AI Symposium

Trevor Bihl is a Senior Research Engineer with the Air Force Research Lab. An OHIO alumnus, Bihl earned a B.S. and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Ohio's Russ College of Engineering and Technology, as well as a Ph.D. from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. Connect with Trevor Bihl on LinkedIn .

Jason Carbaugh is Managing Director with Deloitte Consulting. An OHIO alumnus, he earned a Bachelor's of Business Administration, Management and Marketing from OHIO's College of Business. Connect with Jaron Carbauch on LinkedIn .

I am a technology entrepreneur. I was born in Indiana and grew up moving frequently as my father’s career in the FBI advanced. I spent my high school years in Northern Virginia and Pittsburgh and attended Ohio University on a wrestling scholarship. I graduated in 1989 with a degree in finance and was a three-year varsity letter recipient. After college I relocated to South Florida and began my career at MCI Communications. I’ve been involved in numerous start-ups over the years with varying degrees of success and failure. 3Cinteractive, my most recent venture, was sold to Cisco in 2021.

Our current company is Direqt Inc ( direqt.ai ). Direqt has built a platform for content publishers and creators that want access to new audiences and revenue streams. Unlike any other chatbot building platform, Direqt offers a no compromises solution for publishers who need to create their brand’s version of conversational AI. We work with world class publishers like Conde’ Nast, Hearst, and Disney. Direqt is the market leader in this new category, and we are building momentum and growing quickly.

I have two adult daughters and enjoy my annual motorcycle adventures and performing locally as a singer & guitar player. Connect with John Duffy on LinkedIn

I have an academic background in physics and a professional background in consulting and software development. I now lead Infoverity's new software venture Prodevix and wear many hats building this startup from nothing. Connect with Cory Eft on LinkedIn

Jacob is the Technology Practice Director at Impower.ai . A subject matter expert in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence(AI), He focuses on realizing the transformative potential of these technologies within various industries. He is responsible for setting the direction for delivery and management of account relationships.

Prior to Impower.ai, Jacob worked as a Machine Learning Architect at Cardinal Health, where he conceptualized, designed, and delivered complex machine learning solutions for multiple healthcare verticals. Connect with Jacob Haning on LinkedIn

Tracy Lewis is the Chief Operating Officer at Marketing AI Institute. She is tasked with implementing daily company operations that align with the long-term business goals and strategic vision. 

Tracy also owns all operational activities associated with the Marketing AI Conference (MAICON) and AI Academy for Marketers, including planning and strategy; staffing; logistics; attendee and member experience; programming; and speaker, sponsor and vendor management. 

She joined Marketing AI Institute with 12+ years experience in marketing consulting, and account and project management for clients across a variety of industries.

Tracy graduated summa cum laude from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 2009, and is forever a proud OU Bobcat! Connect with Tracy Lewis on LinkedIn

Cathy McPhillips is Chief Growth Officer at the Marketing AI Institute, focused on marketing, growth, and customer experience, including MAICON and AI Academy for Marketers. Previously, Cathy led marketing at Content Marketing Institute, managed community growth for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, and owned her own strategic digital marketing consultancy. She started her career at two Cleveland advertising agencies. Cathy was an Ohio University Jerry L. Sloan Visiting Professional in Public Relations, is a Folio: Top Women in Media, and a MarTechExec Woman You Need to Know in Martech. Connect with Cathy McPhillips on LinkedIn

Steve has over two decades of experience in both the Data and Software Engineering fields spanning several industries including Energy, Healthcare and Government.  He is passionate about improving efficiencies and implementing solutions\architecture that provide real value while also building relationships and continuing to learn.  Outside of work he is an amateur triathlete, an assistant scoutmaster and a dabbler in investment fads. Connect with Steve Muskopf on LinkedIn

Rob Painter is Co-Founder and COO of I2PURE. An OHIO alumnus, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Geography, Philosophy and Computer Science from OHIO's College of Arts & Sciences, followed by an EMBA from George Washington University and study at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. Connect with Rob Painter on LinkedIn.

