| Last hidden column for tag filter | |
|---|---|
|
Apr. 10, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : Wildfire Danger for Austin
Apr. 10, 2025 12:00 p.m.
Retired Battalion Chief with the Austin Fire Department (AFD) Randy Denzer will talk to us about the wildfire dangers in the Austin area.
About Randy Denzer:
Randy Denzer has more than 30 years in the fire service and is one of the highest certified and qualified wildland firefighters in central Texas. He retired last year as a operations Battalion Chief with the Austin Fire Department (AFD). His last assignment at AFD was Battalion 2 B-Shift in Northwest Austin.
During Randy’s career at the Austin Fire Department, he wrote many wildland response policy’s for the AFD. One of the policies he drafted became the initial Wildland Urban Interface policy put into practice in 2008. This policy laid out how firefighters in Austin and Travis County are to protect structures during interface fires. Many of the policies he helped to create through the years are still in practice today. In 2012, Randy successfully spearheaded the effort that created the AFD’s Wildfire Division. Later that same year, he designed and led the training program that required every AFD and Lake Travis Firefighter to become a certified national basic wildland firefighter. The AFD became the first large urban fire department in Texas to achieve this status.
Randy has responded to many large Urban Interface and Wildland fires. He has operated as a Structural Protection Specialist, Division Supervisor, Task Force Leader, Incident Commander and other command level positions. In the spring of 2011, he was deployed on the first ever Texas Intrastate Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) response to the west Texas fires. He also responded to fight the Pinnacle fire that spring. During the 2011 Labor Day fires, he acted as the initial Wildland Division Supervisor at the Steiner Ranch Fire. One day after the fire was contained, he was sent to lead a TIFMAS Strike Team at both the Bastrop Complex and Riley Road fires. In 2018, Randy was selected as a Task Force Leader on the first out of state TIFMAS deployment that sent 240 Texas Firefighters to help fight the Carr Mega Fire in Northern California. A Couple months later, He was sent to lead a Structural Protection Strike team to the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California. In October 2020, Randy was a TIFMAS Task Force leader sent to the Creek Fire in Fresno, California. While on the assignment, he was assigned as a Division Supervisor for Whiskey Division on the south end of the mega fire.
|
|
|
Apr. 17, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : Update from the Austin Police Department
Apr. 17, 2025 12:00 p.m.
About Wuthipong "Tank" Tantaksinanukij : Detective Wuthipong "Tank" Tantaksinanukij is a highly experienced law enforcement officer with 34 years of service, including 29 years with the Austin Police Department this May 2025. He is currently a Detective assigned to the Crisis Intervention Team, also known as the Mental Health Unit, where he specializes in firearm seizure cases involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Over the course of his career, Detective Tantaksinanukij has served in various capacities. He began with five years in patrol before advancing to the Special Operations Air Support Unit, where he spent 17 years as a Corporal. He later transitioned to the Impaired Driving Investigation Unit as a Detective for three years before assuming his current role in the Crisis Intervention Team, where he has served for the past three years. A graduate of the inaugural 2001 Austin Police Department West Point Leadership Program, Detective Tantaksinanukij played a key role in the development of the Air Support Unit. His innovative approach to leadership and problem-solving has significantly contributed to enhancing both community safety and police operations in Austin. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Organizational Leadership and a Master's degree in Strategic Leadership with an emphasis on Crisis Leadership. Beyond his career in law enforcement, Detective Tantaksinanukij enjoys traveling, cooking, and grilling. Most importantly, he cherishes time spent with his two grandchildren, family, and friends. Through his extensive experience, leadership, and commitment to community safety, Detective Tantaksinanukij continues to make a meaningful impact in law enforcement and mental health intervention. |
|
|
Apr. 17, 2025 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Apr. 24, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 01, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
May 08, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
May 15, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
May 15, 2025 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
|
|
|
May 22, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jun. 05, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jun. 12, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jun. 19, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jun. 19, 2025 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jun. 26, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jul. 03, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jul. 10, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jul. 17, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jul. 17, 2025 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
|
|
|
Jul. 24, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : How to Live a Meaningful Life
Aug. 07, 2025 12:00 p.m.
