Railinc names Smemoe chief information officer

Railinc Corp. has promoted Joan Smemoe to chief information officer and vice president of information technology (IT). She will begin her new position June 11.

A member of Railinc's executive management team, Smemoe will lead the company's data, product development and information systems platforms. She will report to President and Chief Executive Officer Allen West in her new role.

"Strong leadership in the CIO role is essential to our ability to serve the freight rail industry and to our success as a technology company," CEO West said. "For more than a decade, Joan has helped to shape Railinc technologies that are critical to daily freight rail operations."

Smemoe joined Railinc in 2006 as a senior software engineer. Since then, she's served as project development manager, senior manager of application engineering, director of application engineering and director of the company's project management office.

In July, Smemoe will be among 20 rail-industry professionals who will be recognized as Progressive Railroading's 2018 Rising Stars.

The magazine defines a "Rising Star" as someone under 40 years of age who has made, or is making, a positive impact on his or her company, organization, department or team, and is viewed by others — peers, colleagues, supervisors, clients or associates — as an up-and-coming leader in the rail industry.

Smemoe and the other 19 Rising Stars will be honored at a dinner on July 22 in Chicago. Their stories will be shared on progressiverailroading.com this summer and in the magazine's September issue.