Speakers
Eric Waydick
Technical Director of Aftermarket at Leonardo DRS
After completing the equivalent of an associate’s degree in nuclear engineering in the Naval Propulsion Program and spending six years in the US Navy, most of it on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) as a nuclear-grade Electrician’s Mate, Eric Waydick became an inline skate instructor and professional snow skater, went to school at UW Madison for material science, fixed restaurant equipment throughout southern Wisconsin, and eventually completed his BSEE at Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2003, with a specialization degree in Modern Communication Methods from Fachhochschule-Luebeck in Germany.
In parallel to completing his degrees and developing the Fencing Robotic Integrated Training Opponent (FRITO) for senior design at MSOE, he developed a new vertical-axis wind turbine under the company Dragonfly Development, LLC. His first job out of college was an application engineering position at DRS, where he worked on motor controllers and power distribution products for the US Navy. Winning the contract for the DDG-1000 class ships provided an opportunity to develop the Navy Electronic Motor Operator (NEMO) product line for DRS, a new electronic overload protection relay and solid-state switch module for Navy motor starters. His skills in overload protective relays landed him a position at Rockwell Automation to develop the E-300 family of products, with features being later copied by Siemens and Schneider. His work on overload protection devices has produced 5 patents.
After completing his MSE at MSOE in 2016, Eric returned to Leonardo DRS, where he is presently the Technical Director of Aftermarket and Standard Products, overseeing more than sixty indirect reports from various engineering disciplines (electrical, mechanical, software, test), performing sustaining engineering, new product development, and internal research and development.
In parallel to his corporate engineering career, he continues to innovate products for his Concrete Overdose, LLC skate instruction and skate gear business, developing training aids, new protective gloves, safety shirts and coveralls, as well as carry bags for golf discs. For his MSE at MSOE, he invented the Skateshaw, a rickshaw pulled by an inline skater, to maximize initial starting thrust by the operator with power assistance that could drive it up to traffic speeds and stop within DOT regulated distances. He also supported a senior design team at MSOE to develop a skate speedometer that linked to an Apple watch.
Jeremy Kedziora, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, MSOE
Jeremy Kedziora is an associate professor and current occupant of the PieperPower endowed chair in artificial intelligence at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Kedziora is an award-winning researcher and scientist with 20 years of experience developing new methods in machine learning, Bayesian inference, and game theory. Previously, he was a director of data science and analytics at Northwestern Mutual, where he managed the development of machine learning and modeling efforts focused on cybersecurity. Kedziora also served for 9 years at the Central Intelligence Agency as a chief methodologist where he led applied R&D efforts in data science and modeling. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Rochester, has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and serves as an advisor to multiple tech startups.
Donovan Brocker, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, MSOE
Donovan E. Brocker received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA, in 2010. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical
engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA in 2016. He then
worked as assistant research professor at Penn State until 2019 when he moved back home to
join the faculty at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). At MSOE Professor Brocker
teaches courses in circuits, electronics, and electromagnetics. His research interests include
antenna theory and design, frequency selective surfaces, and metamaterials.
Russ Meier, Ph.D., FIEEE
Professor and Program Director, MSOE
Dr. Meier is the undergraduate Computer Engineering Program Director and a professor in the ECBE Department. His computer engineering specialty is Computer Architecture. He is a member of IEEE, IEEE-HKN, and the IEEE Computer, Education, and Professional Communications societies. He joined IEEE as a student and has an extensive history of membership and service. He also has a professional service record as a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and its Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM), Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE), and First-Year Engineering Education Division (FYE). At MSOE, he mentors future engineers in digital logic, computer architecture, digital electronics, and computer networking. His 30-year history of teaching excellence has been recognized with multiple teaching excellence awards. The IEEE elevated him to Fellow for contributions to global online engineering education. The International Society for Engineering Education awarded him the title International Engineering Educator Honoris Causa for outstanding contributions in the field of engineering education.
Sharmila devi Chandariah, SMIEEE
Senior Tech Lead, Policy Administration System Expert
Sharmila Devi Chandariah is a Senior Technical Lead with over a decade of extensive experience in the Fintech industry, particularly focusing on banking and insurance sectors. As a Senior Member of IEEE, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership and technical expertise throughout her career.Her specialization includes developing various web applications and transforming Policy Administration Systems for U.S. Property & Casualty Insurance. Leveraging her Guidewire Certified ACE credentials, Sharmila excels in delivering innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs of insurance clients, particularly through her expertise in Policy Administration. Sharmila’s contributions to the field have been recognized with the Star Associate Award, awarded for her pivotal role in developing the Transient Schema for the Policy Migration tool. This solution significantly enhanced the speed and accuracy of data migration from legacy systems to new Policy Administration Systems.
Driven by a passion for integrating advanced technologies into insurance applications, Sharmila actively applies Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to tackle current business challenges. Her work in Generative AI has led to the development of various innovative solutions, including Test to SQL generation, Knowledge management, Splunk integration which resulted in considerable cost savings for her clients, showcasing her ability to merge technical prowess with practical business applications. As the Innovation Lead at Capgemini, Sharmila reviews and provides feedback on innovative solutions proposed by her peers, shaping and ensuring that they align with client needs and can be effectively implemented. Her commitment to excellence and innovation positions her as a key figure in advancing technology within the fintech landscape.
Prasenjit Banerjee, FBCS, MBA
Director, Technical Architecture – Salesforce
Prasenjit Banerjee is a Director of Technical architecture at Salesforce. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and an Industry expert in API Security , Management and Governance. He has been working on API Security and best practices for the last 8 years . Prasenjit has overall 16 years of experience in Integration architecture , Event Driven Architecture, SOA and Middleware. Prasenjit holds a Bachelor of Technology from West Bengal University of Technology, India and a MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Prasenjit is actively involved with professional organizations and is the Chapter Chair for IEEE COMSOC Chicago society and active contributor of IEEE Computer Society. He is also the Co-Chair of the IEEE Real-Time Communications Conference. Prasenjit is an active member and contributor to ISACA Chicago Chapter. Prasenjit lives in Chicago with his wife Tamalika and 2 daughters.