Matthew Rhodes, President of The Hideaway Entertainment is a veteran motion picture and television producer and executive with over 25 years of experience. He has produced over 50 films, worked with top tier directors, and notable stars. His films have received box office success (over $1 Billion worldwide), terrific reviews and award-winning recognition. Prior to The Hideaway Entertainment, Rhodes was President of Bold Films (2014-2017) and prior to that, President of Mandalay Entertainment (2011-2014). Rhodes worked on such movies as (short list): Cherry, Men in Black: International, Bloodshot, Mile 22, Whiplash, Nightcrawler, No Escape, Neon Demon, Shot Caller, An Unfinished Life, Passengers, The Voices, and Southland Tales , to name a few.   Connect with Matthew Rhodes on IMDb

Paul Roetzer is founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute, and founder of Ready North (formerly PR 20/20), HubSpot’s first partner agency. Roetzer earned a B.S. in Journalism/Public Relations from OHIO's Scripps College of Communication. Connect with Paul Roetzer on LinkedIn.

Jeff began his career in cyber intelligence prior to graduating college, collaborating with the CIA to intercept dark web terrorist communications. His technological acumen propelled him to lead enterprise collaboration for a Fortune 50 company. Jeff's most notable achievement is the co-founding of Aware, a high-growth AI leader in cybersecurity and people analytics, backed by Goldman Sachs. The company, under Jeff's guidance, has become a trusted partner to global giants
like Nestlé, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Walmart, National Geographic, and Delta Airlines. Jeff's
unique trajectory, blending deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, establishes him as a formidable ally in safeguarding some of the world's most reputable brands. Connect with Jeffrey Schumann on LinkedIn

Dan Shah leads data science at IGS Energy, an energy retailer based out of Dublin, Ohio. He has been working in the analytics space for 14 years. Dan has a passion for making data more useful, loves optimization and forecasting and is excited to share his thoughts on AI!

Dan holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Analytics from the University of Cincinnati where he teaches forecasting as an adjunct.

Originally from near Chicago, but now residing in Cincinnati, Dan loves spending his time with his four-year-old son, Arin, and his wife, Mansi. When not with family you’ll find Dan training for a run or enjoying a round of golf. Connect with Dan Shah on LinkedIn

Catherine O'Shea is Cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of Narratize AI. Inspired by aligning people, processes, and technology to create an agile, growth-focused, and mission-driven organization, Catherine has led the scaling and productization of high-impactful organizations, from startups to non-profits. Catherine sparks people-centered cultures wherever she goes, enabling growth and development of the individual aligned with the scale up of the organization. Prior to Narratize, Catherine served as an operations leader working directly with customers at some of the world's most innovative enterprises, including NASA, Boeing, Omada, Cincinnati Children's, AAA, Edgewell, and Procter & Gamble. Catherine earned her M.A. in Literature from the University of Cincinnati and is a proud Humanities-major-turned-startup-founder.

Coming from a deep consulting background of over 25 years, Martin van den Berg has played a critical role in projects for many Fortune 500 companies, specializing in the design and implementation of business architectures and organizational strategies to proactively leverage Information Technology for leapfrog business advantage.

Throughout his career, Martin has served in various leadership positions, many of which had an innovation or business development focus. He now uses his experience and expertise to drive business in the Alliances / Partnership space at ServiceNow as a Strategic Global Alliances Executive, supporting its largest partners' success with the ServiceNow Platform.

