2021 Speakers

This page contains the list of speakers who will participate in our industry panels, research flash talks, and alumni talks.

Brian Bilello
President, New England Revolution
MIT Alum

SPEAKER bIO

As President of the New England Revolution, Brian Bilello reports directly to the Kraft family and oversees all aspects of the club’s business and soccer operations. He is responsible for establishing the club’s strategic vision and fostering its implementation. Working closely with the Kraft family to represent the Revolution in league matters, Bilello has served on several Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing committees, including the Business Development Committee, On-Field Technology Sub-Committee, Board of Governors, On-Field Competition Committee, Digital Commerce Task Force, and Chief Business Officers group.

​During his 19-year tenure with the club, the Revolution have been to MLS Cup four times (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014) and have won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2007) and the North American SuperLiga (2008). Entering 2021, the club is looking to build on consecutive trips to the MLS Cup Playoffs, including a berth in the 2020 Eastern Conference Final last season.

Ahead of the 2020 season, Bilello oversaw the development and construction of the new Revolution Training Center in Foxborough, the home of the Revolution first team, Revolution II USL League One side, and Revolution Academy. The $35-million facility is among the best in all of MLS and includes a state-of-the-art headquarters and four professional-grade fields.

Prior to joining the club, Bilello was a Revolution season ticket holder, giving him an inside track on the team’s fan experience. He enjoys working directly with supporters to ensure the club continues to prioritize their experience and every touch point they have with the club.

Additionally, Bilello is leading the campaign to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to New England as the President of Boston Soccer 2026. His efforts resulted in Boston being selected as an official Candidate Host City and he continues working closely with the United Bid to position Boston to be a selected host city in 2026.

Bilello has over a decade of senior leadership and strategic management in professional sports. He joined Kraft Sports & Entertainment in 2003 and served the Revolution, the New England Patriots, Boston Uprising, and Gillette Stadium in various operational and strategic roles. As Director of Quality and Operational Control, he worked to improve the fan experience across all areas of Gillette Stadium. He has also overseen the stadium’s concessions and retail operations, and provided strategic advice to the Kraft family on a number of issues related to their sports ventures, in particular, soccer, MLS, and the Revolution.

Bilello’s experience in professional sports started prior to landing in Foxborough while working as a management consultant for Bain & Company. During his tenure with the company, he worked with clients across a variety of functions, including sports, retail, consumer products, and entertainment industries in Bain & Company’s Boston and San Francisco offices.

An avid soccer player himself, Bilello played varsity soccer at MIT while studying engineering and economics, and continues to play and coach in his free time. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Vanessa, and two daughters. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Boston Scores, serves on Cradles 2 Crayons’ Corporate Advisory Council, and was named to Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” in September 2012.

Mirko Boccalatte
Chief Operating Officer, Ferrari F1 Team

SPEAKER BIO

Mirko studied Materials Engineering at Politecnico di Torino and later on Innovation at MIT Sloan.

After starting his career with Accenture, Mirko joined Ferrari in 2004 covering different managerial roles and finally becoming Ferrari Gestione Sportiva’s Head of Business Development.

In 2009 Mirko joined Fiat Group at the time of the first collaborations with Chrysler, where he coordinated the first Fiat-Chrysler conjoint programs as Senior Manager Product Planning.

Mirko then re-joined Ferrari with the role of Ferrari Head of Global Innovation.

He re-joined the Ferrari Formula 1 Team at the end of 2014, first as HR Director and later on as Chief Operating Officer.

RC Buford
CEO, Spurs Sports and Entertainment

SPEAKER BIO

R.C. was named CEO for Spurs Sports and Entertainment in July of 2019. In his current role he leads the business operations for all sports franchises owned and operated by Spurs Sports & Entertainment which includes the San Antonio Spurs (NBA), the Austin Spurs (NBA G-League) and San Antonio FC (USL Soccer) as well as the operations of the AT&T Center and Toyota Field.

​Prior to being named CEO Buford held the role of president of sports franchises from 2008-19. He served as the general manager of the Spurs while overseeing the sports administration for the other teams in the SS&E family. He has twice been named the NBA’s executive of the Year in 2014 and 2016.

R.C. started his professional career as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas in 1983. During each of his five seasons at Kansas, the Jayhawks participated in the NCAA Tournament. Buford was on the coaching staff for the team that won the 1988 NCAA Championship as well as the 1985–86 squad that advanced to the Final Four.

