School of Technology and Computing
Invited talks are recurring educational forums where industry pioneers, seasoned engineers, and specialized researchers are brought into the academic environment to share their frontline expertise. These sessions serve as a vital link between classroom theory and professional practice, offering students a window into the current state of the global technology landscape. By rotating speakers from diverse niches ranging from Artificial Intelligence to Cybersecurity the program ensures that students are exposed to the newest tools, methodologies, and ethical challenges that are currently shaping the industry.
Speaker:John Yeoh, Global Vice President of Research at Cloud Security Alliance(CSA)
With over 20 years of experience in research and technology, John provides executive-level leadership, relationship management, and board strategy development. He is a published author, technologist, and researcher with areas of expertise in cybersecurity, cloud computing, information security, and next-generation technology (IoT, DevOps, Blockchain, Quantum). John specializes in risk management, third-party assessment, threat intelligence, data protection, incident response, and business development within multiple industry sectors, including government. His works and collaborations have been presented in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, SC Magazine, USA Today, CBS, Information Week, and others. John’s contributions continue with involvement in professional organizations such as CSA, IAPP, ISSA, ISC2, and ISACA. John sits on numerous technology committees in government and industry with the FCC, NIST, ISO, CSA, IEEE, and CIS. He represents the US as a delegate for cybersecurity relations to other nation-states.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PST, Thursday, May 04, 2023
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Speaker: Josh Howell
Sales Engineering Manager
Josh has spent 25 years working in and around IT, across different sectors and in a variety of roles, but always fascinated with the interplay between technology, industry, and society, and the unintended consequences we create for ourselves.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PST, Thursday, Mar 02, 2023
Click here to view the recorded Invited Talk.
Speaker: Damian Robo,
Sr. Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Damian Robo is currently a Senior Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS), proficient in designing and implementing effective technical and business solutions. He has exceptional problem-solving, communication, and project management skills, with a broad understanding of cloud, automation, CI/CD, SRE, security, networks, systems, enterprise architecture, and related applications.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PST, Thursday, Jan 19, 2023
Speaker: Beau Holladay,Advocate@ White House Communications Agency
Beau Holladay started his career as an Army Multichannel Transmission System Technician. Assigned to the 1st Armored division he became the team lead for 1st Brigade network operations. His excellence in the field permitted a transfer to the White House Communications Agency. He provided support for modernizing the Executive Office of the President’s network. He developed training and standards for network technicians so that they can maintain consistency and security in their operations.
His current role as an Advocate is to provide Customer Success in a complex and changing environment to act as a balance between accessibility and security in a large IT Environment.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PST, Thursday, Apr 13, 2023
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Speaker: Larry Thornton, Senior Network Solutions Engineer@Washington Technology
With over 27 years of experience in the IT industry, I am a seasoned professional with a proven track record of success. My expertise lies in network systems, where I have spent the last 20 years building and managing complex network infrastructure. Throughout my career, I have demonstrated a solid ability to design, implement and maintain secure and efficient network systems, delivering business results and exceeding customer expectations. I am a highly motivated and dedicated individual with a passion for technology and a drive to stay ahead of the latest industry developments. I am confident in bringing value to any organization and am excited to contribute my skills and experience to your team.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PST, Thursday, Feb 09, 2022
Click here to view the recorded Invited Talk
Speaker: Dr. Ho Kyeong Ra, Cognitive & AI Engineer at IBM
Dr. Ho Kyeong Ra is a Cognitive &, AI Engineer at IBM. While accomplishing his doctoral degree, he has conducted various research projects utilizing machine learning algorithms for smart home and healthcare applications. Through industry experiences, he has created MLOps demos, delivered educational sessions, and guided clients to migrate real service models from other platforms. Moreover, he has worked with system entities in debugging, testing, and contributing to Watson chatbot solution.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PDT, Thursday, Nov 03 2022 Click here to view recorded Invited Talk.
Speaker: Kelly Hughes,
Sr Manager, Business Continuity and Enterprise
Risk PMO
Kelly Hughes is currently working as Senior Manager, Business Continuity and Enterprise Risk PMO at Avnet. Avnet is a global company which design, make, supply, and deliver technology solutions for customers of every size in every corner of the world. At Avnet, we do business the right way, with integrity. We reach further for our customers, suppliers, and each other.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PDT, Thursday, Oct 13, 2022
Speaker: Dr. Seungmo Kim, Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University
Dr. Seungmo Kim received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. in 2017. Since 2017, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA. His current research interests include: vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications/networking, human exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) in wireless systems, and coexistence of 5G and IEEE 802.11 in the 60 GHz band.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PDT, Thursday, Aug 25 2022
Speaker: ALAN YU,
Senior Program Manager @Microsoft, Azure Data
Alan is currently working as the Senior PM at Microsoft, Azure data. He has started his journey at Microsoft as a Program Manager in 2017 and served in various roles through out his IT Career. Alan graduated in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics from Seattle University. He is very highly driven to contribute to the challenges in the Tech Industry.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PDT, Thursday, Aug 4, 2022
Invited by: Dr. Sam Chung (Dean, STC)
Speaker: Leon Yen,
Product Engineer + Program Manager@Rogers, ASUS, T-Mobile, and now Google Associate Faculty @City U of Seattle
Leon Yen is a certified technical professional with 14+ years of experience in the telecom industry. He has extensive knowledge and comprehensive involvement in mobile device development and international vendor partnerships. Leon is also very familiar with program/product lifecycle management from ideation to end-of-life.
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 PM PDT, Thursday, Jul 14 2022