BiG Program

BiG Program

Prepare to be immersed in BiG Thoughts, BiG Inspiration and BiG Impact while envisioning the BiG Future ahead. Join us in Orlando to experience visionary talks, unique networking events, and actionable career inspiration.

Friday: 10:00 AM- 10:30 PM*
Saturday: 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM*

*Subject to change

Keynotes

BiG Thoughts

Keynotes from World-class Thinkers, Innovators and Creative Leaders

Track 1

BiG Inspiration

Creativity, Out-of-the-box Thinking, Bold Ideas & Visionaries

Track 2

BiG Future

Technology, Trends, AI, Cloud, Autonomy, Smart Living

Track 3

BiG Impact

Career Empowerment, Leadership, Self-improvement

Jump to Day 2 Program ↓

Day One Program*

Day One Program*

Friday, 23 October 2026

Jump to Day 2 Program ↓

*Subject to change

10:00AM – 1:30PM

The Launch Pad

BiG Registration, networking and optional interactive sessions to kick off our very first BiG Thinkers. 

Conquer all 8 challenges on The BiG Quest card to score an entry into Saturday’s Grand Prize drawing! If you finish 4 or more, you’ll still be entered to win our Secondary Prize. Be sure to get a sticker to add to your card as you complete each task, then drop your card off at the Registration Table by 3:00 PM Saturday to enter.

FRIDAY | 10 AM – 12:45 PM

Track 2 Room

Participate in the BiG Myth Challenge

Spin the wheel, choose a myth and guess if the myth was Busted, Plausible, or Confirmed. To get a sticker, you must guess correctly.

FRIDAY | 10 AM – 12:45 PM

Track 2 Room

Design a BiG Thinkers Patch

Design a BiG Thinkers patch and submit to to be judged by our artists. Winning entry will inspire next year’s BiG Thinkers patch design.

FRIDAY | 10 AM – 12:45 PM

Track 3 Room

Participate in at least 1 BiG Career Boost Mini Session

Tech, Human, System: Career Evolutions for Engineers in 2026

Engineering careers are no longer a predictable ladder. They are a dynamic, probabilistic journey shaped by AI and faster-moving systems. This session looks at what current hiring data says about entry-level, mid-career, and senior engineering roles.

While AI accelerates the technical work, what becomes critical is human intelligence: judgment, ethics, accountability, and trust.

Using the T-shaped leader model (deep expertise, cross-system literacy, and a human foundation), Caroline Stokes offers practical advice for each career stage that attendees can apply as soon as they’re back at work, whether they’re aiming for promotion or moving into new fields of expertise

Hire Me, Maybe? Resumes That Recruiters Can’t Ghost

Cut through the noise, beat the bots, and make your one-page work harder than your group project teammates. This Career Power Up Session will cover:

  • Resume Fundamentals
  • Before You Apply: How to Read a Job Posting Like a Pro
  • Would You Hire This Resume?

From Potential to Possibility

Stand Out and Launch Your Career

A modern resume is no longer a passive job history—it is a strategic sales document. With AI screening filters and recruiters skimming in under 10 seconds, your resume must instantly communicate future value, not just past duties. This session covers how to sharpen your core message, position your experience for target roles, and create a narrative that cuts through the noise.

FRIDAY | 1 – 1:30 PM

Track 2 Room

BiG Trivia

Participate in team of 5 or less, and get a sticker. 15 questions + tiebreaker trivia. Winning team receives a special prize!

ANY TIME BEFORE 3 PM SAT

@ Registration Tables

Share Your BiG Anticipation

Stop by the registration table to tell us what you’re most excited about for BiG Thinkers.

ANY TIME BEFORE 3 PM SAT

@ BiG Info Kiosk

Contribute to BiG Ideas

Visit the BiG Info Kiosk and submit questions for our speakers.

ANY TIME BEFORE 3 PM SAT

@ Exhibitor Floor

Visit “3” Industry Tables

Visit vendors, collect a sticker!

FRIDAY | 8 PM – 12 AM

@ Stargazers/Disney Springs

BiG Challenge/ Scavenger Hunt

Pick up scavenger hunt packet at exit of Stargazers to participate.