In the summer of 2008 R.C. made the move to the NBA joining the Spurs as an assistant coach on Larry Brown’s staff (other assistants on that staff included Gregg Popovich, Alvin Gentry and Ed Manning). He spent four seasons as an assistant with the Spurs, helping win back-to-back Midwest Division Titles (1990 and 1991). In the summer of 1992, Buford joined the Los Angeles Clippers as the first assistant for Coach Brown (the Clippers earned a spot in the 1993 Playoffs). He later served as an assistant coach at the University of Florida during the 1993-94 season (the team advanced to the Final Four for the first time in school history).

In the Summer of 1994, R.C. returned to San Antonio (hired by Gregg Popovich) as the team’s head scout. In the summer of 1997 he was elevated to Spurs director of scouting and was eventually promoted to vice president/assistant general manager in the summer of 1999. In 2002 was named the Spurs general manager.

R.C.’s collegiate experience included playing basketball at Texas A&M University and Oklahoma State before receiving his degree from Friends University. He is involved in the NBA Basketball Without Borders Africa Camp and in 2015, he became an advisory board member for Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) at Duke University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of PeacePlayers International.

His wife, Beth, is a former player on the LPGA Tour and are both active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. They have a son, Chase, and a daughter, C.C. In 2004, they welcomed Alexis Wangmene from Cameroon and in 2007 welcomed Samer Jasser, from Israel, to their family. Wangmene met the Bufords during the Basketball Without Borders program in Johannesburg and Jassar was introduced to the Bufords through PeacePlayers International.

Christina Chase
Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering, MIT; Co-Founder & Managing Director, MIT Sports Lab

SPEAKER BIO

Christina Chase is a Lecturer at MIT in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2015, she co-founded the MIT Sports Lab with Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi and serves as its Managing Director. Prior to this she was the first Entrepreneur in Residence at MIT through the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. Christina has helped hundreds of teams go from concept to company. In 2013, she was named one of the 25 Most Influential Women in the Boston Tech Community and in 2014, Mashable named her one of the 15 People Shaping Boston’s Tech Scene. In a past life, Christina was a cyclist where she was one of 12 women selected by the US Cycling Federation to train at the US Olympic Training Center. She has taught downhill skiing in Colorado, summited six of Colorado’s 14-ers across seasons, and her latest sport is kiteboarding. Christina is a Techstars mentor and serves on the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum, is a judge for the SXSW Accelerator Competition and former Advisory Board member.

Rich Cho
Vice President of Basketball Strategy, Memphis Grizzlies

SPEAKER BIO

Rich Cho enters his second season with the Memphis Grizzlies as Vice President of Basketball Strategy after joining the organization on April 17, 2019.  Cho assists Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Zachary Z. Kleiman in various aspects of basketball operations, including salary cap matters, basketball analytics, player contracts and player acquisitions.

A native of Myanmar who immigrated to the United States with his family in 1968 when he was three years old, Cho became the first Asian-American general manager in American major league sports when he served as General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2010-11. He then worked seven seasons (2011-18) as General Manager of the Charlotte Hornets, where he served as the franchise’s lead basketball operations executive.

Prior to his stint in Portland, Cho spent 10 seasons (2000-10) as Assistant General Manager of the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. He entered the NBA in 1995 as an intern with the SuperSonics while earning a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. After serving as a part-time consultant for the SuperSonics in 1997, Cho was hired as the team’s Director of Basketball Affairs in 1998 before being promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2000.

A member of the Washington State Bar, Cho also served as Vice President of Legal for the SuperSonics from 2005-07 in addition to his duties as Assistant GM. Following the team’s move to Oklahoma City, Cho also oversaw the Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, and their run to the championship game in 2009-10.

