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2011 Merit Member Conference Announces Featured Speakers

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March 9, 2011

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Merit Network, Inc. today announced featured speakers for the 2011 Merit Member Conference, to be held May 18-19, at the Four Points by Sheraton in Ann Arbor.

Now celebrating its thirteenth year, the Merit Member Conference is a two-day seminar on technology in the service of education, research and public service organizations. The conference agenda provides information technology professionals with a strong learning experience as well as the opportunity to interact with their peers doing high-tech work in Michigan.
Merit Member Conference logo
The 2011 conference’s featured speakers are:

  • Chip Elliot

    Chip Elliott is project director for GENI – The Global Environment for Network Innovations – a research infrastructure for scientists sponsored by the National Science Foundation (geni.net). GENI provides researchers with an immense testbed, allowing them to conduct experiments that simulate the scale of a global network. In his presentation, Elliot will discuss GENI’s mission, formation and prospects, as scientists now try out the first dozen future internet experiments across the U.S.

  • Johnny Long

    Johnny Long is a legendary hacker, security expert and author, and a veteran of many years of breaking into and securing hundreds of Fortune 100 and government networks and facilities. He is the founder of Hackers For Charity (ihackcharities.org), an organization that provides hackers with job experience while leveraging their skills for charities that need assistance. Today he lives in Uganda, working to promote computer literacy and access to information where it is most needed. Based on his best-selling book No-Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving, and Shoulder Surfing, Long will deliver an entertaining and powerful security awareness talk highlighting the dangers malicious hackers pose and the simple defenses that can be used to thwart them.

  • James Hilton

    James Hilton is vice president and chief information officer at the University of Virginia, and former CIO at the University of Michigan. He is responsible for planning and coordinating academic and administrative information technology, voice communications and network operations on a university-wide basis. He is an advocate of strong collaboration between academic and technology cultures in university environments. In his presentation, Hilton will discuss disruptive forces that challenge traditional models of education, and examine information and communication technologies through the lens of strategic alignment.

Andy Rosenzweig, manager of professional learning at Merit, noted the relevance of the featured speakers to the conference. “Chip, Johnny and James are real leaders in advanced networking, computer security and information technology. Their presentations will provide excellent starting points for discussion throughout the conference and for the many other presentations in the conference agenda.”

Get more details and register at the Merit Member Conference web page.

Questions about the Merit Member Conference may be sent to: [email protected]