Dr. Ginger Edwards, L3Harris Technologies

Thin film reflectometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry power the multimillion-dollar optical metrology tools that keep semiconductor and advanced-packaging fabs on target. But outside tightly controlled production loops, many teams treat metrology as a statistics problem and skip the physics. Reflectometry is fast, small-spot, and ideal for high-throughput Statistical Process Control (SPC) on patterned wafers when structure and materials are already known. In R&D, that assumption often collapses. A single measured quantity is asked to explain evolving stacks, new materials, and unknown interfaces; the result is unstable fits, false confidence, and bad process recipes. Spectroscopic ellipsometry returns richer information and can constrain models more reliably—but only when users build physically defensible models. Film thickness, optical constants, and material properties are never measured directly; they are inferred through modeling, and modeling quality determines decision quality. As low-cost reflectometers spread across industry and academia, even experienced fab users can overextend production-style statistical workflows into exploratory development. This talk confronts the cost of that shortcut and lays out when physics is optional—and when it is not.

Biography:

Dr. Nora V. (Ginger) Edwards, Portfolio Program Manager, University Research, L3Harris Technologies

Dr. Nora V. (Ginger) Edwards is a process and materials characterization engineer with the big-picture, business-oriented perspective of an experienced program manager. She is a spectroscopic ellipsometry expert with deep knowledge of semiconductor thin-film characterization tools and optical material behavior, and she is known for applying first-principles physics to solve practical industrial problems. Over her 25-year career, her work has spanned environments ranging from fundamental research in universities and national laboratories to technology development and new product introduction in corporate R&D.

Most recently, she has applied this expertise in semiconductor and advanced packaging fabs, addressing complex R&D and production challenges across photonic, MEMS, medical, and defense-related products. At L3Harris, she serves as Manager of University Research and is the Innovation Lead for the Seedling Innovation Program, helping connect technical insight, research strategy, and execution. Dr. Edwards holds a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering and an MS in Physics from NC State, is a former Fulbright Fellow, and has an extensive record of peer-reviewed publications and invited technical presentations.

John Caballero, TerraCyber

Modern communication systems process enormous amounts of information, increasingly with the assistance of artificial intelligence and automation. At the same time, the people who design, operate, secure, and rely on these systems must continuously process information of their own.
Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in technology, cybersecurity, government, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, and RF communications, John Caballero explores the human element within increasingly complex communication environments. Using signal processing as a high-level point of comparison, the presentation draws a parallel between how systems process information and how humans perceive, filter, interpret, prioritize, and respond to it.
Building on his DoD presentation, “Accounting for the Human Element in Zero Trust Architecture,” and his work in cyberpsychology and mental health in the cyber workplace, John Caballero examines how stress, workload, cognitive demands, trust, attention, and organizational culture can affect human decision-making and system outcomes. The discussion also considers how AI and automation are changing the relationship between human mental processing and the technologies we increasingly depend upon.
The presentation asks a simple question: as we make technology better at processing information, are we paying enough attention to the people who must process it too?

Biography:

John Caballero, CTO- CISO, TerraCyber

John Caballero is a cybersecurity and technology leader with over 30 years of experience spanning government, utilities, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, RF communications, and enterprise technology. A former operations and cybersecurity leader for Florida’s economic development agency, he has championed Zero Trust and risk management across government organizations. John was a senior engineer and national platform SME with IBM and Presidio, supporting mainframe, datacenter, telecom, UHF, VHF, and satellite communications. His background is in foreign languages and psychology.  Using Cyberpsychology his focus is on the human factors of cybersecurity and how threat actors exploit human behavior. He presented “Accounting for the Human Element in Zero Trust Architecture” at the DoD Zero Trust Virtual Symposium and co-authored a book on mental health in the cyber workplace.