Speaker Brian S. Lowery will talk to us about how to live a meaningful life. About Brian S. Lowery As a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University and a founding co-director of the university’s Institute for Advancing Just Societies, Brian S. Lowery investigates how relationships and social dynamics shape society. He is the host of the Know What You See and Leadership for Society podcasts and most recently the author of the book Selfless, which explores issues ranging from the nature of gender identity to an understanding of the way others help us generate meaning in life. Beyond academia, Lowery's curiosity has led him to do things such as learning to craft shoes by hand in rural Sweden or seeking the thrill of flow on motorcycle race tracks, all in the name of learning as much as possible from the wonder of full immersion. |
|
IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : TCEQ and Related Hot Topics
Aug. 14, 2025 12:00 p.m.
Steven Schar will start off the presentation talking about TCEQ and hot topics. Then he is bringing Melissa Keller, Assistant Deputy Director PSEAD, to talk about our program support and Sam Short, Deputy Director, Office of Air, to talk about air permitting. About Steven Schar:
Steven Schar has served as Deputy Executive Director (DED) since December 2023 at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Prior to becoming DED, he served as Interim Deputy Executive Director and as Chief of Staff to Executive Director, Kelly Keel. Steven assists the Executive Director in ensuring coverage of routine day to day activities, anticipating and addressing issues, reviewing policies, procedures and other publications that may impact the agency including press inquiries.
Prior to his joining TCEQ, Steven worked as a policy advisor on Natural Resources, Environment, Energy and Local Government issues for Governor Greg Abbott on his inaugural team in 2015. Before his time at the Governor’s office, Steven spent 12 years in the Texas House of Representatives clerking various committees, most notably he served as a senior advisor and committee director for Speaker Dennis Bonnen. Steven graduated from the University of Texas where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in degree in government and history. |
|
|
Aug. 28, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|
|
IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : Future of Manufacturing Aided by AI
Sep. 11, 2025
Industry expert Satwinder Kahlon will talk to us about the furture of manufacturing aided by AI. About Satwinder Kahlon An industry expert with over 42 years of experience in software development and information technology, Satwinder Kahlon manages all in-house applications as well as external customer projects as Vice President, Saber Data and CIO, TyRex. Spending the first 16 years of his technical career at IBM, Kahlon worked on a wide range of technologies, including multiple operating systems, Video Server and WebSphere. He then moved on to positons with Surgient Networks (Principal Engineer & Founding Technical Team Lead), Genband (Director of Software Development), Incisent Technologies and Allen Technologies. While Kahlon helped Genband establish teams in India, supervise the transfer of their product team to China and lead a global team of architects for the effective integration of acquired software products in the telecom domain, he also assisted Incisent with starting their Austin office and build their engineering team. From there, he went on to aid Allen Technologies in providing informational, educational and entertainment solutions for the health care industry. Included as part of his work with Allen Technologies was the launch of tablet-based solution for hospital patients.
A U.S. Army veteran, who served four years working in the areas of biotechnology and computer application development, Kahlon holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Maryland as well as MS degrees in Genetics (PAU Ludhiana, India) and Computer Science (SUNY Binghamton).
|
|
IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : America's Native Prisoners of War
Sep. 18, 2025 12:00 p.m.
Photographer & story teller Aaron Huey will share with us some history and images of America's Native Prisoners of War
About Aaron Huey:
Aaron Huey is a masthead photographer for National Geographic Adventure and National Geographic Traveler magazines. His stories from Afghanistan, Haiti, Mali, Siberia, Yemen and French Polynesia (to name just a few) on subjects as diverse as the Afghan drug war and the underwater photography of sharks, can be found in The New Yorker, National Geographic and The New York Times.
Huey serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit Blue Earth Alliance. In 2002, he walked 3,349 miles across America with his dog Cosmo (the journey lasted 154 days), and was recently awarded a National Geographic Expedition Council Grant to hitchhike across Siberia. Aaron Huey is a photographer, adventurer and storyteller. He captures all of his subjects — from war victims to rock climbers to Sufi dervishes — with elegance and fearless sensitivity. In his own words, "My success is not measured in money. I have no financial security, I have no savings account. I measure my success by asking myself if I’m telling a story that the world needs to hear, if I am educating people.”
|
|
|
Sep. 25, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
|