Bob Woodruff, Michio Kaku, Jaime Clarke, Simon Bailey speakers at the APWA 2012 in Anaheim, CA

In addition to the technical sessions, APWA congress attendees come to be inspired and motivated. To provide fresh energy and excitement for the job, four keynote speakers — one for each day of the conference — will present inspirational, motivational, and educational messages about the future and get each day started on a high note.

Bob Woodruff

Broadcast journalist

Bob Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and was named co-anchor of “World News Tonight” in 2005. On Jan. 29, 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, he was seriously injured by a roadside bomb near Taji, Iraq.

Thirteen months later Woodruff went back on the air with the segment “To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports,” which chronicled his traumatic brain injury and recovery and delved into the similar plight of thousands of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with injuries. His continued work won him a Peabody Award in 2008. In 2008-09, he anchored “Focus Earth,” a weekly eco-newscast for Planet Green, Discovery Communications 24/7 eco-lifestyle network.

In 2007, Bob and his wife, Lee Woodruff, published “In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing,” the account of their lives after his injury.

At the congress he will discuss his courageous recovery and intrigue the audience with his perspective on the world we live in today. He will do a book signing after his presentation, which takes place at 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26.

Michio Kaku

Co-founder of String Field Theory

From 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Monday morning, Japanese theoretical physicist, professor, television host, author and futurist Michio Kaku is scheduled to present “Explorations in Science.”

Get ready to be blown away, Kaku says, because the future is closer than anyone thinks. Public works professionals may want to start planning roadways and traffic devices for cars that will drive themselves, for example. And what will be the energy sources of the future — will they include cold fusion, hot fusion or some other currently unfamiliar processes? And what are the implications of emerging nanotechnologies on how we will live and work?

Kaku is one of the most widely recognized figures in science around the globe. As the co-founder of string field theory, he holds the Henry Semat Chair in theoretical physics at City University of New York and regularly appears on news shows. He is the author of several books including “Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny” and “is the author of several books including “Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny” and “Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100: Physics of the Impossible,” and will sign his tomes after the presentation.

Jamie Clarke

Extreme adventurer and master storyteller

He has twice summited Mount Everest, and in 2008 he climbed the Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia — completing his epic quest to reach the summits of the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. In addition to his mountain adventures, extreme adventurer and master storyteller Jamie Clarke has also conquered the nearly 700-mile camel-trek of Arabia’s Empty Quarter, the most dangerous and desolate desert in the world.

His presentation, “Above All Else: The Power of Passion,” will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28. A gifted storyteller, Clarke will share the lessons he learned during extreme adventures and how they apply to organizational challenges, teamwork and leadership. He challenges audiences to think differently, view failure as a learning experience, master the art of grunt work, conquer fear through focus and live a life of passion on one’s own terms. His presentation will be infused with anecdotes and images.

Simon Bailey

“Catalyst of Brilliance” author

The energizing, closing general session of the conference will be presented from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, by best-selling author Simon Bailey. Bailey, who will lay out a plan by which anyone can “Release Your Brilliance — How to Show Up, Be Accountable and Drive Results.”

Bailey is the founder of the Brilliance Institute. He also wrote “The Vuja de Moment: Shift from Average to Brilliant and Release Your Brilliance,” and teaches audiences how to creatively release leadership and organizational brilliance. His transformational insights connect viscerally with audiences. He believes in immediate actions steps, and long after the first encounter participants find him through social media to reconnect and report their personal and professional results. Readers of Meetings and Convention Magazine voted Simon one of the best keynote speakers they ever heard because of his ability to connect and transform lives by offering his audiences the inspiration to shift their thinking, ignite creative impulses and increase their productivity and accountability. Bailey will sign books after his presentation.