Event Summary

Join us for a compelling evening at the Austin Forum on Technology & Society as we dive into the world of the silicon industry with our presentation and conversation event, "The Current State, Trends, Challenges, and Future of Chips."

In an era where silicon-based computer chips are the heartbeat of our digital existence, understanding their capabilities and future is crucial. These tiny marvels of engineering power everything from our smartphones and laptops to advanced medical devices and autonomous vehicles. They are instrumental in addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges, including climate change, healthcare advancements, and artificial intelligence.

Our discussion will illuminate the current state of the silicon industry, exploring pivotal trends and future directions. We will examine the societal and national security implications of this critical technology, recognizing how advancements and vulnerabilities in chip design can influence global stability and innovation.

With Moore's Law—a guiding principle predicting the doubling of transistors on a chip approximately every two years—facing increasing challenges, innovative chip companies are pioneering new methods to push the boundaries of what’s possible. From advanced semiconductor materials to quantum computing, exciting new directions are emerging to sustain and propel the industry forward.

Join industry experts and thought leaders as they present insights into the breakthroughs shaping the future of computer chips and engage in a lively conversation about how these advancements will impact our daily lives and the broader landscape of technology and society.

Highlights of the Event

• Current State and Trends: An overview of the silicon industry's evolution and its role in modern technology.

• Challenges to Moore's Law: Insight into the limitations of traditional chip scaling and the innovative approaches being explored.

• Societal and National Security Implications: Discussion on how chip technology affects global security and societal progress.

• Future Directions: Exploration of groundbreaking advancements and potential new frontiers in chip technology.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the silicon industry's pivotal role and future prospects. Engage with experts, ask questions, and be part of the conversation that shapes the next wave of technological innovation.

Speakers

Michael Ignatowski is a Senior Fellow at AMD Research in Austin, where he leads the research work in advanced memory architecture for high performance computers. Mike was involved in AMD’s role in winning the bid for the Frontier Exascale system to be installed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory next year. Before joining AMD 10 years ago, Mike worked at IBM in upstate New York for 27 years in advanced development and research. Mike has a master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Michigan State University.

Outside of work, Mike serves on the board for Common Ground for Texans (CG4TX.org), a local group dedicated to promoting civil discourse among diverse communities and seeking common ground solutions toward a healthy democracy. He also serves on the board of 350-Austin, a local chapter of the international 350.org organization dedicated to reducing the threat of climate change. Mike is also the former president of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society.

Eric is currently a Fellow in the Research division at Arm in Austin, TX leading the systems research group. The group's activities include exploring the place of Arm within data centers, network infrastructure, high performance computing, distributed systems, edge computing, and investigating next-generation concepts in security, operating systems, runtimes, and systems software.

He was a research staff member in the Future Systems Department at IBM's Austin Research Lab. Over nearly twelve years at IBM, he has worked on low-power dense server and network processor appliance blades, DRAM power management, full system simulation, high performance computing, hypervisors, and the Linux operating system. Before coming to IBM, he worked for four years at Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories on the Plan 9 and Inferno operating systems.

Thomas is an entrepreneurial executive bringing more than 35 years of hands-on technical and business leadership in semiconductor Operations. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Inspire Semiconductor bringing to market a RISC-V based accelerator that will disrupt the HPC, AI, & blockchain applications. Previously he was the VP of Operations for Eta Compute and developed an ultra-low power solution for energy constrained AI applications. Prior to that he led the Operations teams for several successful startup companies including, Uhnder, Bluetechnix (acquired by Becom), Black Sand Technologies (acquired by Qualcomm), Luminary Micro (acquired by Texas Instruments) and Oak Technology (acquired by Zoran). He began his career as a product engineer at Motorola Semiconductor who supplied the MC68000 microprocessor for the very first Apple Macintosh. Thomas graduated with honors with a technical degree from DeVry University and is a graduate of the Motorola Management Institute.

Attendance Instructions

In-person

Join us at the ACC Rio Grande: Center for Government & Civic Service where you will be checked in at the front. Parking map here!

In-person attendees, please join us from 5:15 to 6:15 for networking and food. We look forward to chatting with you face-to-face!

Virtual

Once you register via Ticketbud, you will receive the virtual link in your confirmation email. You will also receive the link in a reminder email one day before the event.

Event Summary

Join us for an engaging conversation with some of Austin's leading Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) as they share their invaluable insights and recommendations on the critical processes of identifying and evaluating technology opportunities, deciding which technologies to develop or adopt, and measuring the impact of new technologies. This dynamic discussion will dive deep into technology leaders' strategies to keep their companies and organizations innovative, competitive, and maximally productive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Key discussion points will include how to develop, execute, monitor, and revise a technology strategy; how to determine when to pursue new technology development opportunities and when to adopt emerging technologies; how to obtain buy-in on seemingly risky technology decisions from C-suite and staff; and how to make sure the organization embraces and is prepared for these new technologies.

This event is essential for anyone involved in technology decision-making, from executives and managers to IT professionals and innovators. Register now to secure your spot and be part of this informative and interactive session!

Attendance Instructions

You will be checked in at the front desk of the Austin Central Library event space. Parking information can be found here. Please join us from 5:15 to 6:15 for networking and food. We look forward to chatting with you face-to-face!

Presenters

A  serial CTO in Austin, Tom was most recently Morgan Stanley’s Chief Strategy Officer for Retirement Plan Solutions.  Before that, he co-founded Honest Dollar with whurley and Anthony Bunnell, which was then acquired by Goldman Sachs.  Tom was also CTO of StoredIQ, pivoting that company from services to software, then acquired by IBM. 

Tom was recruited as CTO of BMC Software, where he drove BMC’s integrated Business Service Mgmt strategy.  As Entrepreneur in Residence at Kleiner Perkins, he worked with portfolio companies as a fractional CTO/VP of Engineering. Tom’s first CTO role was at Tivoli Systems, helping Tivoli grow from 80 to 4,000 employees, helping take the company public, and then through its acquisition by IBM. Tom began his career at Bell Labs and holds 14 patents in fault tolerance, distributed computing, and unstructured data management.

Vivian Chu is an American roboticist and entrepreneur, specializing in the field of human-robot interaction. She is the Chief Technology Officer at Diligent Robotics, a company she co-founded in 2017 to create autonomous, mobile, socially intelligent robots.

