Spika Speaker Series

In this fascinating and highly informative deep dive on the topic of transit agencies adopting Zero Emission Bus fleets, Mr. David Carr, Director, Zero Emission Vehicle Program, CapMetro, in Austin, Texas, shares his perspective on the state of the industry and what it takes to navigate this generational change in bus technology and the level of preparation that it takes.

Mr. David Carr has over 20 years of experience in transit, utility, and university transportation management. Highlights of his career including deploying electric buses and infrastructure at RTC in Reno Nevada from 2014 to 2022, as well as working as an Assistant Director of Transportation at the University of Washington and Duke University. Currently Mr. Carr is the Director, Zero Emission Vehicle Program at CapMetro in Austin Texas where he leads the efforts on deploying a 100% zero emissions fleet by 2040. He graduated from Cal State LA with a degree in business administration. Mr. Carr currently serves on the ZEBRA Executive Council, and APTA Zero Emissions Fleet Committee, and has served in APTA as the Chair of the Electric Bus Subcommittee.

This program, under the Spika Speaker Series, is a presentation of The Spika Knowledge Center, created to generate greater awareness about safe and productive access at heights and cantilevers, especially in the world of manufacturing and maintenance. Learn more at https://spikamfg.com/knowledge or email us at info [at] spikamfg [dot] com.

James Hall, Principal & Founder of ZEB Tech, in conversation with Bekhi Spika, Vice President & Chief Revenue Officer, Spika Design & Manufacturing, Montana.

The Spika Speaker Series in Spika Design & Manufacturing's Knowledge Center presents a conversation with Bryan Sooter, P.E., Director - Standards, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in conversation with Bekhi Spika, VP and CRO, Spika Design & Manufacturing, Montana.

In the third webinar in our series titled 'In Our Defense', learn from  the experience of the team at Spika Design & Manufacturing about the  versatility of work platforms and their uses in the defense industry  for safe access for personnel at varying heights and cantilevers during  the maintenance or manufacture of tactical equipment such as tanks and  tankers.   

Throughout Spika’s 20 years of experience designing and manufacturing  military maintenance stands, end users have shared their preference for  work platforms to ladders due to the significant time savings and  efficiency gains. This discussion includes deep insights on design  considerations for work platforms to not only keep personnel safe, but  also to protect sensitive equipment from damage while it is being  accessed in facilities short on space and time.    

See more designs and configurations at https://www.spikamfg.com/ or contact the Spika team at [email protected] to learn more. The audio for this podcast was extracted from the video recording of the same session that is available for viewing at https://spikamfg.com/knowledge.

The Knowledge Center at Spika Design & Manufacturing, Inc., in conjunction with OSHA’s 2021 Safe + Sound Week presents a recording of a special event on the Zero-Emission Transit Bus Technology Analysis (ZETBTA) study recently published by The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), with Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy (Here is a link to the study for your ready reference: https://www.actransit.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/EDT-060420_Report-ZETBTA.pdf). 

The featured speakers in this virtual fireside chat were:

The virtual session was moderated by Spika Design & Manufacturing’s President & CEO, Katie Spika, and Vice President & Director of Sales, Bekhi Spika. The goal of this Knowledge Center event was to help the audience better understand the impacts of the study and among other things, understand how manufacturers and buyers of zero-emission mass transit buses ought to consider safety and training for the maintenance of the buses, especially with regard to safe access at heights and cantilevers. This event is a part of OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week 2021.

Time-stamped knowledge components of this presentation:

For more programs like this one, please visit Spika Design & Manufacturing's Knowledge Center at https://spikamfg.com/knowledge.

This is a conversation on best practices in safety at heights and  cantilevers around sensitive equipment during fleet maintenance,  featuring MRO and Safety leaders from the City of Tallahassee's  StarMetro Transit System. This event recording is brought to you by  Spika Knowledge Center, in collaboration with the City of Tallahassee, Florida. Learn from two renowned MRO and Safety champions about how their team works around sensitive equipment in the City of Tallahassee's StarMetro Transit System. 

The featured guests, subject matter experts on safety in fleet maintenance for public transportation, are Mr. Daniel Dombrowski,  Safety Specialist, City of Tallahassee, and Mr. Michael Vaughan, Lead  Supervisor - Equipment Services, StarMetro Transit Maintenance, City of Tallahassee. The session was moderated by Spika Design &  Manufacturing President & CEO, Katie Spika, and panelists included other leaders from Spika, viz., Bekhi Spika, VP and Director of  Sales & Marketing, and Tom Spika, Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Spika Design & Manufacturing, Inc.

