Ed Baig is the longtime Personal Tech Columnist at USA TODAY where he reviews tech products and services and weighs in on key industry trends. Prior to joining USA TODAY, Baig was on the staffs at Business Week, US News & World Report and Fortune Magazine. He makes frequent appearances on TV and radio, and is also the author of Macs For Dummies (published by Wiley) and co-author of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies.

Jim Belcher is Vice President of Technology and Production at Universal Music Group. A seventeen-year UMG veteran, Jim works with a global team to evaluate emerging technologies and identify new business opportunities on behalf of the company’s expansive roster of artists and labels. He also works closely with UMG’s key digital music partners Rhapsody, YouTube, Apple and Amazon. Belcher is also closely involved with UMG’s high-resolution projects, including exploring advances in the format and coordinating with industry partners and organizations on advancing wider adoption of the technology.

Jim holds MA and BA degrees in Communications from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.

Elliot Benitez, is a life long entrepreneur. A background in Marketing helped him to identify a need in the marketplace for tortilla consumers. Elliot is an experienced business owner with several years of growing a positive cash flow service company. His upbringing assisted in the development of a product centered around the tortilla eating culture. He hopes to change the way people prepare tortillas at home.

As the first Tech Editor of a women’s lifestyle magazine, Jenna Blaha, oversees the tech content for print, digital and social media platforms at Marie Claire. She is at the nexus of fashion and technology, and is a thought leader in how these industries come together. Jenna has been a panelist and moderator on topics such as women in technology, retail in the modern age, and shoppable content. She goes behind the scenes as a correspondent to capture exclusive content including Live Q&As with celebrities and designers. With the course of the future constantly on the mind, one of Jenna’s main initiatives is to bring print and editorial to life in today’s tech driven world.

Chris Blower is the CEO and Founder, Queen B Robotics, which develops commercial drone technology. Blower studied for his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from George Washington University then worked as an Instructor for TechShop and a Technical Consultant for NASA before founding Queen B in 2014. He has been researching and developing Unmanned Air Vehicles and Space Systems for more than a decade.

Before founding WobbleWorks Inc, Max was a Director of Consumer Robotics at Handy Robotics and an R&D Project Manager at WowWee where he launched products including Rovio, RS Media and ChatterBots. Max is a graduate of Purdue University’s Computer Science Program and eventually hopes to build machines capable of vanquishing robot dino armies of any shape or size.

Since 2014, Kevin Brannan has been Director of Marketing for Onkyo USA, a leading manufacturer and distributor of audio products from immersive home theater components to portable hi-resolution audio devices. Before joining Onkyo USA, Kevin spent over 15 years in advertising and marketing roles for consumer electronics and videogame companies including Acclaim Entertainment, McCann-Erickson, PNY Technologies and Turtle Beach. When not catching Iron Maiden concerts in Tulsa or Tokyo, Kevin resides in New Jersey with his family.

An independent advisor and technology evangelist, James Brehm is a leading voice on the state of the IoT and M2M markets. Brehm launched James Brehm & Associates in 2014 to provide to his clients pragmatic, actionable advice and metrics grounded in reality.

From 2011 to 2014, Brehm served as practice leader, strategist and senior consultant for Compass Intelligence. Prior to joining Compass, Brehm spent nine years at Frost & Sullivan. Before that, he worked in marketing, sales management, and business development at Rackspace Managed Hosting and Interland (now Web.com). His responsibilities included market and emerging market research, development of new products, value chain improvement for Global 1000 clients, due diligence, and acquisition analysis.

Tim is Senior V.P. and Chief Product Officer of Seagate‘s Consumer Solutions Group. Prior to Seagate, Tim founded Lyve Minds, Inc., TastingRoom.com, and ZING Systems,. Zing was bought by Dell, Inc. where Tim served as the V.P. of Software and Entertainment Content. Tim also founded Mirra, Inc. and served at Senior V.P. of Macintosh Engineering.
Tim received his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California at Davis and received an M.S. in Computer Architecture from Stanford. He serves on the Board of Trustees and the College of Engineering’s Executive Committee at U.C. Davis and is Chairman of the GRAMMY Foundation for the Recording Academy.

Ian Calamel is a Solution Sales Professional at Asurion, a global leader of connected life services that provides more than 290 million consumers around the world with simple, intuitive technology advice to help them get the most from their devices.

