Wyoming Blockchain Stampede to Include First UW Wyoming Computing Symposium

Showcasing University of Wyoming computing research and exploring how computing can create economic opportunities for the state will be central to the inaugural Wyoming Computing Symposium from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, in the Wyoming Union.

The symposium, “Emerging Computing Approaches, Technologies and Applications,” is sponsored by the UW School of Computing and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. It will be part of the 2023 Wyoming Blockchain Stampede and WyoBuildathon Sept. 11-15, presented by the UW Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Preregistration is encouraged. To register and view the agenda, visit www.uwyo.edu/stampede.

“We are excited to launch our first Wyoming Computing Symposium to be co-hosted with the Wyoming Blockchain Stampede,” says Gabrielle Allen, a professor and director of the School of Computing. “The symposium will focus on new computing areas that are important in Wyoming and beyond, including distributed computing and blockchain.”

Allen says the symposium will “highlight the growing expertise in computing across our academic units, including the new School of Computing and the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Mathematics and Statistics.”

“I am excited to have some of our students share their amazing research and applications,” says Bryan Shader, a professor of mathematics and interim head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “If you want to be wowed and feel good about UW, I encourage you to attend the poster sessions and the round of lightning talks. UW students and faculty are doing amazing things for Wyoming in computing.”

UW President Ed Seidel will deliver opening remarks, followed by keynote speakers, panels and faculty short talks throughout the day.

Keynote speakers are Mary Hall, director of the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, and Rabia Yazicigil, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and faculty affiliate of the Center for Information and Systems Engineering at Boston University. Hall specializes in compilers and automatic parallelization. Yazicigil works in secure energy-constrained devices with applications in health care and “Internet of Things” at Boston University.

“Advancing the Wyoming Economy Through Computing: Vision, Opportunities and Challenges” will be the topic of a panel moderated by Diksha Shukla, an assistant professor in UW’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Input Output Global is the title sponsor for the Wyoming Blockchain Stampede. Event sponsors are Microsoft, Custodia Bank, Crypto.com, Ava Labs and the Wyoming chapter of Americans for Prosperity.

Those who register for the Wyoming Computing Symposium and Wyoming Blockchain Stampede can use their registration badge to gain free access to a concert by country music performer Travis Denning at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, in the UW Indoor Practice Facility.