Speaker bios

Steve Acquah, Doctor of Chemistry, Director of GEOSET, Florida State University, GEOSET

Steve is a Postdoc in Chemistry at Florida State University where he works with the Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto on carbon nanotube structures to design and make new materials like conductive paper and solar cells. He's also the director of GEOSET and presenter for "Science With Acquah", which means that when he's not in the lab, he's helping produce educational modules for the young and young at heart.

Uwe Beltz, Associate Director for Law Library and Computing, Texas Tech University - School of Law

Uwe holds a Juris Doctorate and a Masters in Library Science from the University of North Carolina. He teaches legal research and information technology topics and emphasizes professionalism of the student assistant positions as well as the importance of all aspects of reference services.Uwe is an active member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), serving on committees for Research Instructional and Patron Services, Academic Law Library and Computer Services.

Robert Jan Brouwer, Director, MediaMission

Robert Jan is co-founder and Director of Sales for MediaMission, a master distributor of Mediasite in the Netherlands. MediaMission develops, advises and manages projects in education, government and the enterprise and has enabled the use of Mediasite at ten of the Netherlands' 14 universities. Robert has an MA in comparative media sciences from Utrecht University.

Sean Brown, VP Education, Sonic Foundry

Sean has 17 years of product management and education business development experience at IBM, Apple, and Oracle before coming to Sonic Foundry in 2002. He is a past president and board member of the Hopkins Foundation for Innovation in Education. His core focus is simplifying digital media to improve use and outcomes.

Joseph Collins, Instructional Technology Specialist, North Hennepin Community College

Joseph has been part of the North Hennepin Community College team since 2001. His primary responsibility is overseeing classroom technology and audio visual support on campus. He has helped guide the technology plan of three building remodels and a fourth that is awaiting funding. Educating over 10,000 students a year, North Hennepin Community College has one of the highest room utilizations of any metro area campus.

Mark Dashper, Secondary Pathways Facilitator, University of Auckland

Mark holds an MA (hons) in Anthropology with Ethnomusicology and a Diploma of Teaching in Art and Music. He currently works at the University of Auckland as an Educational Facilitator in schools and is working on his PhD on Social Networking in Education.Mark is passionate about engaging rural Maori students. He has presented at conferences in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and at UNLEASH since 2008.

Michael DeMeo, Director of Academic Media Services, New York Law School

A graduate of the University at Albany with a BA in Sound Design for Theatre, Michael has since worked and lived in NYC. His early focus featured collaborations with many modern dance companies, most notably Torque Dance and later the American Dance Guild. Since, he has focused his professional efforts on digital media, working in the media and news departments at The Feedroom and currently at the New York Law School. Michael's continued work in sound design for film has been featured in the Tribeca Film Festival.

Jim Dion, Sales Engineer, Sonic Foundry

Jim has been involved with Mediasite, as both an engineer and as an administrator, for over six years. Prior to joining Sonic Foundry's Sales Engineering team, Jim served as Villanova University's Senior Coordinator of Distance Education. During his tenure at Villanova, he helped design award-winning digital classrooms and managed over 20 recordings per week.

Jan Douma, Senior AV Systems Engineer, Technical University of Delft

Jan joined the multimedia services team at the Technical University of Delft in 2001 and is currently an AV System Engineer. In 2004 he started developing the portable Collegerama recording system together with MediaMission. In 2008 he build a three-camera HD (high definition) studio and is currently streaming 720p HD via Mediasite.

Martin Dulberg, Senior Coordinator, Distance Education and Learning Technologies (DELTA), North Carolina State University

Martin is responsible for addressing the learning management needs of the campus. He has 15 years of experience teaching both on-campus and distance education classes and created a very successful Computer Programming distance education program at NC State. Martin received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2003 and is interested in Human Computer Interaction and Engineering Education.

Lawrence Edward Evans, Academic Technologies Coordinator, North Carolina State University

Larry graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and worked several years as a television director, later becoming a professional video editor. He has worked on several feature films as both a production assistant and an electrician. After 13 years as a producer, director and supervisor, he joined NC State as their Academic Technologies Coordinator for Distance Education.

Michael L. Fisher, Production Manager, Missouri State University

A professional web, print, video and multimedia designer, Mike brings extensive skill and creative experience in blending visual communication elements across digital environments. He holds a BS in Organizational Communication from Drury University, a MS - Education in Instructional Media Technology from Missouri State University and a Certified Level II Digital Editor, NISDM from Bowling Green State University.

