Behold the panda, sometimes known as the giant panda, in its natural habitat. Living mainly in temperate forests in southwest China, the black and white bear subsists almost entirely on a diet of bamboo. Adult pandas may consume as much as 84 pounds of bamboo daily, as females grow to 200 pounds and males to […]
Features Region: Midwest
Evan OBranovic – Traverse City Area Public Schools
There may not be many school districts making their data centers a point of pride, but at Traverse City Area Public Schools in Michigan, it’s become a can’t-miss attraction. Packed into what was once the gym at a former elementary school, the servers and tech stacks—which local businesses and organizations co-locate with the school district—are […]
William Pulte – Educational Service Unit #3
If there’s any good that’s come from the COVID-19 pandemic, at least for Educational Service Unit #3, it’s that the crisis forced the organization to accelerate key technology initiatives for children in some of Nebraska’s most populated areas. “There’s a lot of pressure to get things right, especially our current situation,” says William Pulte, ESU […]
Rob Brichler – Axcess Financial
Four years ago, if a new requirement hit the system at Axcess Financial—say, a change in a state’s new financial regulations—it might’ve been a bit of a scramble to support the request. Now, thanks to the implementation of cloud-based tools, CTO Rob Brichler can easily plan for a quick turnaround. It’s a move that’s changing […]
Scott Krueger – Salelytics
Even for someone who’s a 20-year veteran of an established company, a new year can mean a fresh start. Such was the case in 2020 for COO Scott Krueger and the Appleton, Wisconsin-based Salelytics. For 30 years, Salelytics has handled inside sales, account management and inbound support services for Fortune 100 and 500 companies. In […]
Michael Walthour – LaPorte Community School Corporation
Heading into the 2019-2020 school year, Michael Walthour’s goal was somewhat broad, but critically important: to make things easier for the faculty and students of the 11 schools in the LaPorte Community School Corporation. But nothing could prepare him for what came next—or how challenging it would be: helping the district navigate the unprecedented COVID-19 […]
Diego Ferrer – Chicago Department of Aviation
When he was growing up in Venezuela, Diego Ferrer used to get excited when he saw an airplane fly overhead. Little did he know that he’d one day be in charge of keeping airline passengers safe and improving the traveler experience at one of the largest airports in the world. Ferrer is the CIO for […]
Jeffrey Hoffman – Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Years before he began studying medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman was already tinkering with computers. “I thought ‘wow, here’s a box that does so many interesting things,’” Hoffman recalls. Appreciating the role computers could play in health care was one thing. Understanding how—and finding the right tools for the job—proved another challenge entirely. As chief medical […]
Steve Ratliff – Butzel Long
It’s not as though Steve Ratliff wasn’t making inroads at one of Detroit’s oldest law firms. In the year since he’d become chief information officer at Butzel Long, he’d re-energized its IT structure and department, tweaking here and overhauling there, while bringing outsourced operations back in-house and adding some key personnel. “Those changes were timely. […]
Feng Hou – Maryville University
The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated industries across the country and the world. It has shut down professional and collegiate sports, movies and television productions. Unemployment is at a record high. If there’s one silver lining, says Feng Hou, it’s that the outbreak has accelerated the digital transformation in higher education. “What’s happening now isn’t anything […]