Ian has a passion for identifying new business opportunities and cultivating long-term client relationships focused in IT, CE, ESC and Call Center Support Services. His experience spans 17 + years’ in New Business Development Sales. Prior to joining Asurion he was an entrepreneur as a restaurateur, a consultant in telecommunications / BPO services, the lead C- level hunter at Installs Inc. He was educated at Ridley College Prep and on to Miami University OH with a BA in Economics and is a former professional soccer player.

Melissa Campanelli is the editor-in-chief/content director of Total Retail, the go-to source for executives looking for the latest news and analysis on the omnichannel retail industry.

Melissa is also the co-founder of the Women in Retail Leadership Circle, a networking group that offers enterprise-level women in the retail industry a place to learn, connect, and grow through events, a weekly e-newsletter, an information-packed website, social media, and more.

Previously, Melissa spent 10 years at DM News, where she was first a senior editor and then deputy editor.

She’s also a small business e-commerce expert and author of the books, “Entrepreneur Magazine’s Open an Online Business in 10 Days” and “55 Surefire Internet Businesses You Can Start for Under $5,000.”

Tom Campbell is a technology strategist and marketer. Along with his own ventures in electronics, retailing and clean energy, Campbell is a leading technology counselor to the public and private sectors.

He was a White House technology advisor in three administrations, and received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and special recognition on the U.S. Senate floor.

Campbell’s been instrumental in the launch of products including the compact disc, DVD, high-definition, 4K-Ultra and OLED HDTV and Blue Ray.

His strategically-supported events include presidential debates and inaugurations, political conventions and industry events. Tom is adjunct faculty at Georgetown University’s Technology Management Graduate Program and a senior advisor to the Georgetown Global Education Institute. He serves on numerous corporate boards and represents retailers on the CEA 4K Ultra HD Working Group.

Tom was inducted into the 2016 Consumer Technology Association Hall of Fame.

Kate Drane is Indiegogo Senior Director of Outreach for Tech and Hardware. Coining herself as a VC of the people, Kate has led hundreds of companies, including Misfit Wearables, Skulpt, and Popslate to secure funding on Indiegogo. In addition to working at Indiegogo, Kate is also the co-founder and CMO of The Can Van, the world’s first mobile beer canning service made to bring reasonably priced and environmentally friendly packaging options to California breweries. Kate frequently speaks at events around the world including Engadget Expand, CES and TEDx.

Maureen Droney, The Recording Academy’s Managing Director/Producers & Engineers Wing and Recording Technology, is a former recording engineer for artists including George Benson, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, John Hiatt and Carlos Santana. She graduated from California State University, San Francisco with a degree in Broadcast Communication Arts and has taught seminars in the theory and practice of audio engineering. Prior to joining The Recording Academy, Droney oversaw the Kiva Family of studios and its music-related businesses, which included the House of Blues Studios in Los Angeles and Memphis and East Iris Studios in Nashville. She is the former Los Angeles Editor of Mix magazine, author of the textbook MixMasters: Platinum Engineers Share Their Secrets for Success, and co-author of The Pensado Papers, a Hal Leonard-published book on the rise of the audio industry web phenomenon, Pensado’s Place.

Jeanette is a youth engagement expert and design thinking professional. She currently works with UNICEF Ventures at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, developing new, collaborative models to educate about and advocate for UNICEF’s work doing whatever it takes to save and protect the world’s most vulnerable children. Her latest venture is UNICEF Kid Power- a movement powered by kids using the first Wearable-For-Good to get kids physically active to save lives.

Jeanette is the co-creator of the Big Ten Network’s BTN LiveBIG and developed the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Above the Influence toolkit of activities. Previous partners also include the Network for a Healthy California, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Connecticut Health Foundation.

Jeanette has a BA from Binghamton University and an MPA from Baruch College.

As a writer, consultant and community builder, Tom Emrich uses his passion for emerging technologies to act as a catalyst to bring on the future.

In 2014, Tom founded We Are Wearables, an organization that rallies the tech community together to learn, discuss and celebrate the wearable tech space in order to foster adoption and facilitate innovation. We Are Wearables currently has chapters in Toronto, Ottawa and Chicago and is now the largest wearable tech community of its kind in the world. Erich is also a producer of WEST, A and AWE China.

Cameron Faulkner is an editor for techradar, focusing on the fast-paced mobile and wearable sectors of consumer technology. Born in Mansfield, OH, he graduated from The Ohio State University with a BA in New Media & Communication Technology. Now living in Brooklyn, NY, he enjoys living the dream with his partner and cat, playing video games and dreaming of golf.

