In this episode of the Infrastructure Hot Seat, host Chad Smeltzer welcomes Natalie Deroock, the Senior Public Information Officer for Tucson Water. Natalie's multifaceted career journey, from academia to international diplomacy and ultimately public utilities, offers valuable insights into the intricacies of public information dissemination and community engagement.
Her experiences emphasize the importance of strategic communications and the unique challenges that public information officers face in the utilities sector.
Natalie shares her expertise on the essentials of strong public affairs teams, the role of transparent communication, and how proactive media relations can significantly impact public trust. She underscores the importance of understanding different audiences through cross-cultural communication, breaking down complex water utility concepts for the general public, and cultivating relationships with media and elected officials.
Natalie also touches on the utility’s response to crises, such as water main breaks and the introduction of new water sources, emphasizing strategic, clear communication to manage public perception and trust.
Key Takeaways:
Importance of Strategic Communication: Effective public information strategies involve clear, transparent communication and proactive relationship management with media and stakeholders.
Cross-Cultural Communication: Understanding and addressing the diverse ways people process information is crucial for public information officers.
Learning from Crises: Experiences such as Tucson's water quality crisis provide essential lessons for future transparency and responsiveness.
Youth Engagement: Involving the younger generation in civic activities and water conservation efforts helps instill lasting community values and engagement.
Social Media Strategy: Utilizing social media effectively while balancing it with traditional media and owned platforms is vital for sustained public engagement and information dissemination

In this episode of the Infrastructure Hot Seat podcast, host Chad Smeltzer welcomes Nick Egger, the Public Works Director for the City of Rosemount, Minnesota. The conversation dives into Nick's extensive involvement with the American Public Works Association (APWA), his journey into civil engineering, and the ongoing and future infrastructure projects in Rosemount that are shaping the city's rapid growth.
Nick shares his early career experiences and how an internship at the City of White Bear Lake pivoted his career path from mechanical to civil engineering. The discussion also covers Rosemount's exciting developments, such as the construction of a new public works and police campus and the arrival of Meta's $800 million data center. Nick provides insights into the challenges of growth, from infrastructure demands to labor shortages, and emphasizes the importance of technology and AI in the future of public works.
### Key Takeaways:
* **Involvement with APWA**: Nick’s 20-year journey with the APWA, including his rise to president of the Minnesota chapter, has been pivotal to his professional growth.
* **Career Path**: A serendipitous internship altered Nick’s career path from mechanical to civil engineering, showcasing the importance of hands-on experience in career decisions.
* **Rosemount Development**: Exciting developments, such as a new public works and police campus and Meta's major data center project, underscore Rosemount's rapid growth.
* **Technology and AI**: The potential for AI and new technology to revolutionize infrastructure planning, project efficiency, and public works operations.
* **Challenges and Opportunities**: Addressing labor shortages, managing budgets in times of inflation, and the importance of preemptive infrastructure planning in rapidly growing communities.

This episode of the infrastructure hot seat, hosted by Chad Smeltzer, features an engaging discussion with Dr. Amir Alavi, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. The conversation goes into the intersection of infrastructure, metamaterials, and artificial intelligence, bringing to light significant advancements and potential future implications. As Dr. Alavi shares his journey and recent developments from his research, listeners are drawn into an intriguing world where technology transcends traditional barriers across various industries.
In the past year, Dr. Alavi has secured several pivotal projects focused on developing lightweight, high-performance metamaterial structures. One core discussion is about a collaborative project with PennDOT aimed at creating bridge decks constructed from prefabricated metamaterial blocks, signaling a significant shift towards sustainable infrastructure solutions. Furthermore, the episode addresses how generative AI, a cutting-edge subset of artificial intelligence, is transforming the process of designing these materials, enabling millions of potential designs to be explored rapidly.
**Key Takeaways: **
* Metamaterials offer scalable solutions that can be applied to civil infrastructure as well as biomedical implants, demonstrating the versatility of the technology.
* Dr. Alavi's team is utilizing generative AI to significantly reduce the design process time, from millions of years of natural evolution to mere days.
* The research could potentially lead to more sustainable infrastructure with reduced material usage and carbon emissions, supporting an eco-friendlier construction industry.
* Fabrication remains a substantial challenge, particularly for multi-material metamaterials, that requires further innovation and collaboration with contractors.
* Ongoing projects visualize metamaterial-based noise absorption walls for highways and the prospects of testing biomedical implants in vivo.