Dr. Alvin Chin of Discovery Partners Institute

Biography:

Alvin Chin is a Research Scientist at Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois System.  His expertise and interests are in mobile social networking, data science, machine learning and AI, and IoT. He has worked in industry for over 15 years with RXO as a Principal Data Scientist; BMW Group as Emerging Technology and Senior Machine Learning Researcher; and Microsoft and Nokia as Senior Researcher and Product Owner. Dr. Chin has over 20 publications and 10 patents.  He currently serves as Chair for the Chicago Section of IEEE and is the Chair for the Chicago Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society. 

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Narendra Venkatesan of IEEE Chicago

Biography:

Narendra is a multifaceted leader and IT professional with a Master's degree in IT Management and Data Analytics from Illinois Institute of Technology. Currently, he serves as Young Professionals Chair for the IEEE Chicago Section and Computer Society Chicago Chapter.  He also is the Chair of the IEEE Chicago Climate Change Local Group. He also chaired IEEE Vidyalankar School of Information Technology, Mumbai India establishing the student chapter and organizing multiple events. Served as Senator, Student Government Association at Illinois Institute of Technology, initiating various campus events. Volunteered for IEEE Chicago's 129th Anniversary at Loyola University Chicago. Narendra’s expertise spans leadership, data analytics, and community engagement, driving positive impact through technology and sustainability initiatives.

Carol Davids of IIT

Biography:

Carol Davids is a Research, Assistant Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology where she has taught since 2003. She founded, designed, and directs the Real Time Communications Laboratory which hosts the National Emergency Numbers Association's (NENA) Industry Collaboration Events (ICE). The RTC Lab has been the site of numerous industry-inspired projects, including a patented method for preventing steganographic theft in the media channel of a VoIP/WebRTC session, and several methods for identifying the z-coordinate of a smartphone user who dials 911 in a multistory building. Carol developed and taught courses in 'Telecommunications over Data Networks', 'Data and Network Communications' and 'Multimedia Communications' and initiated courses in WebRTC and Telecommunications.

Kathleen Kramer of IEEE

Biography:

Kathleen A. Kramer is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. She is a Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE Aerospace & Electronics Systems Society (AESS) and chaired its technical panel on Cyber Security (2017-2019, 2020-2022). She has worked as a Member of Technical Staff at several companies including ViaSat, Hewlett Packard, and Bell Communications Research. Her technical interests are in multisensor data fusion and applications of neural and fuzzy systems to navigation and data security. She is also internationally known as a leader in accreditation and has been named a Fellow of ABET for contributions to engineering accreditation criteria in graduate programs, robotics and mechatronics, and cyber security. She is the 2024 IEEE President Elect, has a record of leadership across IEEE, and is a current officer of her own IEEE San Diego Section. She received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering magna cum laude with a second major in physics from Loyola Marymount University, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Connie Kelly of IEEE Chicago

Region 4 is comprised of all or part of ten states in the upper Midwest from the Canadian border to the Great Plains to the Ohio Valley to the central plains.  Chicago Section is at the geographic center of Region 4 and is a vital part of the Region activities;  IEEE Day was established a dozen years ago to recognize our rich heritage and celebrate the ongoing contribution of the organization.  We recognize IEEE Day as a remembrance of past achievements and a call to carry on tradition of innovation, education, and cooperation that are the hallmarks of IEEE; Educational Activities is an essential part of the IEEE mission whether it is in ILN continuing education or pre-University programs.  As Humanitarian Activities is elevated to the level of a Board from that of a Committee, the added emphasis give higher visibility to programs like SIGHT (Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology), EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) and Humanitarian Grants.  Recognizing the need for rapid action, a committee on Climate Change and how IEEE can work to not only mitigate the effect of climate change, but work to address some of the root causes, has been empaneled.

Biography:

Constance Kelly (Connie) has been interested in technology her entire life.  Connie got her ham radio license as a preteen after reading a book on a young girl’s introduction to ham radio.  The electronics involved led her to numerous extra-curricular STEM programs, putting her on a path to an engineering school scholarship, unheard of for girls at that time. She has been a member of the Air Force Auxiliary starting as a teen-aged Cadet. AS a Senior Member she certified as an Incident Commander and a Master Communicator.  A LtCol, she has sat on committees at all levels in cadet program, communications, and aerospace education.  In the 90’s her engineering experience led her to introducing Cadets to STEM programs and activities outside CAP. In addition to IEEE and CAP, Connie is a member of Hamfesters Radio Club, Chicagoland Flight Instructors Association, Experimental Aircraft Association, and American Radio Relay League.