Jenny Fielding is a Managing Director at Techstars, where she leads both the Fintech and Internet of Things Accelerators in NYC. Prior to joining Techstars, Jenny headed up corporate venture and digital innovation at BBC Worldwide where she made strategic investments and led business development deals. She has also started several companies, most notably Switch-Mobile, a mobile VoIP company that was acquired. She began her career as a lawyer. You can find Jenny somewhere between NYC, London and San Francisco.

Marc Finer is founder and managing director of Communication Research Inc. (CRI), a strategic consulting group providing marketing support in digital entertainment. Before CRI, Mr. Finer served as product communications director for Sony Electronics, coordinating marketing and promotional efforts behind the launch of the Compact Disc in the U.S. Marc is also a co-founder of DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, a non-profit advocating and promoting the consumer benefits associated with new entertainment platforms. He serves as DEG’s Senior Director, where he helps drive new technology initiatives. Mr. Finer has also worked with other organizations, including the Consumer Technology Association, the Custom Electronics Designers and Installers Association, The Recording Academy, The Recording Industry Association of America, and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Michael Gartenberg is iMore’s Analyst in Residence, providing commentary and coverage on industry trends and consumer markets for Apple and related products. Gartenberg has covered the personal technology beat for more than two decades at places like Gartner, Jupiter Research and Altimeter Group. Most recently, he spent a few years at Apple as Sr. Director of Worldwide Product Marketing.

David Harris is a Sr. Product Manager at Lenovo, a leading provider of innovative consumer, commercial, and data center technology. Since joining Lenovo in 2011, he has worked exclusively on the ThinkPad brand defining and marketing commercial notebooks for enterprise, education, and workstation customers. David has an Electrical Engineering degree from North Carolina State University and an MBA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Chris is a creative business guy. He got the idea of the earbuds while he wanted to go workout with a wireless solution. He wasn’t satisfied with was on the market so he carved out the ultimate design, a one-size-fits-all earbud piece. He then gathered a motivated and a competent team to get the electronics done. He graduated in accounting and mastered in taxation.

Sal Irigoyen is President and Founder of Odyssey Toys, a rapidly growing, dynamic designer, manufacturer, and distributer of hi-tech toys and electronic gadgets. In this role, Irigoyen oversees product and brand development, sourcing, and supply chain management. With over 25 years of industry knowledge, Irigoyen has expertise in multi-channel merchandising, strategic marketing, and product development for department stores, big box stores, distribution and catalog, and TV retailing. Through his career, Irigoyen has held the positions of Vice President of Marketing for AAAA World and Vice President of Electropolis Corp. An industry expert, Irigoyen has appeared as a guest host on HSN (USA) and the Shopping Channel (Canada).

Jeremy is Editor in Chief of Digital Trends, responsible for keeping the site awesome. Over nearly two decades working in and with technology he has seen the industry explode, from the growth of the Internet to the birth and dominance of smartphones, Facebook, Twitter and more. Before joining DT, he spent nearly five years at FoxNews.com, and over a decade at Ziff Davis Media, publisher of PCMag.com.

Pamela Kiernan is the Founder, CEO, and visionary behind Ware, the wearable technology apparel company. Ware clothing allows the tech to freely decouple from the clothes, so they can be worn as street wear, are washable, and most importantly, that are scalable into the evolving biosensor landscape. Alley Watch named her “One of 21 People in Wearables You Need to Know in NYC.” Ware clothing is patented. Pamela is also an angel, a passionate investor, and likes lean companies, profits, and efficiencies.

Kari Kivelä leads technology development and design at Ouraring. He is also one of the co-founders of the company. Having previously led global software development at Nokia, Kari is now following his passion, driving the pioneering work for design and miniaturization of the ŌURA ring. Kari is also a jewelry start-up entrepreneur, uniquely combining the two worlds at ŌURA.

Ever since Dmitry Kozko, President of IC Real Tech, was a young boy growing up in Russia, he possessed a true entrepreneurial spirit. His tireless work ethic and desire to set his sights far has turned Dmitry from a young boy earning lunch money by selling lollipops to a successful businessman establishing a NASDAQ listed global enterprise and primary inventor of several dozen patented and patent-pending technologies.

As President of IC Real Tech, Dmitry is building a global company focused on immersive experience technologies, including 360-degree video and VR. He recently launched ALLie, a subsidiary of IC Real Tech, where he leads the company’s business development and works to establish its leadership in the consumer electronics space.

