Tapia 2024 Conference kicked off Wednesday with the Fire Side Chat moderated by Dr. Hakim Weatherspoon from Cornell University & Exostellar, Inc., along with the panelists: Mikela Wright from Capital One, Rubén Lozano-Aguilera from Google, and Kathleen Shane from Qualcomm. The panelists provided insights into how their organizations identify and respond to technology trends, including areas such as cybersecurity, AI, quantum computing, and high performance computing.
Thursday morning, Phillip McKibbins, Chief Technology Officer from the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks gave a very inspirational talk and provided the audience with the Maverick’s formula for success: (NO-FEAR) x CRAFTS+BEAM=SUCCESS! (Next Opportunity – False Evidence Appearing Real) x Character Respect Authenticity Fairness Teamwork Safety + Better products & services Engage customers through unprecedented value Acquire with clear value proposition Manage to be the best=SUCCESS. Mr. McKibbins attended sessions and engaged with conference attendees until the conclusion Friday evening.
Friday morning, CMD-IT’s own, Dr. Valerie Taylor, moderated the Ken Kennedy Distinguished Panel on Maintaining a Focus on DEIA with panelists Dr. Elizabeth Simmons, from University California San Diego, and Dr. Ann Gates, from the University of Texas at El Paso & CAHSI. The panel started with historical aspects about not using race in admissions, such as California’s Proposition 209. Each panelists then provided descriptions of several impactful programs at UCSD and UTEP to increase diversity of their student populations. When asked about how to start the focus on DEIA, they pointed to the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Framework for Inclusive Excellence, developed in 2005.