Schedule
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Schedule
Browse the CAPWIC 2026 Schedule below or download this PDF.
| Time | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2:00PM — 6:45PM |
Registration |
Hallway/Atrium |
| 3:00PM — 5:00PM |
AWS 101 Workshop Registration only event (Registration Closed) Srinija Desiraju (AWS) Session Chair: Nguyen Ho (Loyola University Maryland) |
AB1-3140 |
| 3:00PM — 5:00PM |
Discover, Fly, Explore, Play (Campus Tour) Experience innovation firsthand through immersive labs, a captivating drone display, a guided campus tour, and engaging group activities. |
Boeing Auditorium |
| 3:00PM — 5:00PM |
Graduate/Career Fair |
Hallway/Atrium |
| 5:00PM — 5:15PM |
Break Gather in the Atrium for group photographs. |
|
| 5:15PM — 5:30PM |
Welcome Sehrish Basir Nizamani, Christine Julien (Virginia Tech) |
Boeing Auditorium |
| 5:30PM — 7:00PM |
Dinner |
Boeing Auditorium |
| 6:00PM — 6:10PM |
Keynote Introduction Christine Julien (Virginia Tech) |
Boeing Auditorium |
| 6:10PM — 6:55PM |
Keynote Tools in Your Toolbox: What I've Learned as a Professional Female Computer Scientist Dr. Laurian Vega is a dynamic leader and accomplished technologist with over 15 years of experience driving innovation in enterprise software and system development. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech (2011) and has built an impressive career working at renowned organizations, including IBM (twice), PARC, and as a contractor supporting the Department of War. She currently supports Booz Allen Hamilton as a market and technical lead for 100 people. Her expertise spans technical leadership across more than 20 impactful projects, showcasing her ability to solve complex challenges at the intersection of technology and systems engineering. A staunch advocate for diversity and inclusion in tech, Dr. Vega is passionate about empowering women to thrive in the computing industry. Her career demonstrates an unwavering commitment to excellence, adaptability, and collaboration in high-stakes environments. At this conference, she is eager to share her insights, experiences, and lessons learned, inspiring others to blaze their trails in technology. |
Boeing Auditorium |
| 6:50PM — 7:00PM |
Q&A / Closing Remarks |
Boeing Auditorium |
| Time | Description | Location | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:45AM — 4:30PM |
Registration |
Hallway/Atrium |
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| 7:50AM — 8:50AM |
Breakfast |
Hallway/Atrium |
||||||||||||||||||
| 9:00AM — 9:05AM |
Keynote Introduction Erika Olimpiew (Virginia Tech) |
Boeing Auditorium |
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| 9:05AM — 9:50AM |
Keynote Goodbye Imposter, Hello Winner: Overcoming Perceptual Expectations to Reclaim Excellence Candace R. Aku is a strategic technology leader and accomplished program management professional with over 15 years of experience driving complex technical and organizational initiatives within a Fortune 500 company. Currently serving as a Senior Technical Program Manager for Google Public Sector, she leverages over 12 years at Google to deliver advanced technology solutions to the Federal Government. Her career journey has progressed through various technical and leadership roles, including Data Center Technician, Global Program Manager Lead over Network Deployments, and directing the scoping of simultaneous, multimillion-dollar projects. Her expertise spans organizational strategies, data analytics, and workflow optimization. An alumnus of Clemson University (B.S. in Industrial Engineering) and The Citadel Graduate College (M.S. in Technical Project Management), she is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Beyond her corporate achievements, Candace is a serial entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for bridging the gap between technology and business. A dedicated Change Architect, she is focused on inspiring youth in underserved communities to gravitate toward technology and empowering others to implement technology in their endeavors. At this conference, she is eager to share her journey and insights to inspire women to thrive in the computing industry. |
Boeing Auditorium |
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| 9:55AM — 10:00AM |
Break Gather in the Atrium for a group photograph. |
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| 10:00AM — 11:00AM |
Parallel Sessions
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| 11:10AM — 12:10PM |
Parallel Sessions
|
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| 12:15PM — 1:10PM |
Lunch |
Hallway/Atrium |
||||||||||||||||||
| 12:15PM — 1:10PM |
Graduate/Career Fair |
Hallway/Atrium |
||||||||||||||||||
| 1:20PM — 2:20PM |
Parallel Sessions
|
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| 2:30PM — 3:30PM |
Parallel Sessions
|
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| 3:40PM — 3:50PM |
Keynote Introduction Jessica Zeitz (University of Mary Washington) |
Boeing Auditorium |
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| 3:50PM — 4:35PM |
Keynote Human-Centered Automation: A Journey through HCI, AI, and the Future of Robotics Meg is the UX lead for Intrinsic.ai, where she focuses on making it easier to create automation solutions with industrial robotics. She is a “Xoogler” and previously worked on Vertex AI and Explainable AI services for Google Cloud. Meg has had a varied career working for start-ups and large corporations alike, and she has published on topics such as information visualization, educational-technology design, voice user interface (VUI) design, explainable AI (XAI), and human-robot interaction (HRI). Meg is a proud alumnus of Virginia Tech, where she received her Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction. |
Boeing Auditorium |
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| 4:35PM — 5:05PM |
Closing |
Boeing Auditorium |
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