Tech Expo 2025
Friday, May 16, 2025 | Apella by Alexandria
9:00 AM ET
All Aboard The AI Express!
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM / Apella 102
If you haven’t yet explored how artificial intelligence can revolutionize your work, it’s not too late! This presentation is your perfect starting point. AI isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a powerful tool that can enhance efficiency, improve decision-making, and unlock new possibilities in both academic and healthcare settings. We’ll cover the basics of AI, its practical applications, and how you can safely and effectively integrate it into your projects. Whether you’re from Duke University or Duke Health, this session will provide you with the knowledge and confidence to embark on your AI journey. Let’s get started and see how AI can transform your work!
Stephen Toback
Enterprise Media Architect/Senior Producer Academic Media Production
Duke University
Copilot Chatbot for Canvas Course!
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM / Apella 100E
At Duke School of Nursing, I developed a Copilot Chatbot integrated into Canvas to enhance student engagement and streamline course navigation. This AI-driven assistant helps students quickly locate course materials, assignments, and key resources, reducing confusion and improving accessibility. By leveraging Microsoft Copilot Studio, I designed the chatbot to provide instant responses to course-related queries, improving efficiency for both students and instructors. This session will showcase the development process, implementation strategies, and impact on student learning, demonstrating how AI can transform digital learning environments. Attendees will gain insights into creating AI solutions for academic settings.
Facilitator(s):
Tina Johnson, M. Ed.
Manager of Educational Technology
School of Nursing, SON-IT
Duke Data Attic For Research Data
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM / Apella 101
Duke Data Attic is a storage solution for researchers’ cold data. It integrates with Research Toolkits and Globus to allow simple access to a low cost storage solution. Data can be packaged into “suitcases” for more efficient storage and management. The storage backend utilizes S3, currently powered by our on-premises Ceph storage cluster. In addition to a Globus web interface, we provide a Golang-based command-line tool for scripting and automation.
Facilitator(s):
Jimmy Dorff
Jeremy Thornhill
Alexis Sparko
Sr. Automation Developer
Duke Research Computing
Leveraging Common Data Model and Datavant for Veteran Suicide Prevention: The VESPER Study
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM / Apella 100W
Veterans face a suicide rate 1.5 times higher than civilians due to unique risk factors. The Veteran Suicide Prevention using Electronic Health Records (VESPER) Study aims to develop predictive algorithms for suicide risk among veterans receiving non-VHA healthcare. This is achieved by analyzing the linked civilian medical record dataset from UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, and two Utah health systems. The harmonized data were extracted via shared queries using the PCORnet Common Data Model and integrated with data from VA and DoD using Datavant within VINCI. This presentation will explore key challenges, insights, and lessons learned from this large-scale data integration effort.
Facilitator(s):
Daniel Popham
Senior Applications Developer
Duke Health
Yaxing Liu
Senior Data Analyst
Duke University
Dr. Michele Easter
Associate Professor
Duke University School of Medicine
10:00 AM ET
Applying Modern Search to Ancient Texts: An Introduction to the Digital Humanities Platform – “papyri.info”
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM / Apella 100W
A team of scholars and analysts organized by the Libraries maintains what is almost certainly the longest-running Digital Humanities project at Duke University. A web-based platform dedicated to the study of ancient handwritten documents, papyri.info provides a complex blend of searching and editing functionality in multiple languages and character sets. This presentation shares updates from the latest round of development by the team, and gives an overview of the platform’s history and origins, dating back more than forty years.
Facilitator(s):
Ryan Baumann
Duke University Libraries
Julie Brannon
Sr. Project Manager
Duke University Libraries
Isaiah Coleman
Duke University Libraries
Intranet Makeover Teams Town Square Edition
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM / Apella 102
Come hear from Town “Mayor” Brooke Lafko and her IT sidekicks Becca McDaniel and Michael Leonard as they walk through converting an outdated, maintenance heavy Drupal-based website to a Town Square on Teams with democratized ownership across the Duke Cancer Institute. Learn how they structured the channels with thoughtful permission management involving empowered business owners, how they’re keeping things up to date, and maybe even hear a bonus poem from Michael, who doubles as the unofficial Town Square’s Poet Laureate.