Bryon Jacob, CTO of data.world, is an experienced leader in the Austin tech community with a career spanning over 20 years. He has held leadership roles at Trilogy Software, Amazon, and HomeAway (now Vrbo), where he was instrumental in the company's growth and eventual sale to Expedia. Bryon's education in Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University, including graduate studies in AI, has fueled his interest in integrating knowledge representation and machine learning. His current endeavor, data.world, aims to revolutionize enterprise-scale data management and integration using advanced technologies in graph databases, AI, and linked data. Bryon is also an active contributor to the tech community, advising several companies and frequently sharing his insights at technology conferences

Jay Boisseau is an experienced, recognized leader and strategist in advanced computing technologies, with over 25 years in the field. Jay is the executive director and founder of The Austin Forum on Technology & Society, which he created in 2006 and is the leading monthly technology outreach and engagement event in Austin--and now attracts national and international attendees online. The Austin Forum is one of the pillars of the Austin tech scene, providing connections to information, ideas, collaborations, and community overall. In addition, Jay is CEO, co-founder (June 2014), and a partner in Vizias, a small team of passionate professionals with expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), technology community building, and technology outreach & event planning. Vizias staff lead, execute, and support the Austin Forum through Vizias Research, Education, and Outreach, a non-profit dedicated to using technology for positive social impact. Jay has held previous leadership positions at Dell Technologies, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. He received his doctorate in astronomy from UT Austin, and his undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from the University of Virginia. For Jay's full professional bio, visit here.

Event Summary

The urgency of addressing climate change has never been more pressing. From extreme weather events to the strain on our power grids, the impacts of climate change are undeniable—and human progress is a significant contributor. But amidst these challenges lies an opportunity for innovation and transformation. Join us for an enlightening panel presentation with several climate tech innovation experts, who will offer a comprehensive overview of the causes, risks, and potential solutions to the climate crisis.

Delving into the realm of emerging technologies, the panel will illuminate how groundbreaking innovations are poised to mitigate and avert the worst impacts of climate change. From renewable energy breakthroughs to cutting-edge sustainability solutions, attendees will gain valuable insights into the transformative power of technology in combatting climate change.

But the conversation won't stop there. The panel experts will provide actionable recommendations for individuals, communities, and stakeholders, outlining a clear pathway for collective action. Whether you're a technologist, entrepreneur, or investor, this presentation will inspire you to contribute to the development of much-needed solutions and shape a more sustainable future for generations to come. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the solution. Join us as we explore the challenges, solutions, and emerging technologies in the fight against climate change, and learn how you and/or your company can join the fight.

Attendance Instructions

You will be checked in at the front desk of the Austin Central Library event space. Parking information can be found here. Please join us from 5:15 to 6:15 for networking and food. We look forward to chatting with you face-to-face!

Panelists

Jacob Borgeson is the Product Marketer and Co-founder of Austin Climate Innovation Collective. Jacob has worked at building companies as a product marketer, product manager, and thought leader in a variety of industries in Austin for over a decade. He has picked up a wide perspective while keeping climate change at the front of his mind while working in semiconductors, logistics, collaboration, marketing, government contracting, and community. Jacob enjoys building communities and solutions around big problems. He is an avid Austin FC fan, father of 2 young kids, and aspiring pillar of the community. For over a year, Jacob has been partnering with Palm Venture Studios to help grow the Austin Climate Innovation community through a partnership with Palm Venture Studios by hosting monthly gatherings and discussions around core climate challenges, connecting experts, founders, and investors in the space to help make Austin a hub for climate tech.

James Gray is the founder of Seren Labs, the data platform for discovering breakthrough companies and emerging trends in climate tech. Seren Labs combines thousands of data signals from industry and research networks to identify solutions that are gaining traction and ready to scale. Prior to Seren Labs, he led go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and new product development at data.world and SpareFoot.  He’s an Emergent Ventures Fellow,  co-founder of the Austin ClimateTech Coffee Meetup, and a passionate advocate for establishing Texas as the next major hub for climate technology and research.

Sylvie has a passion for helping companies transform their business and implement sustainability strategies to find new opportunities for success: to generate efficiency, cost savings and future-proof their business. She helps companies engage with all their stakeholders to understand their expectations and foster collaboration. She helps promote and communicate companies’ commitments to ESG (Environmental Social Governance) and their achievements. She knows how to bring people together and drive the success of cross-functional complex projects. She has a Master's in Marketing Strategy and recently graduated from the ClimateBase fellowship program as well as the OnePointFive Academy in Sustainability consulting.

Margaret Morales is the director of carbon at GreenBiz Group. She has over a decade of experience in climate policy, communications, and project development. Before GreenBiz, she led the marketing and communications team at forest carbon project developer Terraformation. She also launched the research program on natural carbon capture in working lands for the climate policy think tank Sightline Institute. She holds a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from Duke University and a master's degree from the University of British Columbia.

David J. Neff is a senior-level executive, Venture Capitalist, and serial entrepreneur, who has 23 years of creating experiences that impact consumers' lives across roles in software development, digital product, and strategy.

Currently, he serves as a Partner at Ecliptic Capital where he works with portfolio companies on people, process, marketing, strategy, and culture. He spearheads the fund’s concentration on climate change and energy transition as part of Ecliptic Capital’s Deep Tech thesis.

Dr. Michael E. Webber, a distinguished figure in energy resources, is a Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the CTO of Energy Impact Partners, a leading cleantech venture fund. Formerly serving as the Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE in Paris, his expertise lies in engineering, policy, and commercialization, particularly in innovation, energy, and the environment. He authored "Power Trip: The Story of Energy" and created an award-winning companion series. With numerous publications and patents to his name, he's a Fellow of ASME and a member of the Presidential Leadership Scholars. An entrepreneur and educator, he co-founded DISCO Learning Media. Holding degrees from UT Austin and Stanford University, he's been recognized for his teaching prowess and contributions to industrial ecology.

