ASSP Energy Corridor Section Meeting – July 2026

TOPIC: Beyond WBGT: Individualized Heat Risk, Wearables, and the Human-Performance Case for Leading Indicators

SPEAKER: Matt Marapode, MBA, MS, Chief Strategy Officer at Epicore Biosystems

Attendees will earn 0.1 CEUs for attending

JOIN US on July 9^th as we hear from Matt Marapode on “Beyond WBGT: Individualized Heat Risk, Wearables, and the Human-Performance Case for Leading Indicators”. Most heat programs still manage risk by the average (WBGT or Heat Index) even as OSHA enforcement intensifies under a revised emphasis program and the General Duty Clause. But heat risk is individual and dynamic, and heat’s effect on cognition can drive errors across any task, not just heat illness. Drawing on peer-reviewed research and field deployments, this session translates physiological and human-performance science into practice: how wearables, leading indicators, and behavioral design move heat safety from reactive to proactive, and how to evaluate the technology critically.

Matt Marrapode is the Chief Strategy Officer at Epicore Biosystems, a pioneering digital health and wearable company, backed by Chevron & PepsiCo, unlocking improved safety, health, and performance outcomes across sectors. Epicore’s technology is deployed in demanding field environments across the energy, industrial, and consumer sectors, and its methods are grounded in peer-reviewed research, including studies supported by NIOSH and the CDC. Matt holds an MBA and an MS in Design Innovation from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, along with undergraduate degrees in biomedical and mechanical engineering. With over a decade of experience in medical device, wearable, and health system innovation, Matt brings expertise in commercializing science into real-world solutions.

Learning Objectives:

• Quantify at least three categories of heat-related cost and risk for their own operations (such as incidents, absenteeism, turnover, and regulatory exposure) to build the business case for heat-safety investment
• Differentiate individualized physiological monitoring from traditional environmental heat metrics (WBGT and Heat Index), including why managing risk by population average can both under- and over-protect workers
• Analyze how heat-driven physiological strain and cognitive impairment elevate incident risk across task types, not only in heat-illness cases

As always, feel free to arrive before the presentation for networking and lunch!

Agenda

11:00 am to 11:30 am Networking and lunch

11:30 am to 11:45 am Welcome and Section Business

• Welcome
• Sign In
• Introductions
• Old & New Business

11:45 am to 12:45 pm Presentation

In-Person Location

960 Memorial City Way (next door to Memorial City Club)
Houston, TX 77024

All attendees should park in the 920 Memorial City Way parking visitor area (the parking garage). The parking in front of the conference room is reserved for the gym and the management office.