Jeffco Public Schools

Welcome To Jeffcon 2023

Tracy Dorland, Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent

Tracy holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Colorado, Denver and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder

The Power of Artificial Intelligent & Machine Learning Today and a Look into Tomorrow

Shelbee Eigenbrode, AWS

Shelbee Eigenbrode is a Principal Machine Learning Specialist Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS). She’s been in technology for 24 years spanning multiple roles, industries and technologies. With her background in both machine learning and DevOps, she has been focused on the domain of MLOps for the past 5 years. With over 35 patents granted across various technology domains, she has a passion for continuous innovation and using data to drive business outcomes. She’s a published author, frequent speaker, as well as co-creator/instructor for ‘Practice Data Science on the AWS Cloud Specialization’ on Coursera. Shelbee is based in Denver, CO and is also the Co-Director of the Denver, Colorado chapter of Women in Big Data.

In this keynote, we’ll explain the concepts of artificial intelligence and machine learning then explore how companies are innovating with these technologies today across industries like entertainment and retail. We’ll also look into the future at the implications for cutting edge technologies like the ability to automatically generate any image you can describe. Who wants to see a surfing dog wearing a tuxedo or a giraffe climbing Everest?

Mapping the World from Space

Brian Shucker, Google

Learn about what it takes to build Google Maps.  From satellite imagery to machine learning, we'll discuss what's behind a mapping application used by a billion people, with a special detour into the science behind Project Sunroof. 

CSI: Mines! Computer Science Investigation... 

Colorado School of Mines

Did you know you could __________ with computers?! Hear about a wide array of CS undergraduate projects and try out some super fun coding challenges.

Careers in the Audio Visual Industry

Joe Heath, Boxlight

This session will outline the educational paths one can take towards starting a career in the Audio Visual field. We will go over the basics of AV Networking and the various careers within the Audio Visual Industry; including everything from Systems Engineering to Music Production and AV Hardware Manufacturing. This session will also include a segment about IT infrastructure and how the field of networking has evolved to include Video and Audio. 

The Highs and Lows of Pedestrian Flows: How Data Can Optimize Elevator Performance

Cameron Dargahi & David McEwen, Lerch Bates Building Insight

The session is two parts. In the first part, you will learn about Data engineering and the process of turning raw data into actionable insights. We'll look at how it's done with real-world elevator data, and the modern tools involved that the students could start playing with today. The second part shows how analyzing pedestrian movement using simulation software can impact how a building is designed. You will see firsthand how people flow can affect the efficiency of a building.  

Rubik's Cube Art and Computer Programming

Brian Kobasai, The Cube Abides

Demo of a program I created to help with Rubik's cube art designs, a look into some of the code, Q&A, and a revealing of a portrait.

Full STEAM Ahead! The Possibilities are Endless! 

Chelsea Murray, Discovery Education

Have you ever imagined yourself as a pilot, video game designer, environmentalist, or surgeon? STEM professionals work in nearly all industries and for a variety of organizations. In their everyday lives, people with STEM backgrounds engage in investigative and diagnostic experiences to seek solutions to real-world problems, enhance technological innovations, and communicate their findings to wider audiences. In this session, learn about fascinating STEM careers through a variety of activities to help you dig in to options you might not have considered before. There's a path for everyone!

Unleash the Power of Reinforcement Learning and Craft a Strategy to Beat a Bot in an Autonomous Race 

Gayatri Ghanakota, Amazon Web Services

Everyone, start your engines! This session provides audience of all skill levels an opportunity to get hands-on experience with machine learning (ML), through the fun and excitement of autonomous car racing. During this session, learn foundational ML concepts, race a virtual self-driving car and pick up some reinforcement learning (RL) fundamentals along the way! See if you can train your car to defeat DeepX, an AI bot.

Exploring Our Energy Future with NREL Data and Tools

Byron Pullutasig & Stuart Cohen, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Our attitude about energy hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years. We want it when we want it, with absolutely no delays. Today, most of our energy comes from burning a limited supply of fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases and other pollutants that threaten our health and the long-term well-being of our planet. The good news is that people worldwide, and right here in CO, are planning the transition to a sustainable energy future. In this session, you will learn about two ways researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO are helping to solve our energy problems using Energy Planning tools like ReEDS to plan the future grid and REopt to optimize the energy mix at a specific location—maybe even at your school!

CDOT - What Else do we do Besides Roads?!  

Emma Boff, CDOT

We will focus on the work of the Division of Maintenance. This includes Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Network Services Branch, Winter Operations (avalanche control - these are the really cool folks!), Real Time Operations, Maintenance Academy, and more! 