Event Summary

Your digital data, resources, IP, and online reputation are more valuable than ever—and at greater risk than ever. Some cybersecurity threats and risks have been known for years, while others are emerging, enabled by new technologies, approaches, and vulnerabilities. Join us as renowned cybersecurity expert Robert "RSnake" Hansen presents some new and enhanced cyber threats as we enter 2024, including some you and your company/organization are probably not even thinking about yet. RSnake will also share challenges the business security industry faces in managing these risks but will conclude with recommendations for you and perspectives on how new technologies may help identify and protect against these new risks.

Speaker

Robert Hansen, also known as RSnake, is an American computer hacker, executive, and entrepreneur. He was the founder and CEO of SecTheory and was the co-founder of Bit Discovery after which he became the Deputy CTO of Tenable after Bit Discovery was acquired. He has previously worked at eBay, WhiteHat Security (now Synopsis), Realtor.com/Move.com, Cable & Wireless plc America, ValueClick and Silicon Alchemy. He founded the hackers.org web application security lab.

​RSnake is most well known for his security research and disclosures such as Slowloris (computer security), Clickjacking, Fierce DNS enumeration tool, XSS filter evasion, DNS Rebinding, Content Security Policy, and Python NaN Injection.

Event Summary

Your digital data, resources, IP, and online reputation are more valuable than ever—and at greater risk than ever. Some cybersecurity threats and risks have been known for years, while others are emerging, enabled by new technologies, approaches, and vulnerabilities. Join us as renowned cybersecurity expert Robert "RSnake" Hansen presents some new and enhanced cyber threats as we enter 2024, including some you and your company/organization are probably not even thinking about yet. RSnake will also share challenges the business security industry faces in managing these risks but will conclude with recommendations for you and perspectives on how new technologies may help identify and protect against these new risks.

Speakers

Jay Boisseau is an experienced, recognized leader and strategist in advanced computing technologies, with over 25 years in the field. Jay is the executive director and founder of The Austin Forum on Technology & Society, which he created in 2006 and is the leading monthly technology outreach and engagement event in Austin--and now attracts national and international attendees online. The Austin Forum is one of the pillars of the Austin tech scene, providing connections to information, ideas, collaborations, and community overall. In addition, Jay is CEO, co-founder (June 2014), and a partner in Vizias, a small team of passionate professionals with expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), technology community building, and technology outreach & event planning. Vizias staff lead, execute, and support the Austin Forum through Vizias Research, Education, and Outreach, a non-profit dedicated to using technology for positive social impact. Jay has held previous leadership positions at Dell Technologies, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. He received his doctorate in astronomy from UT Austin, and his undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from the University of Virginia. For Jay's full professional bio, visit here.

Nancy built a formidable career at several of the most influential ad agencies in NY, Chicago, and LA and for more than a decade has been the Founder/CEO of Play Big Inc., a strategic inspiration company. Her current work dives deeply into the emerging intersection of tech, business, and society. Her expertise and experiences range from AI to frozen foods, to reinventing the internet, and all of her projects have a key common denominator: transitioning away from the extractive operating systems and outdated business thinking that no longer holds up... to create more sustainable, inclusive, and dynamic solutions the future demands.

Author of the Amazon bestselling book Leadering: The Ways Visionary Leaders Play Bigger, Nancy is a frequent panelist at South by Southwest, global keynote speaker, Singularity University guest lecturer, and the world’s first TEDx licensee. She is recognized as one of the world’s top female futurists and is co-founder of the Femme Futurists Society.

Bryon Jacob, CTO of data.world, is an experienced leader in the Austin tech community with a career spanning over 20 years. He has held leadership roles at Trilogy Software, Amazon, and HomeAway (now Vrbo), where he was instrumental in the company's growth and eventual sale to Expedia. Bryon's education in Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University, including graduate studies in AI, has fueled his interest in integrating knowledge representation and machine learning. His current endeavor, data.world, aims to revolutionize enterprise-scale data management and integration using advanced technologies in graph databases, AI, and linked data. Bryon is also an active contributor to the tech community, advising several companies and frequently sharing his insights at technology conferences.

​Jay Williams has been a chief technology officer and consultant to many of the Fortune 500. As a consultant he has developed a highly refined process for managing a company’s technology infrastructure, including applications, security, and network assets. Jay is a highly sought-after, enterprise systems architect and problem solver. He has advised a number of high profile technology companies on their products and is known for a rare combination of deep technology expertise, expert problem solving ability and business acumen. Jay is widely respected by peers and has influenced many pivotal technology consortia and industry steering groups. He regularly consults with senior technology and business executives and is frequently consulted by venture and capital investors for analyses of new technology strategies.

Event Summary

Your digital data, resources, IP, and online reputation are more valuable than ever—and at greater risk than ever. Some cybersecurity threats and risks have been known for years, while others are emerging, enabled by new technologies, approaches, and vulnerabilities. Join us as renowned cybersecurity expert Robert "RSnake" Hansen presents some new and enhanced cyber threats as we enter 2024, including some you and your company/organization are probably not even thinking about yet. RSnake will also share challenges the business security industry faces in managing these risks but will conclude with recommendations for you and perspectives on how new technologies may help identify and protect against these new risks.

Speakers

Scott’s career has expanded over three decades leading go-to-market strategy to over $6 billion in new revenue across multiple global industries of investment banking, SaaS, and new technology companies. As a visionary leader, Scott is an advisor and mentor with many accelerators and a handful of startups. He is a founder of MyWorkout.AI launching in January 2024, an AI-powered workout app that combines technology with the community to create a new revolution for all in health and wellness.

Julie Korioth's career is a dynamic blend of entrepreneurship and mental health advocacy, specifically aimed at bettering the lives of the next generation, starting with athletes. As the CEO and Founder of Nui, she has pioneered a mental performance platform that tackles an often-overlooked aspect of athleticism: emotional and psychological resilience. Nui combines education from professionals in the sports world, anonymous peer-to-peer support, routine setup tools, and an AI-driven personal coach to offer comprehensive mental health solutions for athletes. Leveraging her keen understanding of human psychology and technology. Julie aims to make mental well-being as fundamental to sports training as physical conditioning. Julie's ultimate motivation stems from her deep love for her children and her desire to create a world where the next generation is emotionally resilient and mentally strong, equipping them to face life's challenges head-on.

