Ben Barkin-Wilkins has been a part of the campus Networking group since 2012. He was part of the team that designed and installed both the current and previous backbone networks. He has also participated in the the design and installation of the campus Exit and the ICCN network.

Christy Blew is Disability Specialist in Alternative Media Production for Accessible Media Services (AMS) in the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She joined AMS in July of 2021 after 15 years as an IT Accessibility Specialist at DRES, finding her greatest success in helping to eliminate stigmas and myths that have been associated with IT Accessibility through advocating and educating. Among courses in Word, PPT, and PDF, Christy has developed a free online course, IT Accessibility 101, which is used by instructors as well as their classes to learn about the basics of Digital Accessibility. She has worked with converting music for assistive technology for one and a half years now. Christy has held memberships with the W3C Protocols and Formats working group and the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). She serves on several campus initiatives including the Technology Accessibility Review Committee (TARC) on the University of Illinois Campus. You will also find her collaborating with other Big10 Universities to develop IT accessibility solutions to make the U of I campus a better place for everyone, including those with disabilities.

Cybersecurity Risk Analyst with a background in IT at UIUC. At GRC I specialize in identifying, assessing, and mitigating IT risk across campus. I'm passionate about finding ways to embrace new technologies while emphasizing personal data protection and privacy.

I am from the suburbs of Chicago and received my degree from Parkland College. I have been in the IT field for over 5 years and started work at the university just one and a half years ago. I'm happy to share my experience with any anyone interested!

Alex Cordain has been providing captioning, text and music conversion services to students with disabilities through the University of Illinois' Accessible Media Services unit since 2019. He has helped develop AMS' music conversion process, modernize their text conversion training including developing a training program for student workers which is being adapted to online training modules. Alex serves as an IT Accessibility Liaison, being a point of contact for anyone in Disability Services who may have questions about digital accessibility. He has helped to grow the Educational Materials Made Accessible (EMMA) initiative to share remediated materials between Disability Services Offices.

Brandon Dohman is an accomplished global product executive with 17+ years of expertise in product management, innovation, and strategy. Known for leading high-performing teams and delivering customer-focused solutions that drive significant revenue growth, Brandon is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Illinois, fostering hands-on design thinking skills in students. His experience spans across various product and engineering teams, where he has been instrumental in promoting customer-centric development and refining product management processes

Current : Instructional Media Systems Technician - COMIR Previous : Manager : Professional Audio and Video department - Keeble and Shuchat - Palo Alto, CA RF for Wireless - Sennheiser Sound Academy - San Fransisco Studio recording - Sennheiser Sound Academy - 5858 Lucas Valley Road, Nicasio California.

Richard Donovan is a Cybersecurity Engineer with the Privacy and Security Team in Technology Services. In his spare time, Richard enjoys, playing music, games, and working with various Circuit boards.

Sarah Follmer is an associate data analyst with the Data and Technology Innovation team (DTI) within Technology Services. Born and raised in Urbana (an Illini for life!), she now joins us remotely from Ann Arbor, Michigan. After spending several years learning the ropes in the Tech Services Help Desk, she moved on to the DTI team where she spends most of her time assisting with security-related projects. These include tracking down controlled unclassified information in emails, personal identifiable information in machine logs, and who has kept up with their required security training. Sarah enjoys diving into new tools and learning just about anything, in addition to finding ways to streamline and automate workflows. Outside of work, you can catch her doing one of many hobbies, including gaming, gardening, and fixing things.

Jeffrey Fox is currently the Chief Information Officer and Process Improvement Coordinator at the UIUC College of Veterinary Medicine. He is responsible for all IT operations as well as process improvement initiatives within the College where he leads technical, and sometimes non-technical projects and initiatives. He holds an MBA from Illinois, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MSU. He is currently vice-chair of the IT Steering Committee, member of the IT Advisory Governance Committee of the Strategic Project Management Office, and active on several campus steering, advisory committees, and working groups including the Op-Ex Service Excellence Team. Prior to working at the University he was a trained Six Sigma Blackbelt and Project Manager working in a variety of technology areas with diverse cross-functional teams building skills which he continue to utilize and build on here at University of Illinois.

