TechFest 2026 Spotlights Alumni Expertise, Student Innovation and Outstanding Seniors at Smith

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted TechFest 2026 on April 22 in Van Munching Hall, bringing together alumni, faculty, and students for an evening of discussion, project showcases and student recognition. Presented by the Department of Decision, Operations & Information Technologies (DO&IT) and the Business & Information Technology Society (BITS), this year’s theme—“Why Choose Information Systems at UMD Smith? The Bridge Between Technology and its Business and Social Contexts”—highlighted the program’s focus on preparing students to lead at the intersection of technology and real-world impact.

Opening the event, DO&IT Chair and Dean's Professor of Information Systems Siva Viswanathan reflected on TechFest’s evolution since its 2008 launch. “We had a simple vision—to connect our undergraduate students with industry professionals at the forefront of technology,” he said. “Eighteen years later, that vision is alive and thriving.” He praised both the alumni panel and emphasized the importance of celebrating exceptional seniors whose achievements reflect “well-deserved recognition of their talent and hard work.”

BITS President Alec Nahum welcomed the audience, also, and moderated a panel discussion with the featured speakers of TechFest 2026:

• Nelly Desmarattes ’12, Lead Product Manager, ZeroFox
• Lahiru Aluthgama ’13, Manager, AI Strategy and Policy and Product GTM, Deloitte
• Sydney King ’19, MSIS ’20, Principal AI Systems Engineer, Northrop Grumman
• Diran Balogun, CSM ’20, Strategic Program Manager and Product Management, AWS
• Zoe Nicholson ’24, Analyst, Finance Transformation, Deloitte
• Asma Nawal ’24, Internal Technology Audit and Financial Advisory Consultant, Protiviti

The event, organized by Associate Clinical Professor Minoo Modaresnezhad, also showcased undergraduate and graduate capstone projects.  

Fiza Ali Sukhera and Aliza Syyid presented the Undergraduate IS Capstone Project, developing a centralized platform to help Maryland Mauj streamline registration, scheduling, payments, and communication for its annual Bhangra competition. Their solution replaces fragmented spreadsheets with a unified system and an admin dashboard to strengthen financial tracking.

The Graduate MSIS Capstone Project—developed by Sanjana Boyanapalli, Zhuo Chen, Cole Dwiggins, Jihaad Fadika, and Hannah Kannan—delivered an AI-enabled search engine with interactive chat capabilities for the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Family website, designed to guide users quickly to the right resources through warm hand-offs via phone or portal. 

The program concluded with Associate Clinical Professor Adam Lee recognizing the Outstanding 2025–2026 Information Systems Graduating Seniors: Iman Aasiya Ali, Paul Baliff, Shira Cohen, Rebecca Holcomb, Julia Huang, Faith LeBrun, Rachel Liderman, Scott Lucarelli, Adam Ruder, Eden Whiteman, Josephine Wu and Meilin Yuan.

Read more about the Decision, Operations and Information Technologies Department.