Owen has been leading the Astell&Kern business in North America since its conception in 2012. Astell&Kern is the global leader in high-resolution digital audio system for portable and home audio that allows the listener to hear true studio quality sound as the recording artist and engineers heard the original recording in the studio.

Noel Lee revolutionized product categories in the high-end accessory business with speaker and interconnect cables, PowerCenters, headphones and wireless speakers. But the real magic is how he taught CE retailers around the world that selling accessories is critical to profitability in an industry where margins on hardware are disappearing. This program, M4, continues to this day as M6.

In 2008, Lee transformed the portable music industry with the creation and marketing of Beats by Dre headphones. He then taught retailers how to sell them, more than doubling the size of the industry.

Working with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre was a unique and life-changing experience. It resulted in the sale of Beats to Apple for 3.2 billion dollars. Now Lee is leading Monster to recreate the magic again with newer and more innovative products.

Bill Lee is Vice President of the Smart Home Product Marketing team at Samsung Electronics America Inc. Bill oversees the overall strategy and product development for Samsung’s smart home division, which includes Samsung SmartThings. Prior to assuming this role, he was the Vice President of Samsung’s award-winning television category, Vice President of Category Management and the Vice President of Retail Strategy and Execution.

Before Mr. Lee joined the team at Samsung, he worked as the Chief Revenue Officer at Quirky.com, Vice President of Retail Marketing at Nickelodeon, Vice President of Electronics and Entertainment at Toys R Us, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at D&M Holdings, and lastly, Vice President and General Manager of Sales and Marketing at Sony Electronics.

Judie Lipsett Stanford is a rancher, a blogger, a technology expert, and a gadget lover. As the founder, Editor-In-Chief, and co-owner of Gear Diary, Judie helps introduce new technology, software, and gear to thousands of people every day. As a consumer electronics expert, Judie has been invited to consult with a number of major tech companies who value her insights and experience. As a contributing writer, she has been featured in several international publications and sites, and, as an early adopter, she can always be found with the newest gear.

Rammohan Malasani is the Founder & CEO of Securifi, a company defining next generation consumer routers and home automation products. Creator of Almond, the world’s first touchscreen wireless router, Securifi is turning the humble home router into a smart home and security hub. The company’s mission is to simplify WiFi and the connected home space for the masses.

With over 15 years in the WiFi industry, Ram’s inventions resulted in several highly successful companies like Securifi and Ubiquiti. He has shown a knack for building challenging hardware companies with little external VC funding.

Prior to Securifi, Ram co-founded Ubiquiti Networks, a global leader in high performance networking technology for service providers and enterprises. Under his leadership, the company was profitable while never raising VC funds.

He has degrees in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras and University of California, San Diego.

Paul Meyhoefer is a well-respected industry veteran with over two decades of experience in consumer electronics and B2B channels. His knowledge, leadership and background in product planning, sales and marketing play a pivotal role in his continuing success and afforded him opportunities to be intimately involved in launching cutting-edge technologies to vertical markets and channels.

Paul’s latest venture is on the hardware side of 360° video and VR content creation. Paul joined JK Imaging Ltd., the worldwide licensee for KODAK PIXPRO Digital Cameras and Devices, as Vice President of Sales and Marketing 18 months ago, and is part of the executive team responsible for bringing the revolutionary SP360 4K VR camera, accessories and supporting software to market.

His leadership abilities and desire to improve business applications and consumer experiences with technology make him a thought leader in the CE industry.

Mario Natarelli is the Managing Partner of the New York office of MBLM, the Brand Intimacy Agency dedicated to creating greater intimacy between people, brands and technology. Mario is a trusted advisor to executives and their companies looking to leverage their most important asset — their brand.

Over the past 17 years, he has led teams across three continents, working for clients of varying size and industry focus, mostly in the areas of technology, real estate, travel, sports and hospitality. Along the way he has developed a proprietary set of frameworks, processes and tools that deliver proven results. Mario has a Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Toronto.

At the age of 19, Jessica invented the SOCCKET ball, an energy- generating soccer ball that provides off-grid power for the developing world. Three years later, she founded Uncharted Play, a renewable energy company specializing in motion-based, miniaturized power systems.

