By Sue McMurray, Carson College of Business
PULLMAN, Wash. – Learn about technology careers and how technology drives value in successful businesses at the annual Business Technology Symposium, 1‑3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, CUB Auditorium, at WSU Pullman.
Immediately following the symposium is the Biz Tech Competition (BiTC), in which management information systems students will present posters on solutions for business technology challenges. BiTC will be held in the Marriott Hospitality Dining Room, Todd Addition 268. Winners will take home $4,000 in cash prizes, funded by the Frank S. Sampson Endowment. Participants can register at the BiTC website until Sunday, Sept. 30.
The public and students in all majors are invited to hear top executives from leading enterprises discuss technology career pathways and how technology professionals create solutions for business problems, as well as to attend the competition.
Symposium presenters will include:
-
Kashif Ansari
Vice President, Americas Enterprise Presales, Dell EMC
Dell EMC is a part of Dell Technologies that enables organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center using servers, storage and data protection technologies. Ansari is responsible for Dell EMC’s 600-member presales team supporting the enterprise business in the U.S. and Canada, aligning sales strategy with industry trends and competitive positioning, and training sales engineers. His team advises customers on all Dell technologies and interfaces with many organizations within the company, including sales, specialty, customer service, professional services, product engineering and human resources.
-
Megan Bigelow
Director of Customer Reliability Engineering, Heptio
Bigelow created and leads Portland Women in Tech (PDXWIT), a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on empowering women and underrepresented groups to join tech. The organization also supports individuals to stay in tech by connecting them to companies, mentors and skill-building opportunities. The PDXWIT community is over 5000 strong and represents 29 percent of Portland’s tech workforce, including the support of 80+ tech companies. Bigelow also is the director of customer care at Jama Software, responsible for the global technical support and technical account management teams.
-
Frank Harrill
Director of Security, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
Harrill retired from the FBI in 2016, after devoting more than 20 years to the investigation of sophisticated cyberattacks, terrorist incidents and other federal crimes. Prior to joining the FBI, he served in the U.S. Navy for nearly 10 years as a carrier pilot and jet flight instructor. In 2011, Harrill earned a master’s degree in information technology with an emphasis in security and assurance, and he is a certified information systems security professional.
-
Cameron Schwartz
Systems Engineering Manager, Dell EMC
Schwartz will emcee the Business Technology Symposium. He manages a team of systems engineers responsible for crafting best technical solutions to business challenges for over 35 Fortune 500 and globally recognized enterprises. He has been in multiple roles in the IT industry for over 13 years. Starting with Dell EMC in 2005, he has experience with professional services delivery, solution architecture, and sales engineering supporting enterprise clients in the western U.S. across many industry markets that offer niche products or fit into multiple vendors. He also supports the WSU Carson College of Business supports the Carson College by serving on the Management Information Systems Advisory Board and coordinating mentorship and recruiting activities between the University and his organization.
The event is hosted by the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship within the WSU Carson College of Business, and is sponsored by Mike (’85, ’86) and Amy Dreyer (’86) and Steven (’76, ’84) and Cyndie Tarr.
Learn more about the Business Technology Symposium.