Nicolas Sayed, Lockheed Martin

At microwave and millimeter wave frequencies, small changes in layout, materials, and fabrication tolerances can have a noticeable effect on the final hardware. Certain PCB features are more sensitive to these variations than others, which makes it important to understand where tighter tolerances are necessary. This presentation will focus on practical techniques for designing and manufacturing RF PCBs with these 
effects in mind. Topics will include RF stack up and material selection, controlled impedance routing, layer transitioning, and common fabrication limitations, focusing mainly on RF traces, vias, and footprints. The talk will also cover how PCB geometry, fabrication 
tolerances, and manufacturing processes can affect RF performance, as well as when simulation and tolerance analysis using tools such as Ansys HFSS become necessary in the design process. The goal of this presentation is to provide useful rules of thumb for balancing RF 
performance, cost, and manufacturability on RF PCBs, while highlighting common design and manufacturing mistakes that are often overlooked and can lead to unexpected performance in final products

Biography:

Nicolas Sayed, RF Systems Engineer, Lockheed Martin

Nicolas Sayed received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, RF and Microwaves Track, from the University of Central Florida in 2025. He began the Ph.D. program in Electrical Engineering at UCF in Fall 2026. He is currently an RF Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin, where he works on RF datalink systems and previously worked as a co-op during his undergraduate studies. He is working with the ARMI Lab at 
UCF on polarization-reconfigurable phased arrays. His technical interests include RF systems, phased arrays, antennas, and RF hardware design.

Roberto Williams

Artificial Intelligence is transforming organizations at an unprecedented speed, creating significant opportunities for innovation while introducing new technical, operational, ethical, and regulatory risks. This presentation explores AI Governance as an enabler of innovation, challenging the traditional perception of governance as bureaucracy or a barrier to progress. Using the analogy of a navigation system for innovation, the presentation illustrates how effective AI governance continuously identifies risks, evaluates changing conditions, and helps organizations adjust their course while maintaining business momentum. It examines practical approaches to risk-based governance, responsible AI, human oversight, enterprise AI inventories, lifecycle management, and executive-level metrics. The presentation also explores how established frameworks such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, and ISO/IEC 23894 can support organizational governance and risk management. Particular attention is given to translating technical AI risks into business impact, embedding governance into existing workflows, and creating a culture of accountability and trust. Ultimately, the goal is to demonstrate how organizations can scale AI responsibly, accelerate innovation, protect stakeholders, and make better decisions with confidence.

Biography:

Roberto Williams, ACW, Head of Artificial Intelligence

Roberto Williams Batista is an internationally recognized AI executive, Data Scientist, and Industrial IoT innovator with over 25 years of multidisciplinary experience, including 10+ years specializing in Artificial Intelligence, across the United States, Latin America, Australia and Europe. He specializes in enterprise AI, AI governance, machine learning, NLP, and intelligent infrastructure. His work includes AI governance architectures, federated learning, privacy-preserving systems, and responsible AI. He has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed publications presented at IEEE conferences and contributed to U.S. federal RFIs on AI governance and policy, as well as AI public policy recommendations in Florida. He is an IEEE Senior Member and AI Standards Committee contributor and holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Florida Polytechnic University.

Dr. Enxia Zhang, UCF

Electronic systems operating in space must withstand ionizing radiation, energetic particles, extreme temperatures, and long mission lifetimes. These conditions can degrade device performance or trigger sudden failures, creating significant challenges as commercial and emerging semiconductor technologies are increasingly adopted for space applications. This presentation will introduce the major radiation effects that threaten modern electronics, including total ionizing dose, displacement damage, and single-event effects. Examples from advanced CMOS technologies, wide-bandgap power devices, and photonic components will illustrate how radiation testing, electrical characterization, defect analysis, and physics-based modeling can be combined to identify failure mechanisms and improve qualification strategies. The talk will also highlight the growing need for engineers who can connect semiconductor physics, device reliability, packaging, radiation environments, and system requirements. UCF’s efforts through the NASA NEPP Electronic Parts Engineering Graduate Certificate, the SCALE program, and hands-on research experiences demonstrate how university–government–industry partnerships can prepare this workforce. The presentation will conclude with opportunities for collaboration in research, education, testing, and student development to strengthen the reliability and resilience of future space systems.

Biography:

Dr. Enxia Zhang, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Central Florida

Dr. Enxia Zhang is an Assistant Professor of ECE at the UCF, where she leads research on radiation effects, reliability, and resilient microelectronics for space and extreme environments. Her work spans advanced CMOS, wide-bandgap devices, photonics, and emerging technologies, integrating radiation testing, defect characterization, and physics-based modeling. She leads UCF’s NASA NEPP Electronic Parts Engineering Certificate and contributes to the SCALE workforce-development program. Dr. Zhang has authored or coauthored more than 260 journal publications and serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. She received the 2026 SCALE Collaborative Impact Award and 2022 IEEE WIE travel award.

