Highlights | GovState ACM Student Chapter + UPE

Recorded Engagements

Missed an event? Browse our archive of chapter programming, including guest lecturers, alumni conversations, and hands-on workshops. Expand each category to watch recordings and access event materials.

Industry Insights Series Recorded presentations from invited professionals across industry sectors, offering technical expertise, career insight, and real-world perspective to our chapter community.

MAR

2026

Speaker Series

Hacking Under Pressure: The Human Side of Cyber Operations

Presenter Josiah Dykstra, Ph.D.

Attended 75

Session Recording — Mar 24, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

MAR

2026

Speaker Series

Fail Forward: The Role of Grit, Growth, and Hands-On Learning in High-Performance Careers

Presenter Mathew J. Heath Van Horn, Ph.D.

Attended 34

Session Recording — Mar 11, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

MAR

2026

Speaker Series

From Classroom to IT Infrastructure: Skills, Tools, and Career Pathways in System Administration

Presenter Mr. Ming Chang

Attended 22

Session Recording — Mar 5, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

FEB

2026

Speaker Series

Identity Is the New Perimeter: Foundations of Modern Identity and Access Management

Presenter Eugene Zilberman, CISSP Eugene Zilberman, CISSP is a seasoned Cloud and Identity Security Architect with nearly two decades of experience in infrastructure and cybersecurity, including more than seven years specializing in cloud-based and identity-first security. Throughout his career, Eugene has focused on identifying vulnerabilities and mitigating threats in enterprise systems, working with organizations to implement scalable, cloud-native IAM solutions.

Attended 44

Session Recording — Feb 25, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

Alumni Spotlight Series Recorded conversations with GovState graduates offering an honest look at career pathways, professional growth, and life in the computing industry.

MAR

2026

Speaker Series

AI Ethics and the Growing Responsibility of Building Intelligent Systems

Presenter Leen Abdel Karim GovState alumna. Leen Abdelkarim is a technology professional and AI graduate student passionate about making emerging technologies practical, accessible, and impactful. She holds an Associate of Arts from Moraine Valley Community College and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Governors State University in May 2025. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence at Lewis University, with plans to graduate in May 2026.

Attended 22

Session Recording — Mar 30, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

FEB

2026

Speaker Series

From Classroom to Career: Making the Most of Your College Journey

Presenter Jared Porzio GovState alumnus with 3+ years in IT. Currently works in IT support and security operations for the railroad, focusing on endpoint protection, identity & access management, incident triage, and secure systems.

Attended 28

Session Recording — Feb 17, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

Skills Workshop Series Recorded hands-on sessions focused on practical skill development and applied computing competencies.

APR

2026

Speaker Series

Unmasking AI Bias: Making Large Language Models Fair and Trustworthy

Presenter Dr. Mehdi Bahrami Unmasking AI Bias: Making Large Language Models Fair and Trustworthy

Attended 82

Session Recording — April 8, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

FEB

2026

Speaker Series

Building Advanced AI Applications and Agents in One Hour

Presenter Dr. Mehdi Bahrami The session covered the foundations of LLMs, including tokenization, embeddings, deep neural networks, and how models are trained using backpropagation and fine-tuning. Dr. Bahrami explained why recent advances in transformer models, GPUs, and vision-language models (VLMs) have made AI agents practical today, even though the concept of AI agents has existed since the 1990s.

Attended ~70

Session Recording — Feb 23, 2026 · Microsoft Teams

Event Photos

Distinguished Speakers

Recorded Engagements

Hacking Under Pressure: The Human Side of Cyber Operations

Fail Forward: The Role of Grit, Growth, and Hands-On Learning in High-Performance Careers

From Classroom to IT Infrastructure: Skills, Tools, and Career Pathways in System Administration

Identity Is the New Perimeter: Foundations of Modern Identity and Access Management

AI Ethics and the Growing Responsibility of Building Intelligent Systems

From Classroom to Career: Making the Most of Your College Journey

Unmasking AI Bias: Making Large Language Models Fair and Trustworthy

Building Advanced AI Applications and Agents in One Hour