CUSEC 2026

Fatima Taj

Senior Software Engineer at Yelp, LinkedIn Learning Instructor

Winning in a Tough Tech Market

Fatima is a Senior Software Engineer at Yelp and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor with a passion for ensuring there is no knowledge gatekeeping in tech. She believes that career growth and technical skills should be accessible to everyone, and she actively mentors professionals by sharing candid lessons and practical strategies - so others don't have to learn the hard way. On LinkedIn, she shares actionable insights with a wide community, making career development guidance approachable and practical. An experienced international speaker, Fatima has presented at leading conferences including Harvard WeCode, Berlin Buzzwords, Developer Week, SCALE, NDC Copenhagen Developer Festival, Women of Silicon Roundabout, cdCon+GitOpsCon (as a keynote), and Momentum, as well as at more than 80 hackathons across North America. Her sessions are known for being interactive and packed with hands-on advice, leaving attendees with strategies they can apply immediately. With a master's degree in Data Science from HEC Montreal and a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Fatima combines technical expertise with a commitment to building an inclusive and supportive tech community. Her mission is simple: make knowledge in tech open to all.

Pirijan Keth

Kinopio creator, designer, engineer, and biz person

My Indie Journey, Building Kinopio

Pirijan is a software designer and engineer who grew up in Toronto, then moved to NYC to work at Fog Creek Software (home of Trello and Stack Overflow) – where he co-created Glitch. About 7 years ago, he went independent to start Kinopio, a spatial note-taking and whiteboarding tool for collecting and connecting your thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

Gail Carmichael

Senior Staff Instructional Engineer at Splunk, a Cisco Company

How to Become a Computing Educator — and Why You'll Love It

Gail Carmichael has something of a unicorn skill set: she designs evidence-based learning experiences, has worked as a developer, and has both taught and published in academia. She earned her undergraduate and master's degrees in computer science from Carleton University before spending seven years at Shopify, where she led the design and launch of the Dev Degree program. Now at Splunk, she's an Instructional Engineer, helping engineers learn, grow, and do their best work. When she's not thinking about technical education, you can find her leading a Scouts group, defying gravity on the aerial hoop, or playing with adorable journaling stickers.

Zach Holman

Gambling With Your Life

Zach Holman is a developer in San Francisco. He's currently the founder of Tifo, Signed, and Calendearing, and was the second engineering hire at GitHub, in addition to advising GitLab ahead of their IPO. He's also an active angel investor, with hundreds of investments in tech startups, as well as soccer clubs, including Oakland Roots in USL Championship and Cagliari in Serie A.

Marcelo Ardiles

CEO at Mailsec.io

Email Authentication Under Fire: Vulnerabilities and How to Mitigate Them

Marcelo Ardiles is a cybersecurity expert with more than 15 years of international experience in IT and cybersecurity. His areas of expertise include offensive security, application security, security architecture, and technical security assessments. He holds a BSc in Software Engineering and an MSc in Computer Security, and he is certified CISSP, OSCE, and OSCP. He is also the founder and CEO of Mailsec, a platform designed to strengthen email security, protect brand reputation, prevent domain spoofing attacks, and improve email deliverability.

Cameron Alexander

Senior Software Engineer @ Sanctuary Computer

The Browser as Instrument: Creative Tools, Live Coding, and Culture

Cameron Alexander is an artist, programmer, and scientist based in New York. He is interested in the relationship between math and nature (especially in chaos, cybernetics, and fractals), esoteric states of consciousness, and the essence of reality. Cameron primarily operates with experimental media such as interactive installations, live coded audiovisual performances, and alternative-process photography. He has been creating computer-based generative art since 2011, and his work has been exhibited, installed, and performed in galleries, theaters, clubs, and venues worldwide. Cameron is a member of the New York-based collective livecode.nyc, where he organizes shows, gives livecoding workshops, and performs live coded visuals and music at algoraves.

