Speakers

Sarah Hughes serves as the Chief of the Staff of the CHIPS Metrology Program, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce. She previously worked at NIST in the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division, where her work was recognized with the George Uriano Award, an award given for outstanding achievements by NIST staff in building or strengthening NIST extramural programs, with emphasis on fostering U.S. competitiveness and business excellence. Prior to working at NIST, Sarah supported entrepreneurs, small businesses, and innovation programs at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for five years in many different roles within Colorado and Washington, DC. Sarah first started her federal public service as Presidential Management Fellow, and has a Master of Public Affairs degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), now the O'Neill School, at Indiana University.

Cortnee Jensen is the Interim CEO of the Northern Front Autonomous Systems Engine and the Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at the University of North Dakota (UND). Cortnee previously served as the Director of Strategy and Transformation for the State of North Dakota Department of Commerce, through which she founded and operated the ND Global Engagement Office.

In her initial position with the Department of Commerce, Cortnee managed economic development efforts in the aerospace/UAS and technology sectors and managed collaborative Intellectual Property commercialization efforts between the State and the North Dakota University System.

Prior to her move to North Dakota, Cortnee worked for more than a decade in the non-profit sector, focusing on strategic planning, cross-national networking, identifying and creating novel revenue streams and raising critical funds.

Melissa Carl is the Director, Business Development, Career and Member Services at IEEE-USA, where she is in charge of IEEE-USA conferences like the Innovation, Workforce, and Research Conference (IWRC) events. Prior to IEEE-USA, she worked at ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) for over twenty years, serving in a multitude of roles including as Director of Public Affairs and Director of Diversity and Volunteer Training. She also worked at the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES). She began her career in Washington, D.C. interning for her hometown Congressman and then working for the House Science Committee. She attended the University of Texas at Austin and received her bachelor of science degree in biology. She also has a masters in public administration (non-profit management focus) from George Mason University.

Eric Grigorian, P.E. is the 2024-2025 Region 3 Director for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He received his B.S., and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and is a registered Professional Engineer. He is a member of Georgia Tech Research Institute's (GTRI) Applied Systems Laboratory (ASL) and is the Chief of Architecture & Systems Development Division. He also serves as ASL's Chief Engineer. He has over 40 years of experience in commercial and defense sectors and has served in a multitude of technical and executive management roles. His current research centers around digital engineering and developing Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to enhance the implementation of the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) for aerospace platforms. Developing architecture that supports modularity and reuse is one of many goals for technical and business strategy in designing affordable and adaptable crewed and uncrewed systems. With his team of researchers and scientists, research activities concentrate on the evaluation of existing systems for potential transformation, the use of modeling languages such as System Modeling Language (SysML) to create models that depict system behavior, interfaces, and architecture, and developing and aligning technical requirements in support of acquisition. Additional activities include the development of a MOSA-based radio communication manager for incorporation in air and ground communication systems and modular communication waveforms for integration in open system platforms. As a result, implementation of MBSE in the systems under study will assist with streamlining processes, reduce costs associated with traditional document-centric approaches, and foster rapid implementation of capabilities through MOSA. Prior to GTRI, he was the Director of Engineering and Manufacturing for Yulista Aviation where he was responsible for full life-cycle support of product development and production of systems for the US Army Prototype Integration Facility. In his prior capacity, he was Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing at AAR Integrated Technologies (2010-2012), developing products for the US Air Force, US Army, and US Marines in support of Command and Control Systems. He is the recipient of GTRI’s Distinguished Performance Award in Program Development. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and was the recipient of 2020 UAH’s Alumni of Achievement Award, the 2019 James Beall SoutheastCon Recognition Award, and the 2006 IEEE Region 3 Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award. He has also received numerous additional awards from GTRI, previous employers, UAH, IEEE, and local technical societies.

He joined IEEE while at the university as an undergraduate, serving as Treasurer, Vice-Chair, and Chair of the student branch. He was inducted into Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honor societies and served as Vice President and President for Eta Kappa Nu Student Chapter. His past leadership roles included Huntsville Section's Student Activities Chair, Vice Chair, Chair, and Section's AESS chair. He also served as SoutheastCon Conference co-Chair and Chair in 2008 and 2019, respectively. He has served as Region 3's Area Chair and Conference Committee Chair.

Originally from Durban, South Africa, Garth Wadsworth came to the United States after being recruited by the South Dakota State University Swim Team. He earned his bachelor’s degree in geography and GIS from SDSU and then a master’s in city planning from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. As Elevate Rapid City’s Senior Public Policy Director, Garth works with community stakeholders to plan for strategic growth and quality of life in the region.

When he is not helping businesses with permitting and programs, Garth enjoys rock climbing, swimming in Pactola, or enjoying other outdoor activities with his wife Kelli and their two rescue dogs, June and Emma.

