Speakers

Marc is a Software Architect at Southeastern Freight Lines, Inc. (SEFL) He has 21 years of IT experience with a lot of knowledge of Java and Web Development. He is responsible for assisting development teams with training and mentoring. He works with other members of the IT staff to ensure design and architecture decisions are a good match to the complex IT needs of SEFL. He is a South Carolina native with a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences from Clemson University.

Dr. Venkata Achanti leads Capgemini’s North America Microsoft Azure Cloud Services Practice. He led the effort to setup and operationalize Capgemini’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) in Columbia where his team focused on creating a work force of the future with innovation and expertise in Cloud, Digital Customer Experience, Intelligent Automation and Cybersecurity areas. He is passionate about connecting Columbia community and Universities with Capgemini as a choice employer in the market. With over 21 years of experience, Venkata specializes in building collaborative teams, developing digital business solutions, delivering enterprise-wide business and IT capabilities, and adding value to the customers [...]

Keith is a software architect for Avtec LLC, A Motorola Solutions Company, where he is developing cloud-based software. Keith started out his career in hardware, designing computer motherboards. He has had experience in a wide gamut of computing technologies from OS kernel development to systems performance analysis, to software development, to software architecture (and even a few years in management). Keith has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Duke University. He lives in Lexington SC with his wife and enjoys hiking and reading.

Kay is a Full-Stack Developer and has worked with Drupal and Wordpress for over ten years. She’s previously worked at Penn State and still calls Pennsylvania home. Kay double-majored in Psychology and Computer Science/Engineering after realizing that her passion for each was the same – analysis and problem-solving (though she admits problem-solving for websites is her true love). Outside of Aten, she volunteers with local transitional housing and homeless shelters. Kay regularly presents at Drupal conferences and events, like DrupalCamp Colorado and Decoupled Drupal Days.

Over the past two decades, Joe has worked on every aspect of website design and development. An experienced developer, strong communicator, and an Agile enthusiast, Joe is a technician and facilitator with an eye for great user experience. Joe helps plan some of Aten’s most technologically challenging projects and works work various teams at Aten to help establish best practices around process. Since coming to Aten, Joe has leveraged his technical background to help form strategic partnerships with our clients. Actively engaging with them to discuss how to best maintain their web presence, help sculpt internal tools, and guide them [...]

I am a mom, a data wrangling nerd, dapp developer helping to create decentralized applications and distributed solutions for the media industry and the children’s education space. My professional background and current occupation includes radio, television, audience delivery liability reporting and data visual application development. I also host the Women of Blockchain in Atlanta to help encourage women interested in blockchain to participate in this fascinating new industry. In addition, I have helped organize and am working with various state legislators, leaders, enterprise businesses and communities building the Georgia Blockchain Coalition.

Taylor Kimmett has more than a decade of software development experience, including having spent the past 5 years in software consulting and application development at managed services provider VC3. While there, he became part of the Cognito Forms development team and helped facilitate the platform’s growth from viable concept to global product. A former system administrator, developer evangelist, software consultant, and application developer, Taylor earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Clemson University.

Ram Vennam is a Product Manager and Developer Advocate for IBM with deep experience in the landscape of web application technology. He has worked in a number of development roles at IBM, with his current focus being on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the Istio.io open source service mesh project and is passionate about enabling other developers to use the latest cloud technologies through conferences, hackathons, education sessions, and demos. Current interests include Cloud, microservices, service mesh, scalability, and performance.

Robert is a Senior Specialist Solutions Architect with Red Hat working exclusively in the Kubernetes ecosystem. He has worked in IT for 15 years in various roles including development, systems administration and enterprise architecture.

A graduate from the University of South Carolina's Journalism and Mass Communication School, Laura stumbled into entrepreneurship and economic development. After starting her career with Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union, Laura joined the leadership team at the USC/Columbia Technology Incubator as their Director of Communications and Programs Manager. The Incubator is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Midlands startup community. Laura connected entrepreneurs with statewide resources, developed unique programs, and maintained critical relationships with media and community leadership. During her tenure, the Incubator experienced growth in technology startups with 45 tenant companies reflecting approximately $30M in annual revenue and [...]