Hear from distinguished speakers from across the university, tech, and business community. Stay tuned as more speakers are added to the lineup.
Phillip Alvarez is a scientist, business development expert, and long-time member of the UMD community. With undergraduate degrees in Engineering Physics and Computational Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Biophysics, as well as business development experience in DMV-area startup accelerators and Fortune 500 companies, he brings both a technical and entrepreneurial perspective to the xFoundry team.
Amir Ansari is a serial entrepreneur and inventor with over 70 US and foreign patents in multimedia distribution, data privacy, edge computing, and Voice Over IP. He has co-founded companies in telecommunications, artificial intelligence, edge computing, personalized healthcare, and multimedia services. He has shaped these industries by fostering collaboration between regulatory entities, public-private partnerships, universities, and non-profit organizations in applying technologies to complex business, environmental, and social problems. Amir has served on the XPPRIZE Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2004 and is a member of its Vision Circle. He was a title sponsor for the first XPRIZE, the Ansari XPRIZE, with his family, a $10 million cash award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.
Dr. Dean Chang coordinates and leads UMD’s innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development ecosystem that helps students and faculty develop their entrepreneurial mindsets and launch and scale startups and social ventures that spur inclusive economic development and impact. In 2013, Dr. Chang founded the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (AIE) to engage every college in design thinking and lean startup. Before AIE, he oversaw the school of engineering’s technology startup venture programs. Prior to UMD, Dr. Chang spent 15 years in Silicon Valley where he served as the CTO and VP, Gaming Business of Immersion Corporation. He helped transform the venture-backed, Stanford robotics lab spinout into a publicly traded (NASDAQ: IMMR), world-leading licensor of haptics technology embedded in over a billion devices from companies like Apple, BMW, Microsoft, Samsung, and Electronic Arts.
Dr. Lisa Dolev is an accomplished entrepreneur, inventor, and thought leader with over 35 years in leadership positions creating cutting-edge security and defense technologies with social impact. She is one of the earliest pioneers in embedding continuous AI in complex machines and environments. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Qylur Intelligent Systems, a Silicon Valley-based technology company specializing in the fourth wave of AI-based autonomous intelligent machines. Dr. Dolev is also the founder of the CATS2 Foundation, whose first focus will be tackling the topic of school shootings in the U.S.
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Emilio Fernandez’s colleagues credit him with having over-the-horizon vision and the determination to crystallize an IDEA into a practical solution. He pioneered development across various fields leading to dozens of patents. One of these patents defined e-reading devices and became the most cited US Patent ever issued. While at UMD he co-founded Pulse Electronics with classmate Angel Bezos. The company went on to produce electronic monitors and controls for the railroads and was acquired by Wabtec. Mr. Fernandez became Vice Chairman of its Board. Today Wabtec is a Fortune 500, NYSE listed company and the world-leading provider of electronic products and digital solutions for the Rail Industry.
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Congressman Glenn Ivey is an attorney who served on Capitol Hill as chief counsel to the Senate Majority Leader, as counsel to Senator Paul Sarbanes during the Whitewater investigations, Chief Majority Counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and on the staff of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). He also worked for U.S. Attorney Eric Holder as an assistant U. S. Attorney, and as chair of Maryland’s Public Service Commission. He was twice elected as State's Attorney for Prince George's County where he worked with the Obama Administration to cut crime. Congressman Ivey established Ivey & Levetown in 2020, and recently represented a Lafayette Square protestor, arguing that the facial recognition software used to identify him compounds discrimination against dark-skinned people. As chair of the County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’ Police Reform Taskforce in 2020 Ivey led the committee that examined the police department’s internal policies.
Dr. Christyl Johnson joined NASA Goddard as Deputy Center Director for Technology and Research Investments in December 2010. She manages the Center’s research and development portfolio, formulates the Center’s future science and technology goals, and leads an integrated program of investments aligned to meet those goals. Dr. Johnson came to NASA Goddard from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She served under the President’s Science Advisor as the Executive Director of the National Science and Technology Council, where she was responsible for ensuring the establishment of clear national goals for Federal science and technology investments in a broad array of areas across the executive branch. Prior to joining the White House staff, Johnson served as the assistant associate administrator in NASA's Office of the Administrator; the deputy chief engineer for program integration and operations in the Office of the Chief Engineer; and the associate director for exploratory missions in the Office of Earth Science, where she managed the formulation and development for all exploratory missions. Dr. Johnson earned her bachelor's degree in physics from Lincoln University, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University.