Jessica was invited by President Obama to the White House to represent small companies at the signing of the America Invents Act in 2012, and currently serves as an Ambassador of Entrepreneurship for Nigeria. In 2016, she was selected to ring the NASDAQ opening ceremony bell, representing all Forbes 30 Under 30 alumna.

Jessica’s research and career centers around the intersection of disruptive technology, human behavior, and the psychology of self-actualization. A dual citizen of Nigeria & the U.S., Jessica has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Dan is currently Vice President of VR Planning and Management leading the VR business unit. In his role, Dan manages the strategy and go-to-market efforts of the Virtual Reality portfolio at HTC. He is responsible for the Vive content and developer engagement, as well as marketing and sales of the HTC Vive.

Since joining HTC in 2008, Dan has served in several roles including Director of Product Management for the smartphone business, Global Director of Compliance, Consumer Privacy & Security and Executive Director of Product Marketing.

Steve Panosian, Director of Product Planning, for Samsung’s Home Entertainment business. He serves as the product marketing liaison for Samsung’s distribution business and represents the company on the UHD Alliance, the CEA and DEG Ultra HDTV Marketing and Promotion Working Groups. His career at Samsung began in 1995 managing the VCR and camcorders business. Steve’s achievements at Samsung include the launch of the industry leading DLP TV product line that elevated the brand to a Tier 1 player. Steve also assumed responsibility for Samsung’s leading Plasma HDTV business. Prior to Samsung, Steve enjoyed a 15 year career at Sony in various sales, national sales management, and video product marketing positions.

Rob Pegoraro writes about interesting problems and possibilities in computers, gadgets, apps, services, telecom and other things that beep or blink. He covers tech policy and contributes reviews at Yahoo Tech and Yahoo Finance, writes a weekly personal-tech Q&A column for USA Today, offers telecom and gadget guidance at the Wirecutter and has also written for such sites as Boing Boing, VentureBeat, PCMag.com, Ars Technica and Discovery News. You can also find him on radio, TV, podcasts and one panel or another. From 1999 to 2011, he was the Washington Post’s consumer-technology columnist.

Jerome leads a team of developers and researchers in charge of the IBM Watson Platform – a set of cognitive services that anybody, students, start ups or fortune 500 companies, can integrate through the cloud. Jerome joined IBM after its acquisition of Vivisimo, the innovative search solutions company he co-founded fifteen years ago. Before Vivisimo, Jerome was a visiting scientist at Carnegie Mellon University’s computer science department, carrying out research on document clustering, data mining and artificial intelligence. Jerome is a Carnegie Science Entrepreneur and Pittsburgh 40 under 40 awardee. He is an alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris with a Ph.D. in pure maths and degrees in philosophy and cognitive sciences.

Entrepreneur and Technology Industry Executive demonstrating more than two decades of strategy, marketing, product and business development success. Comprehensive leadership abilities, spearheading daily business operations with emphasis on brand development and attainment of competitive market placement. Exceptional solutions-driven success in development, manufacturing, and technical settings. Phil is the consummate beer geek with a true passion for big flavored beers and craft community that’s both experimental and experiential.

Mark is Executive Vice President – Global Business Development & Digital Strategy at Sony Music Entertainment, based in New York. Before joining Sony, he held a number of positions at EMI Music, most recently Executive Vice President – Global Business Development. Mark previously served as Senior Vice President & Head of Content at digital music start-up MusicGremlin, and as Associate General Counsel at the original Napster. Prior to Napster, he was an associate in the New York office of the law firm Arnold & Porter. Mark has liberal arts and law degrees from McGill University in Montréal, Canada, and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Avram Piltch is Tom’s Hardware’s editor-in-chief. When he’s not playing with the latest gadgets at work or putting on AR helmets at trade shows, you’ll find him building Raspberry Pi projects, taking apart his PC or writing Chrome extensions.

Dan Roe is the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Drone Volt USA. Mr. Roe is responsible for establishing and growing Done Volt’s Business in the states. Drone Volt is an international Drone and Flight Software developer and manufacturer as well as a Drone distributor and retailer of both Consumer and Service Drones.

Mr. Roe is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of sales, marketing and leadership experience in Consumer Electronics, Pro Audio/Video and Cinematography and Broadcast.

Prior to joining Drone Volt, Dan worked at Freefly Systems, as Global Director of Sales and before that he worked for Music Group as VP of Business Development for the CE Division. Mr. Roe also spent more than 20 years at Sony working as a leader in marketing and sales.