In this new webinar series titled 'In Our Defense', learn from the  experience of the team at Spika Design & Manufacturing about best  practices in the defense industry for the procurement of work platforms  used in safe access for personnel at varying heights and cantilevers,  during the maintenance or manufacture of rotorcraft. Learn more at https://www.spikamfg.com/rotary-wing/ or contact the Spika team at [email protected]

In this audio version of the virtual event by the Knowledge Center at Spika Design & Manufacturing, Inc., held on November 4, 2020, the featured speaker is a subject matter expert from the public transportation industry, Mr. William Serenbetz, Fleet Assistant Manager, Pierce County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation (or Pierce Transit), where he is responsible for the safe and efficient maintenance of over 1,000 pieces of fleet equipment and management of the 40+ personnel tasked to do it. 

Pierce Transit is a nationally recognized leader in the public transportation industry providing the second largest county in the State of Washington, with world class transportation services clocking nearly 10 million rides last year in a 300-square-miles area, getting people to jobs, shopping, school, etc. 

Prior to Pierce Transit, Mr. Serenbetz had a glorious career with the United States Air Force, serving as Crew Chief for C-141 and C-17 Aircraft with knowledge of all aircraft systems and their interoperability, managing up to 35 person crews of multi-skilled personnel involving hydraulics, avionics, electronics, and jet engine specialists in maintaining assets in excess of $249 million. 

He eventually moved into Learning and Development and was the Sole Subject Matter Expert for all Air Force training and personnel management, directing 14 program managers and over 550 personnel to comply with Air Force and civil operational training requirements.

After his retirement from the Air Force, Mr. Serenbetz was employed as an Instructional Systems Designer for Booz Allen Hamilton until he found his current position with Pierce Transit.

In this event, Mr. Serenbetz is in conversation with Spika’s leaders about lessons learned in designing and deploying work platforms for the manufacture and maintenance of sensitive equipment such as electric buses, so workers can operate with total peace of mind even at varying heights and cantilevers.

Spika's Knowledge Center is designed to help the world of manufacturing become safer and more productive while navigating complex access challenges through a generous sharing of knowledge from various industry experts at OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and MRO (Maintenance, Repairs & Overhaul) organizations, for the benefit of high school students considering a career in manufacturing, and to provide continuing education to those working professionals in the field of engineering, design and manufacturing, who seek to perfect their craft. Learn more at https://spikamfg.com/knowledge. 

About Spika Design & Manufacturing, Inc.: Forged in the ethos that put Americans on the moon, Spika Design & Manufacturing, Inc. is a design-led manufacturing company classified as a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), based in Lewistown, Montana. Built on the timeless American values of quality, manufacturing ingenuity and innovation, Spika was established in 2001 to develop unique ways to tackle a variety of complex ergonomic challenges in manufacturing, assembly, and MRO, across industries. Spika Design and Manufacturing specializes in the design and manufacture of aluminum work platforms that help clients stay OSHA compliant and safe while working at varying heights and cantilevers. Certified under AS9100D with ISO 9001:2015 for the Aerospace Industry, Spika also designs for efficiency, improved throughput and for elegance that matches the professionalism of the global brands they serve in industries such as aerospace, defense, space, transportation, utilities, and technology infrastructure. Learn more at https://SpikaMfg.com. Follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/spikamfg

This is the audio recording of an event by the Knowledge Center at Spika Design &  Manufacturing, Inc., held on September 18, 2020, in conjunction with  OSHA's 2020 National Safety Stand-Down for Fall Protection. Mr. Chris  Tacke, MS IH, Safety & Health Specialist, Department of Labor &  Industry, is in conversation with Spika's leaders as they extrapolate  fall protection lessons for the construction industry from nearly two  decades of designing innovative work platforms and maintenance stands in  a variety of other industries where workers must remain safe when  operating at varying heights and cantilevers. Learn more at https://spikamfg.com/knowledge. 

Enjoy this recording of a virtual event held online as part of the OSHA Safe and Sound Week on August 14, 2020, during which Spika's leaders discussed a few of the many insights gained over a 20-year period of delivering world class fall protection systems that eliminate the need for lanyards. With real-world examples, they have addressed how workers at OEM and MRO facilities around the world are keeping their workers safe and productive, particularly when they work at varying heights and overreach. Learn more at https://spikamfg.com/knowledge. The original video recording of this event can be viewed on Spika's YouTube channel https://YouTube.com/SpikaMfg under the playlist 'Spika Speaker Series'.