Facilitator(s):
Becca McDaniel (she/her/hers)
IT Solutions Architect
Duke Cancer Institute Information Systems
Brooke Lafko
Administration
Duke Cancer Institute
Michael Leonard
IT Solutions Analyst
Duke Cancer Institute Information Systems
The ITAC Odyssey: 30 Years Navigating Duke’s Tech Terrain
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM / Apella 100E
As ITAC celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, we will offer a historical perspective, reflecting on important milestones, innovations & ITAC’s transformative role in shaping the university’s technological landscape.
Facilitator(s):
John Board
Robert Wolpert
Professor Emeritus of Statistical Science
Copilot Chatbot for Canvas Course!
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM / Apella 101
With the explosion of unstructured data, maintaining pertinent information at the correct service level and easy to access becomes more and more difficult. This unchecked growth leads to higher costs to customers for amounts of storage consumed and to the organization for consistently having to purchase more. Komprise is a solution that can be used to move data to a more fitting tier of storage based on any type of attribute that can be assigned to a file.
Facilitator(s):
John Bardin
Director, Core Infrastructure
Duke Health – DHTS
11:00 AM ET
AI in Podcast Production: From Concept to Completion with Intelligent Tools
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM / Apella 101
Podcasting is more accessible than ever thanks to advancements in AI-driven tools. In this session, we’ll explore the end-to-end basics of podcast creation—including development, production, post-production, and publishing—while showcasing how AI can reduce technical barriers along the way. We’ll examine real-world use cases, the best AI-powered tools available today, and practical considerations for IT professionals supporting content creators in higher education and healthcare. Whether you’re new to media production or looking for ways to leverage emerging technology for smarter, more efficient workflows, join us for insights on how to elevate your podcasting game at Duke and beyond.
Facilitator(s):
Michael Blair
Media Producer
Duke OIT Academic Media Production
J. Brandon Johnson
Producer
Duke OIT Academic Media Production
The Digital Will: Safeguarding Your Online Accounts and Assets
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM / Apella 100W
In today’s digital age, our lives are deeply connected to online platforms, financial accounts, and personal data. Yet, traditional estate planning often overlooks this digital footprint, leaving loved ones unprepared to manage or access critical accounts and cherished memories. This presentation explores essential steps for securing your digital estate—from organizing passwords and safeguarding assets to preserving sentimental content like photos and social media accounts. You’ll gain insight into creating a digital will, designating trusted individuals to manage your online presence, and ensuring your legacy is protected for future generations.
Facilitator(s):
Jeremy Hopkins
IT Security Office
Duke University
Jay Gallman
Risk Advisor
Duke University
The Origins of Computing at Duke
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM / Apella 100E
Digital computers have been processing data continuously at Duke University for more than six decades. How did the technology come to campus? Who brought it here, and who made it run in its early days? What is the significance of the characters : ; < > [ ] to the history of computing not just at Duke, but in the North Carolina Research Triangle? This presentation draws on archival research from Duke University Libraries and beyond to answer these questions and more.
Facilitator(s):
Will Sexton
Head, Software Strategies & Platforms
Duke University Libraries
You Too Can Design – Graphic Design for IT
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM / Apella 102
Learn basic skills to effectively communicate your message. Tasked with creating the department’s email newsletter? Ask to make a quick flyer? Want to communicate your message better? Join us as we review basic graphic design and message communication to help you quickly create and communicate effectively. We’ll review Canva, Emma, and Co-Pilot as part of the process.
Facilitator(s):
Mary Katherine Powers
Web & Digital Lead
School of Nursing
1:00 PM ET
Building Stronger Technical Communities
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM / Apella 100W
Join us for an engaging round table discussion focused on the ideas and strategies for community building at Duke. This session will explore ideas for fostering collaboration, inclusivity, and innovation among developers, engineers, analysts, and technical leaders.
