Michael Hostad

A curated innovation forum bringing together public-, private-, and academic-sector decision-makers to address aging infrastructure, funding gaps, workforce shortages, pollution, and climate pressure through radical collaboration and action. Program topics include “Uncharted Waters: Radical Collaboration Across the Sector,” examining water-sector challenges and collaboration barriers; “A Capitalist, Hippie & Bureaucrat Walk into a Bar,” focused on public-private projects involving Milwaukee Estuary contaminants, plastic pollution in Lansing, and hydroponic farming; and “From the Edge,” covering AI-assisted bidding, space-efficient wastewater treatment, workforce development, and water technology innovation. Additional sessions address the circular water economy in “Going in Circles”; financial impacts of water-related threats, strategic water stewardship, exposure assessment tools, and emerging initiatives in “The Cost of Risk”; and practical applications, governance guardrails, and utility use cases for artificial intelligence in “Artificial Intelligence X Real Water.” The moderator is Travis Loop, Founder & Host of waterloop. Named participants include executives and technical leaders from the Water Environment Federation, American Water Works Association, Water Quality Association, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Ramboll Water Americas, The Great Bubble Barrier, Meijer, LimnoTech, Rockwell Automation, Fork Farms, Wilo Americas, Microsoft, Connected Systems Institute, Tomorrow Water, Slater Infrastructure Group, California Association of Sanitation Agencies, Xylem, SCS Global Services, Kreab, Council of the Great Lakes Region, West Yost, and Karmous Edwards Consulting.