Cho earned an engineering degree from Washington State University and worked as an engineer at Boeing in Seattle from 198994 before leaving to enroll at Pepperdine in order to pursue his passion in professional sports. His law degree from Pepperdine includes an emphasis in sports law, contract negotiations and dispute resolution.
During his internship with the SuperSonics, Cho, along with two Microsoft programmers, helped design and implement one of the NBA’s most advanced and comprehensive college and professional player evaluation systems that integrates player statistics, scouting information and contract details.
​
An avid explorer of restaurants and cuisine, Cho founded an interactive food blog site called Bigtime (bigtimebites.com) to bring basketball fans and food lovers across the country together. Cho also enjoys staying active by playing basketball, tennis, ping pong and pickleball in his spare time. During the 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Cho won the NBA Summer League Table Tennis Challenge Benefitting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the second time (previously won in 2013).  As a competitive pickleball player, Cho is sponsored by Onix Pickleball.  In 2018, Cho won the Thailand Open and U.S. Mid-Atlantic Regional Pickleball Championships and has played in both the U.S. Open and U.S. National Pickleball Championships.  Cho and his wife, Julie, have two daughters, Miranda (15) and Annika (13).

Nick Davis
Special Assistant - Baseball Research, Milwaukee Brewers
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Nick Davis currently serves as the Special Assistant for Baseball Research and Development at the Milwaukee Brewers. In this role, he assists with various projects across baseball operations areas with a focus on data analysis and automation. He joined the Brewers full-time after graduating in June 2014 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Math and Computer Science, where he played both baseball and basketball.

Nicolas Evans
Head of Football Research & Standards, FIFA

SPEAKER BIO

Nicolas is the Head of Football Research & Standards within FIFA’s Technical Innovation Department. In this role he oversees the entire standards creation process from definition of needs, research design and execution to implementation as global standards for football stakeholders. He leads a multi-disciplinary team consisting of engineers, data scientists and industry experts that works with more than 150 stakeholders on a daily basis.

Nicolas has championed the role of science in sport following two Master’s degrees in International Affairs and Governance from the University of St. Gallen and a summa cum laude degree in Finance & Strategy at the Institut d’Etudes Politique de Paris. Applying research methods and his understanding of institutional dynamics has been key to forging successful partnerships with industry, research and football stakeholders to improve the game of football using data-driven decision-making processes.

​Besides family, Nicolas’ hobbies include a variety of sports and long-distance running.

Sarah Fay
Graduate Researcher, MIT Sports Lab

SPEAKER BIO

Sarah is a graduate student working with Peko Hosoi. Her current project is focused on the modeling the biomechanics of running for designing running shoes (in collaboration with adidas). In the past, she's worked on optimizing racket weight distribution for power hitting. She played field hockey and squash at MIT as an undergraduate and serves as an assistant coach of the MIT field hockey team. 

Sam Feder
Vice President, New York Islanders
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Sam is the Vice President at New York Hockey Holdings, the ownership group of the New York Islanders hockey club. In his role, he oversees strategy and analytics for the organization. Prior to joining the Islanders, Sam received his MBA from MIT and worked for 3 years at McKinsey & Company in their sports practice.

Mike Fitzgerald
Vice President of Research and Development, Arizona Diamondbacks
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Mike Fitzgerald enters his fifth season with the D-backs and second as Vice President, Research & Development. In his role, Fitzgerald works with the R&D staff to supplement other areas of baseball operations, with the goal of enabling the most informed decisions possible.

Fitzgerald joined the D-backs following five seasons and three postseason appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he served as a quantitative analyst involved in player evaluation and roster construction. He also interacted directly with the coaching staff, providing input on defensive positioning, batting order optimization and identifying favorable matchups.

Prior to joining the Pirates, Fitzgerald spent two years in ESPN’s technology innovation department and two years with TrackMan, the radar technology company that captures ball flight and trajectory.

While attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Wilmington, Mass., native spent two years as an intern in the Boston Celtics’ basketball operations department. He graduated in 2011 with a degree in mathematics and was a captain of the football team.

He resides in Scottsdale with his wife, Lesley.

Seung Kyun (SK) Ha
Graduate Researcher, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering

SPEAKER BIO

SK is a Ph.D. candidate studying Chemical Engineering at MIT. Originally from South Korea, he holds a B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering (with a minor in Physics) from Seoul National University and M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT. Alongside his graduate research, SK enjoys working on sports data analytics projects, including a recent project on developing a mathematical model that describes the soccer dribble dynamics and enables the quantification of players’ relevant cognitive/physical attributes. SK loves playing and watching all sports, and is a co-captain of a local amateur soccer team.

Andy Harland
Professor of Sports Technology & Associate Dean for Enterprise, Loughborough University

SPEAKER BIO

Professor Harland is active in research across a broad range of topics related to sport, including measurement and instrumentation in sport, product design and development, injury prevention and simulation.