2:00PM – 2:10PM

Welcome to BiG Thinkers

BiG Thinkers Co-Chairs: Nicole Skarke & Chan Wong

Nicole Skarke
Chan Wong
Mike Pell

2:10PM – 3:00PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Thoughts KEYNOTE

Keynote: Mike Pell

Mike Pell

Mike Pell

Envisioneer | Former Director, The Microsoft Garage – NYC

Bold, insightful, and uncompromising, Mike Pell recently led The Microsoft Garage in New York City, where he regularly disrupted the thinking, strategy, and business models of the world’s top companies and organizations.

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3:00PM – 3:15PM

Break

3:15PM – 4:00PM

Track1: BiG Inspiration

Learn how great stories can translate into compelling guest experiences – discover how to focus on the audience, create an engaging narrative, leverage appropriate technology, and design memorable emotional connections.

Scott MallwitzSpeaker: Scott Mallwitz – Executive Creative Director, Walt Disney Imagineering

3:15PM – 4:00PM

Track 2: BiG Future

Sajith WijesuriyaYaser FallahSpeakers: Sajith Wijesuriya – IEEE MGA Board and TSCMO External Awareness Subcommittee; and Dr. Yaser Fallah – Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCF

3:15PM – 4:00PM

Track3: BiG Impact

Whether you’re a first-time presenter standing up in front of five people or a seasoned presenter walking out in front of 500 people, sharing your ideas effectively is an art, an art that is decidedly human. As you apply these best practices, and tell your story, you’ll truly be able to present like a pro.

Scott KelbySpeaker: Scott Kelby – President, KelbyOne, Podcaster, Author & Designer

Dylan Sisson

4:15PM – 5:00PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Thoughts KEYNOTE

The Future of Digital Storytelling: Accelerating Ideas with Intelligent Tools

Dylan Sisson

Dylan Sisson

Head of RenderMan Creative Engagement, Pixar Animation Studios

Dylan Sisson is a digital artist and VFX veteran who helps make advanced 3D tools feel intuitive and usable for artists. For more than 30 years he’s worked in animation and visual effects, focusing on demystifying how modern rendering works and showing how to apply the technology creatively in real production.

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6:00PM – 8:00PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Fun

BiG Party @ Stargazers

Mix and mingle with your new friends at the BiG Party @ Stargazers – Disney Springs on Friday night. Capacity is limited, so reserve your pass when you register!

8:00PM – 10:30PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Fun

BiG Challenge/Scavenger Hunt

Join us after the BiG Party @ Stargazers for an interactive scavenger hunt experience throughout Disney Springs. To play, pick up your BiG Challenge packet at the Stargazers exit, complete the clues and activities, and submit your completed challenge via QR code. Participation earns you a BiG Quest sticker and you could qualify for prizes.

Day Two Program*

Day Two Program*

Saturday, 24 October 2026

*Subject to change

7:00AM – 7:30AM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Fun

Start your day with a refreshing blend of mindfulness, movement, and mental engagement. This 30-minute Wake Up to Wellness session begins with a guided morning meditation to cultivate focus and set positive intentions for the day. Participants will then move through a series of gentle stretches designed to improve flexibility, reduce stiffness, and increase circulation. We will also practice a few balance and coordination exercises, which will challenge both body and mind, helping to enhance stability, concentration, and cognitive function. The session concludes with a calming meditation to promote relaxation, gratitude, and sustained well-being throughout the day.

Laura Brattain, Ph.D.

Associated Professor of Medicine in the Dept. of Medicine at University of Center Florida (UCF) College of Medicine

Laura Brattain, Ph.D.

7:45AM – 8:50AM

BiG Breakfast

9:00AM – 9:10AM

Welcome to BiG Thinkers

BiG Thinkers Co-Chairs: Nicole Skarke & Chan Wong

Nicole Skarke
Chan Wong
Kari Byron

9:10AM – 10:00AM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Thoughts KEYNOTE

Keynote and Q&A with Kari Byron

Kari Byron

Kari Byron

Mythbusters, Director-Founder National STEM Festival/Co-Founder EXPLR//Host of Mythfits Podcast

Kari Byron has been a trailblazer in the world of science, adventure, and travel television for over two decades. She is best known as a host of Discovery Channel’s hit show Mythbusters, where, as the longest-running female presenter in the channel’s history, she carved a new path for women in media and inspired a generation of “crash test girls.” She went on to host and produce several original shows spanning multiple networks. 