Ben works with researchers all over campus to find advanced computing solutions funded by Illinois Computes to solve their most pressing research needs.

Rich is a member of the Systems Offices' Business Process Automation team which provides support and coordination for enterprise-wide document management (Banner Document Management), workflow, electronic forms, and Robotic Process Automation. Rich has 20+ years of experience supporting and administration of BDM-Xtender. Rich is also a member of the Records and Information Management Services team (RIMS), providing direction on electronic information management and digital records/non-records guidance, services, and best practices for digital repositories.

James is an expert in Windows, MacOS, iPadOS, Android and used an iPhone once, it was fine. James likes small phones, keyboard phones, the Raspberry Pi, and keeping things running and out of the landfills as long as possible. When not working he enjoys watching sci-fi, cartoons, and old sitcoms with his partner and their two cats.

I been a web developer IT Partners at the College of Education since 2014, making sure the websites, digital signs, and technology-related communication solutions serve the college. I also am heavily involved in the Web Implementation Guidelines Group project, focusing on web components, accessibility, and analytics. In my spare time, I play role-playing games, board games, walk, and take care of cats.

Taylor leads the cybersecurity operations team which includes Cybersecurity Operations Center (CSOC), Cybersecurity Engineering (SecEng), and Cybersecurity Development (SecDev). These three groups provide both reactive and proactive support to the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Springfield, and the system offices. He brings over 20 years of IT and cybersecurity experience. Currently his focus is on building collaborative teams that are able to execute to improve the cybersecurity posture of higher-education.

Lori Lane brings 11+ years of teaching experience and 14+ years of information technology accessibility experience to her new position as a UDL Specialist at CITL. Previously, she worked for 8 years with U of I's Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). Lori is knowledgeable in instructional design and the UDL framework and is one of the co-developers, along with Marc Thompson and Tania Heap, of the MOOC, An Introduction to Accessibility & Inclusive Design. Lori is currently collaborating with CITL's Data Analytics group to evaluate Explorance Blue, a system-wide replacement for the ICES student evaluation system. As a UDL Specialist on CITL's UDL Team, Lori is available to consult with the campus community, provide workshops, and collaborate with campus-wide projects.

Cybersecurity Risk Analyst with over a 15 years of experience in IT. Background includes roles in law enforcement and IT, providing a diverse skill set to the GRC team. Particularly interested in exploring cybersecurity risks associated with emerging technologies, with a focus on AI. Committed to understanding the evolving threat landscape and implementing effective risk management strategies.

Rachel is currently a Senior eLearning Specialist with the Enterprise Teaching & Learning Technologies team and provides support for the Canvas learning management system and other ed tech for campus. Before joining Technology Services, she worked as an instructional designer with the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning and the Gies College of Business.

Beth McCarter is an Assistant Director within the AITS Technical Application Management (TAM) team. She joined the University of Illinois in 2002 during the UI-Integrate project as an analyst, specifically focusing on the aspects of the student module implementation of the Banner ERP system. In her various roles within AITS, Beth has worked on student related projects and initiatives, spent time working as part of a core team of specialists that facilitated business process improvement initiatives, and has helped to improve and support enterprise security request and provisioning processes. As Beth moved into a leadership role in 2014 she led a team of analysts focused on the support and maintenance of student related enterprise systems as well as continued to be part of a team supporting enterprise security functions. Beth has now turned her focus fully towards enterprise security as she is a lead on a multi-year initiative to develop and implement an access management system that efficiently facilitates requests, approvals, provisioning, and certifications related to University of Illinois enterprise systems.

Cindy McKendall is a Senior Cybersecurity Training Specialist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and she brings over 20 years of experience in higher education staff training to the world of cybersecurity training and awareness. She holds certifications as a SANS Security Awareness Professional (SSAP) and Information Accessibility Design and Policy (IADP) and has presented at IT Pro Forum, TechTeach, University of Minnesota's Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and the EDUCAUSE Cybersecurity and Privacy Professionals Conference.