A number of projects have been concerned with sports footwear, apparel, protective gear and hard-goods, with particular focus on a wide range of hollow and solid sports balls. He has supervised over 20 PhD students.

Professor Harland’s research in soccer balls has been applied by adidas in tournament balls used in FIFA world cups since 2006 and UEFA European Championships since 2004 and his research in cricket helmet impacts underpinned the revision of the British Standard 7928:2013; Specification for Head Protection for Cricketers.

Professor Harland has partnered with a wide range of industrial, commercial and charitable bodies, including adidas, FIFA, England and Wales Cricket Board, International Cricket Council, BISFed and FIH.

​​Professor Harland has also supported a number of start-up businesses including Alcuris, Incus, Nymbl and Shot Scope and is keen to support ideas through to commercialisation.

David Hesslink
Project Manager, Baseball Operations at Seattle Mariners
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

David Hesslink (’17) works at the intersection of baseball and data on the Seattle Mariners Baseball Projects team. After a successful career as a left-handed pitcher with the MIT baseball team, Hesslink became the fourth player in MIT history to be selected in the Major League Baseball draft. He pitched one season of minor league baseball for the Mariners’ Class-A affiliate, the Everett AquaSox, before transitioning into a front office role with the club. Hesslink specializes in integrating evidence-based decision-making throughout all aspects of Mariners baseball operations, including player acquisition, player development, and in-game strategy.

Peko Hosoi
Associate Dean, School of Engineering; Neil and Jane Pappalardo Professor, Mechanical Engineering, MIT; Co-founder, MIT Sports Lab

SPEAKER BIO

Anette “Peko” Hosoi is the Associate Dean of the MIT School of Engineering, the Neil and Jane Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Mathematics. Her research contributions lie at the junction of nonlinear hydrodynamics, biomechanics, and bio-inspired design. A common theme in her work is the fundamental study of shape, kinematic, and rheological optimization of biological systems with applications to the emergent field of soft robotics.  More recently, she has turned her attention to problems that lie intersection of biomechanics, applied mathematics, and sports. She is the co-founder of the MIT Sports Lab which connects the MIT community with pro-teams and industry partners to address data and engineering challenges that lie within the sports domain. She has received numerous awards including the APS Stanley Corrsin Award, the Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Jacob P. Den Hartog Distinguished Educator Award. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), a Radcliffe Institute Fellow, and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow.

Amy Huchthausen
Commissioner, America East Conference
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Amy Huchthausen serves as Commissioner of the America East Conference where she has increased the conference’s profile through progressive media partnerships and a robust social and digital media strategy.
 
Under her leadership, America East unveiled a comprehensive rebranding platform that led to new programs such as the #3Pillars Academy, Alumni Network, Academic Consortium and the league’s Health & Safety initiative. Additionally, the conference is a diversity and inclusion leader through its groundbreaking partnerships with the You Can Play Project, LGBT SportSafe and RISE that are the foundation of its Spread Respect campaign.
 
She has served on the Women Leaders in College Sports Board of Directors and numerous NCAA committees during her career. She is currently active in the Stadia Ventures community. Notably, she was recognized as a 2016 Forty Under 40 honoree by the Sports Business Journal.
 
Huchthausen has worked at the NCAA, ACC, Missouri Valley and Big East.  She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where she played softball. In 2018, she received her MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she was recognized by Poets & Quants as one of the Class of 2018’s Best & Brightest Executive MBAs in the country.

Ivan Jutamulia
Graduate Researcher, MIT Sports Lab

SPEAKER BIO

Ivan is a first-year Master’s student studying computer science and artificial intelligence. He is currently doing research supervised by Professor Peko Hosoi surrounding the decision making capabilities of NBA players and developing a framework to evaluate them. Ivan is passionate about the application of machine learning and data analysis tools in sports, much like his research. He is a lifelong sports fan and soccer player, captaining the varsity team at MIT and now serving as an assistant coach.

Kevin Kusch
Co-Founder & CTO, Notemeal
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

As co-founder and CTO of Notemeal, Kevin Kusch is combining his passions of sports and nutrition to help build a world-class performance nutrition platform. At Notemeal, Kevin strives to connect performance dietitians, athletes, and kitchens by enabling the essential workflows of a team nutrition operation, including faster access to meal plans, body composition insights, and nutrient analysis. Prior to founding Notemeal in May 2019, Kevin Kusch worked for the New England Patriots, taking part in two Super Bowl appearances and one championship. There, he helped lead the software and data science team, building applications for the front-office, coaching and performance departments. While attending college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kevin was captain of the Varsity Football Team and was named to the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society his senior year.