John Gordon, Broadcast & Emerging Media Manager, North Carolina State University

At NC State, John's primary responsibilities include managing video production for distance education. Despite efforts to escape the video vortex, John has been involved with producing, directing and many other aspects of media production since the popularity (???) reel-to-reel remote video equipment - oh my. John brings years of live event and video production perspective to the remote Mediasite capture world.

Pierre Gorissen, Senior Consultant, Educational Development and Research Department, Fontys University of Applied Science

Pierre is responsible for projects related to the use of ICT in Education at Fontys University in the Netherlands. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Eindhoven School of Education where his title of study is "Facilitating the use of recorded lectures with expert and social tagging".

Eric Hards, Manager Web, Motion Graphics and Streaming Media, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

For the past 16 years Eric has been working with multimedia, streaming media, web design, information architecture, usability and web technologies for Lockheed Martin's internet and intranet. He is an award-winning designer, considered an industry expert for streaming media and received the 2009 Streaming Media "All Star" award from Streaming Media Magazine.

Gregory Hayes, Lead Audiovisual Technician, New York Law School

As the Lead Audiovisual Technician, Greg assists in overseeing and managing the daily AV operations at NYLS. He also works with the production team to generate elearning content. He has worked for the WB Network in post-production and master control as well as the University of Miami School of Business Administration as Manager of Audiovisual Services for seven years prior to relocating to NYC in 2010..

Steve Huff, CEO, Xcorio

Steve is a respected technology entrepreneur with significant experience growing companies around the world. As co-founder of Xcorio he has helped create the fastest growing professional networking and video presentation platform for doctors, medical associations and medical schools online today. Along with Xcorio, he is the founder of a number of technology companies including Typefi Systems, OMC, Online Medical and Sixty Second Parent. Steve holds a masters degree in organizational development. In 2005, Steve was named one of Americas most innovative CEO's by Forbes Radio.

Ron Jailall, ClassTech Programmer/Technician, North Carolina State University

Ron helps support 100+ NC State classrooms with educational technology and is responsible for touchpanel design and programming for those classrooms. He is currently working toward a Computer Engineering degree at NCSU and has used Mediasite as both a student and support staff.

Greg Jonason, Digital Media Developer, University of Houston

Greg has been a Digital Media Developer for the past 12 years at the university's main campus and started using Mediasite in 2004. He recently rolled out a Mediasite multi-site server implementation. Greg just started graduate school and plans to write his dissertation on the Mediasite lecture capture system.

Deirdre Jones, Associate Director Innovative Outreach Technologies & Edward Schmidt School of Professional Sales, University of Toledo

Deirdre holds a MBA in Information Systems and a BBA in Marketing with a Professional Sales emphasis from the University of Toledo. She has trained almost 900 students and working professionals on sales education. Deirdre planned, designed and launched the technology in the quarter million dollar ESSPS Sales Suites that is also in use in other areas of the college. She develops professional sales curricula, manages outreach initiatives, and publishes sales research.

Jim Jorstad, Director of Academic Technology Services, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

Jim is nationally recognized as a leader in educational technology. He is a member of EDUCAUSE, serving on the EDUCAUSE Quarterly editorial board and is a Frye Fellow. He is has held numerous technology leadership positions within the University of Wisconsin System. In 2008, Jim was the recipient of Sonic Foundry's Rich Media Impact Award for Rapid ROI.

Kristen Lambros, Senior Multimedia Engineer, Lockheed Martin Enterprise Business Services

Kristen is the lead technologist for streaming media and webcasting for Lockheed Martin Enterprise Business Services and Enterprise Operations. For the past five years she has worked with multimedia, streaming media and video technologies for Lockheed Martin's intranet. She is an award winning producer, considered an expert in the enterprise for streaming media and webcasting.

Scott Lawson, Director of IT Architecture, QAD, Inc.

Scott is has spent the last nine years working with business users at QAD (a provider of enterprise resource management and supply chain software) to define and design Web 2.0 systems. He helps align IT and business users to promote the success of those systems. Scott has also worked as a certified project management trainer, website designer, online training developer and technical writer.

Robert Lipps, Executive VP Sales, Sonic Foundry

During his 18 year career, Rob has traveled to nearly every corner of the globe speaking about effective use of technology in the corporate, government and educational markets. He has held leadership positions at Adaytum (now an IBM Company), Esker Software and Eaton Corporation. Today, Rob leads Sonic Foundry’s global sales and support organization including oversight of domestic, international and channel operations.

Gareth Lloyd, Product Support Manager, The Saville Group, Ltd

Gareth has been involved in the conference and events industry for over 30 years. Starting out as a live sound engineer, he moved into technical conference production and works with a diverse range of clients both in the UK and internationally. He was fundamental in incorporating Mediasite into the UK's largest AV company's event services mix.

