Our SUPPORTERS
Dr. George M. Pantalos
Professor Univ. Louisville
Dr. George Pantalos has been a cardiovascular explorer for over 45 years. Much of that effort has included the development of surgical devices and procedures to make the research projects possible. He has been a Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Louisville since July 2000, after holding similar appointments at the University of Utah for 17 years. Dr. Pantalos has collaborated with NASA for many years helping to understand cardiovascular adaptation to the weightlessness of space flight and the return to Earth. Dr. Pantalos has flown 43 research missions on the NASA parabolic flight aircraft and led the development of a cardiovascular diastolic function experiment – that included an instrumented artificial heart beating on a circulation simulator – that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Dr. Pantalos is a strong advocate for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. During his college years at The Ohio State University, Dr. Pantalos taught hands-on science classes during COSI’s summer education sessions, and his groundbreaking work with artificial hearts and long-time love of space flight have culminated in a fascinating career that has taken him on 31 zero gravity flights to examine the effects of gravity and weightlessness on the cardiovascular system.
Swathi Young
Founder TechNotch Solutions
Swathi Young is the founder of TechNotch solutions. Mrs. Young previously held leadership positions at Amtrak, SunGard and Oracle. She is, more recently, helping organizations leverage the power of machine learning to solve business problems eg, fraud detection and customer service intelligent agents also researching the ethical implications of biased data in AI applications. Swathi built a community of over 2000 members – “DC Emerging Technologies” with the sole purpose of educating and having conversations around how emerging technologies like Blockchain, AI etc. can be used by organizations to increase productivity growth and innovation. She is currently researching the ethical implications of biased data in AI applications and helping organization leverage the power of machine learning to solve business problems eg, fraud detection and customer service intelligent agents. Her specialities include Ethics in AI, Humanizing Big data,AI solutions, Product Management, Digital Strategy Web and Mobile Applications (iOS and Android),Agile and Continuous Delivery(DevOps) , Public/Private/Hybrid Clouds , Product Development and Digital transformation. Mrs. Young is a big proponent of STEM and a well-known STEM speaker that volunteers her valuable time in promoting STEM in local communities and beyond.
Nishat Ahmed
EVP M.C. Dean
Nishat Ahmed is the Executive Vice President of M.C. Dean, one of the nation’s largest systems integrator as of January 2010. In this role, he is responsible for leading the company’s strategy on technology, solutions and services across the entire integration value chain from the point of generation to consumption. Mr. Ahmed has held numerous leadership positions in consumer electronics and medical products related industries. Mr. Ahmed holds 36 certifications in various engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, reliability, quality and information systems. He has also received six degrees from various prestigious universities such as University of Virginia, Case Western Reserve University, and University of Maryland primarily in engineering and business management areas. He is also Virginia-DPOR licensed Professional Engineer. Mr. Ahmed is very passionate about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. He is a well-known volunteer, speaker and contributor in the supply chain/logistics engineering area, serving as a committee member for the Supply Chain Professional as well Certified Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) designation offered by APICS. He has also served as examiner for US Senate Productivity and Quality award for Virginia.
Sheila Alzate
Principal, Briar Woods High School
Sheila Alzate is principal of Briar Woods High School is a proud graduate of Loudoun Valley High School and a 2009 inductee into the Viking Athletic Hall of Fame. Alzate served as an assistant principal at Briar Woods last year after six years as an assistant principal at Stone Bridge. In many ways, Alzate feels Loudoun – despite explosive growth – is the same place where she grew up. “The biggest similarity for me is the connectedness in the county. It’s not uncommon for me to have a parent come to my office for discussion, then we find out they graduated from Park View, Broad Run, County or Valley.” Alzate added she can pick up the phone and get a direct connection to someone in central administration who can help her with school-related issues. “That connectedness is key and essential.” Alzate believes our future leaders, neighbors, and workers have the ability to understand and solve some of the complex challenges of today and tomorrow, and to meet the demands of the dynamic and evolving workforce, building students’ skills, content knowledge, and fluency in STEM fields is essential.
Krish Subramanian
Sr. Director Capitol One
Krish Subramanian leads the Resolution and Recovery Planning Office in the Corporate Treasury Group at Capitol One. He is responsible for overseeing the development, delivery and implementation of the company’s resolution and recovery plans, and for managing the processes that drive the development of these plans. Mr. Subramanian has been an Investment Banker at Bank of America Securities, along with being CFA Charter holder with a Masters of Business Administration from the Kelley School of Business. Mr. Subramanian has been a STEM practitioner and leader for over seventeen years and an esteemed supporter of student-led STEM initiatives in Northern Virginia.Mr. Subramanian says no matter where children live, they have access to quality learning environments. A child’s zip code should not determine their STEM fluency.
Cassandra Petito
Sr. Director Freddie Mac
Cassandra Petito leads one the largest transformation for customers of Freddie Mac to improve user experience call Loan Advisor Suite. It is a multiyear and multimillion-dollar transformation, focused on redesigning user experience through software development as well as through marketing and branding. Mrs. Petito’s role is leading the technology transformation by building smarter and more technologically advanced software to enhance the end user experience as well as to harness the rich data that is submitted by customer. The data will in turn be used in the background to make smarter loan decisions, improving accuracy and reducing risk to Freddie Mac. As part of the technology transformation, Mrs. Petito and her team took a methodical approach to demonstrating the benefits of the new technology platform. This approach can be applied to most things Mrs. Petito and her team do when leading the company forward in a new leading-edge direction. Mrs. Petito is a passionate practitioner and supporter of STEM, Mrs. Petito is actively involved in local community efforts in STEM.
Dr. Neal D. Kravitz
DMD MS
Dr. Neal Kravitz is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He also serves as a clinical faculty member and research adviser at the University of Maryland and Washington Hospital Center. Dr. Kravitz is a dual Ivy-Leagued trained orthodontist with undergraduate degree from Columbia University, and received a Doctorate in Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Kravitz is a prolific supporter of STEM, he lectures throughout the country and internationally on modern advancements in orthodontics and medicine; Dr. Kravitz is an active member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the Southern Association of Orthodontist, the Virginia Dental Association, the Northern Virginia Dental Association and the Northern Virginia Orthodontic Study Club, where he is a recurrent speaker.
Dr. John Leddo
Ph. D Yale University
Dr. John Leddo is an educational psychologist and holds a Ph.D. from Yale University with 30 years of professional experience. Dr. Leddo has published curricula in math, science, english, and history that have been used in thousands of classrooms across the country. He has been awarded millions of dollars in grants to research methods of improving education and has over 40 publications and presentations on diverse topics in education including seven books available on Amazon. His scientifically based teaching methods won praise from the U.S. Department of Education and helped a New Jersey school district rise from bottom 25% to top performing. Dr. Leddo is a well-respected STEM practitioner and STEM speaker in Northern Virginia and beyond.