Matt Lindsay
Director of Data Science and Software, New England Patriots
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

As a member of the New England Patriots organization, Matt Lindsay leads a team responsible for design, implementation, and maintenance of all data science and software applications. On the data science side, Matt helps leverage internal and external data sources to provide novel and actionable insights. For software, he aids in developing solutions for the Scouting, Training and Coaching staffs within the organization. Additionally, Matt is responsible for overseeing and supporting all third-party software integration. Projects under supervision span fields of Machine Learning, Web Application Development, Database Design, ETL, Infrastructure Virtualization, and UX.

Sean Marks
General Manager, Brooklyn Nets

SPEAKER BIO

Sean Marks was named as the Nets’ general manager on February 18, 2016 and oversees all aspects of the team’s basketball operations.

​Marks joined the Nets after spending the past five years with the San Antonio Spurs, including the last two seasons as the team’s assistant general manager. Prior to serving as assistant general manager, Marks spent one season as an assistant coach on the Spurs’ 2014 NBA Championship team, one season as the team’s director of basketball operations and general manager of the Spurs’ NBA Development League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, and one season as a basketball operations assistant.

A veteran of 12 NBA seasons, Marks was originally selected with the 44th pick in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Over the course of his playing career, he suited up for six different franchises, including the Toronto Raptors (1998-00), Miami Heat (2001-03), Phoenix Suns (2006-08), New Orleans Hornets (2008-10) and Portland Trail Blazers (2010-11). He also spent three seasons with the Spurs (2003-06) and was a member of the 2005 NBA Championship team.

Prior to embarking on his NBA career, Marks played four seasons at the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as a captain during his senior season (1997-98). He earned his degree in political science in 1998.

Marks is a native of Auckland, New Zealand, representing the country in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. He was also a member of the team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Sean and his wife, Jennifer, have four boys, Aidan, Lucas, Owen and Elliott.

David Morehouse
President and CEO, Pittsburgh Penguins

SPEAKER BIO

In 13 seasons as a senior executive with the Penguins, David Morehouse has seen the team win three Stanley Cups, make the Cup Finals four times, and reach the conference finals five times.

Though his expertise is on the team’s business side – especially branding and marketing – Morehouse’s greatest achievement has been creating a corporate culture that has driven the Penguins to consistent excellence both on and off the ice.

“It’s no coincidence that we’ve enjoyed this kind of success with David Morehouse as our key senior executive,” said co-owner Ron Burkle. “We’ve obviously made a lot of great acquisitions on the player side, but one of the best acquisitions we’ve ever made was David himself.”

The Penguins have become one of the NHL’s strongest business entities during Morehouse’s tenure – selling out every game for 13-plus seasons, setting new standards for television ratings and corporate partnerships, and increasing their focus on innovative youth marketing. The Penguins again ranked among the NHL leaders in local television ratings in 2019-20.

Morehouse joined the team as a consultant on the new arena project in 2004 and was named team president in April 2007. He was given the additional responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer just as the team’s new arena was opening in August 2010.

Under his leadership, the Penguins have reshaped their strategic vision with an emphasis on branding, fan relations, community interaction, corporate outreach, and cutting-edge technology, while maintaining a high level of performance on the ice.

A strong commitment to fan outreach includes an annual event where players personally deliver season tickets to fans’ homes and a special preseason game where all 18,000 tickets are distributed free to local youth. Morehouse also was a driving force behind the new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, which opened in August 2015. It is the first facility to combine hockey with a world-class medical center and sports performance complex.

Morehouse joined the Penguins following a career in national politics that included stints at the White House, Pentagon, and on Capitol Hill – as well as key roles in two Presidential campaigns. He attended the Community College of Allegheny County and Duquesne University and received a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is a native of the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Beechview.

David serves on the board of trustees of the University of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Conference, and on the board of directors of Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI).   He and his wife, Vanessa Opperman Morehouse, are involved in numerous charitable and community initiatives, including Children's Hospital, the Hillman Cancer Center, the Strategic Investment Fund, and the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. David and Vanessa have four children and reside in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.

