Dr. Cliff Zintgraff

Biography:

Cliff is t he Chief Learning Officer at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT)

Dr. Zintgraff leads education efforts as part of SAMSAT’s strategy to impact the lives of  students, families, and communities. He is building cross-sector partnerships and  educational experiences that serve local and city-wide organizations, including many underserved students in the immediate area of SAMSAT’s location at Port San Antonio,

For the prior ten years, Dr. Zintgraff held an appointment at the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. Around core research on inquiry learning, he led programs on entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, STEM education, and STEM education’s role in regional economic development. Across fifty international trips, he trained innovators and advised policymakers in Portugal, Colombia, India, Czechia, Germany, the UK, Hungary, and Nepal. He is lead editor of STEM in the Technopolis: The Power of STEM Education in Regional Technology Policy, published by Springer in June of 2020.

In his first career, he led software development efforts building medical imaging and secure telecommunications products, and he founded an educational technology company building STEM-focused products.

Through his career, Dr. Zintgraff has been a principal in starting seven for and non-profit ventures. He has raised $5 million over his career for inquiry-based education and training programs, including programs with Next Generation Learning Challenges (Gates and Hewlett Foundations), the Texas Workforce Commission, and the U.S. Department of State. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Trinity University, an M.S. in Technology Commercialization from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas.

Mr. Walt Downing

Biography:

Walt is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®) in San Antonio, Texas. He joined SwRI in 1979 as an engineer in the field of automated testing. He established and led the SwRI Aerospace and Training Systems Division before moving into executive management in 1998. He serves on the SwRI Board of Directors.

Walt Downing is a Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is chair of the IEEE Lone Star Section and the government relations coordinator for IEEE Region 5. In 2024, Walt received the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Leadership Award.

Walt was president of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) in 2020-21 and is currently secretary of the society. Walt is the past president of the IEEE Systems Council and is a member of the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) Societies and Councils Review Committee and the TAB Conflict Resolution Committee.

He was technical program chair for the IEEE AUTOTESTCON conferences that were held in San Antonio in 1986, 1990, and 1993 conferences, and general chair in 1999 conference. He currently chairs the AUTOTESTCON Board of Directors as a representative of AESS.

Walt is active in engineering educational activities. He is a member of the University of Texas at San Antonio advisory councils for the College of Engineering and Integrated Design, the College of Business, and to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise.  He was inducted into the Gamma Omicron Chapter of IEEE Eta Kappa Nu as an undergraduate
engineering student at SMU. He is also an ABET program evaluator.

Walt is a native of San Antonio. He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BSEE and the University of Texas at San Antonio with an MBA. He has executive certificates in management and leadership from the University of Texas at Austin and MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Texas and Florida.