Leslie Martinich of Competitive Focus

Biography:

Leslie Martinich is the founder of Competitive Focus and a long-time practitioner in the software industry. She has worked on projects with IBM, H-P, Compaq, Novell, 3M, Lek Pharmaceuticals, Freescale Semiconductor, Sun, Intel, and others, in the Americas, Europe and Asia. She helped architect RPC (Remote Procedure Call) technology, and led the team that implemented RPC at Novell. Descendants of RPC technology today allow for cloud computing. 

Leslie is a noted author and expert in technology leadership and innovation, lecturing at international conferences and executive education programs. She was the IEEE-USA 2012 Congressional Fellow, serving as a technology policy adviser to the US Congress in the office of Representative Steve Israel. She has been on several advisory and editorial boards, including the IEEE Engineering Management Society and the IEEE Technology Management Council where she served as Vice President of Publications for many years. She is on the Industrial Advisory Board for the Computer Science Department of Texas State University and was a co-founder of the Austin Software Executives’ Group. 

Leslie has been a visiting lecturer at many universities around the world, including the Fudan University School of Management in Shanghai, Xi’an Union University in Xi’an, China and the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds degrees from University of California San Diego and the University of Texas at Austin. Her publications include numerous articles. She currently chairs several Central Texas IEEE chapters, including Women in Engineering, and the Technology and Engineering Management Society. She is the Chair of the IEEE Central Texas Section.

“Leslie’s keynote on innovation clarified and focused my understanding of innovation and how our team needs to move forward.”

-Kenneth McIntyre, Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations, ERCOT

Karen Koepp of Koepp Research Corp.

Biography:

Dr. Karen Koepp, founder and CEO, has dedicated her career to understanding and overcoming the challenges talented professionals face as they pursue advanced degrees, create unique thought leadership, and influence their fields. Since she founded the business in 2002, she has helped more than 700 professionals around the world and across industries earn their masters and doctoral degrees and turn their research into meaningful work beyond the degree. Her clients have produced innovative research; bestselling books; and insightful, well-recognized articles for publication in popular, professional, and scholarly publications. She also has an extensive track record helping for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental organizations and agencies optimize their operations and establish thought leadership.

Karen’s professional background includes more than 20 years of experience as an executive coach, researcher, writer, and editor; project manager; and management consultant. She holds a doctorate in psychology, a Master of Science in organization development, and a Bachelor of Science in management computer systems. Karen works with a network of highly qualified research, writing, marketing, and change management, professionals to help her clients achieve their goals.

“Karen is simply amazing! Her support and coaching completely transformed my life, my education, and my business. Her framework works and she's helped 100s of people like me.”

-Dr. Brian Harman, Professor & Speaker on Workplace Trust, Career & Leadership Development Coach, BM Hallmark