Event Summary

Our lives have become increasingly dependent on computing and networking technologies and on the digital data exchanged on our behalves for virtually every aspect of our lives. Powerful analytics and AI methods coupled with cheap, large-scale computing and storage enable companies to develop detailed profiles of everyone, collecting and exchanging data behind the scenes in ways that are often invisible to most people. Thus, we are entrusting the well-being of our companies, organizations, schools, and lives to the digital practices of many companies—with a rapid growth in their capabilities for analysis. It is difficult-to-impossible for proper regulation to keep up to ensure proper usage of this data—and what is ‘proper?’ What should be regulated and how, and what should not (and what are the alternatives)? 

Join us for a spirited debate event in which we will explore all sides to the challenging questions in the areas of digital identity and privacy, data monetization and trust, and the responsibilities and ethical considerations we have to consider to determine what is and isn’t fair, proper, legal, and safe. Audience questions will be posed to the debate participants after the moderator questions. 

This event is co-sponsored by Austin Startup Week

Moderator

Sherri R. Greenberg is a professor of practice and fellow of the Max Sherman Chair in State and Local Government at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and she is a professor of practice at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Additionally, she is the LBJ School Assistant Dean for State and Local Government Engagement. She is a primary researcher for, and Chairperson of, Good Systems, Ethical AI at UT Austin. Greenberg serves on the Austin Smart City Alliance Board of Directors and the Austin Forum on Technology & Society Advisory Board. Previously, she was a member of the Central Health Board of Managers and a member of the City of Austin Housing Investment Review Committee. 
 
Greenberg has served as a senior advisor to Austin Mayor Steve Adler. She was a Texas state representative from 1991 to 2001, and she chaired the House Pensions and Investments Committee and the Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance. She also served on the House Appropriations, Economic Development, Elections, and Science and Technology Committees. Previously, Greenberg was the City of Austin capital finance manager and a public finance officer at Standard & Poor’s.

Her teaching and research interests include technology policy, state and local government, housing, homelessness, transportation, healthcare, public finance, and campaigns and elections. Recently, she has had funding from the National Science Foundation, the City of Austin, UT Good Systems, the IBM Center for the Business of Government, the Cisco Foundation, Microsoft, MITRE, and the State of Texas.

Debaters

David Dunmoyer is the campaign director for Better Tech for Tomorrow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In this role, he publishes research and commentary, provides expert testimony, and advocates for responsible technology policy in the Texas legislature. His areas of focus include data privacy, cybersecurity, kids’ online safety, and other emerging technology issues. Before creating this new issue area campaign at TPPF, David was chief of staff to the executive team, driving strategy and collaboration across numerous policy issues. Originally from Sacramento, CA, his prior experience includes public affairs and digital marketing.
 
David is currently pursuing his Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, with an expected graduation of December 2023.”

Aditya Khurjekar is building identity.ai, the digital signature system to authenticate content and build trust in the emerging internet that’s increasingly influenced by generative AI. identity.ai is powered by Prove, the global leader in identity & authentication.  

Aditya previously co-founded Money20/20, the world’s largest FinTech conference, which was acquired by Ascential in  2014. He built the brand foundation and the original program for the inaugural Money20/20 in 2012. At Verizon from  2004-2011, he was the founder of the mobile payments joint venture that was acquired by Google & also powers Apple  Pay and Samsung Pay. Aditya spent his early career in semiconductors and held leadership positions in enterprise software and mobile devices at Lucent Technologies Bell Labs & CSG Systems. Aditya was also a founding portfolio advisor at Blume Ventures in India from 2010-2015. 

After a professional journey of more than 25 years in multiple industries working across the spectrum of the global innovation ecosystem, Aditya is keen to engage & invest in pursuits that solve real problems and make an impact. He is an advisor to FinTech-focused Luge Capital in Canada, and an investor in consumer-focused 1000 Farmacie in Italy,  and real-estate tokenization platform Brixie in South East Asia, along with several other FinTech- and crypto-enabled inclusion initiatives in the Middle East, Latin America and India.  

Aditya has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.  He lives and works in Princeton and New York City, and collaborates with teams globally. 

Anastasia is a public interest technologist, writer, and speaker with expertise in digital privacy and identity, secure AI, and responsible innovation. She is the founder of Agency, a membership organization of founders, investors, engineers, and cryptographers working in privacy, AI, and decentralized technologies, and host of The Privacy Podcast. With experience across startups and large organizations such as NBC, NPR, and the U.S. Senate, Anastasia has also worked internationally in Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya. She has an M.S. in Information Security and Privacy from UT Austin and a B.A. in Government and International Relations from Cornell University.

​Jay Williams has been a chief technology officer and consultant to many of the Fortune 500. As a consultant, he has developed a highly refined process for managing a company’s technology infrastructure, including applications, security, and network assets. Jay is a highly sought-after, enterprise systems architect and problem solver. He has advised several high-profile technology companies on their products and is known for a rare combination of deep technology expertise, expert problem-solving ability, and business acumen. Jay is widely respected by peers and has influenced many pivotal technology consortia and industry steering groups. He regularly consults with senior technology and business executives and is frequently consulted by venture and capital investors for analyses of new technology strategies.

Event Summary

Join us for a dynamic exploration into the expansive world of 3D printing technologies at the Austin Forum on Technology & Society. We're thrilled to host industry leaders from EOS, ICON, and Re:3D, who will illuminate the frontier of additive manufacturing. EOS will kick off the discussion by sharing the latest innovations in industrial-scale metal and polymer printing. As a vanguard in the sector, EOS will provide insights into how their technologies are transforming industries ranging from aerospace to healthcare.

ICON is set to change the way we perceive housing construction. In this session, ICON will present their cutting-edge approach to constructing sustainable and affordable homes using large-scale 3D printing, emphasizing both the speed of their process and its environmental benefits. Rounding out our panel, re:3D will delve into the social impact of 3D printing. With a mission to democratize manufacturing, re:3D’s presentation will spotlight the opportunities & challenges of printing from garbage to create new jobs and reduce supply chain challenges.

This event is co-sponsored by Austin Women in Technology

Speakers

David Dunmoyer is the campaign director for Better Tech for Tomorrow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In this role, he publishes research and commentary, provides expert testimony, and advocates for responsible technology policy in the Texas legislature. His areas of focus include data privacy, cybersecurity, kids’ online safety, and other emerging technology issues. Before creating this new issue area campaign at TPPF, David was chief of staff to the executive team, driving strategy and collaboration across numerous policy issues. Originally from Sacramento, CA, his prior experience includes public affairs and digital marketing.
 
David is currently pursuing his Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, with an expected graduation of December 2023.”

Samantha Snabes is an Officer in the Air National Guard & the CEO for re:3D where she facilitates connections between others printing at the human scale and/or using recycled materials to access locally driven manufacturing in 50+ countries. A serial entrepreneur, she volunteers as the past Global Chair of the IEEE Entrepreneurship Steering Committee. Previously, she served as the Social Entrepreneur in Residence for the NASA HQ & Deputy Strategist supporting the NASA Johnson Space Center’s Space Life Sciences Directorate after selling a start-up for a DARPA-funded, co-patented tissue culture device. Samantha holds a BS in Biology, BA degrees in International Relations & Hispanic Studies, an MBA with concentrations in Supply Chain Management & International Relations, and certifications as a firefighter & EMT-B.

Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and researcher. She is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large-scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Melodie oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supports the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. Notable projects of hers include Mars Ice House and Mars X-House, both first prize winners in design within NASA’s Centennial Challenge for a 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars, as well as design and construction of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Her TED talk, ”How to Build for Human Life on Mars” has been viewed over 1.4 million times.

Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios at Art Center College of Design. In previous roles, Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction for Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. She geeks out on new material & fabrication technologies. She likes tiny robots. She would like to visit the Moon (though not yet Mars) in her lifetime.

Event Summary

In this dynamic presentation at the Austin Forum on Technology and Society, renowned tech innovator William "whurley" Hurley delves into the captivating realm of quantum computing. As the quantum era dawns upon us, whurley demystifies this cutting-edge technology, helping you to understand its principles and transformative potential clearly. He will discuss the crucial role quantum computing plays across diverse sectors, from shaping innovative business strategies to bolstering national security measures. The talk sheds light on how this groundbreaking technology is not a matter of distant future speculation but an inevitable reality of our evolving digital landscape, arriving far sooner than you may suspect. Join us for an insightful discourse to comprehend the magnitude of quantum computing and prepare for its imminent impact. Learn why the quantum revolution matters to us, regardless of our backgrounds or fields of interest, and how it will be a game-changer in the technology and social paradigm.​

Speakers

whurley is the founder and CEO of Strangeworks, an Eisenhower Fellow, a Senior Member of the IEEE, founder of the Quantum Computing Standards Workgroup at the IEEE, the first Ambassador to CERN and Society, and the co-author of "Quantum Computing For Babies” and the upcoming “Quantum Computing for Dummies” (available for pre-order now). Prior to starting Strangeworks, he was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs [NYSE: GS]. He came to Goldman Sachs via the acquisition of his second startup, Honest Dollar. Prior to Honest Dollar whurley founded Chaotic Moon Studios which was acquired by Accenture [NYSE: ACN].

Samantha Snabes is an Officer in the Air National Guard & the CEO for re:3D where she facilitates connections between others printing at the human scale and/or using recycled materials to access locally driven manufacturing in 50+ countries. A serial entrepreneur, she volunteers as the past Global Chair of the IEEE Entrepreneurship Steering Committee. Previously, she served as the Social Entrepreneur in Residence for the NASA HQ & Deputy Strategist supporting the NASA Johnson Space Center’s Space Life Sciences Directorate after selling a start-up for a DARPA-funded, co-patented tissue culture device. Samantha holds a BS in Biology, BA degrees in International Relations & Hispanic Studies, an MBA with concentrations in Supply Chain Management & International Relations, and certifications as a firefighter & EMT-B.

Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and researcher. She is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large-scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Melodie oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supports the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. Notable projects of hers include Mars Ice House and Mars X-House, both first prize winners in design within NASA’s Centennial Challenge for a 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars, as well as design and construction of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Her TED talk, ”How to Build for Human Life on Mars” has been viewed over 1.4 million times.

Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios at Art Center College of Design. In previous roles, Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction for Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. She geeks out on new material & fabrication technologies. She likes tiny robots. She would like to visit the Moon (though not yet Mars) in her lifetime.

Event Summary

The worldwide energy sector is going through dramatic shifts in energy demand, end-uses, and sources. Population growth and economic growth are driving up total demand.  Industrialization, urbanization, electrification, and motorization are changing how we use energy. And a policy push for domestic, low-carbon, and renewable fuels is changing our sources of energy.  At the same time, we are entering an era where markets, technologies, and policies are enabling dramatic increases in U.S. production of oil, gas, wind, solar, and bioenergy that are affecting global economies, the environment, and our national security posture.  In parallel, our energy and information sectors are merging to form smarter energy systems and more energy-intensive information systems. For this talk, Dr. Webber will give an entertaining and big-picture overview of global energy trends mixed in with humorous anecdotes, historical snippets, and unexpected examples that will provide a surprising look into the future of energy. 

Speaker

Dr. Michael E. Webber is the Josey Centennial Professor in Energy Resources in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and CTO of Energy Impact Partners, a $3 billion cleantech venture fund.

From September 2018 to August 2021, Webber was based in Paris, France where he served as the Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, a global energy & infrastructure services company with 170,000 employees worldwide. Webber’s expertise spans research and education at the convergence of engineering, policy, and commercialization on topics related to innovation, energy, and the environment. His book Power Trip: The Story of Energy was published in 2019 by Basic Books with an award-winning 6-part companion series that aired on PBS, Amazon Prime, and AppleTV starting Earth Day 2020. The series had more than 7000 broadcasts in the United States and has been distributed in dozens of countries, ultimately reaching millions of viewers. He was selected as a Fellow of ASME (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and as a member of the 4th class of the Presidential Leadership Scholars, which is a leadership training program organized by Presidents George W. Bush and William J. Clinton.

​Webber has authored four full-length general interest books, created two interactive textbooks, written more than 500 publications, and been awarded 6 patents. He serves on the advisory board for Scientific American and GTI Energy (an industry consortium formerly known as the Gas Technology Institute). A successful entrepreneur, Webber was one of three founders in 2015 for an educational technology startup, DISCO Learning Media, which was acquired in 2018.  Webber holds a B.S. and B.A. from UT Austin, and M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.  He was honored as an American Fellow of the German Marshall Fund and an AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow on four separate occasions by the University of Texas for exceptional teaching.

