BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:IEEE vTools.Events//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Guatemala BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20060930T230000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260901T160354Z UID:0A1165DF-A23C-4C37-8EBC-39C2FC735BB6 DTSTART;TZID=America/Guatemala:20260918T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Guatemala:20260918T190000 DESCRIPTION:IEEE LeapForward is a mentorship and engagement initiative conn ecting engineering students across SMU\, UT Dallas\, UT Arlington\, UNT\, and Collin College with industry professionals in the Dallas IEEE communit y. Through a recurring series of technical talks\, hands-on workshops\, an d networking events\, LeapForward bridges the gap between academic learnin g and professional practice — giving students direct access to mentorshi p\, career guidance\, and real-world industry insight.\n\nRather than a on e-time conference\, LeapForward is built as a continuing multiple-event se ries designed to build lasting community and momentum across the academic year\, spanning technical talks\, career-focused workshops (like mock inte rviews)\, and industry networking opportunities.\n\nTechnical Talk\n\nTalk by Dr. Neena Imam on Quantum Computing technologies (specific topic will be updated soon)\n\nAbout the Speaker\n\nNeena Imam is the inaugural Direc tor of the O’Donnell Data Science and Research Computing Institute (ODSR CI) at SMU\, a role central to advancing the university’s commitment to data-driven education and next-generation computational research. Prior to joining SMU\, she was the Director of Strategic Researcher Engagement at NVIDIA Corporation\, where she partnered with academic researchers to acce lerate GPU-enabled applications in AI and machine learning. Earlier\, Neen a served as a Distinguished Scientist and Director of Research Collaborati on in the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge Na tional Laboratory (ORNL). Her work at ORNL focused on high-performance com puting\, emerging microelectronics\, and post-Moore’s Law architectures. She has authored and co-authored many scientific publications\, has been invited to speak and serve on panels at major conferences\, and remains ac tive in professional organizations supporting research and education in HP C and AI. Neena earned her Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology\, following Master’s and Bachelor’ s degrees in the same field from Case Western Reserve University and the C alifornia Institute of Technology. She also served as a Science and Techno logy Fellow for Senator Lamar Alexander in Washington\, D.C. from 2010 to 2012.\n\nCo-sponsored by: IEEE CommSoc Student Leadership Conference\n\n64 25 Boaz Lane\, Dallas\, Texas\, United States\, 75205\, Virtual: https://e vents.vtools.ieee.org/m/569853 LOCATION:6425 Boaz Lane\, Dallas\, Texas\, United States\, 75205\, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/569853 ORGANIZER:divya.khanure@ieee.org SEQUENCE:27 SUMMARY:IEEE LeapFoward: Teachical Talk with Professional Networking by IEE E ComSoc Student Leadership Conference URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/569853 X-ALT-DESC:Description: <br /><p class="font-claude-response-body break-wor ds whitespace-normal"><strong>IEEE LeapForward</strong> is a mentorship an d engagement initiative connecting engineering students across SMU\, UT Da llas\, UT Arlington\, UNT\, and Collin College with industry professionals in the Dallas IEEE community. Through a recurring series of technical tal ks\, hands-on workshops\, and networking events\, LeapForward bridges the gap between academic learning and professional practice &mdash\; giving st udents direct access to mentorship\, career guidance\, and real-world indu stry insight.</p>\n<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitesp ace-normal">Rather than a one-time conference\, LeapForward is built as a continuing multiple-event series designed to build lasting community and m omentum across the academic year\, spanning technical talks\, career-focus ed workshops (like mock interviews)\, and industry networking opportunitie s.</p>\n<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal" >&nbsp\;</p>\n<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-n ormal"><strong>Technical Talk</strong></p>\n<p class="font-claude-response -body break-words whitespace-normal">Talk by Dr. Neena Imam on Quantum Com puting technologies (specific topic will be updated soon)</p>\n<p class="f ont-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal"><strong>About the Speaker</strong></p>\n<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whit espace-normal"><span class="il">Neena Imam</span> is the inaugural Directo r of the O&rsquo\;Donnell Data Science and Research Computing Institute (O DSRCI) at SMU\, a role central to advancing the university&rsquo\;s commit ment to data-driven education and next-generation computational research. Prior to joining SMU\, she was the Director of Strategic Researcher Engage ment at NVIDIA Corporation\, where she partnered with academic researchers to accelerate GPU-enabled applications in AI and machine learning. Earlie r\, Neena served as a Distinguished Scientist and Director of Research Col laboration in the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Her work at ORNL focused on high-perform ance computing\, emerging microelectronics\, and post-Moore&rsquo\;s Law a rchitectures. She has authored and co-authored many scientific publication s\, has been invited to speak and serve on panels at major conferences\, a nd remains active in professional organizations supporting research and ed ucation in HPC and AI. Neena earned her Doctoral degree in Electrical Engi neering from the Georgia Institute of Technology\, following Master&rsquo\ ;s and Bachelor&rsquo\;s degrees in the same field from Case Western Reser ve University and the California Institute of Technology. She also served as a Science and Technology Fellow for Senator Lamar Alexander in Washingt on\, D.C. from 2010 to 2012.</p> END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR