Al Auda is a managing director in the Cloud First and Cloud Infrastructure Engineering groups in Accenture’s Technology practice.  Al has over 25 years of experience in extensive cloud transformation, data centres, infrastructure/apps, networking, unified communications, and contact center technology and service.  Al currently leads the Mainframe Modernisation to Cloud business for the Australia and New Zealand region.  Al has an MS in electrical and communications engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology (1995), as well as a BS in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Iowa (1989). 

Adam Brantman is the CEO of Brava Roof Tile in Washington, Iowa. Brava is a developer of synthetic, architectural roofing products made from environmentally friendly material. Brantman also currently serves as a managing partner for TGG Investments, LLC, in Coralville, Iowa. He is a University of Iowa graduate and attended law school at Drake University. After law school, Brantman spent time as an attorney for Bradley & Riley PC and Pugh Hagan Prahm PLC from 2013 to 2014.  

Amy E. Colbert is a professor of management & entrepreneurship and the Leonard A. Hadley Chair in Leadership in the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. She earned a PhD in organizational behavior and human resource management from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree in decision sciences from Saint Louis University, and a BS in accounting and mathematics from Culver-Stockton College. Prof. Colbert's research focuses on the ways in which individuals connect with their work, their co-workers, their supervisors, and their organizations in ways that motivate and sustain them. She also investigates the role of individual differences and identities in shaping people’s responses to work contexts. Finally, she studies leaders, examining the factors that contribute to effective leadership and the mechanisms by which leaders achieve results.

Robert Hedgepeth, a native of Fort Madison, Iowa, commissioned in the Signal Corps from the University of Iowa Army ROTC program and graduated with a BS in electrical engineering. He holds an MA (with honors) in unconventional warfare from American Military University and a master of strategic studies degree from the U.S. Army War College. After graduating from Iowa, Rob began work as an electrical engineer at Brooks Borg Skiles Architecture Engineering (now BBS Architects | Engineers) and is now one of five owners of the firm. As a part-time soldier in the Iowa Army National Guard, he served in numerous command and staff positions. He retired from the National Guard in 2017 at the rank of Colonel (O-6). He was instrumental in the founding of the Mighty Hawkeye Battalion Alumni Association and sat on the board for six years, including five as president. 

Keith Higginbotham is an aerospace physiologist for the Human Performance Engineering (HPE) team at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas. His expertise includes human factors application in cockpit design and development, aerospace physiology and aeromedical topics, eye tracking, human performance sensing, flight safety topics, and life support systems. Keith has built an industry-unique capability that provides objective biometric data used to verify/validate human-machine interface concepts and provide real-time eye tracking and pilot health data for integration with aircraft systems. Prior to joining LM Aero, he managed programs as an aerospace and operational physiologist, flight safety officer, and human systems integrator in the U.S. Air Force until his retirement in 2014. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas Tech University and a master’s degree in aviation human factors from Arizona State University. 

Dr. Shelley Petroy manages the Earth Science portfolio at Ball Aerospace. In this role, she leads a team of technologists and scientists in support of innovative mission development for NASA, NOAA, USGS, and NGOs. She has more than 25 years of experience engaging and supporting the Earth science and aerospace communities in remote sensing technologies, calibration, and algorithm development. Her career began at the Smithsonian Institution, where she studied the moons of Jupiter using Voyager images; following her PhD, she transitioned to the aerospace industry. Prior to rejoining Ball Aerospace in 2017, Dr. Petroy led data product development at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). She received a PhD in remote sensing/geology from Washington University in St. Louis, an MS in planetary geology from Arizona State University, and a BS in geology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Bern Shen mentors and invests in health tech startups. He practiced emergency medicine for 15 years at Yale, University of Pittsburgh, University of California San Francisco, and international sites. He has two decades of health tech experience in both large companies (HP, Oracle, Intel) and startups in the US and abroad, and as an entrepreneur and angel investor. At the University of Iowa, he has previously been an adjunct faculty member in the Carver College of Medicine and the Tippie College of Business, an advisory board member at the College of Public Health, and a board member at the UI Research Foundation. Dr. Shen holds an A.B. from Harvard and an MD, MPhil. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale.