AI in Computer Science Panel

Sara Johnson

Sara is a Cloud Security Product Manager at Capital One where she leads the Enterprise API Security Program. The program is focused on mitigating evolving security risks with modern software, particularly as the organization expands its use of AI technologies. In this role, she works closely with engineering and security teams to develop scalable, secure solutions across the cloud ecosystem. She also contributes to broader cloud security initiatives, including Kubernetes and container security. Sara brings over eight years of experience in cybersecurity engineering, with a strong background in cloud infrastructure and DevSecOps practices.

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Kai Arakawa

Kai is a Software Engineer at Snowflake, a data warehousing platform. He is a member of the Storage COGS team working on optimizing data storage costs through Smart Tiering systems. Before that, Kai spent nearly three years at Amazon Web Services working on distributed systems for AWS Marketplace, a third-party software commerce platform. Kai attended Western Washington University from 2018-2022 where he conducted academic research alongside his studies, graduating with a double major in computer science and mathematics. 

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Mark Kruger

Mark graduated in 1999 and has been working at Microsoft since 2003, with time at Palm, Inc. before that. Started in Motorola 68k processor board bring-up and networking at Palm for their first data focused cellular devices. Worked on Windows CE and Windows Phone on the cellular radio stack and all areas of cellular telephony. Later on, moved to media transfer protocols over USB and device management protocols. Worked in the Windows OS team on Windows 10 to converge the mobile and desktop device management services. Now working on the Microsoft Edge team in the Microsoft AI organization working on commercial management of the browser. Mostly programming in C/C++ throughout my career, but also Python for non-production areas. 

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Heidi Young

Heidi is a VP of Engineering at Meta. She leads engineering for the Wearables Division, delivering industry leading products like Ray-Ban and Oakley Meta Smart Glasses. She’s been at Meta for 8.5 years, arriving there in 2017 after the start up she was at was acquired into Facebook. Heidi is passionate about creating products that leverage AI to create seamless, natural experiences for users. She is an active advocate for women in technology, mentoring many women and underrepresented individuals, and currently leads the Women@Reality Labs group at Meta.    

Before Meta, Heidi worked in the start-up world for ~6 years, and at Microsoft for 8 years prior to that, leading teams in Relevance and Contextual AI at Bing. She’s also worked as a software engineer at a financial hedge fund, as well as a defense contractor for the military. Her first gig as a software engineer was working for the Center for Instructional Innovation at WWU, so her heart is deeply tied to the Western community. 

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Andrew Fugier

Andrew is a Senior Principal Software Engineer focused on security at Dell Technologies, where he works on enterprise-scale, distributed storage systems. He has been with Dell since 2014, building over a decade of experience and advancing through increasingly senior roles while contributing to the design and security of large-scale infrastructure. His work centers on securing complex systems, balancing performance, reliability, regulatory compliance, and risk in modern environments. Andrew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA from Western Washington University. He brings both technical depth and business perspective, with a strong interest in how AI is shaping the future of engineering and the workplace.   

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David H. Smith IV

David is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in the Department of Computer Science as well as affiliate faculty with the Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI) and the Department of Engineering Education.  His lab, the ASCEND³ Lab (Advancing Support in Computing Education for Novice Developers, Data Scientists, and Designers), broadly investigates how AI-powered educational tools and automated assessment can support novices in learning topics in computing, particularly at scale. He completed his PhD in 2025 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he was part of the Computers and Education research area and was advised by Craig Zilles. He earned his BS in Computer Science from WWU where he was advised by Qiang Hao. 

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Abby Smith

Abby studied Computer Science at Western Washington University with a minor in User Experience Design. After graduating, she spent two years working at an early-stage startup, where she ran the full design process and would often put on her engineering hat to help code what she'd designed. She left the startup to work as a freelancer, and after a year of working on her own, she joined Viget - a digital agency where she now works as a Product Designer. She's more grateful now than ever for her technical education, as AI blurs the line between design and code, changing what it means to build products. 

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Cody Baxter

Cody is a Lead Member of Technical Staff at Salesforce, where he works in security and risk engineering supporting platforms including Heroku and MuleSoft. His work focuses on applying AI, data analytics, and risk quantification to detect abuse, improve resilience, and support security decision-making at scale. He is also a Teaching Assistant for the Cybersecurity Risk Management certificate program at the University of Washington. As an alumnus of Western Washington University, he is passionate about the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and organizational resilience. 

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Thomas Riehle

Thomas started out as a full stack software engineer developing end to end features for marine cartography applications in consumer electronics. His software engineering career includes systems development in utilities, and upstream oil well prospecting before transitioning into technical program management when software began migrating to a cloud-based architecture. More recently, he has managed large scale cloud based programs at Amazon, early stage startups, and Capital One.  Thomas works today at the intersection of research, engineering and business, focused on software teams at scale coordinating roadmaps, risks, and dependencies to launch complex systems scaling to millions of customers. 

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Ryan Barnard

Ryan is a software engineer and entrepreneur who has spent more than 20 years building software products. He is the co-founder of SavvyTech, Inc., where he and his team work on Praxplay, an AI-powered simulation platform that helps people prepare for management challenges, counseling sessions, and other difficult conversations before they happen in real life. Previously, Ryan served as the Senior Director of Product at CommentSold following their acquisition of his startup. He is especially interested in how new AI tools are changing software development and making it easier for people to turn ideas into real products. 

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