Event Summary

​Misinformation and disinformation will always be with us, but multiple technologies have made it possible to create and disseminate misleading and false information much more easily over the past two decades. The very recent emergence of generative AI for text, images, and audio/video has greatly increased the ability to create more persuasive misinformation and disinformation, while emerging edge computing and augmented reality technologies present risks for hacking, creating, and spreading false information of more types, more widely. As AI, edge computing and communications networks, AR/VR, and other new technologies become ubiquitous, we need to ensure our new capabilities are deployed with security and safeguards built-in. This conversation with leaders in misinformation/disinformation and technologies will discuss the new threats to information security and quality how they can be misguided or even weaponized, and what we are, may, and need to do to protect against these threats.

Speakers

​Numa Dhamani is a natural language processing expert with domain expertise in information warfare, security/privacy, and trust and safety. She has advised startups and nonprofits, served as the Principal Investigator on various DARPA programs, and contributed to multiple international peer-reviewed journals. Currently, Numa is a Principal Machine Learning Engineer at KUNGFU.AI. She has previously worked on mitigating abuses in the online ecosystem at Twitter, on counter disinformation efforts at the Global Disinformation Index, on detecting online extremism and influence operations at Yonder, and on developing cutting-edge machine learning solutions at Accenture's Innovation Hub. Numa holds degrees in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.

Robert Matney serves as Director of Partnerships at Primer, a leading AI-ML technology company focused on practical defense applications. Primer delivers mission-ready AI to the analysts, operators and commanders who protect national security. Robert has led various software companies and initiatives since 2000. He has expertise in detecting information operations and disinformation analysis. Robert serves on the board of directors for Fusebox, a global hybrid arts organization and festival headquartered in Austin, Texas, where he lives with his unfeasibly clever spouse and two spoiled dogs.

Ryan Williams is a third-year Ph.D. student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Deputy Director of the Global Disinformation Lab at UT Austin. His research explores global policy responses to emerging technologies. Ryan leads the Global Disinformation Policy Database project at UT. He has previously worked as a computational disinformation analyst for Yonder where he developed tools and tactics for understanding online affinity groups. Ryan has MA degrees from UT in Global Policy and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

Event Summary

On June 6, the Austin Forum on Technology & Society will be hosting an exciting event to teach you how to use generative AI tools in the co-creation of content. more than a dozen AI experts will participate in leading this event. The evening will start with a presentation of the key concepts behind generative AI and how it can be used to create novel and innovative solutions in a variety of fields. We will highlight the growing importance of generative AI tools in industries such as graphic design, marketing, and content creation, and discuss some of the most promising applications of this technology.

​Following the presentation, attendees will be given the opportunity to try out various generative AI tools for themselves--bring your laptops, smartphones, etc.! (We will have virtual tables for online attendees, too.) Attendees will be able to experiment with ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that can generate human-like responses to user input, Bard, an AI writing assistant that can help generate creative writing, DALL-E, an AI image generation tool that can create images from textual descriptions, MidJourney, an AI tool that can generate music in real-time, GitHub Copilot for generating code, and many more!

Overall, this event promises to provide attendees with a deeper fundamental understanding of the possibilities of generative AI and the chance to experiment with some of the most promising tools in the field. The Austin Forum on Technology & Society continues to be at the forefront of exploring the intersection of technology and society, and generative AI is one of the highest potential impact technologies of 2023. Join us!

Speaker

Amina Al Sherif is a technical engineering lead in machine learning and generative AI at Google. She immigrated to the United States in 2010 as a first-generation Arab American. She has spent twelve years in the Department of Defense serving as an Army officer in the Reserves and North Carolina National Guard as a tactical cyber operator and cyber targeter.

Amina has previously worked as an early-stage startup executive focused on artificial intelligence innovation and products. Before her startup experience, Amina worked at Google as a Cloud Engineer bringing the innovation and power of Google’s capabilities to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. She focused on big data and machine learning, gaming and simulation, and data privacy and security in cloud computing and analytics.

​Amina has worked with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as an Arabic, Farsi, and French language-enabled Open Source Exploitation Analyst at Fort Belvoir, VA and Fort Bragg. She deployed under Operation Inherent Resolve to Baghdad, Iraq in 2015/2016. In 2016-2017 she deployed to Afghanistan supporting the Special Operations Community. Most recently Amina deployed to Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Israel for a Special Missions Unit out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina supporting cyber-HUMINT operations.

Facilitators

Jay Boisseau, Executive Director, Austin Forum on Technology & Society
Ben Fauber, Senior AI Research Scientist, Dell Technologies
Adam Ghetti, Founder, Adapter
Nylo Landis
Praveen Nuthulapati, Senior Director of Integrations and Partnerships, Dataminr
Jimmy Pike, Technologist and System Architect
Aurora Quinn-Elmore, Co-Founder, Metamorph AI
Elizabeth Quintanilla, Fractional CMO
Johnny Rodriguez, Director of Innovation, Fresh Consulting​
Finn Staber, Founder, Chicken Waffle
Erik Summa, Innovation Experience Lead, Innovation Studio, Dell Technologies
Jay Williams, Founder and CTO, ARCatar
Luke Wilson, Head of Global Research Infrastructure, Optiver
Dylan Wu, Founder, One Person Co​

Event Summary

Metaverse is not a new concept but is increasingly in the news recently—for both positive and negative reasons. There are certainly some tremendous successes (popularity and financial) of metaverse technologies and models in online gaming, and some early successes in other areas of entertainment, but widespread adoption has not happened and there are some notable failures as well. Will the ongoing advances in technologies—from performance and visual quality to miniaturization and power efficiency—including new releases from tech giants Sony and (expected) Apple help overcome the remaining barriers? Do metaverse technologies, including spatial organization and navigation of information and artificial environments, have significant enterprise and/or consumer benefits? Can we make the metaverse matter?

​Join us for a conversation about the potential use cases and the challenges of metaverse technologies and applications with three leading metaverse experts: Ahna Boley of Double A Labs, Hrish Lotlikar of SuperWorld, and Finn Staber of Chicken Waffle. We will discuss the current state and expected innovations and applications in metaverse technologies and uses. There will be ample time for audience questions, and then networking with the speakers and attendees. And, as always, one lucky in-person attendee will win a badge for SXSW 2024, at which it is sure to (again) be lots of programming (pro and con) about the metaverse!