Cyber Safety 101

Naja Davis, NSA

Smartphones, computers, tablets, laptops, the internet, social media, and email, all these communication devices and platforms are everywhere and ever-changing. Do students understand the possible threats in the cyber world? This talk introduces cybersecurity principles to increase students’ knowledge about safely navigating the internet and social media platforms plus provides cyber safeguards when using personal devices

Unlocking the Secrets of Data: See the World in a New Light

Chris Perkins, Splunk

This session will give students a chance to explore the power of data and how it can be used to uncover insights and make better decisions in any field. From learning the basics of data analysis to trying out different tools and techniques, students will gain the skills to start their own data-driven projects and see the world in a whole new way. Join us for an interactive and engaging session on the potential of data.

CDOT Variable Speed Limits - Treating Traffic Jams like a "Heart Attack of our Roadways"

Huy Huyn, Stefan Hoglund, Rachel Davis, Josh Segal, & James Brown, Colorado Department of Transportation

When would a Traffic Jam be analogous to a heart attack?
What causes this "Roadway Heart Attack"?
How will Variable Speed Limits help prevent this from happening?

It may seem extreme to compare the management of Colorado's roadways to a medical emergency, but for Colorado's Department of Transportation traffic jams not only impact the satisfaction and service of our traveling public, it also has safety impacts.
Maintaining the flow of traffic and supporting the people's travel to their final destination is one of our core missions. We take it seriously and the implementation of Variable Speed Limits in key corridors allows the agency to manage the flow for maximum throughput for the given situation. At the same time, Safety is always the mission of the agency and slowing down vehicles before they get to the slowdown is crucial in preventing rear-end accidents and risky hard-braking scenarios.

Come join us to learn more about the comparison and the algorithm that Colorado's Department of Transportation is in the process of implementing in our beautiful state.

Design Your Own IoT Weather Station

Agbeli Ameko, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Learn about Internet-of-Things (IOT) weather stations by designing your own weather station.  There is a tremendous amount of energy and innovation around automated weather stations, and now that 3D-printers and low-cost computers (e.g. Raspberry Pi, etc.) have come into popularity, there has been an explosion of experimental systems and software to control and take advantage of these technological tools to do amazing things with weather sensing. There are more innovations coming with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), and thus the impetus of this project and the three core goals of this project: 1. Develop open source IoT and “smart” weather station ideas and platforms. 2. Design open IoT weather stations that are focused on innovation, stability, usability and expandability. 3. Develop a broad community of engineers, designers, citizen scientists, educators, researchers and software developers around open innovations in IoT weather stations.

Future of Work

Greg Goldsmith, Danielle Rourke, & Blake Masters , Dell Technologies

Careers at NSA

Darren Greer, NSA

Working at Apple

Michael Scott & Patrick Benko Apple

IT in the Military

1LT Williams, SGT Randolph & SGT Jimenez, Army

You can Automate That?!

Olivia Wolf, Cisco

JeffcoNet - Lighting up the District's new Broadband network

Kasim Esmail, DigitalInsight LLC

Get in the Game: Lenovo eSports in Action

Marty Provo, Craig Ewell, & Lee Hide, Lenovo

Cybersecurity Careers

Anna Porter & Isela Ortiz, Lockheed Martin

Engineering Careers

Isela Ortiz & Anna Porter, Lockheed Martin

Start to Learn Python, and Get Ready for the Python Certified Entry-Level Programmer (PCEP) Certification

William Heldman, Warren Tech

During this session you will learn how to write some basic Python code. You will learn how to use Idle, the default editor that comes with Python, as well as how to use Jupyter Notebooks to write your Python code. You will also learn about popular Python Integrated Development Environment (IDE) tools such as JetBrains PyCharm Edu. Finally, you will be given a walk-through of the preparations needed to earn your PCEP certification. 

What's Wrong with my Chromebook? Learn How to Troubleshoot and Breakdown a Chromebook

Bruce Thao & Michael Lee, Vivacity Tech

During our session we'll explain what a Chromebook is and what our Repair department does to fix a damaged Chromebook. We'll have hands on training for everyone in attendance to troubleshoot a Chromebook and have a hands-on walkthrough of  breaking down a Chromebook.

Radar Range Equation Talk

Jen Jeske, NSA

NSA Employees break down the Radar Range Equation to digestible pieces as we navigate difficult mathematics in an easy to understand way.  

