Keynote Speakers
Dr. Yoram Solomon is an innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship expert and the author of Un-Kill Creativity: How Corporate America Can Out-Innovate Startups and 6 more books. Solomon writes a column for Inc. Magazine, and was named one of the top 40 innovation bloggers for 2015 and 2016.
Randy Chappel is Managing Director at Hersh Interactive Group, the Esports investing arm of Hersh Family Investments. Chappel also serves as Managing Director at Hersh Family Investments, which he helped launch with Ken Hersh in 2007.
With more than a decade of experience in creating and executing comprehensive digital campaigns in the entertainment industry, Justin is the Director of Social Content and Strategy for Envy Gaming.
Mike Rufail is the founder and CEO of Envy Gaming, Inc., which owns and operates popular Esports franchise Team Envy as well as the Dallas Fuel, one of 12 Esports teams selected to compete in the inaugural season of the Overwatch League.
Speaker Lineup
Donna Aldridge is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts,Technology, and Emerging Communications at UT Dallas where she teaches Design. She holds an MFA in Design Pedagogy from Texas A&M Commerce. Before joining UTD, Donna worked in Advertising and Design for over 20 years. Her areas of expertise include branding, packaging, and environmental design. Her work has been recognized in national and international publications and exhibitions.
As the Director of Emerging Technologies and Online Programs for the Brain Performance Institute, Dr. Lara Ashmore focuses on cultivating strategic partnerships and the commercialization of Center for BrainHealth’s scientific discoveries. Among her initiates are the creation of virtual learning communities for the Brain Performance Institute and the development of mobile applications, including online brain training programs and cognitive assessments. She also oversees the Brain Performance Institute’s virtual reality and gaming lab, which creates engaging and immersive environments for the Center for BrainHealth’s social cognitive training programs.
Lara received her Ph.D. in Educational Technology from the University of Virginia and has more than 25 years of Internet design, development and research expertise. Her area of research was Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences combined with advanced internet technologies to increase learning outcomes. While completing her doctoral dissertation, Lara worked at the University of Virginia Advanced Technology Group in R&D and with America Online during the earliest stages of the World Wide Web era. Lara's research interests include neuroengineering, wearable technologies, virtual, mixed and augmented reality, immersive learning environments, social impact and innovation.
Terry Barksdale, MLIS is an Associate Professor and Head Librarian of the Cypress Creek Campus and an Equity Associate with the Office of Equity and Inclusion at the Austin Community College District, where she is building capacity for respectful and meaningful dialog around race, racism and other difficult topics that create barriers to student success. She has made significant contributions in public libraries and as the digital librarian for the UT TeleCampus. At ACC, she has taught information literacy, led online instruction redesign, and served on several district-wide committees.
As an Adobe solutions consultant, Donna works with educational institutions from K12 through higher EDU to help them meet their digital strategy goals through digital workflows using Creative, Document and Marketing Cloud applications and services. Before joining Adobe, Donna consulted for over 20 years in the corporate, government and education fields to enhance the learning process across creative applications.
Randy Chappel is Managing Director at Hersh Interactive Group, the Esports investing arm of Hersh Family Investments. Chappel also serves as Managing Director at Hersh Family Investments, which he helped launch with Ken Hersh in 2007.
Randy grew up in Arlington, Texas, and graduated from Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. From 1990 to 2004, Randy worked at Rainwater, Inc. and affiliated companies, alongside well-known investor and dealmaker Richard Rainwater. Chappel first began working with Ken Hersh in 2004.
An avid sports fan, Randy completed the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska in both 2003 and 2004.
David Cowen has more than 18 years of experience in the areas of security integration, architecture, assessment, programming, forensic analysis and investigations. He started out as a penetration tester then moved to digital forensics. Currently, he is a partner at G-C Partners, LLC, a full service digital forensics investigation company, and has experience working in a variety of environments ranging from high security military installations to large/small private sector companies.
He is also a two-time Forensic 4cast award winner for both Digital Forensic Article of the Year and Digital Forensic Blog of the year
Darren is the Assistant Provost over Educational Technology Services at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has been involved in distance education since 1999, first as a student, and now as an online learning professional. In his current position he oversees online learning, classroom media, video services, and the testing center. Darren has worked as a faculty trainer, instructional designer, and multi-media specialist. He is responsible for the operations of all facets of classroom technology, the Learning Management System, multimedia production studios, and various educational technology software and hardware applications. Prior to his 15 years at UT Dallas, he worked as a media specialist at The Medical University of South Carolina for 3 years. He also served as a Combat Cameraman in the United States Air Force for 6 years.
