting the Town's economic development goals.
AI Supports Productivity
AI is transforming how we organize information, complete technical tasks, and manage workloads. I help public-sector teams adopt AI tools with confidence by offering guidance, training, and tailored workflows that fit directly into existing systems and processes. From evaluating AI options to implementing digital assistants, developing custom procedures, and building staff capability, I ensure your team can use AI safely, efficiently, and strategically. My goal is to help you unlock the benefits of AI without complexity—so your people can focus on the work that matters most.
Designing Resilient Giga AI Factories for America’s Future: Building future-ready, climate-resilient AI capacity requires getting design decisions right from day one.
On August 19, 2025, the Atlas Initiative for Critical Infrastructure (AtlasInfra.org), the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) (sustainableinfrastructure.org), developer of the Envision® sustainable infrastructure rating system, the Climate Risk Institute (CRI) (climateriskinstitute.ca), Alliance partner for the PIEVC Protocol for climate risk assessment, and Sustain360°™ (sustain360.ai), an AI-enabled Climate Intelligence platform, announced a strategic collaboration to apply proven mega-scale standards into the earliest design stages of Giga-scale AI data centers.
As an Atlas Secretariat, DNA collaborated with these partners to prepare the paper "Giga AI Data Centers: Future-Proofing Physical Infrastructure for Sustainability and Resilience" available at https://atlasinfra.org/spotlight/.
The American Society of Civil Engineers is hosting their 2025 Convention from October 8 to 11, 2025, in Seattle, Washington (https://convention.asce.org/).
DNA is part of a pre-conference workshop on the "ASCE/COS 73-23 Standard Practice for Sustainable Infrastructure" on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, from 10am to 1pm. You don't have to register for the conference to attend this workshop. Join the workshop to discuss the major elements of the standard and offer feedback for the future update with Cliff Davidson; Anthony Kane, ENV SP; Terry Neimeyer; Tiffany Reed-Villarreal, P.E., ENVSP, M.ASCE; Ari Herrera; and more! Register here: https://convention.asce.org/program/ascecos-73-23-standard-practice-for-sustainable-infrastructure-workshop
The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure's Annual Conference is the preeminent event for AEC industry professionals committed to fostering sustainable, equitable, and resilient civil infrastructure. While the event focuses on the Envision framework for sustainable infrastructure, it's a great learning and networking location for everyone involved in community planning, workforce development, and infrastructure design, construction, and operations. Free registration is open for the virtual event on October 22 to 23, 2025! Register here: https://sustainableinfrastructure.org/annualconference/.
DNA is part of the team for two presentations:
(1) "How to future-proof the physical infrastructure of AI Giga Factories" on Oct. 22.
(2) "Procuring Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure" on Oct. 23.
Last year, a record-breaking 1,800 participants from 52 different countries attended the two-day virtual event to engage and explore new ideas about how infrastructure can better serve our communities.
"From Flood Models to Frontlines Geospatial Tools for Risk & Resilience"
Webinar on Sept. 10, 2025 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm
Hosts: Ryan Kmetz & Priscilla Cole
Speakers: Denise Nelson, Wendy Stout, Mark Bauer
👁️🗨️ Recording: https://lnkd.in/emtG7GG9
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