The Ohio University Alumni Association is excited to introduce you to the next installment in our virtual series, Empower Hour! Beginning in 2021, this event takes place once a month on the third Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. EDT.

Empower Hour is a program that explores important and relevant topics centered around the theme of continued personal growth and education. We want to equip OHIO alumni with the knowledge they need to become their best selves!

This Empower Hour segment is called "Assembling Our Team: Esports at OHIO". A visit to esports at OHIO. Dive into the academic side from the McClure School, technology challenges, OHIO's new facility and Bobcat Esports.

Ivy O'Shaughnessy graduated from OU in 2020 with a major in Communications and minor in business. They were one of 3 students who founded Bobcat Esports, Ohio University's primary esports organization on campus, and Ohio's largest esport club in the state. Ivy is currently an Esports Resident for OHIO and assists in developing OU's brand-new state of the art esports facility and varsity program. Ivy is also currently the Partner Success Manager for GGLeagues, a company focused on bringing esports to different cities and park districts within the US. Outside of work, Ivy is an avid gamer and participant in the esports community.

Julio Aráuz is an Associate Professor and the Director of the J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies at Ohio University. He obtained both a Masters in Telecommunications and a Ph.D. in Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh. He is also an EcoDistricts Accredited Professional, a credential for developing social-good oriented solutions in urban and rural communities. Before joining Ohio University, he was a Research Scientist at NEC Network Laboratories in Heidelberg, Germany. At NEC he worked at the Mobile Wireless Communications Division designing and modeling scheduling algorithms for commercial base stations. His research interests include wireless systems, cyberphysical systems, applied machine learning and the use of technology for social good.

Dr. Hans Kruse is a Professor Emeritus of Emerging Communication Technologies. Prior to his retirement in 2020, he was Director of the J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies. He led the integration of the McClure School (formerly Information and Telecommunication Systems) and the GRID lab, creating an academic unit focused on network technology, game design, and virtual/augmented reality applications. Dr. Kruse created the esports certificate in collaboration with the Sports Administration department.

He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses covering voice and data networks and applications, Voice over IP (VoIP), wireless networks, and network design. His research areas include network design problems, data communication protocols, and network management. He is currently working on satellite-based internet communication systems and disruption-tolerant networking (DTN), in collaboration with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he serves as co-Director of the Inter-Networking Research Group. His DTN research is primarily funded by NASA, in particular the Jet Propulsion Lab and the Glenn Research Center. He is also working on extending the use of DTN technologies to terrestrial sensor networks.