Jon Pellant of Gatorbot

• Get Hands-On Insights: Watch a live demo of a Particle Photon controlling an antenna rotator position connecting to Google Sheets and an internet data source

• Learn Essential IoT Skills: Gain insights into microcontroller coding in Google Cloud & QRZ Database

Biography:

Jon Pellant is a Principal Engineer at Gatorbot. He was an ARRL technical specialist in WCF. He has an MSEE and a ton of embedded development experience. Besides his amateur radio hobbies, he has worked on some cool things in his engineering days (Bell Northern Research, Rosemount Aerospace, IBM): Boeing 777 ARDU, GE Power Systems FADEC (engine telemetry), unknown satellite on-board signal processing FPGAs, and a few secret things. 

Rajeev Aswal of Robotic Parking Systems

• Industrial IoT: Enhancing fully automated parking & predictive maintenance.

• Smart Homes: Exploring innovations in home automation, from security systems to energy management, & hands-free devices.

• Smart Cities: How loT transforms urban living with smarter traffic management waste solutions, & public safety measures.

Biography:

Rajeev Aswal is IEEE Senior Member and CTO at Robotic Parking Systems. He worked as a Commissioning Engineer at Siemens. Among his many skills, he is proficient in PLC Programming, Robotics, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), and management. He is working on installing the largest semi-automated parking system in Oregon. He built automated parking spaces in the New Palace of Justice in Kuwait has a unique and modern design, and will be the world’s tallest and largest judicial building. He worked on the Fast track project for Airport Terminal 2 expansion in Dubai.

Liam Osman

• Get a free Argon Particle Board (breadboard, processor, resistors, sensor, wires)

• Build, code & take home a temperature/humidity tracker that connects to your browser

• Open to any major & level, we will have TAs to help

Biography:

Liam is a Hardware Chair at the IEEE-Computer Society Student Branch @ USF. He is a senior Computer Engineering student at the University of South Florida, graduating in May 2025 and looking for full-time positions. Liam is a hardware volunteer at the Interface Research Lab. He is a Matthew Moreno Scholarship recipient.

John Linford of The Open Group

• Protecting Devices and Data in a Tech-Driven World: Learn strategies for securing systems  & devices as organizations grow increasingly reliant on technology.

• Managing Risks in Commercial ICT Products: Explore how to prevent commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products from introducing new vulnerabilities.

• A Quantitative Approach to Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM): Discover how to align security measures with business goals using a data-driven approach to SCRM

Biography:

John Linford is Director of the Security Portfolio at The Open Group, which is a global consortium that enables the achievement of business objectives through technology standards. John supports the leaders and participants of the Security Forum, Open Trusted Technology Forum (OTTF), and Assured Dependability Work Group (ADWG) in utilizing the resources of The Open Group to facilitate collaboration and follow The Open Group consensus-based Standards process to publish their deliverables. The Security Forum produces next-generation risk evaluation and security technology approaches, including the Open FAIR™ Standards and Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA); the OTTF utilizes its public-private partnerships to increase product integrity and supply chain security for Open Trusted Technology Providers™ - so that industry can "Build with integrity, Buy with confidence”; and the ADWG assures dependability, enhances safety and security, and eliminates system defects for enterprise and security architects implementing projects in the field. John is Open FAIR Certified and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in applied economics from San Jose State University.

Mark Simos of Microsoft

• Discover the key security challenges facing IoT and Operational Technology (OT).

• Learn how Zero Trust principles strengthen protection where firewalls fall short.

• Apply Zero Trust to secure IoT devices and industrial control systems (ICS).

Biography:

Mark Simos is the Lead Cybersecurity Architect for Microsoft where he leads the development of the security architecture framework (also known as SAF) that helps guide security modernization at customers by providing reference strategies, architectures, roadmaps, and plans to implement security best practices across IT, OT, IoT, AI, and more. In addition to his Microsoft role, Mark is also author of the Zero Trust Playbook series and actively contributes to open standards on security – he chairs the Security Forum and Zero Trust working groups at The Open Group that have produced the Zero Trust Commandments, Security Principles for Architecture, Zero Trust Reference Model, and other standards.