Contact us:
2019 Speakers
Keynotes, speakers, and panelists for Texas Wireless Summit 2019 can be found below. Presentation slides are available via the link under the speaker's abstract.
JOSEPH A. PARADISO
Alexander W. Dreyfoos Professor
Assoc. Academic Head, Program in Media Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Joe Paradiso is the Alexander W. Dreyfoos (1954) Professor in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where he directs the Responsive Environments group and serves as the associate academic head. He received his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1981 and a BSEE from Tufts University in 1977, and joined the Media Lab in 1994 after developing spacecraft control and diverse sensor systems at Draper Laboratory and high-energy physics detectors at ETH Zurich and CERN Geneva. Much of his current research explores how sensor networks augment and mediate human experience, interaction and perception. This encompasses wireless sensing systems, wearable and body sensor networks, energy harvesting and power management for embedded sensors, ubiquitous/pervasive computing and the Internet of Things, human-computer interfaces, space-based systems, and interactive music/media. He has written over 300 articles and papers in these areas. In his spare time, he enjoys designing/building electronic music synthesizers, composing electronic soundscapes, and seeking out edgy and unusual music while traveling the world.
KEYNOTE: How We Will Connect To Our Networked Future in a Post-IoT World
​
We have already witnessed profound and often unanticipated developments as IoT is built out and the world is mediated via a mainly graphic wireless device held at arms length. But what will happen once the world is precognitively interpreted by what we term ‘sensory prosthetics’ that change what and how humans physically perceive, a world where your own intelligence is split ever more seamlessly between your brain and the cloud? Accordingly, this talk will overview the broad theme of interfacing humans to the ubiquitous electronic "nervous system" that sensor networks will soon extend across things, places, and people, going well beyond the ‘Internet of Things,’ challenging the notion of physical presence and the boundary of self. I'll illustrate this through two avenues of research - one looking at a new kind of digital "omniscience" (e.g., different kinds of browsers for sensor network data & agile frameworks for sensor/data representation) and the other looking at buildings & tools as "prosthetic" extensions of humans (e.g., making HVAC and lighting systems an extension of your natural activity and sense of comfort, or smart tools as human-robot cooperation in the hand), drawing from many projects that are running in my group at the MIT Media Lab and touching on technical areas ranging from low-power wearable sensing/robotics to cognitive audio and distributed sensor networks.
​
​
​
JEAN ANNE BOOTH
Chief Executive Officer | UnaliWear
A serial entrepreneur, Jean Anne Booth has 30 years of experience in high technology, and has raised over $100M in venture capital for her startup companies. Now on her fourth startup, UnaliWear’s Kanega watch has been named by focus groups to be a “wearable OnStar for People” because it provides discreet support for falls, medication reminders, and a guard against wandering in a voice-first, classically-styled watch. Jean Anne was previously the founder of Luminary Micro, the creators of the Stellaris® microcontroller (MCU) platform and the lead partner and first to market with ARM® Cortex™-M3-based microcontroller solutions. Jean Anne was also a founder at Intrinsity, which was sold to Apple in April 2010. Her first startup experience was at Exponential Technology, the creators of a 533 MHz BiCMOS PowerPC microprocessor. Jean Anne holds a BSEE from the University of Texas and an MSCE degree from National Technical University.
Wearables for the Longevity Economy
The world’s fastest-growing and most misunderstood market – the Longevity Economy – is responsible for $7.2T in economic activity annually, forecast to grow to over $13.2T by 2032 – when there will be more people in the US who are 65+ than there are under the age of 18. In this talk, I will take you through the human-first design and development of the UnaliWear Kanega watch and share our design lessons on building wearables for the Longevity Economy. I will also share practical information on understanding the FDA’s classification of wearable technology – and the costs required to build wearable solutions for health applications in the US.
​
​
​
​
SCOTT HANSON
CTO, Founder | Ambiq Micro
Scott Hanson is CTO and founder of Ambiq Micro. Scott led the development of Ambiq Micro’s SPOT platform at the University of Michigan and later founded the company in 2010. Since then, the company has grown quickly to become the world’s leader in low power chips with more than 50 million wearables, smart home devices, and smart cards all relying on Ambiq Micro’s unmatched energy efficiency. Today, Scott leads the development of Ambiq Micro’s technology roadmap to enable intelligence everywhere.