Bill Near
Founder and CEO, Helios Hockey
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Bill is a passion-driven hockey player and technologist. His background is in electronics and software product development for Consumer, Automotive, Medical and Defense markets. Formerly he spent his time at ClearMotion, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Analog Devices. He received his BS and MEng degrees from MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he captained the Men’s Ice Hockey Team.

Alok Pattani
Data Science Developer Advocate, Google

SPEAKER BIO

Alok is a Data Science Developer Advocate at Google, where he demonstrates how to use Google Cloud tools for data science, in sports and otherwise. He is a sports analytics expert, and has played a significant role in Google Cloud’s sports-related partnerships, including with the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Alok joined Google Cloud after 2 years as a data scientist on Google’s Search Ads Metrics team.

​Before joining Google, Alok spent 8 years at ESPN, where he contributed significantly to the use of analytical content across all media platforms. As a founding member of ESPN’s Sports Analytics Team, he played an integral role in the development and usage of metrics such as Total QBR and various team rankings across pro and college sports, and eventually helped lead the team as it expanded and increased scope.

Alok is originally from Cheshire, CT, and earned a BA/MA in statistics from Boston University in 2008. He lives in Mountain View, CA, with his wife and son.

Jaime Peraire
H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT

SPEAKER BIO

Jaime Peraire is the H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. He graduated in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Barcelona (Spain) in 1983 and obtained a PhD in 1986 from the University of Wales (UK). 

He taught as a lecturer at the University of Wales from 1985 to 1989. During 1989 and 1993, he was a Reader at the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College, London, and in 1993, he joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was the Head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT from 2011 until 2018. His areas of interest are computational aerodynamics as well as computational mechanics, plasmonics and optimization. He is the author of over 200 technical papers and serves in the editorial board of several journals. In 2005 he established and co‐directed a new MIT SM program in Computation for Design and Optimization (CDO). He is a fellow of the AIAA.

Ben Peterson
Head of Player Health & Performance, San Francisco 49ers

SPEAKER BIO

Ben Peterson is in his second season with the 49ers as head of player health & performance, overseeing athletic training, functional performance, nutrition and strength & conditioning. In his role, he manages and orchestrates all available resources to ensure 49ers players are provided the best standard of care, with the goal of maximizing their availability. He joined the 49ers after spending more than two years as the director of sports science with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. In his role with the Flyers, he helped integrate strength and conditioning, sports medicine, physical therapy and nutrition.

Ray Reagans
Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Management, Professor of Organization Studies, and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, MIT Sloan School of Management

SPEAKER BIO

Ray Reagans is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Management, a Professor of Organization Studies, and the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Reagans studies the origin and influence of social capital on knowledge transfer, learning rates, and overall team performance. More specifically, he examines how demographic characteristics such as race, age, and gender affect the development of network relations. He also considers how particular network structures affect performance outcomes, including the transfer of knowledge among individuals and the productivity of research and development teams.

​Reagans holds a BA in sociology and economics from Brown University and a PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago

Scott Riewald
Senior Director for High Performance Projects, US Olympic and Paralympic Committee

SPEAKER BIO

Scott Riewald oversees special projects in the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sport Performance and NGB Services Division. In his position, Riewald works in partnership with the USOPC’s High Performance Directors, Coaching Education Department, Sports Medicine team, as well as the National Governing Bodies, to dig deeper into areas that can have an impact on athlete performance – e.g. technology and innovation, culture and leadership, athlete monitoring, and performance analytics. The overarching goal of his work is to enhance athlete performance and give U.S. athletes the best chance to reach the podium at the Olympic Games. Riewald also oversees the USOPC’s talent transfer efforts, working to identify athletes who have the skills necessary to excel in an Olympic discipline, while also promoting the opportunities that exist in Olympic sport.

Prior to this position, Riewald served as the USOPC’s winter sport high performance director, working with the winter National Governing Bodies for eight years to coordinate sport science and medical support for their elite athletes.  Riewald has also spent time as the Sport Science Administrator for the United States Tennis Association’s Player Development Division.  He worked closely with the sport science staff, the coaching education department and the USTA sport science committee to integrate sport science, sports medicine and technology with the goal of developing high performance tennis players. He also spent four years as the biomechanics director for USA Swimming, where he was part of an international biomechanics research team at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Outside of sport, Scott has taught graduate-level courses in biomechanics and sport performance at Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, and the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs. He has also authored two books on sport science and swimming.