Dr. Peter Delfyett, UCF

High-speed communications, interconnects, and signal processing are essential to the information economy, with lightwave technologies enabling high-bandwidth, energy-efficient connectivity. While wavelength-division multiplexing has transformed optical communications, managing systems with hundreds of wavelength channels remains challenging. Compact optical sources capable of generating many wavelengths from a single device can simplify high-capacity optical networks. Our research focuses on mode-locked semiconductor lasers that generate ultrashort pulses at high repetition rates and simultaneously produce stable optical frequency combs consisting of numerous high-quality wavelength channels. These combs support advanced optical communication and signal processing by enabling spectral channelization of ultrafast bandwidth while using lower-speed electronics for channel control. We present recent advances in stabilized frequency-comb generation and techniques for filtering, modulating, and detecting individual comb lines, and demonstrate applications in arbitrary waveform generation, optical communication, and terabit-per-second chip-scale optical interconnects for data centers.

Biography:

Peter J. Delfyett, University Distinguished Professor, Pegasus Professor and Trustee Chair Professor of Optics, ECE & Physics, Director, Townes Laser Institute; CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics, University of Central Florida

Peter J. Delfyett is Pegasus Professor, University Trustee Chair, University Distinguished Professor, and Director of the Townes Laser Institute at the University of Central Florida. He earned degrees from The City College of New York, the University of Rochester, and the City University of New York. After pioneering ultrafast semiconductor laser technologies at Bellcore, he joined UCF in 1993, where his research has advanced ultrafast photonics, optical communications, metrology, and signal processing. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he has authored over 850 publications, holds 45 U.S. patents, founded Raydiance, Inc., and is a Fellow of seven major scientific societies.

Yousef Abudyak, UCF

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is transforming data centers into some of the largest and most dynamic electrical loads on the power system. Unlike many conventional loads, modern AI computing clusters can experience rapid variations in power demand as thousands of GPUs transition between computation, communication, and synchronization phases. These fluctuations create new challenges for electric grids, onsite generation, energy storage systems, and the power-electronic interfaces supplying data-center facilities. This presentation will discuss how the electrical behavior of AI data centers is changing the way engineers think about power-system planning and operation. Particular attention will be given to the mismatch between fast data-center load dynamics and the slower response of conventional generation, as well as the increasing role of battery energy storage and grid-forming inverters. The presentation will also introduce ongoing research at the University of Central Florida examining dynamic stability, load pickup, and resilient operation of inverter-based power systems serving large data-center loads.

Biography:

Yousef Abudyak, PhD student and Graduate Teaching Associate, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Central Florida

Yousef Abudyak is a Ph.D. student and Graduate Teaching Associate in Electrical Engineering at the University of Central Florida. His research focuses on grid-forming inverters, inverter-based power systems, power system stability, and the integration of large data-center loads. His current work investigates the dynamic interaction between AI data centers, energy storage, onsite generation, and power grids, with particular emphasis on fast load variations, system restoration, and resilient power system operation.

Dr. Ricardo Silva, Comet Suffer LLC

Throughout their careers, engineers, scientists, and technology professionals accumulate knowledge, develop technical skills, and gain valuable experience. Yet expertise alone is seldom what creates lasting impact. The greatest opportunities often emerge when knowledge evolves into influence. This presentation explores the progression from practitioner to trusted expert and examines the distinct roles that experienced professionals can play as consultants, advisors, mentors, trainers, and educators. While these roles are often used interchangeably, each creates value in different ways: consultants solve problems, advisors improve decisions, mentors develop people, and educators build understanding. Drawing on lessons from engineering, healthcare technology, entrepreneurship, academia, and international consulting, Dr. Silva will discuss how professionals can leverage decades of accumulated experience to expand their impact beyond technical execution. Attendees will gain practical insights into how expertise evolves over time, how to identify the role that best aligns with their strengths and aspirations, and how to transform professional knowledge into meaningful influence within organizations, communities, and future generations. [cometsurfer.org]

Biography:

Dr. Ricardo Silva, Founder, Comet Surfer LLC

Ricardo J. Silva, PhD, MBA, CCE, is a biomedical engineer, educator, AI strategist, consultant, author, and futurist with more than 30 years of experience spanning healthcare, technology, innovation, education, and global development. Through Comet Surfer, he helps organizations navigate complexity, build innovation ecosystems, and create meaningful impact. His career has included leadership roles in academia, healthcare technology, entrepreneurship, digital health, and international consulting, including contributions to the World Health Organization. Ricardo's work explores how knowledge evolves into expertise and how expertise, when shared effectively, becomes influence capable of shaping people, organizations, and the future. 