ALEX (JUN) GAO
Head of Digital Health Lab | Samsung Research America
Wearables, HCI, Context-Aware Computing in Digital Health Innovation
The proliferation of digital technology has made the consumer’s lifestyle, sleep pattern, habits, dietary preference easily accessible; even our heart rate, blood pressure, stress level, and other physiological signals can be measured continuously via wearables. This explosive data growth fueled the AI/ML based digital health innovation, presenting us many unprecedented opportunities, while in the same time, some mounting challenges as well. An important insight is that the capability to passively monitor the multifaceted health data, on a longitudinal basis, is the key for consumer adoption and value creation.
​
​
​
WEI GAO
Assistant Professor | California Institute of Technology
Wei Gao is an Assistant Professor of Medical Engineering at Caltech. He is interested in the future of personalized and precision medicine. He is engineering the next-generation of wearable health monitors and nanorobots. Originally from China, Gao earned his BS in mechanical engineering at Huazhong University of Science & Technology and his master’s in precision instruments from Tsinghua University. His Ph.D. in chemical engineering is from UC San Diego and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. He is a recipient of the 2019 IEEE Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award (Early Career), 2018 Sensors Young Investigator Award, and 2015 ACS Young Investigator Award (Division of Inorganic Chemistry). At the age of 31, Gao was selected for MIT Technology Review’s 2016 list of “35 Innovators under 35” for his development of a wearable health monitor that tracks indicators of health by analyzing sweat. For more information about Gao’s research and publications, visit www.gao.caltech.edu/.
Wearable Sweat Sensors for Personalized Health Monitoring
The rising research interest in personalized and precision medicine promises to revolutionize traditional medical practices. This presents a tremendous opportunity for developing wearable devices toward predictive analytics and treatment. In this talk, I will introduce fully-integrated flexible biosensors for multiplexed in-situ perspiration analysis, which can selectively and accurately measure a wide spectrum of sweat analytes (e.g., metabolites, electrolytes, heavy metals, drugs and other small molecules). This platform allows us to gain real-time insight into the sweat secretion and gland physiology. I will also demonstrate an integrated wearable sweat extraction and sensing system which can be programmed to induce sweat on demand with various secretion profiles. To demonstrate the clinical value of our wearable sweat sensing platform, human subject studies were performed toward fitness monitoring, physiological monitoring, cystic fibrosis diagnosis and drug monitoring. These wearable and flexible devices open the door to a wide range of personalized monitoring and diagnostic applications.
​
​
ROBERT HILL
Partner | Holland & Knight LLP
Robert S. Hill is a Dallas intellectual property partner at the international law firm Holland & Knight (“H&K”), with a practice focused on complex patent litigation.
Mr. Hill has litigated in a wide variety of technology areas, including wireless communications technology, enterprise communication systems, global positioning systems, pharmaceutical products and biotechnology. Mr. Hill also represents clients in cybersecurity investigations and intellectual property strategy engagements.
Mr. Hill is a member of H&K’s Technology & Telecommunications Industry Sector Group, 5G Initiative, and Digital Healthcare Initiative. He regularly writes and speaks about legal issues associated with new technologies.
​
Alex founded and is currently the head of the Digital Health Lab at Samsung Research America, with a mission to transform healthcare delivery via innovative digital technology, human-centric design, and AI. Alex also serves on the Board of Managers for the Personal Connected Health Alliance, a HIMSS organization dedicated to advancing the technology and application of connected health innovations. Alex has 25 years of global experience building technology and innovation-driven organizations. He brings broad and multidisciplinary experience across industry sectors of Media/Entertainment, Consumer-Electronics/IT convergence, Internet/Mobile communications, Energy, Semiconductor, and most recently digital health. Alex previously led the Technology Strategy team at Samsung Research America (SRA), responsible for strategy for establishing models, principles, and practices for successful R&D in Silicon Valley, evangelizing vision-driven initiatives that focus on services creation, user experiences design, product concept innovation, and computing science research. Alex holds a Master of Science degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Tsinghua University.
​
​
​
ADAM KELLY
Senior Software Engineer | General Motors
Adam Kelly is a senior software engineer at General Motors in Austin, TX working in computer vision and 3d development. Prior to that, he worked on the HoloLens team at Microsoft in Seattle, WA. Adam has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. All of his 3d development and deep learning skills come from practical projects and self-directed learning he does in his free time. He is also the creator of the Immersive Limit YouTube channel, where he shares his personal projects and thoughts on the industry.
