John Aedo, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida
Dr. Aedo has over 25 years of IT industry experience covering a wide gamut of IT functions, from systems administration to technical writing, to software development and more. He is a triple graduate of the University of Central Florida, earning his Bachelor’s in Computer Science in 1997, Master’s in Modeling and Simulation in 2010 and Doctorate in Modeling and Simulation. Today, he is a full-time lecturer for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, teaching courses in operating system design, full-stack web development, compiler design and others as opportunities arise. Dr. Aedo also serves the College of Graduate Studies part-time in a consulting capacity, shepherding key projects to completion.
Gabriel Brackman
Senior Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services
Gabriel Brackman is a Senior Solutions Architect that supports UCF researchers. He has 15 years of experience working in higher ed institutions and most recently led an IT team that supported researchers across a broad range of disciplines. Gabriel’s role as a Solutions Architect is to ensure UCF researchers are successful in AWS and serve as a technical resource for the UCF research community.
Evan Cosgrove, Ph.D.
Education Application Engineer, Mathworks
Dr. Evan Cosgrove is an Education Application Engineer at MathWorks. He partners with universities to support teaching and research across Engineering, Science and Business disciplines. Evan earned a doctorate in Applied Mathematics from Florida Institute of Technology where his research involved Optimal Control Theory of Free Boundary Problems.
Joy Elias
Customer Engineer, Google Cloud Public Sector
Joy Elias has a CS degree from Morgan State University. Joy has held various engineering and training roles @ Microsoft and now Google. She’s also led several projects, customizing technical content. Joy specializes in app modernization, and Generative AI solutions.
Volker Eyrich, Ph.D.
Practice Lead, Google Cloud Public Sector
Volker Eyrich is currently a Practice Lead at Google Cloud Public Sector where he focuses on the areas of Scientific Research as well as Scientific and High Performance Computing. He joined Google in 2018.
Prior to Google he spent 18 years in Computational Drug Discovery focusing on algorithm and infrastructure development. In that context he used Google Cloud extensively for computationally intensive calculations as well as scalable compute and data analytics infrastructure.
He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Columbia University in the City of New York. His dissertation focused on the development of novel methodologies for ab-initio protein structure prediction.
Manuel Garriga
Principal Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft Education
Manuel is a Principal Cloud Solution Architect on the US EDU team who helps customers modernize and innovate with Azure in alignment with the overarching Education and Microsoft missions to enable every person and every organization to achieve more. Manuel began his career at the University of Miami and joined Microsoft 11 years ago, holding several technical roles at Microsoft. A passionate believer in lifelong learning, Manuel holds several Azure technical certifications, is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, and a volunteer high school teacher for the TEALS program.
Dewayne Hyatt
Sr. Cloud Solutions Architect, Microsoft
Hello! I’m a Sr. Cloud Solution Architect with Microsoft. I help our customers leverage their investment in the Microsoft 365 cloud by building complex solutions and business processes. Previously, I was a Systems Administrator at the University of Florida – IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) and prior to that a K-12 systems admin. I’ve spent my entire career supporting educators, helping to make them successful with the tools we offer. I’m passionate about technology and enjoy working with people to help them achieve their goals. If you’re looking for someone who can help you build solutions that will make your business more efficient and effective, I’m here to help!
Jairobe McPherson
AI/ML Customer Engineer, Google
Jairobe is an innovative technologist with over a decade of experience in cloud engineering, technical consulting, and product development. He currently works as a Cloud Engineer in Google’s Public Sector group with a focus on AI/ML workloads, and previously led a product and engineering team within Google Labs’ R&D incubator, Area 120.
Vaibhav Pandey
Sr. Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft Education
Vaibhav is a Senior Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft US Edu, boasting more than 9 years of experience in crafting and implementing cloud-based solutions within diverse sectors like education, legal, and healthcare. His skill set spans across data science, big data analytics, machine learning, and AI.
In his current capacity, Vaibhav focuses on utilizing his proficiency in Azure OpenAI, GenAI, and Data & AI to construct secure, scalable, and well-architected solutions. These solutions empower his clients to achieve their goals effectively. With a passion for tackling intricate problems and a commitment to driving positive change through technology, Vaibhav is set to share his wealth of knowledge and insights at the Azure OpenAI workshop. Attendees can anticipate being inspired by his dedication to leveraging technology for the greater good.
Laura Sammon, Ph.D.
Customer Success Engineer, MathWorks
Laura Sammon, Ph.D., is a Customer Success Engineer at MathWorks. She supports teaching and research across science and engineering disciplines, specializing in coding applications for Earth and ocean science. Laura earned her Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Maryland where she studied the composition of Earth’s crust and interior through geochemical and geophysical data.
Sonu Kumar Singh
Senior Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services
Sonu Kumar Singh is based out of Sacramento, CA and has more than 11 years of experience in technology. His expertise centers around Big Data Analytics, leveraging it to design innovative solutions. He also helps customers bring in deep and sustained change by driving alignment across business functions, data, and technology at all levels of solutioning and implementation. He loves when something he designs or creates has a positive impact.
Mandar Vengurlekar
Cloud Customer Engineer – Data Analytics, Google Cloud
Mandar is a Customer Engineer at Google based out of Jacksonville, FL, currently focused on helping Universities & Government Agencies in their modernization and cloud journey. Mandar is focused on data management and analytics & Generative AI. Mandar has worked as Solutions Architect and Database Architect for about 15+ years working across the evolution of technologies and data centers, growing from a traditional Database administrator to a modern Cloud Architect with focus on delivering impactful solutions. Most recently, Mandar helped New York State’s Unemployment Insurance Application, North Carolina DHHS with their Google Workspace enablement, and State of Florida Agencies get started on their Google Cloud journey.