Biography

Vandana Janeja is Professor of Information Systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). She is director of iHARP, an NSF HDR Institute for Harnessing Data and Model Revolution in the Polar Regions. Her research is centered in the area of data science and AI with a focus on spatio-temporal analytics, and modelling heterogeneity across multiple domains. She heads the Multi Data lab at UMBC which brings together important societal projects such as climate resilience, ethics in data science, and information security through the lens of her research in data science and AI. She served as chair of the Information Systems Department from 2019–2023 and Associate Dean in the College of Engineering and Information Technology (Faculty Development and Research) from 2023–2026.

She is a member of the UMBC ADVANCE Executive Committee focusing on diversity in STEM and is a member of the ADVANCE leadership cohort (2020–2021), and an ELATES at Drexel leadership fellow (2021–2022). She is a UMBC Innovation Fellow (2020–2022) advancing the ideas of including ethics in data science. She served as an expert at NSF supporting data science activities in the CISE directorate (2018–2021). She also served as an AAAS S&TP Fellow in the Office of the Assistant Director in the Directorate of Computer Information Systems and Engineering (CISE) at NSF (2017–2018). During the fellowship, she helped with the visioning and coordination of cross-directorate activities for Harnessing the Data Revolution Big Idea at NSF, including Data Science Corps and Open Knowledge Network, among others, and related activities in the CISE directorate, including Cloud Access.

Her research has been funded through federal, state and private organizations including NSF, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, MD State Highway Administration, and Cisco. She holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology from Rutgers University. She completed her MBA from Rutgers University and MS in Computer Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Biography

Brian Shedd is currently the Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and Commercialization and the Interim Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Texas, Permian Basin. Prior to his arrival to UTPB, Brian worked in university technology transfer roles at the University of Houston (UH), Louisiana State University (LSU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At UH, he was the Director for the Office of Technology Transfer & Innovation housed at the Technology Bridge, a 75-acre research park focused on commercialization of new technologies. At LSU he was the Assistant Director of the Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) and responsible for intellectual property protection and commercialization of all of the research that takes place on the LSU campus. There he created and managed ENGINEERING INNOVATION, a program housed within the College of Engineering at LSU designed to engage faculty, staff, and students in commercialization of engineering research initiatives. Additionally, he served as the lead administrator of LSU’s NSF I-Corps Site Program that prepares scientists and engineers to move beyond the lab and into the market.

Brian also worked at UCLA in their technology transfer office, the Office of Intellectual Property, which is now known as the Technology Development Group. During his time at UCLA, he also served as a Board Member to PortTech Los Angeles, a business incubator focused on developing technologies for the Port of Los Angeles. Together with the Port of Long Beach, it ranks as the 10th largest port in the world. He also served as a Leadership Council Member for the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and as a lecturer in the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is also responsible for the creation and management of BRUINcubate, the UCLA Entrepreneur Support Network, involving more than 20 different entrepreneurial support organizations located on campus.

Brian Shedd is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana but has lived across the U.S. and internationally. Brian received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from UCLA in Mechanical Engineering and during his graduate studies, completed international visiting researcher programs with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, South Korea and the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Brian also has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a B.A. in Physical Science from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

As an engineer, Brian worked for Alliant Techsystems (ATK) in Clearfield, Utah as a Composite Tooling Engineer to help support rocket engine manufacturing on programs such as the Delta Rocket and Joint Strike Fighter. He also worked for General Electric in their Corporate Research and Development facility in Niskayuna, New York as an Electronic Reliability Engineer, helping to “bring good things to life.”

Throughout Brian’s technology transfer career, he has been involved in training, education, and promotion of the technology transfer profession both domestically and internationally. He is currently a committee member and instructor for the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Essentials Program and has participated in numerous panels and speaking engagements at AUTM’s annual meetings. Internationally, Brian has been involved with the EURECA Program, which is an initiative of the U.S. Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF), and the Commercial Law Development Program through the Office of the General Counsel within the U.S. Department of Commerce.