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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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From operator to entrepreneur: David Garcia applies outage management lessons
David Garcia
If ComEd’s Zion plant in northern Illinois hadn’t closed in 1998, David Garcia might still be there, where he got his start in nuclear power as an operator at age 24.
But in his ninth year working there, Zion closed, and Garcia moved on to a series of new roles—including at Wisconsin’s Point Beach plant, the corporate offices of Minnesota’s Xcel Energy, and on the supplier side at PaR Nuclear—into an on-the-job education that he augmented with degrees in business and divinity that he sought later in life.
Garcia started his own company—Waymaker Resource Group—in 2014. Recently, Waymaker has been supporting Holtec’s restart project at the Palisades plant with staffing and analysis. Palisades sits almost exactly due east of the fully decommissioned Zion site on the other side of Lake Michigan and is poised to operate again after what amounts to an extended outage of more than three years. Holtec also plans to build more reactors at the same site.
For Garcia, the takeaway is clear: “This industry is not going away. Nuclear power and the adjacent industries that support nuclear power—and clean energy, period—are going to be needed for decades upon decades.”
In July, Garcia talked with Nuclear News staff writer Susan Gallier about his career and what he has learned about running successful outages and other projects.
To add or remove a session from your itinerary, please check the circle to the left of its title.
1:00–2:45PM EST
Room 3|Sponsored by ANSTD
Session Chair: N. Dianne B. Ezell|Alternate Chair: Trevor Parker
Panel|Room 2|Sponsored by DESD
Session Chair: James J. Byrne|Alternate Chair: Erhard W. Koehler
Room 1|Sponsored by ETWDD
Session Chair: Travis W. Knight|Alternate Chair: Justin K. Watson
Room 14|Sponsored by HFICD
Session Chair: Syed Bahauddin Alam|Alternate Chair: Xingang Zhao
Room 5|Sponsored by IRD
Session Chair: Erik H. Wilson|Alternate Chair: Igor Jovanovic
Panel|Room 10|Sponsored by MCD
Session Chair: Madicken Munk|Alternate Chair: Kendra P. Long
Room 7|Sponsored by NCSD
Session Chair: James R. Cole|Alternate Chair: Benjamin Martin
Panel|Room 4|Sponsored by OPD
Session Chair: Jason K. Hansen|Alternate Chair: Taek Kyum Kim
Room 15|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Stefano Terlizzi|Alternate Chair: Zeyun Wu
Panel|Room 12|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: John H. Jackson|Alternate Chair: Abdalla Abou-Jaoude
Panel|Room 8|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska|Alternate Chair: Drew M. Ryan
Room 9|Sponsored by THD
Panel|Room 6|Sponsored by Young Members Group
Session Chair: Andrew K. Hoffman|Alternate Chair: John Mobley
3:15–5:00PM EST
Session Chair: Erhard W. Koehler|Alternate Chair: James J. Byrne
Session Chair: Andrew E. Thomas|Alternate Chair: Cece Bell
Room 5|Sponsored by FCWMD
Session Chair: Kaushik Banerjee|Alternate Chair: Harish Reddy Gadey
Room 11|Sponsored by HFICD
Session Chair: Linyu Lin|Alternate Chair: Jonghyun Kim
Room 10|Sponsored by MCD
Session Chair: Koroush Shirvan|Alternate Chair: Kendra P. Long
Panel|Room 3|Sponsored by MSTD
Session Chair: Jake R. Quincey|Alternate Chair: Kenneth J. Geelhood
Panel|Room 7|Sponsored by NCSD
Session Chair: Douglas G. Bowen|Alternate Chair: Kevin H. Reynolds
Session Chair: Prashant K. Jain|Alternate Chair: Hitesh Bindra
