Agenda
You’ll hear about exciting advances in artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and cybersecurity from the minds of leading entrepreneurs across the region and faculty representing several of Virginia’s higher education institutions. Valley TechCon.19 is the technology and business development event to attend in 2019.
The below is the agenda from Valley TechCon 2018. Check back soon for the 2019 agenda.
Early Morning – Sponsored by Silver Sponsor Digital Minerva Web/Marketing (former James Carter Web)
7:30am – 8:30am
Main Ballroom
Registration, Breakfast and Vendor Tables
Sponsored by Silver Sponsor, James Carter Web/Marketing.
8:30am – 8:45am
Main BalLRoom
Welcome
8:45AM – 9:15AM
Main Ballroom
Opening Speaker
Karen Jackson, former Virginia Secretary of Technology & President, Apogee Strategic Partners
Technology is rapidly changing every aspect of our lives from work to home to play. Leveraging technology and...
Breakout Session I
9:15am - 10:00am
Appalachian Room A
What You Should Already Know About Data Science – Becoming A Data Scientist
By Renée Teate, Data Scientist, HelioCampus
Data Science, AI, and Machine Learning are technologies that are becoming pervasive in our increasingly data-driven world...
9:15am - 10:00am
Appalachian Room B
Blockchain Technology and Hyperledger
By Morgan Benton, Associate Professor, ISAT, James Madison University
While the permission-less blockchain technologies that support software like Bitcoin and Ethereum dominate headlines...
9:15am - 10:00am
Appalachian Room C
Cyber Attack Resilience Applied to Autonomous Vehicles
By Barry Horowitz, Munster Professor of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Virginia, Former President & CEO, The MITRE Corporation
This session will introduce attendees to the concept of cyber attack resilience and how it would be applied to autonomous vehicles...
10:00am Mid-morning snack
Breakout Session II
10:15am - 11:00am
Appalachian Room A
Extending a Ruby on Rails Application with Phoenix and Elixir
By Chiedo John, Founder & CEO Chiedo Labs
After years of frustrations with the black box magic of Ruby on Rails and the kludgy results from working in Node.js,...
10:15am - 11:00am
Appalachian Room B
Driving Security Through Technology
By David Cafaro, Capital One
This break out session will focus on the human interaction side of information technology and many of the key subjects that non-cyber leaders...
10:15am - 11:00am
Appalachian Room C
Internet of Things
By Fred Briggs, NOVA Labs
Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming the way we collect data, connect with people and interact with devices. Corporations...
Breakout Session III
11:15am - 12:00pm
Appalachian Room A
Critical Cyber Skills for Students and Companies Serving the US Government
By Captain Paul Tortora, USN (Ret) United States Naval Academy Cyber Center
Captain Tortora will discuss the cyber knowledge, skills, and abilities of cyber professionals that will serve and protect the...
11:15am - 12:00pm
Appalachian Room B
Autonomous Vehicles
By Mike Raschid and Garrett Moore, Perrone Robotics
Perrone Robotics, headquartered in Crozet, Virginia, (with a Silicon Valley office opened in 2018), was formed in 2003 and...
11:15am - 12:00pm
Appalachian Room C
Unpacking the Dark Web
By Dr. Eric Jardine, visiting professor at Virginia Tech
This session unpacks the technology of the Dark Web and its effects on society in greater detail...
12:15pm - 1:15pm
Main Ballroom
Pioneering a New Category of Game Design: Real World Games
By Dan Hanlon and Travis Fox, Raincrow Studios
Sponsored by Gold Sponsor, Shentel
Real-world game design for mobile devices has its roots in pervasive game design, augmented reality, mixed reality,...
Breakout Session IV A
This will be an extra-long session that will run concurrently to the standard length sessions
1:30pm - 3:15pm
Appalachian Room C
Extended Session – Resources for building a tech company in the Valley(s)
By Bob Smith, ICAP at George Mason University; Keith May – Shenandoah Valley Angel Investors; Brian Shull – Harrisonburg Economic Development and Mary Lou Bourne – Virginia is for Entrepreneurs.
This session will highlight the valuable resources available to assist technology companies in growing in the Shenandoah Valley. The...
Breakout Session IV B&C
1:30pm - 2:15pm
Appalachian Room A
Pitching to Investors
By Patrick McQuown, Executive Director, James Madison University Center for Entrepreneurship
Serial entrepreneur, former Ivy League Professor and current Director of James Madison University’s Center for...
1:30pm - 2:15pm
Appalachian Room B
Machine Learning and AI: A practical introduction and how it is being used to improve business outcomes
By Tom Brock, at ConvergentAI.
There is significant rhetoric about Artificial Intelligence in the news, but less clarity on how it’s being used to solve real business problems...
Breakout Session V B&C
2:30pm - 3:15pm
Appalachian Room A
Bringing Tech to Market
By Peter Kant, Vice President, Federal Partnerships SRI International
The pathway from initial idea to successful technology or business is not straightforward and is often filled with pitfalls...
2:30pm - 3:15pm
Appalachian Room B
From BattleBots, to a successful government software development consultancy, to launching a failed mobile security startup and working on groundbreaking robotic systems
By Jeff Cesnik, Founder, Clutch, and Principal, Clutch Labs.
Jeff Cesnik shares his experiences and wisdom gained from over 18 years as a tech entrepreneur in the Shenandoah valley
Closing and Networking Event
3:30pm - 4:00pm
Main Ballroom
Closing Speaker
Osama Malik, Digital Strategy and Management Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton
The Conference closing session will focus on connecting the knowledge presented, lessons learned, and opportunities identified during the day...
4:00pm - 5:30pm
Shuttle to Pale Fire Brewing Company for Networking
This is a limited capacity event. You must register for the networking event to receive a drink ticket.