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Joe Sargent

10:00AM – 10:45AM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Thoughts KEYNOTE

Fireside Chat with Joe Sargent: Prototyping Moonshots

A look at how X thinks about developing and prototyping moonshots, and how they have applied these methods to moonshots like Waymo, Wing and others.

Joe Sargent

Joe Sargent

Director of Engineering & Prototyping at X, The Moonshot Factory

Joseph Sargent is a leader in rapid prototyping and innovation at X, The Moonshot Factory, where he guides a diverse team in the Design Kitchen to transform nascent, radical ideas into tangible realities. His work involves a multidisciplinary approach, blending engineering, design, and fabrication to address complex problems.

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10:55AM – 11:35AM

Track1: BiG Inspiration

What does it take to guide astronauts safely through some of the most complex operations ever attempted? Drawing on real experiences from NASA Mission Control, this session explores the communication, trust, and decision-making that enable high performing teams to solve problems together under pressure. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for building stronger collaboration, navigating uncertainty, and creating a culture where every team member contributes to mission success.

April BlackwellSpeaker: April Blackwell – Aerospace Engineer, NASA Flight Controller, Diabetes Advocate

10:55AM – 11:35AM

Track2: BiG Future

In a world where AI can generate content, craft identities, and influence decisions at scale, authenticity has become both more valuable than ever. Gain practical insight into protecting credibility, using AI responsibly, and thriving in a future where human originality and machine intelligence intersect.

Speakers: Maxim Jago & James Finlay – GTM Strategy and Operations @NVIDIA

Maxim JagoJames Finlay

 

10:55AM – 11:35AM

Track3: BiG Impact

As artificial intelligence reshapes industries, navigating market shifts requires an agile mindset and continuous peer exchange. Led by Shawntia McNeil (NVIDIA) and executive coach Monique Lung, this highly interactive panel creates a collaborative space for professionals to share real-world experiences, discuss ongoing challenges, and evaluate career strategies together. Attendees will actively engage in the conversation to explore how to execute a successful career pivot, translate domain expertise into AI-driven opportunities, and collective approaches to remaining adaptive in an evolving workforce.

Speakers: Shawntia McNeil – Global Ecosystem Partner Manager, NVIDIA and Monique Lung – Executive Career Coach, ZRG Partners & Conversation Artistry

Shawntia McNeil   Monique Lung

11:35AM – 12:25PM

BiG Lunch/Networking

12:25PM – 1:05PM

Track 1: BiG Inspiration

Drawing from over 15 years of experience designing uniforms and apparel for some of the worlds of top athletes, expert performance apparel designer Christopher Pham shares how the same design thinking principles used to create the most innovative products can be applied to building a career you’re passionate about.

Christopher PhamSpeaker: Christopher Pham – Expert Apparel Designer at Nike

12:25PM – 1:05PM

Track 2: BiG Future

Every professional is becoming a builder and manager of digital agents as Google Cloud and agentic frameworks transform daily workflows. Through live industry scenarios — spanning software engineering, startup operations, and security threat hunting — we will show what human-agent collaboration looks like in practice. Discover how embedding Trust & Safety guardrails from day one empowers your teams to embrace autonomous AI safely and at scale.

Brice Nguoghia Andy LucSpeakers: Brice Nguoghi – Startup & VC Engagement Manager and Google Cloud Advisor and Andy Luc, Trust and Safety Data Engineering Lead, Google

12:25PM – 1:05PM

Track3: BiG Impact

Your job title tells people what you do, but your life outside of it determines how well you do it! This session explores how embracing personal adventure and the ‘courage to be a beginner’ can build the adaptability and curiosity needed to thrive in any career. Discover how leveling up your life fundamentally shifts the ceiling of what you are capable of achieving at work!

Erin HuberSpeaker: Erin Huber – Blue Origin

1:15PM – 2:15PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Thoughts

Spark Your Creativity

SAK Comedy Lab Improv Group

Creativity isn’t a switch you flip; it’s a muscle you build. In this interactive breakout, an improv group guides you through exercises that strengthen flexible thinking, embrace the unexpected, and help you generate ideas without overthinking.