Dennis Hedge was named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at South Dakota State University in May 2016. Prior to serving as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dennis served as a faculty member, Department Head, Associate Dean, and Dean of SDSU’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions.

A native of Hoxie, Kansas, Dennis earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Kansas in 1991, followed by a one-year residency at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.

Highlights of Dennis’ time at SDSU have included serving as the university’s lead in establishing the Masters of Public Health degree program, integrating Medical Laboratory Science and Respiratory Care into the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, organizing and launching the College of Natural Sciences, facilitating the creation of new academic programs at SDSU including the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine, Business Economics, and Concrete Industry Management, continued growth of accredited and certified programs offered by SDSU to its current record high, and surpassing the university’s student retention goal of 80% for the past two consecutive years.

In addition, Dennis has held multiple leadership positions with advisory boards and committees, and received the South Dakota Pharmacists Association Honorary President Award in 2011 and the South Dakota Society of Health-System Pharmacist’s Gary Karel Lecture Award in March of 2018, which are among the highest recognitions by these organizations.

Hollie Mackey (Northern Cheyenne) is the Chief Executive Officer and PI for the North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine (FARMS). Dr. Mackey formerly served as the Broadening Participation lead for the North Dakota EPSCoR and Executive Director for the White House Initiative to Advance Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities. Dr. Mackey’s scholarship examines the effects of structural inequity in Indigenous and other marginalized populations in educational leadership and public policy which she uses to advocate nationally for Tribal sovereignty and self-determination in education.

Amber E. Orr is a Professional Engineer practicing in the State of Washington, USA. She has a history of working in both the Industrial and Power & Energy sectors. She is also an Electrical Forensic Engineer. She is currently the Chief Engineer representing several blockchain and HPC organizations supporting or developing their new large infrastructure requests and renewables throughout the United States.

Russell Harrison was named IEEE-USA's Managing Director in 2023, where he previously served as Director of Government Relations. Russell is responsible for managing IEEE's Washington, DC, USA office, supporting IEEE-USA's Board of Directors, serving on the IEEE Management Council, and providing overall direction to IEEE-USA's government relations, member and professional activities, and communications programs. He is also the staff lead for IEEE's Global Public Policy Committee, which oversees IEEE's worldwide policy activities.

Russell has spent 27 years in the association government relations world. Prior to joining IEEE in 2003, he represented the Institute of Scrap Recycling, the American Iron and Steel Institute, and the American Trucking Association on Capitol Hill. Outside of IEEE, Russell is a former member of both the Manassas, VA, USA’s Planning Commission and Electoral Board, where he served as Chair from 2013 to 2016. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Historic Manassas and the Virginia State PTA.

Russell has a Master’s in Public Management, with a focus on International Trade Relations, from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in Political Science from Allegheny College. He is a certified Planning Commissioner (Virginia Tech).

Prof. KC Santosh — a highly accomplished AI expert — is the professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science, and the founding director of the Applied AI Research Lab at the University of South Dakota (USD). He also served the National Institutes of Health as a research fellow and LORIA Research Center as a postdoctoral research scientist, in collaboration with industrial partner, ITESOFT, France. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science—Artificial Intelligence from INRIA Nancy Grand East Research Center (France) in 2011.

With funding exceeding $2 million from sources like DOD, NSF, ED, and SDBOR, he has authored 11 books and more than 250 peer-reviewed research articles, including IEEE Transactions on PAMI and Medical Imaging. He serves as an associate editor for esteemed journals such as IEEE Transactions on AI, Int. J of Machine Learning & Cybernetics, and Int. J of Pattern Recognition & Artificial Intelligence. His recent and popular books include Cracking the Machine Learning Code: Technicality or Innovation? (2024, Springer Nature), Active Learning to Minimize Future Epidemics (2023, Springer Nature), AI, Ethical Issues and Explainability (2022, Springer Nature), and Deep Learning Models for Medical Imaging (2021, Elsevier).

To name a few, Prof. Santosh is the proud recipient of the Visionary Leadership Award (University of Derby - UK, 2023) Cutler Award for Teaching and Research Excellence (USD, 2021), the President's Research Excellence Award (USD, 2019), and the Ignite Award from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS, 2014).

Effective from Spring 2024, he has joined the NIST's AI Safety Institute Consortium, with USD being the only institution representing the state of South Dakota in this consortium.

As the founder of AI programs at USD, he has taken significant strides to increase enrollment in the graduate program, resulting in over 3,000% growth in just three years. His leadership has helped build multiple inter-disciplinary AI/Data Science related academic programs, including collaborations with Biology, Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Sustainability and Business Analytics departments. Prof. Santosh is highly motivated in academic leadership, and his contributions have established USD as a pioneer in AI programs within the state of SD. More info: https://kc-santosh.org/ (personal web).