John Marinaro, Director, Technical Excellence, NASA Safety Center

For more than 26 years, John has held management positions at NASA devoted to the fields of aerospace, radar, electrical and computer engineering as well as safety management.He was the former Executive Director of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility Chief Engineer. John is also retired Army Helicopter Pilot and Aviation Officer.

Dr. James May, EDUCATE Program Manager, Alphaport, Inc.

James is currently the contractor lead for the Safety & Mission Assurance Technical Excellence Program (STEP) at the NASA Safety Center, at Glenn Research Center in Ohio. Employed by Alphaport, Inc., he manages a $1.8M annual budget and a contractor team of ten professionals dedicated to elearning course development and programming, coordination of instructor-led courses and managing curriculum on NASA s learning management system.

Gwen Noteborn, Researcher, Maastricht University - Department of Educational Research and Development

Gwen works on the implementation of elearning initiatives in Maastricht's Department of Educational Research and Development for which she received the Education Prize. Her work has been published in several journals and has been presented at numerous international conferences. She is responsible for the overall evaluation of the OASE project where her work and research focuses on online learning, simulation and serious gaming.

Kelly Parke, Professor, York Univeristy, Schulich School of Business

Kelly and designer Peter Zak created and teach the innovation through technology and design course in the MBA program at York University's Schulich School of business, ranked among the top ten business schools in the world (2010).

Tony Pearson, Manager, Video Communication Services, North Carolina State University

With 20 plus years of experience in educational, corporate and commercial television, Tony is skilled in producing documentaries, promos, commercials and live televised events. He has experience directing and editing single and multi-camera videos as well as managing production facilities and support staff for satellite distance learning and Internet broadcast networks. He oversees operations and maintenance of NC State's tlevision facilities, satellite equipment and computers.

John Pollard, Mediasite Product Manager, Sonic Foundry

John serves as the liaison between the Mediasite user community and Sonic Foundry's development team. He’s responsible for obtaining customer feedback, understanding requirements and helping prioritize future development efforts. Prior to Sonic Foundry, John worked in various communication, consulting and product management roles for companies including American Airlines, SAP and JPMorgan Chase.

Dr. Andrew Renaut, Professor, Xcorio

In addition to being a professor of surgery, Andrew is director of Xcorio, a media company developing professional networking platforms for medical schools, hospitals and medical associations. He is also an instrumental leader at Videosurgery, a media company specializing in surgical video production and live surgery broadcast solution and the Australian Institute of Medical Education.

Dr. Sherri Restauri Carson, Distance Learning Manager, University of Alabama Huntsville

Sherri has served in various distance learning roles for over 10 years. She has extensive background in instructional design/education technology, distance learning policies and procedures, online course/program development, and program and course evaluation. Recent work at UAH has included faculty and student training, distance program management and promotion, ed tech room design and implementation, Second Life implementation and development, and enterprise-level infrastructure development with Mediasite.

Erica St. Angel, VP Marketing, Sonic Foundry

Erica's unique background blends over 15 years of corporate, public information and political campaigns, with an emphasis on measuring outcomes and building community. She produces Sonic Foundry's best practices webinar series, where she's a frequent speaker, and speaks at numerous industry events. Her work earns both industry and marketing awards, including a Forrester Groundswell Award for the use of social technology for UNLEASH 2009.

Dharmesh Sampat, VP of Engineering, Sonic Foundry

Dharmesh has been with Sonic Foundry over 11 years and is responsible for Mediasite product development activities. New features, enhancements and delivery dates are part of his routine vocabulary. Prior to Sonic Foundry, he worked at Tata Consultancy Services as a software engineer, technical lead and project manager designing solutions for document image processing, fingerprint verification and interactive rich media. Dharmesh has a Masters in Computer Technology from the University of Mumbai.

Jon Schroth, Director of Technology, Colorado State University College of Business

For the last 10 years, Jon has been responsible for overseeing the support systems necessary for distance education and on-campus content delivery, security, infrastructure and measurement services in the Colorado State's College of Business. He recently oversaw the design and integration of centralized technology solutions in new college facilities which are now gaining national exposure. He also holds a Masters in Computer Information Systems.

Chris Stan, Distance Learning Coordinator, Connecticut Department of Public Health

In addition to serving as the department's Distance Learning Coordinator, Christopher is also an administrator for TRAINConnecticut, a learning resource for professionals who protect the public's health. Prior to state service he held a teaching fellowship in Bucharest, Romania with the Soros Open Society Institute. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Connecticut Institute of Public and Urban Affairs and sits on the Board of Directors for Hartford Public Access Television.