Martin is the Executive Sponsor of the OHIO International Consulting Program - A program of the Ohio University - College of Business - Center for International Business Education and Development (CIBED). Connect with Martin van den Berg

Basil Masri Zada, Ph.D., is a transdisciplinary, cross-cultural scholar-artist, activist, Fulbright alumni, educator, curator, art administrator, and digital arts, technologies, and museum professional in OHIO's School of Art + Design. Masri Zada's research and artistic practice focus on the practices of everyday life, art, and political activism in relation to the Syrian crisis that started in 2011. In addition to traditional sculpture and drawing, his studio expertise includes a variety of mediums such as performance, sound, new/multimedia, video art, installation, technology, interactive, AI utilization, and digital arts.  

Sean Parsons is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator and is the director of the Ohio University Contemporary Music and Digital Instrument program. Originally from Illinois, Sean holds a Bachelor's degree in music composition from Illinois Wesleyan University, a Master's degree in jazz studies from DePaul University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois. Prior to his appointment at Ohio University where he directs the Contemporary Music and Digital Instrument program and teaches Jazz Studies and Music Theory, Sean has held faculty positions at Marshall University and Illinois Wesleyan University. He is in demand as a performer and clinician nationwide. Sean has shared the stage with many of the most notable musicians in jazz including Clark Terry, James Moody, Aretha Franklin  Jon Faddis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Steve Turre, and Randy Brecker. 

Thomas Williams is a software researcher in the "Software and Data Systems" research lab, currently working on systems research for machine learning systems.

Besides working as a researcher, he also served for 5 years on the Bell Labs internal venture which culminated in the ALU-9980 Packet Accoustic Echo Cancellation product.

Prior to joining Bell Labs Research in 1999, he began his career with Western Electric in 1983 as a software developer and continued with AT&T and Lucent becoming lead developer and architect of several operations support systems deployed into the USA telephone network.

Evan Jaffe, Ph.D., is a Machine Learning Engineer at the Ohio Supercomputer Center, where he works in the Scientific Applications group to support clients through project design and development, training and outreach.  His research interests focus on computational linguistics and prior projects include coreference modelling, paraphrase detection, question answering and text classification. 
Before joining OSC, Evan worked in data annotation as a backend engineer on an ontology and knowledge graph application and has separate experience with a machine vision company. 
He holds a doctorate in Linguistics from the Ohio State University and a BA from Brown University. 

Ihab Mardini graduated in 2014 after being awarded the Outstanding Student of College of Imaging Arts at RIT, and he was chosen as the delegate of all RIT grad students. His teaching career took-off in 2014 as an adjunct Professor in the School of Film and Animation (SOFA), he was hired later as a visiting professor at the 3D Digital Design program (3DDD), where he later was offered the position of an Assistant Professor, a position he currently holds. He is now also an affiliate Professor of the Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity (MAGIC). 

In addition to teaching academically, for several years Ihab has taught 3D modeling and animation to kids at the RIT Tiger-Camps. He has also been volunteering to teach animation to kids at the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance. 

Throughout his career at RIT Ihab worked on several personal and commissioned films, which reaped him numerous film recognitions including a permanent display of Iroquois Creation Story at Ganondagan’s Seneca Art & Culture Center and two Best Animation awards, in addition to a permanent display of Soap Film at the Exploratorium Museum of Science. As a Professor, Ihab was nominated for Teaching with Technology in 2022, the Eisenhart Nomination – RIT Outstanding Teaching Award in 2018, and a Nomination for Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty in 2015.

Waref Abu Quba is an award-winning Syrian-German film director and animator. He has always been fascinated by the magic of moving images, as a melting pot of many art forms. In his creative work, Waref constantly pushes the boundaries and experiments with new ideas and mediums, combining camera work, animation and innovative post-production techniques. 

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in art from Damascus University, he began his career as a graphic designer and then gravitated toward animation and film. With over 15 years of industry experience, he has gained extensive knowledge in various aspects of filmmaking. 

Waref has several short films in animation, fiction and other genres that have premiered and won awards at international film festivals. Recently, he has expanded his repertoire to include AI-generated animation and launched a series of "AI Video Studies" to explore new creative possibilities on his social media accounts.