Darren earned his Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Distance Education from Nova Southeastern University. He also has an M.A. from Webster University in Human Resource Development and a B.S. from Southern Illinois University in Adult Education and Training.
Corinne Griffin is an Enterprise Systems Developer in the Office of Information Technology at The University of Texas at Dallas. With over 30+ years in product development, her experience includes systems analysis, back-end and front-end programming in a multitude of languages and platforms and database design and development. She has delivered creatively effective solutions across industries, including retail, banking, telecommunications, mobile, travel and higher education.
Jack Hickman is the Sales Manager for Blindness Products for Christal Vision, company based in San Antonio Texas that specializes in selling cutting edge technology that can be used by persons with low vision, as well as those who are blind.
Jack has utilized computers in his daily life and at work since the early eighties when technology making computers accessible to blind people was in the early stages of development.
His work experiences have included working as a processing technician of a large hospital, owning and managing a restaurant, director of the rehabilitation department at an agency serving blind and low vision individuals, as well as an educator of prospective employers about blindness, and developing relationships for the potential securing of employment for clients.
Jack then took his career aspirations to new heights when he began training blind and low vision persons in the use of the latest technology. He trained students throughout Texas, as well as at a local Community College. His students have taken their new computer knowledge and obtained jobs with a myriad of local, national and companies, as well as with the federal government.
These experiences led Jack to his current position at Christal Vision. His vast knowledge and personal experience with the products are essential to his success in his job as sales manager for the company.
Christine Maxwell, MAIS is Program Manager for the Insight Studio in the Office of Information Technology and a Graduate Student in the School of Arts & Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas. Dedicated to helping the public at large (evidenced by her teaching, work with the Internet Society and educational publishing endeavors) by harnessing innovative search technology for academic and scientific researchers. Her research centers on the use of Holocaust-related artifacts in today’s ever-changing world.
Nathaniel Mendoza is Chief Security Officer and Senior Network Administrator at the University Of Texas Austin’s, Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) where he leads a group of Security, Network, and Systems Administrators. Current areas of work include High Speed Networks, Operational Security, and Compliance. Additionally, he is a part of the XSEDE security group and is a member of SuperComputing’s SCInet. Previous to joining TACC in 2011 he was the Chief Security Officer and Senior Network Engineer at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s, National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS).
Roxanne Minnish is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication at UT Dallas where she teaches courses in 2D and 3D design. She recently helped lead a team in developing learning portfolios in the foundational design courses in ATEC. Before that, she served as a web developer, managing the university’s major web pages, including News Center. She also served as the university’s official photographer.
She is passionate in demonstrating to her students that design is a deliberate process of exploring a wide range of solutions and choosing the most promising option for development. Through the immersion in 2D, 3D and 4D concepts and problems, students learn to develop ways of thinking visually, through the use of different materials, that will serve them throughout their studies and careers.
Greg Mullinax is the Manager of Enterprise Business Intelligence and Analytics at American Airlines. In this role for over eight years at the world’s largest airline, he helps business users at all levels discover the value of their data and the insight it offers to drive better (and faster!) business decisions. From traditional reporting to deep insights provided by text analytics and real-time data, Greg and his team know how to make boring data exciting and show fellow team members at American how they can be self-sufficient with easy-to-use analytics tools and techniques.
Greg leads the Center of Excellence for Business Analytics at American, promoting the concept that anyone can use data analytics to their advantage. He chairs the North Texas Cognos User Group, a local forum for sharing ideas, networking and mastering analytics skills. He is a native of Nashville, Tennessee and holds an MBA from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth as well as a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Cassini Nazir is a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication at UT Dallas where he teaches classes in interaction design. He is also Director of Design and Research for the ArtSciLab, a transdisciplinary research lab helping the arts, science, and technology communities by pursuing initiatives of societal urgency and cultural timeliness. Over the past 20 years, Cassini has designed print pieces, logos, websites, and interactive elements for mobile, tablet and desktop devices.
Henry Neeman is the founding Director of the OU Supercomputing Center for Education & Research (OSCER), Assistant Vice President for Information Technology - Research Strategy Advisor, Associate Professor of Engineering, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oklahoma (OU).
He received his BS in Computer Science and his BA in Statistics with a minor in Mathematics in 1987 from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, his MS in CS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1990 and his PhD in CS from UIUC in 1996.
Prior to coming to OU, Dr. Neeman was a postdoctoral research associate at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at UIUC, and before that served as a graduate research assistant both at NCSA and at the Center for Supercomputing Research and Development, also at UIUC.
Dr. Neeman and his counterpart at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Dana Brunson, have been appointed joint co-leads of the Campus Engagement program of the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), the umbrella organization over the National Science Foundation's national supercomputing centers.