Kilian makes things. He is a German born entrepreneur who started his career working as a buyer for Germany’s biggest retail corporation in Germany and Hong Kong. In 2008 he moved to Shanghai, China to set up his own business. Since then, he has built a portfolio of companies that reflects the complete supply chain from idea generation, product design & development, to manufacturing and sales. Kilian leads an international team of designers, engineers and production specialists and develops and manufactures a broad range of sports and toy related products for major global retailers and brands. In 2014 he co-founded A-Champs – the maker of ROXs – with the mission to #GetKidsMoving.

As the SVP of Strategic Channel Development, Bob is responsible for driving adoption of ownerIQ’s advertising solutions among key industry leaders at leading brands, retailers and buying groups. Bob was ranked #14 in the ExecRank list of top U.S. marketing executives. Prior to joining the Q in 2013, Bob served as the CMO at Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America. He holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Scranton.

Sherman joined HomeAdvisor in 2011, having formerly served with comScore, inc, Devil’s Delivery Service and CNN, and she is a graduate of Duke University.

HomeAdvisor (formerly ServiceMagic), a division of IAC, is the leading resource on the web for local services – connecting millions of consumers with a nationwide network of top-quality screened and top customer-rated service providers.

Howie Singer is SVP and Chief Strategic Technologist at the Warner Music Group (WMG). As a leading expert on the implications of technology for the music industry, he is responsible for analyzing new models and services that could enhance or threaten WMG’s businesses.

He played a leading role in the transition from physical products to digital music delivery. In 1996, he co-founded a2b music, a pioneering distribution service using audio and security technologies from AT&T.

Over his 20 year career at Bell Labs, he led teams developing retail and call center management software, speakerphones, cellular phones, and videophones.

Howie received PhD (’79) and MS (’77) degrees in Operations Research from Cornell and a BS degree in CompSci from Stony Brook.

Helena Stone is the Editor-in-Chief of Chip Chick, the leading consumer electronics and lifestyle blog for women. She has been featured on MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, Time magazine, Wired, and has also contributed to publications such as Woman’s Day and People Style & Watch as a tech expert.

A native New Yorker, Helena holds a Masters degree from New York University in digital imaging and design. She also has a background in the interactive and social media marketing fields.

When Helena is not busy testing out new gear, she can be found trotting the globe, looking for the next hot gadget.

Rob Stott is lead editor at NAPCO Media’s Consumer Technology Publishing Group where he provides coverage and commentary on technology business and products for Dealerscope and Technology Integrator industry-focused publications.

Davin Sufer is the Chief Technical Officer of WowWee, Inc., a leading Robotics company specializing in Tech Toys and Consumer Robotics. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Applied Science: Systems Design Engineering, with an option in the field of Cognitive Science. Davin manages the day-to-day R&D and product development efforts across WowWee’s multiple R&D Centers. His primary responsibility is conceiving new product platforms, identifying emerging technologies, and integrating these elements with WowWee’s highly creative vision to create cutting edge consumer-ready products. As WowWee’s CTO for the last eight years, he has a proven track record, launching dozens of innovative consumer products from concept to shelf. Davin lives with his wife and two young daughters in Montreal.

Ms. Minerva Tantoco is the first-ever Chief Technology Officer for the City of New York. With 30 years in technology, she started her first software company in 1985, and recently served as CTO of global financial services firm UBS and Merrill Lynch. Ms. Tantoco is a strong advocate for encouraging more women to become involved with technology, and believes that technology can be used to spread knowledge and improve education, especially in underserved communities, and that artificial intelligence applied to the massively growing amount of systems, data, and interconnections offers capabilities of which we have yet to dream.

David VanderWaal is Senior Vice President of Marketing for LG Electronics in North America.  In this role, he is responsible for all marketing activities for LG business units (Home Appliances, Consumer Electronics, and Mobile) which include the development of LG’s annual marketing plan and full responsibility for LG’s multi-million dollar US marketing budget.  He is also responsible for the marketing in LG Canada.

Sydney Wiseman is a key Brand Manager for WowWee – playing a significant role in the development, play spec and marketing strategy of new WowWee items. Sydney’s day is spent contributing to and integrating cutting edge R&D and making it viable and marketable for sales. Sydney’s creativity and love for innovative products coupled with her practical experience in the Toy Industry contribute to WowWee product ideation and improvement, as well as reaching the consumer across different markets. Sydney graduated with honours from McGill University in 2011 and was a “rising star” nominee for the 2014 Women in Toys awards.