Laura Stephenson, Associate Director, Academic Technologies, North Carolina State University

Laura works in NCSU's Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), where she and her team support instructional technology tools used by the NCSU community. She has over fifteen years of experience in supporting faculty, staff and students with learning technologies and in developing online courses. Laura has pioneered NCSU's Mediasite efforts since 2004.

Tom Streeter, Proprietor, Crankybear Media

Tom is the proprietor of Crankybear Media, a freelance webcasting and digital media venture. He has more than 20 years of experience in video production for education. He's concentrated primarily on online media delivery since 1999. In 2008 he was named a Streaming Media All-Star by Streaming Media Magazine.

Mark Valenti, President, The Sextant Group

As founder, president and CEO of The Sextant Group, Inc., an internationally recognized design and consulting firm specializing in audiovisual and information technology solutions for the built environment, Mark has a particular interest in higher education. Since 1995 he has worked on more than 200 campuses across North America designing cutting-edge learning spaces. Mark holds a B.A. in Economics from The Pennsylvania State University and a certificate in Audio Engineering from The University of Bridgeport. He is a faculty member of the Facilities Management Institute of the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers, past Chair of the Council of Independent Consultants in Audiovisual Technologies, and past president of InfoComm International. He is a member of the Society for College and University Planning, the Audio Engineering Society, and the Acoustical Society of America.

Dr. Bob van den Brand, Adjunct Associate Professor, Tilburg University

Bob is an adjunct associated professor of accounting and accountancy in undergraduate and Msc programs. In 2010 he received the prestigious Education Innovation Award atTilburg University for his project, Web-lectures and More. His findings that educational innovations lead to higher pass rates has attracted a significant press attention in the low-countries. Bob's research interests include innovative learning and accounting history.

Hank Wasiak, Partner, The Concept Farm

Hank is a communications industry leader, former Vice Chairman of McCann-Erickson, a co-founding partner at The Concept Farm and an Adjunct Professor of marketing at USC’s Marshall School Of Business. He is also a best selling author, keynote speaker, three time Emmy award winning television host and a Reiki Master. Hank teamed up with Dr. Kathryn D. Cramer, Ph.D. to create a best selling business self-help book series based on Asset-Based Thinking. Running Press has published three books in the series including the lead title, Change The Way You See Everything.A self-proclaimed “Mad Man Turned Twitterholic”, Hank’s marketing communications career has spanned five decades. Today he is a leading advocate for harnessing the positive, disruptive power of digital communications, video and social media to build a new generation of “open” brands and businesses. Hank is a frequent speaker at interactive conferences, guest writer for Mashable and Technorati and serves on the national board of directors of the American Heart Association.

Peter Watson, Associate Director, North Carolina State University

Peter has been the Associate Director of DELTA Media Distribution at NC State since 2003. Prior to that he lived and worked in Tampa FL, and Seattle WA, respectively. He is a graduate of Missouri State University and has over 22 years of professional experience in television production and media production management.

Gary Weis, Chief Executive Officer, Sonic Foundry

Gary has been Sonic Foundry’s Chief Executive Officer since April 2011. He has been a member of Sonic Foundry’s Board of Directors since February 2004 and was President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Cometa Networks, a wireless broadband Internet access company from March 2003 to April 2004. From May 1999 to February 2003 he was Senior Vice President of Global Services at AT&T where he was responsible for one of the world's largest data and IP networks, serving more than 30,000 businesses and providing Internet access to more than one million individuals worldwide. While at AT&T, Weis also was CEO of Concert, a joint venture between AT&T and British Telecom. Previously, from January 1995 to May 1999 he was General Manager of IBM Global Services, Network Services. Mr. Weis served as a Director from March 2001 to February 2003 of AT&T Latin America, a facilities-based provider of telecom services in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Columbia. Mr. Weis earned BS and MS degrees in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Terry Wirkus, Distance Education Manager, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

Terry spent 24 years in radio and TV before joining UW-La Crosse 15 years ago as distance education manager. Since 2006 he has managed Mediasite use on campus and is also a strong proponent of Mediasite in his role on the UW System Educational Media Technology Council. Terry holds a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications and a Masters in Educational Media.

Eric Wunderlin, System Engineer, University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management

Eric Wunderlin has worked in the Carlson School of Management for 15 years on a wide range of systems ranging from network and server management to designing and installing classroom AV and educational technology.