Speakers

Ahna is a founding member of Double A Labs. Having started as a producer, she worked her way to becoming the Chief Experience Officer (CXO). Focusing on the day-to-day of the SaaS platform, Double A, she has helped shape the innovation behind the metaverse world builder application, and partner integrations, as well as overseeing the Customer Success team who are the masterminds that make a brands’ experience in the metaverse successful. Let her show you how to build a thriving digital community that fosters loyal relationships and boosts product sales.

Hrish is a Co-founder and CEO at SuperWorld. Previously, he co-founded Rogue Initiative Studios (partnered with director Michael Bay), a Hollywood film, TV, gaming, and immersive entertainment studio. He was also the founding Managing Partner of Eastlabs, an early-stage VC fund based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Previously, Hrish was a Senior Business Developer and Global Evangelist at Toptal (backed by Andreessen Horowitz, the Rockefellers & the co-founders of Facebook and Zynga), a venture capital investor at Spencer Trask Ventures, and an investment banker at both UBS Investment Bank and HSBC Securities, where he specialized in public finance, corporate finance, and M&A. He also was an Associate in the Global Business Development Group at management consulting firm Hewitt Associates.

Hrish was born in India and grew up in the United States. He also has spent many years living around the world in Europe, Asia, and South America. He has a close connection to the people and cultures in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Spain, France, Vietnam, China, Colombia, Bali, and Thailand.

Hrish holds a BA in Political Science from Rice University and both an MBA and MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In his free time, he enjoys working out, fashion photography, and traveling the world.

Game Programmer/Designer with a diverse background in Visual FX, Animation, 3D Art, Level Design, and Blockchain/NFT solutions. Primary focus on building advanced player controls for cross-platform games, and multiplayer eSports using cutting-edge VR and AR technology. Enjoys creating funny interactive experiences, and donates much of his free time to helping others.

Finn has launched multiple successful tech companies and has developed award-winning video games, interactive educational content, digital marketing experiences, and cyber-security solutions. He is the Founder of Chicken Waffle, and Co-Founder of WaveXR and Failed To Render. He has helped many studios ramp up, and has consulted for some of the leading technology developers in the world. He has worked with several Fortune 500 companies to help them build R&D efforts for XR. His experience with agile teamwork allows him to communicate well with other developers, and his experience as a decorated combat veteran of the US Army instilled the ability to work hard to accomplish difficult tasks.

​Finn has worked as a voice actor for multiple games, animated cartoons, and commercials. He enjoys networking with other skilled developers and hacking the latest technologies/hardware to create awesome fun experiences. He has often volunteered his free time to teach game development workshops at numerous local schools and universities and has helped organize developer meetups for the Austin Unity group, AR/VR Tools & Tech, and Austin Game Devs (IGDA Austin).

Event Summary

In this talk, Steve will give an introduction to AI for non-practitioners and then highlight current use cases in generative AI, computer vision, natural language processing, time series forecasting, anomaly detection, reinforcement learning, and recommender systems where AI-based systems are already performing well or offer significant promise to do so in the near future. Some key examples include creative writing and video generation, drug discovery, robotics, language understanding, climate change mitigation, and supply chain optimization. A major focus will be on recent generative AI models like Stable Diffusion and ChatGPT that have attracted broad attention across the world.

He will also discuss the significant risks of AI systems related to incorrectness, bias, fairness, privacy, fraud, cybersecurity, and misinformation/disinformation and then the current efforts in algorithmic accountability and AI ethics to minimize negative impacts or harms. There will be plenty of accessible content for those newer to AI as well as pointers to technical details for those with strong AI backgrounds who want to learn about key recent research developments.

Speaker

Dr. Steve Kramer, Chief Scientist of KUNGFU.AI, is a computational physicist and data science entrepreneur with 30 years of post-Ph.D. experience in AI, data science, research, software, and business management. He earned a Ph.D. in physics in the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics at The University of Texas at Austin. Steve has extensive research experience spanning data mining, machine learning, anomaly detection, bot/cyborg detection, clustering, network graph analysis, deep learning, spatiotemporal forecasting, predictive analytics, social media analytics, and pattern discovery/recognition. In 2014, he patented a robust method for dynamic anomaly detection based on chaos theory. Steve spoke at Data Day Texas in 2014 and 2018 and at Data Day Seattle in 2016. Since 2011, he has served as a program committee member and reviewer for the ACM KDD and IEEE Security and Intelligence Informatics conferences. He recently acted as the Principal Investigator on multiple subcontracts for DARPA's Information Innovation Office and on four different prototype contracts for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). He is proud to serve on the Board of the Austin Forum on Technology and Society and as a member of Board of Technical Advisors for data.world.

Event Summary

Today’s financial markets are deeply dependent on technology to improve their function and enable expanded access to all participants. But why is technology so fundamental to modern markets? In this month’s Austin Forum, Optiver’s Scott Richardson and Luke Wilson will walk us through the role of financial markets in today’s society and how technologies, like machine learning and reprogrammable hardware, make modern financial markets possible.​

Speaker

Scott Richardson is the managing partner of Optiver’s Austin office. Optiver is a global proprietary trading firm. In Austin, we develop and run ML-based algorithmic trading strategies in world futures markets. This offices serves as a global HQ for Optiver’s quantitative research and hardware research/engineering. Before moving with Optiver to Austin, Scott ran various algorithmic trading groups at Optiver in Chicago.

Luke has spent the last 20 years advancing the state of the art in high performance computing and artificial intelligence through roles in academia, finance, and technology.

In 2005 Luke joined the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and The University of Texas at Austin as a member of HPC research staff and lecturer in the Department of Statistics and Scientific Computation. While at TACC Luke helped in the design, deployment, operations, and programming of more than a dozen Top500 systems from vendors such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Dell, and Cray. In 2016 Luke became Director of Training and Professional Development at TACC and developed the successful and popular TACC Institute Series of week-long training courses in HPC, Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, HPC Administration, and HPC Leadership. In 2017 Luke made the move to Dell Technologies, where he served as Chief Data Scientist and Distinguished Engineer for HPC/AI in the Infrastructure Solutions Group. While at Dell Luke led the development and publication of dozens of patents in areas such as infrastructure configuration, cloud computing, and containerization.

