Moderator : Dr. Nick Z Fang, Robert S. Gooch Endowed Professor in Civil Engineering, UT-Arlington

Dr. Nick Z Fang is the Robert S. Gooch Endowed Professor in Civil Engineering and directs the Water Engineering Research Center (WERC) at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). He actively performs research in the areas of urban hydrology, radar hydrology, large scale hydrologic modeling, radar-based flood warning systems, water resources planning and management, and disaster (hurricanes, floods, and droughts) mitigation for many federal, state, and private entities. His exciting interdisciplinary research experience has gained national and international recognition through improving the fundamental understanding of watershed resiliency by addressing two grand challenges of climate change and urbanization.

Mr. David Lu, VP, Network Systems, AT&T (Retired)

David served in various leadership positions at AT&T that resulted in multibillion-dollar savings over the past 35 years. Currently holds 60+ patents and frequently appears as speaker at technical and leadership seminars and conferences throughout the world. Led global organizations of more than 5,000 people at AT&T. Was responsible for the next generation SDN automation platform enabling AT&T’s network virtualization and 5G/Fiber networks. Well respected as an inspirational industry leader in hyper scale software and AI driven platforms with institutional knowledge and world leading expertise achieving best in class quality, reliability, speed, and demonstrable financial/service benefits! Work pioneered many of the world’s first innovations and promoted many distinguished industry leaders and technical talents. Awards received include CIE-USA AAEOY Engineer of the Year Award in 2017 and Executive of the Year Award in 2023, IEEE CQR Chairman’s Award, CIO 100 Award, AT&T Innovation and Patent Awards, and AT&T Corporate Leadership Award. Actively engaged in community, professional, and faith work.

Ms. Xiaolin Lu, Fellow and Director, Texas Instruments

Xiaolin is Fellow and director of Texas Instruments Kilby Sensing, Processing, and Innovation Lab. The group covers embedded AI, generative AI for automation, in-sensor computing, smart analog interfaces, smart manufacturing with vision inspection and wireless sensors, etc. She is chartered to drive system level solutions using TI analog and embedded processors, to enable efficient and smart manufacturing inside the company.
Xiaolin has worked on various projects, including smallest edge AI HW, Compute-In-Memory engine, Smart Sensing, Wireless Sensor Network to name a few.
Xiaolin has given keynote and plenary talks at numerous technical conferences. In addition, she is the author/co-author of more than 60 U.S. issued patents and the recipient of the special recognition awards: 2021 Women Changing the Face of Dallas, 2016 Asian American Engineer of the Year, Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and National Women of Color award in the Technical Innovation.
Xiaolin is United Way Tocqueville member for community services. In her free time, Xiaolin enjoys yoga practice, playing piano, and leisure travel.

Dr. Yang Xie, Professor and Associate Dean of Data Science, UTSW

Dr. Yang Xie holds the Raymond D. and Patsy R. Nasher Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research and serves as a Professor and Associate Dean of Data Science at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She is the founding director of the Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, the Data Science for Precision Health Initiative, and the Pediatric Cancer Data Core at UT Southwestern. She has served as a regular member of the NIH Biodata Management and Analysis Study Section and is an advisor to the journal Lancet Digital Health.
With training in statistics, medicine, and epidemiology, she possesses a comprehensive understanding of developing and validating quantitative methods for precision health applications.

Dr. Jesse Zarazaga, Clinical Associate Professor, Fellow Hunt Institute, SMU

Working across the boundaries of urbanism, landscape mapping, and public engagement, Zarazaga explores ways to connect culture and community to place. Using GIS and participatory community mapping, she explores the impact of civil and environmental choices on the design of communities. Her research spans education and practice, working on the integration of community research into project-based learning. Her work overlaps areas of GIS mapping, global sustainable urbanism, design and creativity, with ongoing humanitarian engineering research projects in Tanzania, Kenya and Colombia as well as locally in Dallas. She undertook a Fulbright in Valparaíso, Chile, to investigate, and map, devices of landscape as inspirations for the orders of community space. Jessie earned her Ph.D. in Applied Science in Engineering at SMU, a BA and MA in architecture from Cambridge University, and a BA in Design from Williams College. She is a Registered Architect with the RIBA.

Forum Host: Mr. Autry Warren, Vice President, Oncor, (Retired)

After a 44-year career, Autry Warren retired as Vice President of Market Relations for Oncor. In his prior role he managed strategic business relationships and major customer programs. Also, over his career, Autry has held several key management positions in areas such as Accounting, Regulatory and Customer Service.

Autry has a distinguished record of serving the community and currently sits on the board of the African American Museum and Chinese Institute of Engineers. Other previous community roles include chairman of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, Board of the Directors – Dallas Zoological Society, the United Way of Greater Dallas African American Leadership Society Council and he is a graduate of Leadership North Texas.

Autry has a BBA in Accounting from the University of New Mexico and is a Certified Public Accountant. Prior business associations include serving as the chair of the Texas Society of CPAs Energy Committee and served on the Executive Board and Treasurer for the Working Group for Investment in Reliable Economic Electric Systems (WIRES).

Hobbies include spending time with family, traveling, golfing and grilling.