Opening Speech

Dr. Rama Venkat, Dean, UNLV College of Engineering

Rama Venkat is the dean of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering. While serving in this capacity, he has been instrumental in developing and conducting the College of Engineering Senior Design Competition and, together with the Lee Business School faculty, spearheading enhanced collaboration between the two schools. His research areas of interest include solid state sensors, devices, physics, and modeling of devices and photonics.

Venkat first came to UNLV in 1989, becoming a full professor in 1998, and serving as chair of the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2000-06. While with the College of Engineering, he has authored or co-authored 43 referred journal publications, supervised and graduated nearly 30 graduate students, won a variety of teaching awards, and brought in more than $2,000,000 in research funds.

Regent Patrick R. Carter, Nevada System of Higher Education, Board of Regents

Dr. Patrick R. Carter successfully sought a seat on the Board of Regents in 2016 with the goal of adding the perspective of someone who has had experience teaching at the college level. He currently serves as chair of the Audit, Compliance and Title IX Committee and vice chair of the Investment Committee. He is also a member of the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee and the Cultural Diversity Committee. The author of Success in College: An Orientation Guide for College Students, written to aid incoming college students on how to be successful in higher education, Regent Carter hopes to have an impact on raising both the enrollment and graduation rates at NSHE degree-granting institutions. Regent Carter obtained his Doctorate in Business Administration at Argosy University where he also completed Doctoral Studies in Higher and Postsecondary Education. His first teaching assignment was at a remote education center intended for high school students to earn college credit. Since then, Regent Carter has taught as an adjunct faculty member online, as well as on campus for several different institutions. Most recently, he served for five years as Program Chair – Media for the Art Institute of Las Vegas, where he was also a full-time faculty member for more than four years. A Nevada resident since 2007, Regent Carter has been active in the Broadcast Education Association as a judge of student and faculty documentaries since 2014. He received the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation Leadership Award in 1997.

Blockchain Tutorial

Dr. Yoohwan Kim, UNLV Computer Science

Yoohwan Kim is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at UNLV and currently teaching a Blockchain course. His research interests include computer networks, cybersecurity, and blockchain technology. He has published over 100 articles and has 7 patents granted or pending. His research on blockchain includes blockchain scalability, data privacy on blockchain, and blockchain application systems. He has been also serving the community with blockchain education and development of various blockchain applications. His research has been supported by Microsoft Research, US Air Force, US Navy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, NASA, National Nuclear Security Administration, National Security Agency, and National Science Foundation. He received his Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and his Bachelor degree in Economics from Seoul National University, Korea. Before joining UNLV in 2004, he was an MIS consultant at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), a database programmer at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a Member of Technical Staff at Lucent Technologies developing wireless communication software, and a co-founder of a technology start-up company.

Keynote Speakers

Haley Summers, Blockchains, LLC.

Haley Summers is a Research Analyst in Government Affairs and Strategic Initiatives working on state legislation and product development compliance. Before Blockchains, Haley Cofounded an Ethereum DApp that allowed people to create and interact with their own crypto-collectibles. Before starting their career in blockchain technologies, Haley worked in library services of the University of Nevada, Reno for 3 years and as a freelance inbound marketer for 6 years. Haley is passionate about local food and enjoys playing rugby.

Lee Eyerman, Axel, VP, Technology and Blockchain

Lee is a seasoned entrepreneur, IT professional, and lifelong technologist with expertise in application, web, and database development. Lee started his first company during the dot-com boom and was able to sell the company’s closely held intellectual property to a top software firm. For the past year he has been working on integrating the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and Distributed Database (DDB) technologies with Blockchain technology. Lee holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a Juris Doctor degree in law, and is completing his Master’s degree in Applied Behaviorism.

Briefing on UNLV Cybersecurity Program

Dr. Juyeon Jo, UNLV Computer Science

Juyeon Jo is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at UNLV. She is the program director of NSA/NSF GenCyber Summer camp at UNLV. She is also the director of UNLV’s Cybersecurity Center which is the foundation for the National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense designated by NSA and DHS. She has served numerous international conferences and organizations as conference chair, program chair, and board member. She has authored or co-authored over 70 journal or conference papers. Before joining UNLV, she was an assistant professor at California State University, Sacramento. Prior to that, she was a Member of Technical Staff at Lucent Technologies where she developed control software for optical networking equipment. She also worked as a software engineer at Coree Networks, a start-up company developing an ultra-fast packet switch.