He also collaborates with the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Research and Education Facilitators (ACI-REF) project led by Clemson University, and serves on the steering committee of the Linux Clusters Institute, as well as the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure, for which he chairs the Working Group on Learning and Workforce Development.
Rebekah K Nix, PhD is a Senior Lecturer and educational researcher in the Teacher Development Center in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Project Coordinator in the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communications at The University of Texas at Dallas. Pursuing innovative ideas to merge educational theory and scientific practice through strategic applications of technology, her teaching and research center on enhancing learning environments, with a focus on information technology and professional development.
An award-winning, influential business and technology leader with over 20 years of experience and exceptional critical thinking, leadership, negotiation, and mediation skills. As a Technical Strategist within VMware’s office of the CTO Chris helps build and align customer needs with market strategy to provide tangible results. As a strategist, he has the acute ability to recognizing social and technical trends and apply those to the complex world of providing end user services. He previously served as Mobility and End User Computing Practice Manager for a top VMware Partner, creating strategy, vision, and alignment between stakeholders to streamline the process of positioning, selling, consulting, designing, delivering, and supporting End User Computing Solutions.
With broad reaching experience in Healthcare, Education, Communications, Technology, Financial Services, and Real Estate industries he is well suited to advise a vast array of industry. Known for a refined business acumen and the ability to develop and maintain meaningful business relationships. Other executives and colleagues recognize Chris as a thought leader, innovator, collaborator, and energetic motivator.
With more than a decade of experience in creating and executing comprehensive digital campaigns in the entertainment industry, Justin is the Director of Social Content and Strategy for Envy Gaming, Inc.. Before joining Envy Gaming, Justin led social media and business development at Funimation for nationally-recognized brands and developed promotional campaigns with partners such as Hulu, Netflix, Twitch, EA Games and Amazon. In 2007, Justin earned a Bachelors in Business Administration from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Mike Rufail is the founder and CEO of Envy Gaming, Inc., which owns and operates popular Esports franchise Team Envy as well as the Dallas Fuel, one of 12 Esports teams selected to compete in the inaugural season of the Overwatch League.
The Dallas Fuel is the official Overwatch League franchise based in Dallas, Texas. The internationally diverse roster consists of the best talent from around the globe, with players from eight different countries including Australia, Canada, Finland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the U.S. The Dallas Fuel are owned and operated by Dallas-based Esports organization Envy Gaming.
Rufail founded Team Envy as a professional Call of Duty team in 2007, and has grown the organization into one of the largest and most winning Esports groups in the world. Today, Envy teams compete across six different titles including League of Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Halo, Overwatch and Rocket League. Under Rufail’s leadership, Team Envy has won more championships across multiple Esports games than any other group, including the 2016 Call of Duty World Championships. Also in 2016, the NowTV Esports Industry Awards named Team Envy the Esports Team of the Year.
Born and raised in Lufkin, Texas, Rufail dreamed of bringing a professional Esports team home to Texas. In 2017, with the support of investment partners at Hersh Interactive Group, Rufail relocated Team Envy operations, staff and players to North Texas.
Rufail is a veteran of the Esports industry, having spent time as a professional Call of Duty player, a broadcast commentator, a game design consultant, and is the co-founder of Gamer Grip USA, a non-slip antiperspirant formula designed to improve grip on a gaming controller.
Mike Rufail graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2005 with a bachelor of arts in moving image and sound, and currently resides in Dallas.
Perry Samson is Arthur Thurnau Professor of Atmospheric Sciences in the College of Engineering and the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Prof. Samson's research interests include extreme weather dynamics, air quality modeling and effects of educational technology on learning. Perry is co-founder of The Weather Underground for the WILD Learning System and serves as Senior Vice President for Teaching Innovation for Echo360 Inc.
With nearly 30 years of solution consulting experience, Bill’s career has focused on leveraging technology products and consulting services to solve customer challenges and improve their business. As Cherwell’s Vice President of Enterprise Service Management, Bill leads Cherwell’s strategy to extend the Cherwell platform into other departments and functional groups with our customers.
Rajiv Shenoy is the Chief Technology Officer of Apogee, higher educations largest managed service provider of data, ResNet, and video solutions to drive the Student Experience. Rajiv is responsible for driving Apogee's vision, help foster the student experience through technology, and understand higher ed's future needs. Prior to CTO, Rajiv lead our Stream2 IPTV strategy and direction to help students watch live TV and connect with important university related content. Before joining Apogee, Rajiv was the Founder and CEO of OrcaTV, a digital media company that drives student success and engagement across college campuses through a unique, curated channel of university created campus. After two rounds of funding and consistent growth over 7 years, OrcaTV was acquired by Apogee in 2016.