​
TODD HUMPHREYS
Associate Professor | The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Humphreys specializes in the application of optimal detection and estimation techniques to problems in satellite navigation, autonomous systems, and signal processing. He joined the faculty of the Cockrell School of Engineering in Fall 2009. Dr. Humphreys directs the Radionavigation Laboratory at UT Austin and is associate director of UT SAVES. His recent focus has been on secure perception for autonomous systems, including navigation, timing, and collision avoidance, and on centimeter-accurate location for the mass market.
​
Dr. Humphreys is also on the graduate study committee of the UT Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received the UT Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012, the NSF Career Award in 2015, the Institute of Navigation Thurlow Award in 2015, and the PECASE award in 2019.
​
MICHAEL KLUG
Corporate VP of Advanced Photonics | Magic Leap
Michael Klug is the Corporate VP of Advanced Photonics at Magic Leap, where he has been a Leaper since 2014. He received his BS from MIT in 1989 and his MS from the Spatial Imaging Group at the MIT Media Laboratory in 1991. In 1996 he co-founded and served as CTO at Zebra Imaging, Inc., developing 3D holographic display products to serve a broad variety of applications including CAD visualization, holographic optical elements, and information storage. At Magic Leap, he leads a multi-disciplinary team responsible for developing nano-structured optical components and associated mass-production systems for near-eye display applications. Michael has contributed to over 55 issued and pending patents spanning three decades of concoction. Aside from the techie stuff, Michael enjoys farming, cycling, cooking, good live music and being weird.
Sensoryfields for Spatial Computing
Wearable spatial computers rely on a suite of sensors and displays designed to augment the user’s own senses and seamlessly fuse virtual and physical worlds. This paper will provide an overview of light fields and sensor systems used in the Magic Leap One spatial computer, their various applications, and comparisons to ideal objectives.
​
​
​
GABE COHN
Researcher | Microsoft Research
Dr. Gabe A. Cohn is a Researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, WA, where he works in Microsoft Healthcare on innovative sensing systems for novel medical devices. Cohn's research focuses on designing and implementing ultra-low-power embedded sensing systems, leveraging physical phenomena to enable new sensing modalities, and developing sensor systems targeted at realizing immediate change in high-impact application domains including healthcare. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2014 from the University of Washington, where he was advised by Shwetak Patel. He was awarded the Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship in 2012, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2010, and 6 Best Paper awards and nominations. He is a co-founder of SNUPI Technologies, a sensor and services company built around his thesis work on the SNUPI ultra-low-power wireless sensor network, and acquired by Sears in 2015. He received his B.S. with honors in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2009, where he specialized in embedded systems, computer architectures, and digital VLSI.
​
Redefining Noise: Finding Unintended Signals Everywhere
We are surrounded by noise everywhere. Sensing and signal processing is often focused on filtering out this noise in order to capture some signal of interest. In this talk, I will explore using signals that were traditionally considered noise and looking more deeply into these signals in order to utilize them for energy monitoring, activity recognition, and gesture recognition. The talk will focus on my past work looking at electrical noise, both conducted and radiated, but I will also generalize the approach of looking for signals within the noise, which can be applied to other signal types and application domains.
​
​
​
​
THOMAS KURIAN
Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiology | Ascension Medical Group
Bobby Kurian is faculty at UT Dell Medical School and practicing electrophysiologist at Seton Heart Institute. He has co-founded med tech companies and developed technologies in the cardiac electrophysiology space in the areas of cardiac mapping and ablation of cardiac arrhythmias (CardioNXT, AFTx). His most recent start-up RFMx is a digital health company that utilizes biometric data obtained from wearable devices connected to a patient-centered app that tracks and risk stratifies patients with chronic diseases that can be managed by health care providers remotely via a Digital Health Clinic to improve efficiency and clinical outcomes.
NANSHU LU
Associate Professor | The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Lu's research focuses on the mechanics and manufacture of flexible, stretchable, and bio-integrated electronics. She leadings an interdisciplinary group of 11 Ph.D. students and one postdoctoral researcher working on four major research areas: mechanics of flexible and stretchable structures, mechanics at bio-electronics interface, 2D materials for imperceptible bioelectronics, and freeform manufacture of soft bioelectronics. Representative work of her group includes cost- and time-effective “cut-and-paste” manufacture of electronic-tattoos (e-tattoos), wireless and disposable e-tattoos for the ambulatory recording of electrophysiology, respiration, temperature, hydration, oxygen saturation, etc., graphene-based imperceptible and ultra-conformable e-tattoos, adhesion between soft materials and between 2D materials, and so on. Dr. Lu has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles (with more than 5600 citations), many of which have appeared in high impact journals such as Science, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, PNAS, Advance Materials, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, and so on. She has 1 issued and 5 pending patents.