Becky is the Executive Director for Project Management and Business Service Quality. She leads the Strategic Project Management Office, a unit within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Operations. She has knowledge and expertise in Project Management, Business Analysis, Process Improvement, DevOps and leading high-functioning teams. A '95 alum of Gies College of Business with over 15 years of experience at Illinois and more than 21 in higher education, Becky has a deep understanding of project management intricacies and the unique challenges faced within the university context.

With over a decade of experience in the private sector, Tim brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as the leader of the Cloud Enablement team at the University of Illinois. He has been an integral part of Technology Services for nearly five years, driving the team's efforts in empowering the university community through innovative cloud solutions.

Dave teaches design, technology, and social justice classes for the iSchool. Prior to that, he was a Technology Facilitator with Engineering IT supporting Grainger College of Engineering faculty with instructional technology and pedagogy consulting.

Aaron has been with the University for the past 10 years. He is a senior system developer at the GIES College of business. He has been developing using Microsoft products for the past 18 years. He specializes in C#/.NET and MS SQL. He loves take complex problems and breaking them into small consumable pieces. His passion lays in making code as readable as possible!

Dan Ogwal has been with the University for over 5 years and currently serves as a Cybersecurity Risk Analyst on the GRC team.

Erica Ohman has worked with Technology Services for four years, most recently with the Identity and Access Management Team. She also completed her MSLIS with iSchool at the University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign. She has worked with several teams to implement onboarding and offboarding workflows in TDX and create different TDX forms. Erica presently works with Bitwarden and Class Rosters.

Liz is a UX strategist, designer, and end-user advocate. She is passionate about creating thoughtful, data-driven, holistic user experiences. Eager curiosity, infectious empathy, a collaborative spirit, and a joyful ethos guide her practice. Liz is a teammate with the Website Management Center of Expertise and active in the Website Implementation Guidelines Group. She is also part of the Women in Technology leadership team, an Accessibility Liaison, and volunteers on the Web Con Website and Accessibility Committees. She is a two-time U of I grad with degrees in Advertising and Information Science.

This workshop is presented by Women in Technology (WIT). Our diverse group provides a safe space for respectful dialogue, connecting with like-minded professionals, and sharing best practices and timely insights. Our group is open to anyone interested in career development… you don't have to be in IT or identify as a woman. We're here to support career growth and advancement for everyone! We are a resource and support system for anyone at any level working a technology-related field. We cultivate the next generation of academic and IT leaders with diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do. WIT is open to staff, researchers, faculty, and administrators at the University of Illinois system.

Killivalavan Solai, a seasoned technical artist with over twenty years of experience, excels in blending art and technology to produce impactful projects. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science and Engineering and Master of Fine Arts in Computer Art. He co-founded successful ventures and gained recognition for his animated short film "Evy In The New World, " which received numerous awards worldwide. He has collaborated with world-renowed artist like Lillian Schwartz. His contributions extend to film production, where he served as a Character Simulation Technical Director for the Hollywood movie "EPIC, " earning nominations for prestigious awards. Killivalavan's influence also extends to academia, where he created top-ranked online courses for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and contributed research to respected journals. Noteworthy projects include Joviality VR, offering psychological interventions through Virtual Reality, and the successful launch of the University's iMBA program. Currently, as Digital Art Director at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Killivalavan continues to lead innovative projects, solidifying his reputation as a visionary at the nexus of art, technology, and education.

Kasy is a valued member of the Cloud Enablement team, specializing in Amazon Web Services (AWS). With one and a half years of experience on the cloud team, he has been instrumental in helping the university community leverage the power of AWS to achieve their goals and accelerate innovation.

Jamie Stadnik is a software developer for the Software Development Group at Technology Services. As part of Scrum Team D, he develops and maintains several web apps and APIs, including Cerebro, NetID Claim, and Class Rosters. He also built data pipelines and interactive dashboards for Illinois Extension program evaluation in his previous role as a data analyst.