2:15PM – 2:45PM

Snack/Ice Cream Break

2:50pM – 3:30PM

Track 1: BiG Inspiration

Speakers: Barry Tilton – 2026 IEEE-USA President, Kathy Herring Hayashi – 2027 IEEE-USA President & Kathleen Kramer – 2026 IEEE Past President

Barry TiltonKathy Herring HayashiKathleen Kramer

2:50pM – 3:30PM

Track2: BiG Future

Where is the line between advancing compelling human-machine interfaces and safeguarding the agency of the human involved? The decoders in these interfaces require user-specific training and retraining, limiting their scalability and usability. Dr. Rakhshan’s lab is pushing back against that problem by developing gamified approaches to reduce training time for EMG-driven interfaces, such as prosthetic limbs. These devices could be life-changing for users, but they can also challenge their privacy, sense of agency, and embodiment. A gift from Meta brings Dr. Rakhshan together with Dr. Beever, an ethicist specializing in emerging technologies, to create leading positions on compelling ethical issues in the research and design space. These questions are key – especially in an era where technologies seem to be promoted faster than they can be evaluated.

Speakers: Dr. Jonathan Beever & Dr. Mohsen Rakhshan

Jonathan BeeverMohsen Rakhshan

2:50pM – 3:30PM

Track 3: BiG Impact

Virtual Moon’s grand vision is a civilization that lives, works, travels, and plays in space, and a Moon that ordinary people can visit. No astronauts needed. Anyone who wants to go.

The year is 2045. Just around the corner. A holiday on the Moon is no longer a prospect. It is a trip you can book. You spend two weeks at Selene, the first large, permanent city on the Moon, built for 5,000 people and visited by tens of thousands every year. You are one of them.

Robots, directed by AI, built the city. By then there is no reason to send people to do the work. People go for the same reason they go to Paris or the Caribbean: for the experience of being there. The design has to be buildable from technology already proven, or that can reasonably mature over the next ten to fifteen years, and within the mass budget that a fleet of Starships can actually land. If the lunar city proves impossible by that date, the commitment does not shrink. A full-scale, working replica to be built on Earth.

Equal to the city are two further aims. One is a worldwide community of Ambassadors who carry the case for a spacefaring civilization to every place and everyone they can reach. The other is to put millions of people, above all the young, to work on that future rather than leave them as spectators.

The instrument is a photorealistic digital twin of the Moon, and of Selene, that millions can step into every day. The immersive experience is not a substitute for the city. It is the catalyst that makes the city imaginable, and then demandable, in this lifetime.

Speaker: Manny Pimenta – Founder & CEO, Virtual Moon and Philippe van Nedervelde, Virtual Moon

Manny Pimenta   Philippe van Nedervelde

Eric RobisonEric Robison

3:40PM – 4:30PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Thoughts KEYNOTE

Closing Keynote with Eric Robison

Eric Robison

Eric Robison

Disney Artist & Imagineer

Eric Robison is an acclaimed Disney artist and former Imagineer whose vibrant, interpretive paintings of classic Disney characters have captivated fans worldwide. Since his first Goofy painting debuted at the Disney Gallery in 1990, his work—now spanning more than 900 Disney art pieces—has been featured internationally through limited edition lithographs, posters, and other collectibles.

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EPCOT Spaceship Earth

5:00PM – 10:00PM

IEEE-USA BiG ThinkersBiG Fun

BiG Thinkers Extra Time Magic @ Disney’s EPCOT

*This is an optional bonus event — tickets must be purchased separately; not included with conference registration.*

Extend the fun and enjoy the magic with a BONUS meet-up at Disney’s EPCOT from 5pm till park close. Enjoy the park on your own or with friends after BiG Thinkers and then stop by Spaceship Earth for an informal meetup, including a group ride on and photo at 7:30pm (meet under the big ball).

Finish the night watching EPCOT’s main fireworks show, Luminous: The Symphony of Us, which takes place over the World Showcase Lagoon at 9:00 PM. The show combines fireworks, fountains, lasers, lighting effects, and music, including both original compositions and classic Disney songs, to celebrate unity and shared human experience.

Instructions for purchasing tickets an be found here.

PURCHASE TICKETSPURCHASE TICKETS