TJ Klint

Software Developer @ Botpress

The Myths & Insights of your (early) tech career.

TJ Klint is a Software Developer at Botpress and the former Chair of CUSEC 2025. His path through tech has taken him from student organizer to developer, navigating internships, career pivots, and the unpredictable reality of breaking into the industry. TJ returns to CUSEC 2026 to present The Myths & Insights of Your (Early) Tech Career, a candid talk that breaks down the misconceptions he sees students and early-career developers run into: many of which he learned the hard way himself.

Laurence Liang

Member of Technical Staff @ Rootly (YC S21) AI Labs

Hackathons and Startups: Breaking into CS with an Unconventional Background

Laurence is a member of technical staff at the Rootly (YC S21) AI Labs and is a student researcher at McGill University. Laurence is passionate about the future of AI and robotics, which inspired him to pursue projects with a positive community impact. His recent work includes hosting the HackOS hackathons with a focus on ML research, benchmarking LLMs on coding tasks at Rootly, and contributing to research on safe and robust robots at McGill University.

Alex Velazquez

Software Engineer Mentor @ Work With Alex V

Engineering your own lottery: A software engineer's guide to financial freedom

Alex Velazquez is a former Google Software Engineer, technical interviewer, and hiring-committee member turned career coach. After 10 years in Big Tech, Alex now dedicates his work to helping early-career software engineers break into the industry. Through workshops, coaching programs, and hands-on interview training, he has supported hundreds of students across North America in landing internships and new-grad roles at top tech companies. He's passionate about making the path into software engineering more accessible, practical, and confidence-building for the next generation of builders.

Vicky Desjardins

PhD Candidate @ University of Montreal, Cyberdefense Consultant

Welcome to the war room: Can you survive?

Vicky Desjardins is a doctoral candidate in criminology at the University of Montreal, specializing in ransomware attack methodologies. Her doctoral research focuses on innovative strategies to pre-emptively disrupt attack scripts, contributing significantly to the evolving landscape of cybersecurity. Vicky's academic pursuits include expertise in risk prioritization and criminal behavioural analysis, further enriched by her master's thesis on the prioritization of online sex solicitation cases with high potential offline contact. In addition to her academic work, she has presented the practical implications of her findings at numerous conferences across North America and Europe over the years. Vicky also works in cyber incident response, playing a crucial role in the containment and neutralization of threat actors, highlighting her practical expertise in the field.

Rida Mehdi

Solution Engineer @ Snowflake

Women in Tech Panel

Rida is a Solution Engineer at Snowflake who drives the translation of complex data and AI concepts into practical, business-ready solutions for my customers. Her background is unique, combining Biochemistry and Computer Science (University of Windsor) with a Master of Management in Analytics (McGill). She utilizes this diverse knowledge, along with a passion for storytelling through data, to craft high-impact solutions and prototypes for clients across finance, media, sports, and beyond—she loves showing them what modern technology enables. Defined by creativity and a genuine interest in problem-solving, she also build personal AI projects and actively inspire others to challenge assumptions about what's technologically possible.

Ananya Nair

Sr. Solution Engineer @ Databricks

Women in Tech Panel

Ananya is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Databricks, where she partners with teams in the Financial Services industry and tries her best to turn business challenges into high-impact Data & AI solutions. Her time at McGill pursuing Economics & Finance and then a Masters in Analytics has shaped her journey and helped her thrive at the intersection of people, business, and technology. She is passionate about being an enabler and always looking for ways to grow, teach and build along the way!

Alexa Stroll

Part-time Software Developer, Ultra I&C + Master's Student in Biomedical Engineering, McGill University

Women in Tech Panel

Alexa Stroll is a part-time software developer at Ultra I&C and a master's student in Biomedical Engineering at McGill University. She previously served as President of Girls Who Code at McGill, where she focused on supporting women in STEM and building student-run technical communities. Her work spans software development, research, and student leadership.