Dena is part of the Web and Collaborative Services team at Technology Services. With a MLIS degree from the iSchool, 25 years of experience in web technologies, and a personal interest in usability, accessibility, information architecture, and information flow, Dena enjoys collaborating and consulting with people across campus on projects including the Research Data Service, Illinois Data Bank, Research IT, and cPanel Web Hosting service. She's been part of the IT Pro Forum and Caffeine Break committees since 2008. Dena is also a certified Software Carpentry instructor.

Dr. Thompson is the Program Director for the Information Accessibility Design & Policy Program (IADP) and Assistant Director of Teaching & Learning Experiences at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He has taught at the university level for more than 35 years and has over 25 years of experience teaching online courses and providing online teaching instruction. In addition to his teaching experience, he has a background in web design, instructional media, and web-based learning platforms. He is the accessibility liaison for the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning at the University of Illinois and has presented at a number of workshops and conferences on the teaching of accessibility and universal design for learning, creating accessible course contents. Dr. Thompson is a member of the Teach Access. Universities Task Force and has partnered with Microsoft on several educational initiatives, including their Accessibility Lighthouse Program. His book chapter, "Three Approaches to Teaching Accessibility and Inclusive Design, " was published March 2023 in A Guide to Digital Accessibility: Policies, Practices, Tools, and Professional Development..

I am a lifetime local that graduated from Centennial High School and from Parkland College with an associate's degree in Computer Science. I have always been enamored with computers since I was very young, and decided early on that when I grew up, I wanted to work with computers. I've been working in IT at the University of Illinois for about a year an a half after finding this job almost immediately out of College. Now, having spent so much time with computers, I want to share my knowledge with those who have the same interest in computers that I do.

Dejan joined the University of Illinois about 6 years ago. Throughout his tenure on campus, he has led projects for infrastructure automation, standardization, modernization, and strengthening of security posture. His past experiences include server administration, virtual hosting, IAM, and implementation of Cloud solutions in the Office 365 Cloud and the Azure Cloud. When he is not working, he is probably researching XR (AR/VR/MR) or doing something related to soccer!

As a member of the Cloud Enablement team within Technology Services, Geet serves as the Google Cloud service administrator for the University of Illinois. Her expertise in managing and optimizing Google Cloud resources ensures that the university community has access to cutting-edge tools and services to drive their projects forward.

Mark is the lead engineer for Cybersecurity Engineering – a team that provides guidance and consultation to faculty and staff on security compliance and best practice. Mark began his career in IT at the university in 2014, and has worked in many areas of campus, including Athletics, Administration, and Admissions. In 2018 he began working as a cybersecurity professional. Mark strongly believes that good cybersecurity habits are important for anyone who uses the internet and strives to make them easy for anyone to understand.

David is the Project Director for the Center-wide file system named Taiga, and the tape archive system named Granite, both of which are available through Illinois Computes. In addition, he supports the Illinois Computes program through engagement and program outreach. David is the Lead of the NSF ACCESS Operations Network and Data Transfer Services group in support of NSF allocated systems.

Tanya Williamson joined the University of Illinois in February 2008 as a Visiting Training Specialist within AITS . She has worked in the IT project arena since 1999 as a User Support Specialist, Business Analyst, Quality Assurance Specialist, and Application Trainer. Tanya holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate from the Project Management Institute and earned the Graduate Certificate in Project Management at UIS. Her experience and many roles in IT led her to an opportunity to lead and manage projects within AITS where she works as a Senior Project Coordinator within the AITS Project Management Office.

Maude Yacapsin holds a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership and Online Teaching from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, NE. Her research primarily focuses on Ed Tech platforms used to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in educational settings. She is currently a UDL Specialist for CITL's Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Team and collaborates with professionals from the cities and towns surrounding Chicago, Champaign, Urbana and Springfield, Illinois. Maude has over 25 years of experience working in Instructional Design, Inclusive Education and Faculty Development. She embraces diversity and inclusion in both her work and personal life. Working on CITL's UDL Team has allowed her to experience and deliver inclusive teaching and learning opportunities with faculty, staff, and students. Together with the UDL team, she helps design courses, trainings, and workshops that are accessible and engaging for all learners.