​
TWS Faculty Co-Chair
​
Wearables and Bio-Sensing Panel
Moderator
​
UT Research Showcase:
Wireless Electronic Tattoos for Personalized Mobile Sensing and Therapeutics
Merging the human body with electronics and machines can enable internet of health (IoH), human-machine interface (HMI), as well as augmented human capabilities. However, bio-tissues are soft, curvilinear, and dynamic whereas wafer-based electronics are hard, planar, and rigid. Over the past decade, stretchable high-performance inorganic electronics have emerged as a result of innovative structural designs and fabrication processes. In particular, epidermal electronics, a.k.a. electronic tattoos (e-tattoos) represent a class of noninvasive stretchable circuits, sensors, and stimulators that are ultrathin, ultrasoft and skin-conformable. Our group has invented a dry and freeform “cut-solder-paste” method for the rapid prototyping of wireless stretchable e-tattoos. The e-tattoos can be applied for electrophysiology (e.g. ECG, EEG, EMG, EOG, etc.), mechanophysiology (e.g. respiration, seismocardiogram, etc.), thermophysiology, photoplethysmography (PPG) etc.. The e-tattoos can also be used as personalized treatment and therapeutic device. For wireless operation, we leverage Bluetooth low energy (BLE) for wireless data transfer and near field communication (NFC) for wireless charging. A strategy to wirelessly charge e-tattoos on-the-go will also be introduced.
​
​
JOSE DEL R. MILAN
Professor | The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. José del R. Millán is a professor and holds the Carol Cockrell Curran Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a professor in the Department of Neurology of the Dell Medical School.
​
Dr. Millán has made several seminal contributions to the field of brain-machine interfaces (BMI), especially based on electroencephalogram signals. Most of his achievements revolve around the design of brain-controlled robots. He has received several recognitions for these seminal and pioneering achievements, notably the IEEE-SMC Nobert Wiener Award in 2011 and elevation to IEEE Fellow in 2017. In addition to his work on the fundamentals of BMI and design of neuroprosthetics, Dr. Millán is prioritizing the translation of BMI to end-users suffering from motor and cognitive disabilities. In parallel, he is designing BMI technology to offer new interaction modalities for able-bodied people.
​
UT Research Showcase
Brain-Machine Interfaces: Beyond the Clinical Realm
​
A brain-machine interface (BMI) is a system that enables users to interact with computers and robots through the voluntary modulation of their brain activity. Such a BMI is particularly relevant as an aid for patients with severe neuromuscular disabilities, although it also opens up new possibilities in human-machine interaction for able-bodied people. I will discuss scenarios where BMIs can augment our capabilities, from car driving to sports and human-robot interaction.
​
​
​
​
BRIAN MODOFF
Executive VP, Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions | Qualcomm
Brian Modoff has served as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions since October 2015. Prior to joining Qualcomm, Mr. Modoff was a Managing Director in Equity Research at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (Deutsche Bank), a provider of financial services, from March 1999 to October 2015. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Modoff was a research analyst at several financial institutions from November 1993 to March 1999. Mr. Modoff holds a B.A. degree in Economics from California State University, Fullerton and a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
​
​
​
​
The Transition to 5G—the journey of wireless transformation and its potential for the next decade
​
Wireless technologies have played an important role in our world. Over the past 30 years, we have witnessed the expansion of use cases addressed and economic value created by wireless. From relatively humble origins as means for personal communications (1G) to most recently as the key enabler of app economy (4G), wireless technologies have led the way in digital innovation and consumer experiences. We are at another pivotal point now. As we look forward, 5G is about to transform devices across all industries at a massive scale.
​
​
​
​
LILI QIU
Professor | The University of Texas at Austin
Lili Qiu is a Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Qiu received a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University and worked previously as a researcher at Microsoft Research. At UT, her current research focuses on wireless network management and content distribution in mobile networks. She has also done work on topics such as: network measurement and tomography; overlay routing/multihoming; Web performance and content/event distribution; TCP, active queue management, and congestion control; Packet classification and security; and IP telephony. Qiu has been named ACM Fellow, IEEE Fellow, and ACM Distinguished Scientist. She has received an NSF CAREER award and Google Faculty Research Award, and best paper awards at ACM MobiSys'18 and IEEE ICNP'17.