In 2022 Luke joined market maker and high-frequency trading firm Optiver as Head of Global Research Infrastructure, where he let a global team advancing their compute, storage, networking, and software strategies and deployments. Luke holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has worked on many high-profile projects, including providing data processing support for the Nobel Prize-winning LIGO project and introducing performance and parallel scaling optimizations for early transformer neural networks, paving the way for technologies like GPT-3/ChatGPT. He is the author of more than two dozen peer-reviewed research papers. Outside of work Luke enjoys science fiction and superhero movies, classical history and Egyptology, golf, and spending time with his wife and 2 children.

Event Summary

Being able to simulate physical processes with high fidelity on powerful computers is important to research, design, manufacturing, and more, across fields and domains. Likewise, being able to visualize data and simulations helps us humans understand, trust, and share information and understanding. We are now seeing these methods combined, in 'digital twins,' which are models of things, places, infrastructure, etc. that use physics-based simulation, realistic visualization, and sometimes AI-enabled behaviors. And now, we can collaborate to develop and bring all this together in virtual environments of digital twins--a practical, useful metaverse! Join us as Marc Hamilton of NVIDIA returns to Austin to share how these technologies are advancing our capabilities to understand, design, and create everything from research simulations of complex phenomena to more accurate digital representations of things we wish to test, evaluate, and make/build. These powerful technologies are transforming how we work, and understanding the now may give your career or company competitive advantages in our rapidly changing markets and society.​

Speaker

Marc Hamilton is Vice President of Solutions Architecture and Engineering at NVIDIA, helping to build the world’s leading computing company for the age of AI. Marc’s team works with NVIDIA’s end-user customers, partners, and leading OEMs including Dell to build AI and HPC solutions addressing previously unsolved challenges across a broad range of industries. Marc holds a BS degree in Math and Computer Science from UCLA, an MS degree in Electrical Engineering from USC, and is a graduate of the UCLA Executive Management program.

Event Summary

​Jay Boisseau and Jay Williams are back for their annual discussion of the emerging and maturing technologies poised to have much greater impacts on industry and work, research and education, health, entertainment, transportation, and more in 2023 (and maybe a bit later, but still soon!). As always, they have expert guests, and this year will be joined by Michael Shepherd of Dell Technologies and Nancy Giordano of Big Play Inc. We will quickly share tech highlights of 2022 and then focus on key technologies and trends for 2023+. We will share other tech trends lists, discuss why tracking technologies in fast-changing times is important for innovating and out-competing, and provide guidance on how to get started with some of the technologies in your company, organization, or professional development. ​

Speakers

Marc Hamilton is Vice President of Solutions Architecture and Engineering at NVIDIA, helping to build the world’s leading computing company for the age of AI. Marc’s team works with NVIDIA’s end-user customers, partners, and leading OEMs including Dell to build AI and HPC solutions addressing previously unsolved challenges across a broad range of industries. Marc holds a BS degree in Math and Computer Science from UCLA, an MS degree in Electrical Engineering from USC, and is a graduate of the UCLA Executive Management program.

Hugh Forrest is Chief Programming Officer for SXSW. He oversees content for the SXSW Conference, as well as the Music Festival, Film Festival and EDU aspects of the program. Hugh was named “Austinite of the Year” in 2012 by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and in 2014, he and other SXSW Directors were named Austin Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst & Young. He recently received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Kenyon College, his alma mater.

Beyond SXSW, he has served on the National Advisory Board for the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is part of the Board of Directors for Austin Habitat for Humanity and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Austin-based accessibility company Knowbility. Before joining the SXSW team, he founded The Austin Challenger and wrote for several other newspapers and publications.

Nancy built a formidable career at several of the most influential ad agencies in NY, Chicago, and LA and for more than a decade has been the Founder/CEO of Play Big Inc., a strategic inspiration company. Her current work dives deeply into the emerging intersection of tech, business and society. Her expertise and experiences range from A.I., to frozen foods, to reinventing the internet, and all of her projects have a key common denominator: transitioning away from the extractive operating systems and outdated business thinking that no longer holds up... to create the more sustainable, inclusive and dynamic solutions the future demands.

Author of the Amazon bestselling book Leadering: The Ways Visionary Leaders Play Bigger, Nancy is a frequent panelist at South by Southwest, global keynote speaker, Singularity University guest lecturer, and the world’s first TEDx licensee. She is recognized as one of the world’s top female futurists, and is co-Founder of the Femme Futurists Society.

Michael is a Distinguished Engineer and recognized technical evangelist who speaks globally on the impact of emerging technologies. With 25 years of Technology experience backed by 14 years growing up in Asia, he currently leads AI Research and Emerging Tech for Dell Technologies Services. Michael’s responsibilities include engaging with external researchers and collaborating internally across the Chief Technology Offices to envision and drive transformation as we prepare for the Age of AI.

As Augmented Intelligence improves the efficiency by which humans and machines work together, Michael focuses on “the possibilities” with Machine Intelligence and provides a vision for how Data Scientists in Dell Technologies Services can help drive human progress and better outcomes for businesses and humanity. Michael’s experience as a sole proprietor and subsequent 20+ years at Dell in multiple organizations gives him a unique perspective of Dell’s entire product lifecycle. He serves on the MSBA advisory council for the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and has been granted thirteen hardware and software patents in eight countries. When he isn’t consumed by Machine Intelligence, he can be found (or not) hiking with family and friends somewhere off the grid…getting recharged by nature where technology has yet to reach.

Jay Williams has been a chief technology officer and consultant to many of the Fortune 500. As a consultant, he has developed a highly refined process for managing a company’s technology infrastructure, including applications, security, and network assets. Jay is a highly sought-after, enterprise systems architect and problem solver. He has advised a number of high-profile technology companies on their products and is known for a rare combination of deep technology expertise, expert problem-solving ability, and business acumen. Jay is widely respected by peers and has influenced many pivotal technology consortia and industry steering groups. He regularly consults with senior technology and business executives and is frequently consulted by venture and capital investors for analyses of new technology strategies.