A University of Maryland, College Park Alumna x2, Jasmine received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her Master's degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. As xFoundry Associate Director, Jasmine is responsible for developing a unique, multidisciplinary program that gives students the opportunity to compete to solve society’s grand challenges all whilst learning how to become a founder and create their own job. She is the founder of Your Career Kickstart, a coaching and consulting firm that serves both I/O Psychology Practitioners and organizations. Jasmine teaches Industrial/Organizational Psychology for Bellevue University and hosts the I/O Career Strategy and the I/O Psychology Career Hub. She is also an expert career advisor for The Society of Evidence-Based Organizational Consulting (SEBOC).
Jennifer King Rice began her appointment as senior vice president and provost in July 2021. She was previously dean of the College of Education, where she focused her efforts to align educational resources with initiatives to advance excellence, equity and social justice in preschool through graduate school. Rice has served on the faculty and in college leadership roles at UMD for more than 25 years, and has been recognized as a UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. Before coming to Maryland, she was a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Rice’s research draws on the discipline of economics to study policy questions concerning excellence and equity in K-12 education systems. An expert on school finance and teacher policy, she regularly advises state and federal agencies.
Jay Perman was appointed chancellor of the University System of Maryland in 2020. He came to the chancellorship from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where he was president for a decade. A pediatric gastroenterologist, he still practices medicine, teaching team-based health care to UMB’s professional students. Perman has held faculty and leadership positions at UCSF, Johns Hopkins University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Kentucky, where he was dean of the College of Medicine.
Rodney Petersen is the director of NICE at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce. He previously served as the Managing Director of the EDUCAUSE Washington Office. He also worked at the University of Maryland as Director of IT Policy and Planning in the Office of the Vice President and CIO and Campus Compliance Officer in the Office of the President. He received his law degree from Wake Forest University, a certificate as an Advanced Graduate Specialist in Education Policy, Planning, and Administration from the University of Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree from Alma College.
Darryll J. Pines serves as president of the University of Maryland as well as the Glenn L. Martin Professor of Aerospace Engineering. Formerly the Nariman Farvardin Professor of Engineering and dean of UMD’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, where he has been on the faculty since 1995, Pines amassed a record of academic leadership and research accomplishments that have dramatically elevated the school’s rankings and stature nationally and internationally. In 2019, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his “inspirational leadership and contributions to engineering education." As dean for 11 years, Pines instituted sweeping changes to improve the student experience, including revamping teaching in fundamental undergraduate courses; encouraging participation in national and international student competitions; emphasizing sustainability engineering and service learning; and expanding innovation and entrepreneurship activities
Dr. Gloria Reeves is a proud alumnus of the University of Maryland College Park. She is a child psychiatrist, clinical researcher, and teacher with expertise in the treatment of youth and young adults with serious mental illness. She conducts “family-centered” research and develops health system initiatives through academic-community stakeholder partnerships, and she remains a perpetual student of human nature through her most cherished role as a mom.
Hassan Sawaf has 30+ years of experience in employing cutting-edge AI technologies for mission-critical business operations. He has founded several machine learning organizations in small and large tech companies that are leaders in their respective market segments today. The teams he started and managed are in Facebook/Meta, AWS/Amazon, eBay, SAIC/Leidos, and AppTek.
Stacey H. Shulman is a vice president in Intel’s Network and Edge Computing Group and serves as the GM of Health, Education and Consumer Industries at Intel Corporation. She is charged with growing these vital vertical industries and the industry ecosystems. Additionally, Shulman’s team incubates emerging technologies, directs research and development and influences standards and policy in these industries that touch human lives. Shulman serves on the Executive Board for the Retail Industry Leaders Association and on the Innovation Board with XPRIZE.
Martha Wang, Ph.D. is the Assistant Director of the Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices at the University of Maryland College Park. She is the faculty mentor for the MPowering the State Student Entrepreneurship Fellows; where fellows develop and commercialize medical devices. Concurrently, Dr. Wang teaches courses on biomaterials and commercializing medical devices. Her path to academia was non-traditional and provides her with a unique point of view, with a focus on developing impactful products for patients and healthcare providers.