Panel|Room 15|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Ayman I. Hawari|Alternate Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Room 8|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: John Mobley|Alternate Chair: Anna Iskhakova
10:15AM–12:00PM EST
Session Chair: Dustin G. Miller|Alternate Chair: Nadia S. Glucksberg
Session Chair: Justin K. Watson|Alternate Chair: Stylianos Chatzidakis
Panel|Room 4|Sponsored by HFICD
Session Chair: Aaron S. Epiney|Alternate Chair: Vivek Agarwal
Session Chair: Igor Jovanovic|Alternate Chair: Lei R. Cao
Room 3|Sponsored by MSTD
Room 6|Sponsored by NISD
Session Chair: Mihai A. Diaconeasa|Alternate Chair: Robert Kile
Room 7|Sponsored by Robotics and Remote Systems
Session Chair: Adam J. Carroll|Alternate Chair: William C. Eason
Session Chair: Anna S. Erickson|Alternate Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Session Chair: Leah S. Parks|Alternate Chair: Matt Darois
Room 14|Sponsored by MCD
Session Chair: Sandra L. Larson|Alternate Chair: Amy E. van der Vyver
Session Chair: Robert Kile|Alternate Chair: Mihai A. Diaconeasa
Session Chair: Nicolas E. Stauff|Alternate Chair: William N. Mann
Panel|Room 13|Sponsored by Robotics and Remote Systems
Session Chair: William C. Eason|Alternate Chair: Adam J. Carroll
Session Chair: Abdalla Abou-Jaoude|Alternate Chair: Brandon M. Chisholm
Session Chair: Travis Lange|Alternate Chair: Ishita Trivedi
Room 1|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: Dustin G. Miller|Alternate Chair: Matt Darois
Session Chair: Kyle C. Hartig|Alternate Chair: Igor Jovanovic
Session Chair: Yunfei Zhao|Alternate Chair: Robert Kile
Room 4|Sponsored by OPD
Session Chair: William N. Mann|Alternate Chair: Keith J. Drudy
Session Chair: Justin K. Watson|Alternate Chair: Zeyun Wu
Room 7|Sponsored by THD
8:00–9:45AM EST
Session Chair: Mark S. Campagna|Alternate Chair: Leah S. Parks
Room 1|Sponsored by HFICD
Session Chair: Syed Bahauddin Alam|Alternate Chair: Nicholas P. Luciano
Panel|Room 5|Sponsored by IRD
Session Chair: Brenden J. Heidrich|Alternate Chair: Igor Jovanovic
Session Chair: Angela Chambers|Alternate Chair: Douglas G. Bowen
Panel|Room 6|Sponsored by NISD
Session Chair: Aaron S. Epiney|Alternate Chair: Mihai A. Diaconeasa
Session Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov|Alternate Chair: Zeyun Wu
Panel|Room 9|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: Harish Reddy Gadey|Alternate Chair: Kaushik Banerjee
Session Chair: Duy-Thien Nguyen|Alternate Chair: Syed Bahauddin Alam
Session Chair: Theresa E. Cutler|Alternate Chair: David K. Hayes
Session Chair: Kevin R. O'Kula|Alternate Chair: David H. Cook
Session Chair: Ahmed Amin Abdelhameed|Alternate Chair: Ishita Trivedi
Panel|Room 2|Sponsored by RPSD
Session Chair: Robert B. Hayes|Alternate Chair: Tucker C. McClanahan
Session Chair: Kevin Robb|Alternate Chair: Joy L. Rempe
Session Chair: Zeyun Wu|Alternate Chair: Massimiliano Fratoni
Room 2|Sponsored by RPSD
Session Chair: Michael A. Lively|Alternate Chair: Tucker C. McClanahan
Panel|Room 5|Sponsored by Young Members Group
Session Chair: Evan S. Gonzalez|Alternate Chair: Matthew Wargon
Room 12|Sponsored by MCD
Session Chair: Koroush Shirvan|Alternate Chair: Majdi I. Radaideh
Session Chair: Kristan M. Wessels|Alternate Chair: Theresa E. Cutler
Room 5|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Stefano Terlizzi|Alternate Chair: Massimiliano Fratoni
Session Chair: Luiz C. Leal|Alternate Chair: Massimiliano Fratoni
Session Chair: K. Lisa Fassino|Alternate Chair: Tucker C. McClanahan
Room 3|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: Matthew J. Jasica|Alternate Chair: Fabiano Carvalho de Castro Sene