Meredith Fore of Chicago Quantum Exchange

Biography:

Meredith is a science writer at the Chicago Quantum Exchange, a consortium of academic institutions, national labs, and corporate partners with the collective goal of advancing quantum information technology. She became a full-time science writer after leaving the physics PhD program at the University of Washington in Seattle in her 4th year as a grad student, participating in the 2019 AAAS Mass Media Fellowship program at WIRED and freelancing for publications such as Physics, LiveScience, and Symmetry. She enjoys sci-fi television, anime, and hiking and backpacking with her partner and Brownie, their dog. You can find her on Twitter, LinkedIn and at her personal website.

Biswan Senapati of IEEE Chicago

Biography:

Dr. Biswan has over 22 years of industry experience as a solution architect, designer, and implementer, as well as a strong passion for research and innovation in information science/technologies, quantum computing, business, and IT management, with a strong focus and interest in IT/IS research areas within machine learning, data sciences, AI, deep learning, and quantum computing applications to solve real-world business problems. He was awarded a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas, and is pursuing a second PhD in quantum computing and quantum communication theory in Industry 5.0. He has achieved ABD status and is expecting the degree award in November or December 2024. Biswan is a very senior member of IEEE as a senior member of Region 4 IEEE, and Biswan is an active student chair activity (SAC chair) in IEEE-Chicago section and chair of SPX members for the better reach in research and innovations in science, technology, and quantum computing. Dr. Biswan is working on one of the large LiB battery manufacturing EV companies on their quantum computing research tasks and applying QIS to solve the supply chain, EOL, and SOH in the battery segment.

Brook Abegaz of Loyola University Chicago

The IEEE Chicago Industry Engagement Local Group has industry meet-ups twice a year. It maintains a database of industry professionals in the Chicagoland area, has industry engagement plans for the coming years, recognizes companies with the most involvement in IEEE Chicago, and recognizes industry professionals with the most engagement in the Chicago Section.

Region 4 IEC is focused on creating a vibrant forum for active engagement between the industry and IEEE members spread across the Midwest region. R4 IEC regularly organizes webinars focusing on critical technologies of interest to the region through experienced speakers from the industry. The committee also undertakes initiatives like identifying focus industry domains relevant to the region and developing programs around those themes for skill based and knowledge development.

Biography:

Dr. Brook Abegaz is an Associate Professor at Loyola University Chicago and is the Advisory Chair of IEEE Chicago. He served as the Treasurer of IEEE Chicago in 2020, the Vice-Chair of IEEE Chicago in 2021, and the Chair of IEEE Chicago in 2022. He founded and is currently serving as the Chair of the Chicago Section Industry Engagement Local Group. He is also the Advisory Chair of the IEEE Chicago Section for 2023 and 2024.

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Norm Phoenix of IEEE Chicago

Rajarshi Roy of Discover

Biography:

Rajarshi Roy a Senior engineering manager in Discover Financial Services Anti Money Laundering Technology. He havms 20 years of experience in Financial Services Technology, Technology Enablement and Automation. Some project he worked on include the First Implementation of Finacle Core Banking System in US, Implementation of the largest AI-based credit scoring solution in a corroborated innovative effort between DFS and ZestFinance and Creating a model for Risk Screening to predict AML patterns for Politically and Reputationally Exposed Persons (PEP & REP). He is a Bachelor of Engineering from Biju Patnaik University of Technology in India.

Shridhar Narayan

Biography:

Sridharan Narayanan has close to 20 years of experience in product, process engineering and Data sciences. His background cuts across multiple industries like Design and manufacturing, retail and financial services.  He currently leads a Data science team in Banking that provides analytics/ business intelligence support for both the operations strategy and Marketing strategy teams for optimal decisioning.

Sujan Das of Deloitte

Biography:

An innovative hands-on technology leader with an analytic approach, and 16+ years delivering Enterprise-wide Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence, Data Engineering,Artificial Intelligence, Gen AI, Data Analytics and Big data modernization solutions for various US clients. He has extensive experience on Data architecture, Enterprise architecture , Microservice architecture, Cloud Computing and Data Governance and Data Quality.Leverage cutting-edge technologies (cloud, big data) and data science expertise (MS in DataScience. UIUC) to architect, build, and migrate data platforms.He has architected and led the team to design and build automated data pipelines on cloud to move the data between different zones raw, stage and warehouse. He also involved in developing, and managing high throughput low latency applications for both hosted and deployed systems.Lead cross-functional teams (15+) for seamless data ingestion, curation, transformation, and Data product development on cloud marketplaces.Proven ability in distributed infrastructure and on-prem to cloud migration.