Vincent Lopez, Parker Health

IEEE Standards Association has started an ICAID Workgroup on Global Data Quality Standards for Electronic Health Records. This group has defined many key terms in digital health and is in the process of rolling out standards on identifying electronic health record systems. Additionally, the workgroup has made significant progress in many other concepts associated with electronic health record systems from
a system of systems perspective.

Biography:

Vincent Lopez, Founder and CEO, Parker Health

Vincent J. Lopez is the visionary Founder and CEO of Parker Health, Inc, a progressive biotechnology organization at the forefront of healthcare innovation for the next century. He spearheads strategic initiatives, product development, and governmental affairs, collaborating closely with key figures in the U.S. Congress and various government agencies, including HHS, NIH, CDC, and the Office of the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology(ONC); Mr. Lopez focuses on establishing industry standards, optimizing spending, reducing legacy technology costs, improving inefficiencies, elevating patient care and outcomes, and implementing Parker Health’s cutting-edge healthcare technology. Beyond his role at Parker Health, he commitment to advancing public health research is paramount. He holds a prominent appointment to the Dean Council at the New York University, School of Global Public Health, and is the founder and Chair of the Lopez Clinical Innovation Studio(LCIS) @ NYU, School of Global Public Health. He serves as an External Advisory Council, Center for Decision Support Systems ; Informatics, University of Central Florida, and the Vice Chair, IEEE Data Quality Standards for Medical Records Workgroup. Additionally, he holds memberships in esteemed organizations such as the Royal Society of Medicine, and the Sequoia Project. Mr. Lopez's research interest includes health disparities in minority communities, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) outcomes, regulatory frameworks ; standards for Electronic Health Records (EHRs) & clinical decision support (CDS) solutions, and the research and development of artificial intelligence; machine learning algorithms for EHRs and CDS. Mr. Lopez was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2023. He is a mentor who advises aspiring and current entrepreneurs at the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center, as well as for a health equity accelerator program sponsored by the Johnson & Johnson Venture Impact Fund. He contributes his expertise to various boards, including the Family Childcare Alliance of Maryland. In 2015, Mr. Lopez was nominated by Governor Tom Wolf to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher
Education Board of Governors. He was student body president at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in English and political science. He also completed a fellowship furthering STEM education in minority communities with Organizing for Action, a nonprofit founded to support the agenda of President Barack Obama, and he has worked on programs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense. A native of Sacramento, CA, Mr. Lopez was raised in Arlington, VA and resides in Washington, DC where he created the Lopez Foundation, a nonprofit working to advance education and health access in disadvantaged communities. When not
shaping the future of healthcare, he indulges his passion for playing golf, fishing, and enjoys spectating basketball, Formula 1, and horse racing.

Jennyfer Vivas Gomez, UCF

Biography:

Jennyfer Vivas Gomez, Graduate Research Assistant, UCF

Jennyfer Vivas Gomez is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the University of Central Florida, specializing in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). With hands-on industry experience at Skyworks Solutions, Idaho National Laboratory, and FUJIFILM Dimatix, she excels in the design, fabrication, and characterization of advanced resonators, BAW filters, and PMUT devices. A former collegiate athlete, Jennyfer brings dedication and discipline to her work, combining rigorous technical expertise in cleanroom processes and simulation tools with strong cross-functional collaboration and a proven commitment to advancing semiconductor research.

Kate Archibald, Barney's Pumps

Biography:

Kate Archibald, Electrical Application Engineer, Barney's Pumps

Kate Archibald is an Electrical Application Engineer with a passion for control systems. Beginning in themed entertainment, she interned at Universal Creative and gained hands-on experience with ride and show controls and large-scale construction projects. After graduation, she transitioned to the municipal and industrial water/wastewater industry with my position at Barney’s Pumps. She now manage integration projects from quoting through commissioning, working with contractors, vendors, our integration team, and our control panel manufacturer. I am passionate about using engineering to solve problems, improve processes, and help others, often in ways that may not be immediately visible but make a meaningful difference.