​
UT Research Showcase
Motion Tracking for VR, AR, and Smart Appliances
​
Video games, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Smart appliances (e.g., smart TVs and drones) all call for a new way for users to interact and control them. Motivated by this observation, we have developed a series of novel motion tracking technologies using acoustic signals. A unique feature of our approach is that it can achieve mm-level tracking accuracy on smartphones without special hardware. We further develop a few interesting applications on top of our motion tracking technology.
​
​
​
​
CHRISTINE SCHEVE
Chief Science Officer & Director of Bioengineering | Nano
Christine is currently the Chief Science Officer and Director of Bioengineering at Nano in Austin, Texas. Nano is an intelligent platform that utilizes information from an individual’s everyday life to compile a continuous comprehensive health profile resulting in personalized community support, actionable insights and on-demand products and services. Christine provides strategic direction and orchestrates the company’s approach to tracking and understanding the molecular-level interplay of real-time, behavioral, biological and exposure-based data. Christine’s deep experience in biotechnology spans disciplines including tissue engineering, drug delivery, molecular biophysics, and nanotechnology. Before Nano, Christine served as an advisor to startups focused on emerging developments in science and technology at Powershift Group, a venture development firm that founds and funds technology companies in Austin, Texas, worked for a top-level global clinical, regulatory and quality consulting firm specializing in medical and in vitro diagnostic devices and served as a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, the Department of Nanomedicine at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute and the University of Waterloo in Canada.
KIRAN SOMASUNDARAM
Applied Science Manager | Facebook Reality Labs
Kiran Somasundaram is an Applied Science Manager at Facebook Reality Labs in Redmond, WA, working on machine perception technologies for LiveMaps, a technology stack for AR/VR systems. He received his Ph. D., in Electrical and Computer Engineering, from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2010. Prior to joining Facebook, Kiran worked at Qualcomm Research on projects across robotics, mobile AR and wireless technologies. He was involved in the standardization and implementation of LTE-Advanced and holds over 20 patents in these areas.
​
​
​
AR/VR/MR Panel
Panelist
​
​
​
JOHN SMEE
VP of Engineering | Qualcomm
Dr. John E. Smee is Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies Inc., where he is the 5G R&D lead responsible for overseeing all 5G research projects including end-end systems design and advanced RF/HW/SW prototype implementations in Qualcomm’s wireless research and development group. He joined Qualcomm in 2000, holds over 100 U.S. Patents, and has been involved in the design, innovation, and productization of wireless communications systems such as 5G NR, 4G LTE, 3G CDMA, and IEEE 802.11. John received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton University and also holds an M.A. from Princeton and an M.Sc. and B.Sc. from Queen's University.
​
What's Next for 5G?
5G is here now, and mobile operators around the world are rolling out commercial services for a new generation of 5G enabled smartphones. As we head into 2020, we expect an even more accelerated expansion of 5G in terms of commercial availability and technology reach. At the same time, we are continuing to evolve 5G technologies to bring even better broadband experiences and new vertical services. Join this session to see what new broadband solutions beyond the smartphones are on the horizon, learn how 5G technologies are evolving beyond Release 15, and understand why the intelligent wireless edge is essential for realizing our 5G vision.
​
​
​
EDISON THOMAZ
Assistant Professor | The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Thomaz's research focuses on the sensing, recognition, and modeling of everyday human life activities in the service of health and well-being applications. His work combines technical approaches from Ubicomp, HCI, Machine Learning, and Signal Processing. Over the last decade, Dr. Thomaz has developed new human-centered approaches for collecting, visualizing and analyzing activity-centered sensor data using commodity devices. His dissertation work centered on the automatic detection of eating activities in real-world settings. Dr. Thomaz's work has been published and received awards in leading academic conferences such as Ubicomp, ICMI, IUI, and CHI. Dr. Thomaz is currently an active member of the NIH-funded Center of Excellence for Mobile Sensor Data-to-Knowledge and a leading researcher in the emerging field of personal health informatics. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as MIT Tech Review, The Houston Chronicle, and The Wall Street Journal.
​
​
TWS Faculty Co-Chair
​
AR/VR/MR Panel
Moderator
​
UT Research Showcase
Advancing Digital Phenotyping: New Directions in Wearables and Beyond
​
Personal devices such as smartphones and smartwatches are now so ingrained in our lives that the degree to which we use them, and the amount of data that can be sensed from them, characterizes a new and powerful form of human phenotype, a digital phenotype. In this short talk, I will present research from my group, the Human Signals labs, that shows how we are advancing digital phenotyping by pioneering new human-centered approaches to sensing and computation beyond traditional wearables and smartphones.
​
​
​
​