Debbie Birrell of Chicago Engineers' Foundation

Biography:

Debbie Birrell has been the Executive Director of the Chicago Engineers' Foundation for eight years.  Debbie’s professional background includes more than twenty years of professional experience in the nonprofit sector.  She has held positions ranging from program services and volunteer coordination to fundraising and executive management. She has experience working within large, national-scale organizations as well as small, locally focused nonprofits.  Debbie has a bachelor's degree in Political Science from DePaul University and a master’s degree in Nonprofit Administration from North Park University.  She is a life-long resident of the Chicagoland area, and lives in the south suburbs with her husband and daughter.  

Michael Papka of Argonne National Laboratory

Biography:

Michael E. Papka is a senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, where he serves as deputy associate laboratory director and director of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility and is the Warren S. McCulloch Professor of Computer Science and director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He is the founding co-director of the Crabtree Institute, a joint institute between UIC and Argonne. Dr. Papka’s research focuses on advancing science through high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, large-scale data analysis, and visualization. Before joining UIC, he was a Presidential Research, Scholarship, and Artistry Professor of Computer Science at Northern Illinois University.

Jeremy Riel of University of Illinois Chicago

Biography:

Jeremy Riel, Ph.D. is Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at University of Illinois Chicago. As a learning scientist and technologist, his applied research investigates the potentials and risks of emerging technologies for learning and the effective design of technologies for learning, including AI/ML applications, XR/AR, social media, new media, and game-based learning. Additionally, his work is focused on developing technology skills and digital literacies of learners across educational contexts, including PreK-12, higher education, and ongoing workforce development.   

Peiyuan Li of Discovery Partners Institute

Biography:

Dr. Peiyuan Li is a Senior Research Associate at the Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois System. Before joining DPI, he completed his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2021, focusing on urban hydrometeorology and numerical climate modeling. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2016 in environmental and water resources engineering. Currently, Peiyuan's research focuses on urban informatics and urban climate modeling. He has extensive experience with both physical-based urban canopy models and data-driven machine learning approaches. His projects actively contribute to identifying and assessing optimal nature-based solutions for urban environments.

Farr Associates

Biography:

Douglas Farr FAIA leads Chicago-based Farr Associates identified by the New York Times as "the most prominent of the city's growing cadre of ecologically sensitive architects". The award-winning firm has designed many of the Chicago regions most sustainable buildings
including 13 LEED-Platinum-Certified projects and several net-zero buildings. In 2023, Planetizen readers named Doug one of "the 100 most influential urbanists of all time".   Doug Co-Chaired the creation of LEED-Neighborhood Development and authored two books:
Sustainable Urbanism (2008) and Sustainable Nation (2018). In 2023 he co-founded the Climate Action Museum, the world’s eighth museum devoted to climate.

Saifur Rahman of Virginia Tech

Biography:

Professor Saifur Rahman is the founding director of the Advanced Research Institute at Virginia Tech, USA where he is the Joseph R. Loring professor of electrical and computer engineering. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and an IEEE Millennium Medal winner.  He was the IEEE President and CEO in 2023. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the IEEE Electrification Magazine and the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. He has published over 160 journal papers and has made over eight hundred conference and invited presentations. He has a PhD in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.

Prasenjit Banerjee of Salesforce

Biography:

Prasenjit Banerjee is a Director of Technical architecture at Salesforce. He is a Fellow of the British
Computer Society and an Industry expert in API Security , Management and Governance. He has been
working on API Security and best practices for the last 8 years . Prasenjit has overall 16 years of
experience in Integration architecture , Event Driven Architecture, SOA and Middleware. Prasenjit
holds a Bachelor of Technology from West Bengal University of Technology, India and a MBA from
University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Prasenjit is actively involved with professional
organizations and is the Chapter Chair for IEEE COMSOC Chicago society and active contributor of
IEEE Computer Society. He is also the Co-Chair of the IEEE Real-Time Communications Conference.
Prasenjit is an active member and contributor to ISACA Chicago Chapter. Prasenjit lives in Chicago
with his wife Tamalika and 2 daughters.