Denver Water Industrial Controls Arduino assembly and programing basics

Alvin Johnson, Marcus Watkins Joe Burcham & Drake Dennert, Denver Water Industrial Controls

In this hands-on session, we will be diving into the world of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) by building our own using a kit from Arduino. Participants will have the opportunity to assemble the board and wiring, write a short program, and test the functionality of their PLC. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of PLCs and gain hands-on experience working with them.

Cisco Careers & Hack and Defend!

Kyle Vaughan, Olivia Wolf, Bill Clay & Andy Lundstrom, Cisco

Join Olivia, Bill, Andy and Kyle to learn about Cybersecurity Careers and the roles of a Technical Solutions Architect and Systems Engineer/Architect at Cisco. After a brief career chat, choose to ally with the Hackers or Defenders for a cybersecurity competition! 
Who will win the race to own the network??


***Come Prepared!** – create an account for https://dcloud.cisco.com/, and make sure you can log in to the system. 


For the best experience with dCloud Labs:
1.        Having a working full QWERTY keyboard laptop-style device is great at the minimum.
2.        Having a tablet or secondary computer screen helps to navigate the in-depth lab guide without having to tab between windows.

Data Analytics Knows No Boundaries 

Amber Yandow, Cisco Networking Academy 

Server Administration

Eric Mertz & Will Downing, Jeffco IT

Building and maintaining server infrastructure for schools and school administration. Managing user access to servers, applications, and development.

Enterprise Device Management Engineer

Jenny Garland, Aaron Whitcomb, Jay Schottler, Jeffco IT

Here’s where the rubber hits the road - Without device support and management all other technologies become worthless.  We are the liaison between all users of technology. From the end user and what they want to do to the higher levels of technology architects to help design solutions.

IT Site Support

Amie Adams, Aaron Keckler, Jared Livesay, & Shekina DeTienne, Jeffco IT

IT Site Support is a career in which individuals are responsible for providing technical support and troubleshooting for computer systems, software, and hardware at a specific location or site. This may include setting up and configuring new equipment, resolving issues with existing systems, and training users on proper usage.

IT Security

Chris Paschke, Lisa Summitt, Chris Linton, Jeffco IT

Charisa Persico, Red Canary

Come learn about the many pathways into information security as we try to protect data, systems, & financial resources: Blue team, digital forensics & investigations, incident response, malware, phishing, pen testing, OSINT, cryptography, social engineering, and more!

Technology Support Center

Ashley Casados, Konner Evans, Jeremy Rindt, & Lisa Weldon, Jeffco IT

Attend this session to learn about a career as a Technology Support Center (aka Help Desk) agent.  We are often the first point of contact for staff, students and parents seeking help or advice on technical problems.   Agents are trained to quickly and accurately help customers diagnose and solve technical problems and ensure their products and services are operating optimally.

IT Project Management

James Zwyer, Larry Lunders & Mindi Seaman, Jeffco IT

IT project management is the process of planning, organizing, and overseeing the development and implementation of technology related projects. The ultimate goal of IT project management is to deliver a project that meets or exceeds customer expectations within budget and on schedule. Come to this session to hear about how a Project Manager helps remove obstacles and gets the job done.

Data Science

Kevin Richards & Heather MacGillivary, Jeffco Research and Assessment

Come learn about the world of data science.   From wrangling, analyzing,  and visualizing to impactful interpretation and action, this ever-changing career path is promising (and lucrative).  A great data scientist must have the magic trifecta of coding, statistics, and deep content knowledge.   Hear about educational pathways to a data science career from a recent graduate of Regis' Masters in Data Science and the leader of the Jeffco Public Schools' analytics team. 

Database Administration

Mike Scott, Jeffco IT

Unlock the power of data and jumpstart your career as a database administrator. Join us for an informative session on the skills and responsibilities of a DBA.  The DBA role involves designing, implementing, and maintaining an organization's databases, and ensuring that they are secure and reliable.  

Educational Technology 

Becky Shorey, Jeffco IT

Technology in the classroom can completely transform the student experience by giving more real-world experience and allowing choice. I never would have guessed that training teachers in how to incorporate technology would give me the opportunity to travel the country to work with and inspire fellow educators.

Digital Media Development

Quynh-Chi Ho, Sam Silver, & Josh Allen, Jeffco IT

If you are reading this career session description, you are interacting with and consuming digital media. In today's technology-driven world, digital media plays an integral part in how we distribute and consume information. Learn about the vast field of digital media, where technology, design and communication intersect!

Computer Repair

Shelden Finholm, Karin Engelsgjerd, & Bikash Pradhan, Jeffco IT

This session will provide an overview of a career as a computer repair technician. Attendees will learn about the skills and qualifications needed, as well as the job duties and responsibilities involved in this field.