Rajiv graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering Planning & Management and where he earned the Student Life Achievement Award and the Provost's award for Innovation. Shenoy is a resident of Dallas, an Eagle Scout, a proud husband and new dad, loves bad jokes, and playing basketball.
Dr. Yoram Solomon is an innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship expert and the author of Un-Kill Creativity: How Corporate America Can Out-Innovate Startups and 6 more books. Solomon writes a column for Inc. Magazine, and was named one of the top 40 innovation bloggers for 2015 and 2016. He is a former professor of technology and industry forecasting at the University of Texas at Dallas, and a National Speakers Association member. He holds 22 patents and many innovation awards, and was named “TI’s great innovator.” In 2015, he was elected to the Plano Independent School District board.
Michael Wood has been working in the Assistive Technology field for 13 years. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Marketing before beginning his career in AT. Currently his position has him focusing on supporting students and educators in the Blindness, Low Vision and Reading/Writing areas by providing software and hardware to help individuals succeed with independence.
Dr. Rym Zalila-Wenkstern is an Associate Professor at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. She holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Ottawa, Canada, and the Doctorat de Specialite in Computer Science from the University of Tunis, Tunisia. Dr. Wenkstern is the director of the Multi-Agent and Visualization Systems lab. Her research projects are sponsored by several organizations including the National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, Rockwell Collins and the Department of Education. She has served on several international conference organizing committees and numerous program committees.
Dr. Wenkstern is the founding director of the Executive Masters of Science in Software Engineering program at UT Dallas. She has worked as a consultant for U.S. and European organizations and is the CEO of ZW Corp, a startup specializing in the development of web-based multi-agent systems. Dr. Wenkstern is twice the recipient of the Erik Jonsson School's Teaching Excellence Award.
Panelists
R. David Crain is an Associate Vice Chancellor for the University of Texas System. He operates a managed service organization named UT Shared Information Services which is located in Irving, Texas. He started fulltime at UT Shared Information Services on September 1st, 2016 after having been the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor beginning in February 2016. He also served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer at UT Dallas from March of 2015 until his fulltime appointment with the university system. Additionally, David has been serving in an interim role as the Chief Information Officer for the University of Texas System since July of 2017.
Immediately prior to these appointments he served for three years as the Chief Information Officer for Southern Illinois University (SIU). While at SIU, David led an award winning digital initiative that brought national recognition to the university while increasing student success, student enrollment and student retention.
Previous to his employment at SIU, David spent five years at the University of Missouri in the role of Chief Technology Officer. He was responsible for the technology infrastructure including data networks, data centers, servers, storage, virtualization, cable television, telephony, Enterprise Architecture, Disaster Recovery and more for both the University of Missouri system and the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.
Earlier in his career, David served as the Chief Information Officer for the Missouri House of Representatives. In that position he was responsible for directing all technology efforts for the House of Representatives as well as being part of the State Technology Leadership group.
He has served on the Missouri Enterprise Architecture Committee and the Missouri Information Technology Advisory Board, the MO Statewide Network Consortium, and as a board member for the Lonestar Education and Research Network. Additionally, David has been chairman of the following committees; the State of Missouri’s Customer Relationship Management Committee, the Missouri Information Technology Mentoring Committee, and the University of Missouri Disaster Recover Committee. Additionally, he is a past chairman of the Illinois Partnership to Advance Technology in Higher Education. David holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Information Systems and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Communications and Political Science. He is also a certified project manager.
As a Higher Education technology leader, David has published articles in Campus Technology, Information Week Education, and CIO Review. He also has been featured as a speaker at numerous technology conferences and in online webinars. His speaking career dates back to high school and college where he won numerous state championships in speech and debate and finished third in the nation in collegiate debate.
David’s career in Information Technology management began in 1995.
Brian Dourty is the Associate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the University of Texas at Dallas. He is responsible for ensuring UT Dallas maximizes the benefits from technology while ensuring it is used effectively and efficiently. He also leads the Systems and Operations teams which provide enterprise infrastructure, networking, and identity services.
Brian has worked in Information Technology within higher education for over 20 years. Before joining the team at UT Dallas, he spent 3 years as the Associate Director of Systems and Operations at the University of Missouri System where he was responsible for the operation of IT systems that supported both system and campus services. Prior to that, he held varying roles within the Division of IT at the University of Missouri including managing the infrastructure teams, leading the Linux system administration team, and managing computing sites on campus.
