TechX Florida 2026 Tech Conference
❗Free TechX Florida 2026 Tech Conference in Tampa, Florida
IEEE-CS at USF is excited to announce TechX Florida 2026 Tech Conference, the third edition of the conference that was attended by 336 people last year and 124 people in 2024!
The conference is open to all, from students and professors to industry professionals and tech enthusiasts of any discipline, from anywhere in the world!
📅 Date & Time: October 24th, 2026 (Saturday) from 11am-5pm
📍 Venue: Marshall Student Center 2nd and 3rd Floors, USF Tampa, Florida
🍴 Food: FREE breakfast and lunch, both with beverages
🎟️ Ticket price: FREE
🎤 TechX Florida 2026 will be a day-long conference with many activities, including:
- Cybersecurity technical talks
- Professional development talks
- Career fair
- Resume Review
- Headshots
- And more to come!
🔗 Register here on vTools and learn more by visiting techxflorida.com!
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
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- 4103 USF Cedar Cir
- Tampa, Florida
- United States 33620
- Building: Marshall Student Center
- Room Number: 2nd and 3rd Floors
- Click here for Map
- Starts 03 August 2026 04:00 AM UTC
- Ends 24 October 2026 03:00 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Fabio of Siemens
Cybersecurity in the Power Grid
An industry view of the cyber threats facing power grid infrastructure and how operational technology is defended.
Biography:
Fabio is a Brazilian System Engineer and OT Cybersecurity Specialist at Siemens, with over 25 years in energy automation and 10 years in critical infrastructure protection. He holds degrees in Computer Networks and Cybersecurity from Impacta Tecnologia in São Paulo. His work combines electrical grid protection and automation with industrial networking and cybersecurity, bridging traditional power systems and modern digital security to keep essential energy services resilient.
Ken of Benchmark Technology Corporation
From Doing the Work to Leading the Work: A Practical Approach to Professional Growth
A practical look at moving from individual contributor to leader, and the habits that drive professional growth.
Biography:
Kenneth J. “Ken” Anderson is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Benchmark Technology Corporation, a Tampa-based technology and infrastructure company. Since founding it in Hawkinsville, Georgia, in 2004, he has grown the company through Macon and Atlanta to Tampa, with work spanning managed technology, network infrastructure, cloud services, and public sector solutions. A hands-on founder, he has made the shift from doing technical work himself to building and leading teams. He also works to connect the Tampa Bay and Atlanta tech communities through collaboration and talent development.
Karthik of University of British Columbia
No Undo: Security for Critical Systems that Need to be Correct
How to secure critical systems where failures cannot be reversed, and why correctness is central to their security.
Biography:
Karthik Pattabiraman is a Professor and Associate Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia, where he leads the Dependable Systems Lab. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009 and was a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research before joining UBC. His group works on keeping critical systems such as drones, medical devices, industrial plants, and blockchains running even when they malfunction or are attacked. He has won 12 best paper awards with his students and is an ACM Distinguished Member and an IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Contributor and Distinguished Visitor.
Yukti of Kforce
New Banking Attack Surface: Securing Agentic AI & Autonomous Transactions
How agentic AI and autonomous transactions expand the banking attack surface, and how to secure them.
Biography:
Yukti is a Lead Software Architect at Kforce and Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering, Florida West Coast Section. She specializes in agentic AI, cybersecurity, AI/ML, and cloud-native enterprise architecture, leading the design of secure, scalable AI solutions for regulated industries with a focus on Zero Trust, AI governance, and cyber resilience. A research author and frequent keynote and panel speaker, she also serves as a national hackathon judge and mentor.
Joel of TESYS Networks
From Token Rings to Agentic Run-Times: 30 Years of Hardening Infrastructure and the 10-Year Autonomous Horizon
Lessons from 30 years of hardening infrastructure, from Token Ring networks to agentic AI runtimes, and what the next decade of autonomous systems means for
Biography:
Joel Sierra is an Enterprise Solutions Architect at TESYS Networks and a threat intelligence advisor specializing in enterprise defense, advanced systems engineering, and the operational integration of agentic AI. He has extensive experience bridging technical complexity and business strategy for high-growth tech platforms. He speaks regularly on enterprise AI adoption, modern cyber threat landscapes, and the skills technologists need to stay indispensable as automation reshapes the workforce.
Michael of Tampa Bay Tech Week
5P: Porsches, Penthouses, Private Jets, Prosperity & Peace of Mind: The Human Skills Behind Success in Tech
The human skills, beyond technical ability, that drive long-term success and fulfillment in tech careers.
Biography:
Michael Hall is President of Tampa Bay Tech Week, Senior Managing Partner at MediumFour, and Co-Founder of HyLo Inno (Hyper Local Innovation Investments). For more than 20 years he has worked across brand strategy, design, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, technology, and community development. His work focuses on building the connections that help founders, students, businesses, and institutions find the relationships and resources to move ideas forward. He brings a practitioner’s view of professional development: success takes communication, resilience, self-motivation, and purpose.