Panelists

Juston Berg (Moderator), Blockchains, LLC.

As the vice president of collaboration and product development at Blockchains, Juston Berg is responsible for the ideation, development, and deployment of blockchain-powered solutions, as well as connecting Blockchains with the greater blockchain and cryptocurrency community. He oversees a team of researchers and developers working to leverage blockchain technology for the betterment of society, whether through the establishment of a distributed collaborative entity or the creation of Ethereum-based apps. Prior to joining Blockchains, Berg supported Microsoft as a demand planner for the company’s Surface products.

Nadia Hansen, Clark County, Deputy CIO & President of Government Blockchain Association (Las Vegas Chapter)

Nadia Hansen, Deputy CIO for Clark County IT, is a results-oriented technology leader overseeing and managing complex IT solution designs including cloud-based applications and SMART community initiatives as part of the digital revolution in local government. The Information Technology Department drives innovation to efficiently deliver cost-effective, robust solutions that provide faster and better ways for our employees to do their jobs and for our residents to access County services.

Jacqueline Morck, Totem, CEO

Jackie Morck is CEO of Totem, a blockchain technology and design company. Jackie is a Silicon Valley native and has been at the cutting edge of technology for more than a decade. She has over four years of experience in machine learning and blockchain, founded a B2B technology company, and was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Originate, a pioneer in AI-driven technologies. Passionate about growth stage organizations, Jackie has focused her energy on bringing innovation to legacy-based industries through her own companies and others. She is currently an analyst at ShadowFund Ventures, which invests in technology for the built environment, and has sat as an Executive in Residence at The Combine, whose mission is to help companies successfully scale. Jackie has spoken at conferences and at startup events across the U.S., Canada, and Australia. She most recently spoke at IBM Think 2019 in San Francisco, at AFWERX Fusion, Las Vegas’s Government in Blockchain meet-up, UNLV, and the Women Grow Summit. She was a judge for CryptoChicks’ Hackathon, a judge for NYU’s Shark Tank, on a Women4Blockchain “Blockchain and Business” panel, a speaker on viable blockchain use cases at Women4Blockchain, on a panel at HoshoCon 2018 on adopting blockchain into business models.

Jeremy Forsberg, AXEL, CMO & Vice President

Jeremy Forsberg is the CMO and VP of AXEL, building the global brand, user growth and visibility in the blockchain industry. He was co-founder and CEO of the NAVADA Group – a creative agency that worked with some of Europe’s most powerful and recognizable brands. He built powerful social and digital brands, including creating one of the most engage horse racing brands in Europe. . Jeremy has a regular guest on BBC Radio and has given presentations on the topic of blockchain and cryptocurrency at multiple conferences as well as at UNLV. Jeremy holds a postgraduate degree from Newcastle University. He also earned a CPE in Law from the University of Northumbria.

Yao-Chieh (Jeff) Hu: Turing Chain Limited, Co-Founder & CEO

Yao-Chieh Hu (Jeff) is currently the co-founder and CEO of Turing Chain Limited. He is one of the first scholars in Asia to be invited to the UC Berkeley Blockchain Lab. He previously worked as Head of Blockchain at New York's news media blockchain Blackbird.AI. He has published three blockchain papers in ACM, IEEE and international journal CPE, and was awarded the Best Paper in CryBlock’18, Germany. In addition, he has won the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2017 Hong Kong, known as Olympiad of Software, the FinTech Up-Town competition 2018 in Korea, ETNet e-commerce competition 2019 in Hong Kong, and more than 20 international technology and science awards.

Ting Ting (Tina) Lee: Turing Chain Limited, Co-Founder & CTO

Ting-Ting Lee (Tina) is currently the co-founder and CTO of Turing Chain Limited. She is one of the first scholars in Asia to be invited to the UC Berkeley Blockchain Lab. She previously worked as a data scientist at Microsoft X HSBC Asia Pacific and the writer of the year at Medium in Technology and Investment aspects. She has published three blockchain papers in the ACM, IEEE and international journal CPE, and was awarded the Best Paper in CryBlock’18, Germany. In addition, she has won the VXCTF Cybersecurity Competition, the FinTech Up-Town competition 2018 in Korea, ETNet e-commerce competition 2019 in Hong Kong, and more than 20 international technology and science awards.