Brian earned a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management and a Graduate Certificate in Project Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He also has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Missouri.
Frank has 35 years of experience in Information Technology. He joined UT Dallas in 2015 as the Director of Research Computing shared services. In early 2016, he also became the AVP of Enterprise Applications.
Before joining UT Dallas, Frank was the Executive Director of Central IT at the University of Arizona. Prior to joining the U of A, Frank spent three decades in private industry IT leadership roles. His stops included 11 years with McDonald’s Corporation, 4 years with McDonald’s global supply chain integrator, and 2 years with US Cellular.
Frank has led all aspects of IT, including application development, research, architecture, infrastructure, operations, project management, and client services.
A native of Illinois, Frank holds a Masters degree in Computer Science and a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Jeffrey Graham is the Chief Information Officer at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley including the school of medicine. Dr. Graham’s leadership ensures that Information Technology (IT) supports the strategic success of the University and he is administratively responsible for the institution’s major information systems and infrastructure, the development of technology standards, compliance with regulations, and for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all data and information.
In May of 2015 he was appointed as UTRGV’s founding CIO and prior to that was the Vice President and CIO for the University of Texas Pan American. Under his leadership the Division of Information Technology has evolved and become more responsive to the rapidly changing needs of students, faculty, and staff. He has been responsible for advancements such as establishing the Office of Faculty Research and Support, which provides technology services and support to faculty researchers, and creating an IT Services Management Program based on ITIL standards. Additionally, he is leading the transformation of many key business IT systems to a more economical and sustainable model involving the strategic use of shared and outsourced services.
Prior to joining UTRGV/UTPA Dr. Graham held various Engineering and Management positions in the Private sector.
Jeff is a technologist and business executive with a broad set of experiences in multiple industries in both the public and private sector. He brings 40 years of experience in the field of information technology and executive level business operations. His background includes university and corporate settings, with extensive experience in business management, enterprise computing, and telecommunications. At UT Arlington, he oversees the development of the structure of the Office of Information Technology, directs the strategic direction of the organization and coordinates infrastructure and service delivery across the University.
Prior to joining UT Arlington he was a consultant in the role of interim CIO for a large research university where he was engaged to rationalize services and costs across the independent schools and research departments. His background also includes consulting for multiple private equity owned firms in turn-around management, being part of senior management in a venture capital company, and as CIO at a large public firm. Industry experience includes aerospace, electronics manufacturing, heavy manufacturing, automotive, consumer packaged goods, distribution, e-commerce, finance, construction and others. He has led acquisitions and divestments and implemented industry leading major business and technology platforms.
Jeff has served on numerous vendor, industry and community advisory boards and is currently involved as a member of LEARN.
Pankaj Shah has 30+ years of experience in advanced networking, supercomputing and overall information technology while working in public and private sectors. He has committed himself to IT infrastructure and broadband initiatives through work in K-20 education and research, healthcare, federal, state and local governments, libraries, museums, and not-for-profit entities, while bringing these communities together using the concept of power of aggregation and economies of scale.
Pankaj has vast experience in multiple turnkey networking projects involving state and local government assets, while also providing strategic direction. Pankaj is a national leader, representing all the state and regional networks across the U.S. on the Internet2 governing Board. Internet2 is a U.S. National Research and Education Network. Pankaj also serves on the Level 3 (CenturyLink) R&E Customer Advisory Council.
Pankaj Shah became President and CEO of the LEARN: Lonestar Education and Research Network on January 1, 2016. Pankaj worked closely with the LEARN Board of Directors to create a strategic plan, which emphasizes working closely with K-12, cities, counties, local government, and public entities in addition to higher education. Prior to assuming the position at LEARN, Pankaj served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet) and the Ohio Supercomputer Center for more than 10 years.
As a leader committed to bringing Ohio the best in networking, supercomputing, and IT capabilities, Pankaj searched for ways to consolidate and standardize the organizations' shared services and expand their capabilities. Under Pankaj's leadership, OARnet helped Ohio become a broadband state with an expansive network backbone and research and education services while partnering with the private sector to create economic development opportunities.
Prior to working as OARnet's Executive Director, Pankaj served as:
Pankaj represented OARnet on the Board of Ohio Digital Government Summit. Additionally, Pankaj has served on OhioLINK's Advisory Board, The Quilt, and Internet2's Governance and Nominations Committee, the Steering Committee of StateNets and contributed to the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, 2nd Edition.
Pankaj received a diploma in mechanical engineering, as well as certification in advanced tool technology, from S.B.M Polytechnic in Bombay (Mumbai), India. He earned his master's degree in computer and information science from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. He most recently received his executive MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.