Riewald received a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University, where he was a highly decorated swimmer, and earned masters and doctorate degrees in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University where he studied neuromuscular control and biomechanics of movement.  He is also certified as a strength and conditioning specialist by the NSCA.  Scott is married, and lives in Colorado Springs with his wife and two children.

Jon Roberts
Senior Lecturer & Head of Sports Technology Research Group, Loughborough University

SPEAKER BIO

Dr. Jon Roberts is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Sports Technology Research Group at Loughborough University in the UK. He has over 20 years experience in the application of science, technology and engineering in sport. In that time he has collaborated with many of the global sports equipment brands and governing bodies as well as with SMEs and coaches. Jon’s main research interests are in the use of both subjective and objective approaches to study the interactions between an athlete and their equipment. Jon has expertise in the evaluation of users’ subjective perceptions of sports equipment using a wide range of sensory methods. He is also interested in equipment customization to optimize athlete performance. Underpinning Jon’s research are the development of advanced measurement technologies, test devices, experimental designs and statistical techniques to generate and analyse high quality data.

Jacob Rothman
Co-Founder & CEO, Perch
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Jacob is the Co-Founder and CEO of Perch. Originally from Charlotte, NC, Jacob attended MIT where he studied Mechanical Engineering and played baseball. After graduating in 2016, he attended grad school at MIT for one year before dropping out to work on Perch full time. Perch uses small and mobile cameras to monitor and manage athlete performance and activity in the weight room. Perch currently helps elite athletic organizations, such as the LSU Tigers and the NY Giants, get the most out of their work in the weight room, while working towards enabling a safer, more efficient, and more connected fitness experience for everyone.

Jacob has previous work experience at Apple, Oculus VR, and various MIT labs. He currently resides in Boston, MA.

Carlo Salmini
Co-Founder and CEO, SHRED.
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Carlo Salmini is the CEO and Co-Founder of SHRED, innovative eyewear, helmets, and body protection for skiers, snowboarders, and mountain bikers. After years researching the ultimate improvements and innovations in sports equipment and accessories to allow him to enhance his performance and fun, Carlo came to the conclusion that there was no better way to get the products he wanted than making his own. Starting from building carbon fiber and fiberglass protection prototypes out of his garage with the infusion of epoxy resin under vacuum, he has made his vision and passion come true first through Slytech and then through SHRED. As the CEO of SHRED, Carlo is responsible for many of the day-to-day-operations, as well as leading the company’s product development, technology strategy and marketing. Carlo listens to ideas, combines them with his own, and makes decisions based on what him and his partners think will set SHRED. apart from the field.

​Avid skier and mountain biker, Carlo received his Master in Engineering from the University of Padova with a thesis on the analysis of the performance of skis in an arc-ed turn and his M.B.A. from the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management with a particular focus on System Dynamics and Sustainability.

Eric Schmidt
Head of Advocacy for Data Analytics, Google Cloud

SPEAKER BIO

Eric Schmidt is a Staff Developer Advocate for Google Cloud. His primary focus is enabling data science and data analysis workflows within the sports and retailing industries. Prior to his advocacy work Schmidt was the founding Product Manager for Cloud Dataflow a unified service for large scale batch and stream processing.  His portfolio of work includes engagements for: World Cup (2014, 2018), World Series 2016, NCAA March Madness (2013, 2018), Olympics (2008, 2010, 2012), NBC Sunday Night Football (2009, 2010, 2011), Home Depot, Spotify, Target, Zillow, Disney, Sephora, and Zulily. Prior to joining Google Schmidt was a Sr. Director at Microsoft and a managing consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ben Shields
Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

SPEAKER BIO

Ben Shields is a Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He studies the multibillion-dollar sports industry to identify broadly transferable management lessons in areas such as leadership communication, data-driven decision making, and innovation.

​​He is the author or coauthor of three books, Social Media Management: Persuasion in Networked Culture (Oxford University Press, 2016), The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High Performance Industry (Oxford University Press, 2015), and The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace (McGraw-Hill, 2006).

His other sports work at MIT includes co-hosting “Counterpoints,” the sports analytics podcast from the MIT Sloan Management Review, and teaching in the MIT Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp program, which is offered through MIT’s Office of Open Learning.