Facilitator(s):
Dan Cantrell
Director of IT
Duke University Health System
Ms Lalitha Krishnamurthy
Associate Director – Data Analytics
DCRI
Darin London
Architect
Oasis Research Business Solutions
MISTRAL: Protecting Research Networks with Rapidly Scalable Network Security Monitoring
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM / Apella 100E
Understanding network-based attacks on research networks and labs at Duke University has historically been challenging. Through the NSF-funded MISTRAL project, we can now utilize container technology to enhance network defense and gain deeper insights into threats targeting Duke research. This talk will explore the project’s current architecture, MISTRAL’s innovative approaches to network traffic analysis, preliminary research findings, and future plans for the project.
Facilitator(s):
Alexander Merck
Will Brockelsby
Chief Network Architect
Duke University and Health System
Reason Toolkits: Computing Your Way To Academic Glory
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM / Apella 102
Are you tired of spending countless hours on mundane IT tasks when you could be making groundbreaking discoveries? Meet Research Toolkits, Duke’s solution to your academic woes. Often touted as “the greatest application of the decade–nay, the century”, Research Toolkits makes it a breeze for research teams to provision and manage their compute resources. Gone are the days when each researcher had to individually manage their infrastructure needs–Research Toolkits provides a cohesive solution that streamlines these processes for everyone, saving both time and money.
Facilitator(s):
Alexis Sparko
Sr. Automation Developer
Duke Research Computing
Jeremy Thornhill
Katie Kilroy
Director, Research Computing & Support
OIT
Scrape First, Ask Never: The Tactics and Challenges of AI Web Scraping
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM / Apella 102
Are you tired of spending countless hours on mundane IT tasks when you could be making groundbreaking discoveries? Meet Research Toolkits, Duke’s solution to your academic woes. Often touted as “the greatest application of the decade–nay, the century”, Research Toolkits makes it a breeze for research teams to provision and manage their compute resources. Gone are the days when each researcher had to individually manage their infrastructure needs–Research Toolkits provides a cohesive solution that streamlines these processes for everyone, saving both time and money.
Facilitator(s):
Chloe Poroslay
Security Data Engineer
Duke University
Emily Wenger
Taein Kim
2:00 PM ET
Apiary: Blocking Just the Bad Stuff
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM / Apella 100E
Using threat intelligence in our firewalls is critical to keeping our network safe but trusting that intelligence not to block the wrong thing is tricky. Apiary is a new tool developed by the IT Security Office to do the job quickly and flexibly.
Facilitator(s):
Anthony Miracle
Senior Security Engineer
Duke University
Ask the Experts: When and How to Use Kuali Build
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM / Apella 101
Join us for a discussion of Kuali Build! We’ll cover when to use Build over other form/workflow platforms and do a quick deep dive into the use of groups. The remainder of the session will be reserved for you to bring questions/issues about your specific use cases.
Facilitator(s):
Steve Gray
Sr. App/Cloud Systems Support Analyst
Duke University
Isabel Valls
Sr. Program Manager
Office of Information Technology
Code+ Impact Empowering Students, Enriching Staff, and Strengthening the Community
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM / Apella 100W
The Code+ program, launched by OIT in 2018, has become a transformative force, shaping the careers of Duke students. Over 10 immersive weeks in the summer, students, guided by OIT staff, work on real-world projects that tackle challenges ranging from supporting university research to developing community-focused solutions. The program’s unique hands-on approach provides students with wide-ranging practical experience. Many Code+ alumni have gone on to secure positions at top IT companies, often crediting the experience & expertise gained through Code+ for their career success.
Facilitator(s):
Sheri Tibbs
Jen Vizas
Harry Thakkar
Putting the Pieces Together: Solving the Puzzle of Cancer-related Patient Data
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM / Apella 102
Cancer-related Electronic Health Record (EHR) are often fragmented, limiting a comprehensive view of patient health. While cancer registries provide curated cancer-specific details, they lack encounter-level and non-cancer data available in EHR systems. To bridge this gap, we integrated Duke’s cancer registry data into Epic Caboodle and SlicerDicer, modeling it using a variant of Duke’s PCORnet Common Data Model with careful planning and harmonized strategies. This integration enhances patient insights, aids in identifying high-risk populations, and supports data-driven clinical decision- making to improve patient outcomes. Additionally, this data pipeline is adaptable for integration with other registries.
Facilitator(s):
Yaxing Liu
Senior Data Analyst
Duke University
Anthony Sorrentino
Clinical Informatics Fellow
