2025 SLAM JUDGES 

Dr. Bashir Mohammed is a Senior Lead Gen-AI Solutions Architect on the Gen-AI Startups team at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he works with Silicon Valley startups to design and scale large language models (LLMs), large vision models (LVMs), and agentic AI workflows. He brings deep expertise at the intersection of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and distributed systems.

Previously, Bashir was a Senior Staff AI Architect in Intel’s Network and Edge Group, Office of the CTO, where he drove innovations in AI for intelligent edge systems. Before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, contributing to the Deep Learning and AI-Enabled High-Performance Networks (DAPHNE) project and the Quantum Application Network Testbed for Novel Entanglement Technology (QUANT-NET) initiative.

A 2019 Berkeley Lab Research SLAM 2nd place winner, Bashir later returned to support the event as emcee in 2022 and 2023. He also represented Berkeley Lab on Capitol Hill, presenting his research on AI and quantum networking to members of the U.S. Congress. Earlier in his career, he served as a Science Policy Fellow with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), where he advanced evidence-based policies to strengthen the scientific community.

Bashir holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and is passionate about bridging cutting-edge research with real-world impact, empowering scientists, startups, and policymakers alike to harness the next generation of AI.

Jonathan joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2021 as Director of Federal Relations, following nearly 20 years of advocacy at the federal level for research policy priorities and funding. Jonathan has worked for national research universities, public health groups and federal relations firms. Prior to joining LBNL, he served as Federal Relations Director for Florida State University. While at FSU, Jonathan worked with Congress and the Air Force Research Lab to produce significant resources for research on advanced composite materials. 

He also held leadership roles with national research advocacy groups where he helped advance community recommendations for increased funding for research, student aid and COVID-19 relief. In a prior role with the Infectious Diseases Society of America, he led an effort to secure significant new resources to combat the public health crisis of antibiotic resistance. He also helped establish a new FDA approval pathway for urgently needed antibiotics. He holds a BA and MPP from the George Washington University and is a native of New Jersey.

Beth has served as the CEO of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce since 2021. Prior to that she was the Chamber's Director of Operations for one year. She is passionate about serving the local business and nonprofit community and working to make Berkeley a more diverse, equitable, and vibrant city for businesses to grow and thrive. Beth has been a member of the Berkeley Rotary Club since 2013, having served on its board of directors and as club president.  She currently serves on the steering committee of the Berkeley Startup Cluster, is a member of the Berkeley Lab Community Advisory Group, and on the board of directors for the Downtown Berkeley Association. She has a B.A. in Art History from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and resides in the East Bay with her family.

Liz Silva joined VPGE in 2022 as Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education. In this role she collaborates extensively with partners across the campus in the support of and advocacy for graduate students. Within the VPGE she serves as the point person on graduate academic policies and works with her colleagues to develop and implement the strategic direction of the graduate professional development programs, marketing and communications, and the major fellowship programs.

Liz trained as a developmental biologist and geneticist in Canada, the UK, and the US. Prior to her position in VPGE she worked as an associate and senior editor with the Public Library of Science (PLOS) and as the founding director of the University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) Motivating INformed Decisions (MIND) program. Most recently she was Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in UCSF's Graduate Division, where she continued UCSF’s tradition of pushing boundaries in graduate education policy and programming, working with students, staff, and faculty to support graduate student success from recruitment through to post-graduation. In 2021, she also served as UCSF’s interim graduate dean.

Outside of her work at Stanford, Liz enjoys gardening, photography, rock climbing, and walking and running the hundreds of miles of trails of the Bay Area’s parks.

Brooks Trotmore is a Senior at Berkeley High School, a scholar in the Bay Area Biotech Partners program and President of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Jr. Chapter at BHS. He’s  a multidisciplinary STEM student studying biotechnology, environmental science, engineering and computer science where he strives to advance science and enhance lives through innovation.  

In the summer of 2025, Brooks served as a research intern in Berkeley Lab’s EinR program, where he worked alongside PhD researchers to automate chemical calculation processes using custom similarity algorithms and programming.

During the 2024–2025 academic year, he interned with the nonprofit  Earth Team and contributed to habitat restoration and waste reduction initiatives across Alameda and Solano counties.

Brooks is also very passionate about community service and food security. He was elected Chief of Service where he organizes student events and promotes local nonprofits. And in his free time he volunteers at the UC Berkeley Food Pantry and the Berkeley Food Network as an Outreach Ambassador where he trades in his lab coat for his “Garrett the Carrot” costume.

Stephanie Turza is a seasoned communications professional with more than 15 years of experience translating complex technical achievements into clear, impactful narratives for diverse audiences. As a Communications Manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, she directs editorial strategy for multi-channel scientific communications and leads cross-functional teams to advance organizational priorities. Stephanie’s background spans executive communications, speechwriting, and content strategy, with prior roles at Centene Corporation, Elsevier, and the University of Illinois Press. She holds an M.S. in Communications Management from Syracuse University and a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.