Prior to MIT, Shields served as the Director of Social Media and Marketing at ESPN. He oversaw social media strategy for the ESPN brand and collaborated across the enterprise to develop and implement company-wide social strategy. He also worked on marketing strategy for several ESPN brands and sub-brands, including the SportsCenter “DaDaDa” campaign and the Emmy Award-winning “It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports” brand campaign.

Lorena Torres Ronda
Adjunct Fellow, Institute for Health and Sport (iHeS) at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia

SPEAKER BIO

Dr. Lorena Torres Ronda has a wide educational and research background, spanning five different universities across the globe, with specializations in performance and sports science. She has authored or co-authored research on high-performance topics, including the implementation and vetting process of technology in sport organizations.

​She has extensive experience in Professional and Olympic sports, with golfers, tennis players, basketball at F.C. Barcelona, the Spanish swimming Federation and more recently in the NBA, leading as a Sport Scientist and Research and Development Coordinator with the San Antonio Spurs, and with the 76ers as a Performance Director. She is focused on athletic performance, sport science, technology and innovation, data analysis and visualization, monitoring training and competition, load management, advance recovery, nutrition, as well as leadership and performance culture.

Jessika Trancik
Associate Professor of Energy Studies, MIT IDSS

SPEAKER BIO

Jessika Trancik is an Associate Professor of Energy Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. She received her BS in materials science and engineering from Cornell University and her PhD in materials science from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Before MIT, she spent several years at the Santa Fe Institute as an Omidyar Fellow, and at Columbia University as an Earth Institute Fellow, where her research focused on energy systems modeling. Her research group studies the dynamic costs and environmental impacts of energy technologies to inform technology design and policy.

​Prof. Trancik’s research centers on evaluating the environmental impacts and costs of energy technologies, and setting design targets to help accelerate the development of these technologies in the laboratory. This work involves assembling and analyzing expansive datasets, and developing new quantitative models and theory. Projects focus on electricity and transportation, with an emphasis on solar energy conversion and storage technologies.

Ferran Vidal-Codina
Research Scientist and Instructor, MIT Sports Lab

SPEAKER BIO

Ferran is a research scientist at the MIT Sports Lab and the Aero Astro department. His research involves numerical simulation of plasmonic phenomena, as well as sports modeling and analytics. He is currently developing a model to automate event detection in soccer using tracking data in partnership with FIFA, and has worked on building a mathematical model to simulate elite soccer dribbling. In addition, he is an instructor of the MIT class 2.98, where he supervises data-centric projects at the intersection of sports, technology and innovation. Ferran is an avid soccer fan who loves playing and watching multiple sports in his spare time.

Tim Zue
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Boston Red Sox
MIT Alum

SPEAKER BIO

Tim Zue is responsible for the financial management of the Boston Red Sox overseeing the organization's operating budget, accounting, financial planning, forecasting, and business analytics. Prior to his current role, Zue served as Senior Vice President of Finance, Strategy and Analytics for both the Red Sox and Fenway Sports Management (FSM).

​During his 16-year career with the club, Zue has played a key role in all financial aspects of the business, including the evaluation and execution of all non-baseball events, ticket pricing decisions, the financial impact of Fenway Park improvements, and the creation of the Red Sox Rewards loyalty program. He also helped conduct the financial due diligence related to Fenway Sports Group's acquisition of Roush Fenway Racing, Liverpool Football Club, and the marketing rights for LeBron James.

With FSM, Zue managed the business operations department responsible for the sports marketing firm's consulting, events, and experiences divisions. Under his leadership, FSM created the onsite photography service Fanfoto, the fan travel program MLB Destinations, Red Sox Fantasy Camps, and Youth Baseball Summer Camps. During his tenure, Fanfoto expanded from three teams to more than 30, and the MLB Destinations program grew to include seven Major League Baseball clubs.

In early 2017 Zue was promoted to Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer and he was also selected as one of Sports Business Journal's "40 Under 40" Award recipients, an honor that recognized him as one of the best young talents in the business of sports.

Prior to joining the Red Sox and FSM, Zue worked for Bain & Company in Boston as an associate consultant. He also taught middle school math and technology in the Boston Public School system for four years.

Zue received a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 1999, where he won a robotics design contest and competed in an international robotics design competition in Tokyo. A native of Winchester, MA, Zue lives in Lexington with his wife, Nicole, and their three children, Adelyn, Harrison, and Vivienne.

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