February 21-22, we will be holding our 2026 University of Iowa Computing Conference (UICC).
Over 18 years and 100+ speakers, UICC has become a bridge between Iowa students and locals building tomorrow's technology. Here are just a few whose speakers since taking our stage to showcase that legacy—each one has gone on to lead, innovate, and shape their industries in remarkable ways.
Entertainment Tech Innovators
Greg Nichols (UICC 2015 - 50th Anniversary) came to Iowa pursuing a PhD in Computer Science with dreams of academia, but a Disney internship during his graduate studies changed everything. The computational graphics skills he developed at Iowa helped him hit the ground running at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he spent eight years working on films like Moana, Zootopia, and Big Hero 6—including building the renderer for Big Hero 6 while the movie was actively in production. After leaving Disney in 2018, Nichols took those problem-solving skills to Argo AI, managing a team building development tools for self-driving cars.
Patrick Sammon (UICC 2014) transformed his vision for a film about Alan Turing into "Codebreaker," a documentary that has reached over three million viewers worldwide through theatrical releases, Netflix, film festivals, and special screenings at venues like the British Museum and FBI headquarters. As President of Story Center Productions, Sammon pioneered a grassroots distribution strategy that combined traditional channels with targeted outreach, proving that independent films about computing history can achieve global impact.
Tech Policy & Standards Leaders
Barbara Simons (UICC 2013) brought decades of IBM research experience and her role as former President of the Association for Computing Machinery to UICC's 2013 stage, posing a question that remains urgent today: "I can bank online; why can't I vote online?" Since then, she's become one of the nation's leading advocates for election security, founding and chairing the Verified Voting Foundation. She also co-authored "Broken Ballots" on the critical flaws in electronic voting systems with our own Emeritus Profession Doug Jones.
Dan Reed's (UICC 2013) speaker career spans an incredible range of leadership roles—from UI's Vice President for Research and Economic Development (2012-2018) to Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Technology Policy, to founding director of UNC's Renaissance Computing Institute, and most recently, Chair of the National Science Board, where he provides science and technology policy advice to the White House and Congress. Now an emeritus Presidential Professor at the University of Utah, Reed continues to shape conversations around high-performance computing, big data, and the future of technology infrastructure.
Emerging Tech Founders
Lee Brintle (UICC 2017) represents the entrepreneurial spirit that UICC celebrates—a UI Computer Science alum who founded Leepfrog Technologies in 1994 and continues to lead it today, providing innovative web solutions that balance customization with efficiency. His three-decade journey from software engineer to CEO offered UICC attendees a roadmap for building and sustaining a tech company.
Ruofei Du (UICC 2023) arrived at UICC fresh from cutting-edge research in accessible metaverse technologies, and he's only accelerated since. Now serving as Interactive Perception & Graphics Lead and XR Labs Manager at Google, Du holds over 6 US patents with 44 pending, has published 50+ peer-reviewed papers in top venues, and is helping productionize the AI and extended reality innovations that will shape how we interact with technology in the coming years.
"For me, UICC is so important because it is an opportunity for students and community members to not only expand their knowledge of the current tech industry, but also their network and build personal connects with industry professionals." - Mikayla Jensen (President of the Women in Computer Science club)
The 2026 UICC is no different. We have a fantastic line-up of tech leaders talking about today's important issues. Click below to see our speaker roster for this year's event.