Metaverse & AI Symposium at The Beach

Welcome, Introduction & State of Affairs

Associate Vice President, ATS

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Under the direction of Dr. Shariq Ahmed, Academic Technology Services leads the CSULB campus in leveraging technology that effectively supports instruction, creates learning environments, and supports campus staff to foster student success. Dr. Ahmed delivers and supports educational technology to the CSULB campus community by using innovative practices and technologies to develop effective and accessible solutions for a continually evolving educational landscape.

Welcome remarks

Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs

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Dr. Karyn Scissum Gunn joined California State University, Long Beach as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs in July 2021. As the chief academic officer for the institution, the provost provides leadership for all academic matters at the university. The provost oversees the quality of academic processes and works to ensure faculty quality and advancement via her leadership. The provost also works to increase student retention, promote student engagement and active learning, and ensure that students achieve their educational goals.

Introduction & State of Affairs

Assistant Vice Chancellor of ATS, CSU

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Leslie Kennedy, Ed.D., is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Technology Services at the California State University, Office of the Chancellor. She provides strategic leadership in integrating technology into teaching, learning, and student services across the CSU system.  Dr. Kennedy oversees academic technology initiatives, budget management, and personnel while advising leadership on systemwide services, including online education, library services, learning management systems, AI strategic planning, and emerging technologies.

AI & Metaverse Keynote Speaker

Americas Higher Education Transformation Lead, Microsoft

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Passionate about student success and preparing learners to thrive in the digital future, Dr. Elka Walsh is the Americas Higher Education Transformation Lead for Microsoft where she helps universities across Canada and the United States achieve the art-of-the-possible for the future of higher education. Prior to joining Microsoft, Elka held leadership positions in colleges and polytechnics, government, and not-for-profits. She has also advised provincial and federal governments and international organizations on higher education and skilling strategy and policy. With an earned reputation for leading innovative transformation initiatives at scale that result in tangible outcomes, Dr. Walsh holds a PhD and Master’s degree from McMaster University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto and has taught at Humber Polytechnic and McMaster University. Dr. Walsh believes strongly in the power of education to transform lives and the importance of inclusive learning to empower every learner to thrive.

Dr. Walsh serves as a member of the California Governor’s AI Workforce Acceleration Advisory Committee, the Government of Alberta’s Minister’s Advisory Committee for Higher Education and Skills and has served on several Boards including the Calgary West Primary Care Network and the Learning Disabilities Association of Alberta.

Faculty XR Presenter

Dept. Chair & Associate Professor of Anthropology, CLA

Scott Wilson teaches courses on identity, new media ethnography, anthropological theory, and contemporary Chinese society. Born in Stanley, North Carolina, he received his BA from UNC- Charlotte, and his MA and PhD from Stanford University. His current interests revolve around immersive educational design, identity and the self in digital media, and 360 degree documentary. Current projects include multiple immersive documentaries and a book on the use of VR in education. 

Faculty XR Presenter - CITE Project

Professor of Design, COTA, and Director of the Immersive Design Research Lab

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Heather Renée Barker, Professor of Design at California State University Long Beach is a human urbanist. She works with interdisciplinary teams to facilitate human-centered approaches to improving the human/data hybrid experience. By leveraging a range of analog and digital tools, gamification, and data-visualization, Heather brings value to business and civic organizations as they develop novel solutions to personal interface, animated space, community engagement, and sustainable urban challenges. As an educator and practitioner, she is able to combine theory, rigorous research, and practice to develop advanced innovation methodologies. This work makes its way into the world through consulting, holding workshops, publishing, teaching, and advising internationally. Heather Barker is founding coordinator of the graduate Human Experience Design Interactions (MA_HXDI) program and the Immersive Design Research Lab (IDRL), author of the book, “Designing Post-Virtual Architectures: Wicked Tactics and World-Building”, and has served the city of Long Beach, California as Design Lead for the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ funded Innovation Team (i-team) and as Design Strategy Lead for the Office of Civic Innovation.

Faculty XR Presenter - BME Courses

Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, COE

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Dr. Emel Demircan is an Associate Professor at the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Demircan obtained her Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2012. She was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford from 2012 to 2014 and a visiting assistant professor at the University of Tokyo from 2014 to 2015. She was also a part-time scientist at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital Gait Analysis Lab at Stanford University. Dr. Demircan's research focuses on the application of dynamics and control theory for the simulation and analysis of biomechanical and robotic systems. Her research interests include wearable and motion augmentation systems, rehabilitation robotics, sports biomechanics, natural motion generation in humanoid robotics, and human motion synthesis. Dr. Demircan is an OpenSim Fellow; and the founder & co-chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on "Human Movement Understanding." She is actively collaborating with clinical, athletic, and industrial partners; and she is involved in professional and educational activities within the IEEE Robotics Society where she served as the VP of Conference Operations.

Faculty XR Presenter - BME Courses

Professor of Electrical Engineering, COE

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Dr. Khoo joined CSULB in 2006. He holds a joint appointment in the Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering departments. Dr. Khoo's research interests include high-speed and mixed-signal circuit design, analog & digital signal processing, mechatronics, and biomedical circuits and devices. His current work focuses on the development of custom wearable sensors and circuits for sport performance and health monitoring and rehabilitation. He is currently the advisor for the Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology programs. Dr. Khoo is a member of IEEE and received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from University of California, Irvine in 2002.

Faculty AI Presenter - AI Assistant for Canvas

Assistant Professor of Marketing, COB

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Aiden Lee is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at California State University Long Beach, where his research bridges marketing and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on how brands can better understand and engage audiences through the use of machine learning, natural language processing, and multimedia analysis. From measuring customer sentiment in real time to decoding what makes an ad resonate across different regions, Dr. Lee explores how AI can uncover patterns in complex consumer behavior.

His current projects include analyzing how video and audio features influence social engagement, studying digital fashion trends and virtual influencers in immersive environments, and developing tools that help businesses listen to customer narratives at scale. At CSULB, he also proposed and currently leads the Beach AI Teaching Assistant initiative—an effort to integrate generative AI into higher education through personalized student support and curriculum design. Through his research and teaching, Dr. Lee helps shape the intersection of AI, branding, and education in both commercial and academic settings.

Faculty AI Presenter - AI Assistant for Canvas

Professor of Marketing, COB

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Dr. Reo Song is a Professor of Marketing and Director of the M.S. in Marketing Analytics program at California State University, Long Beach. His areas of specialization include digital and social media marketing, business analytics, and machine learning. Dr. Song focuses on how artificial intelligence transforms marketing strategy and consumer decision-making, exploring topics such as generative AI in advertising and education, and the predictive power of machine learning in product performance and consumer behavior. His research has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Production and Operations Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. With a strong record of interdisciplinary research and practical engagement, Dr. Song actively contributes to integrating AI into marketing education and practice, helping prepare students and professionals for success in a data-driven economy. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from Texas A&M University, an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, and an M.A. and B.A. in Philosophy from Seoul National University, South Korea.

Faculty AI Presenter

Lecturer of Family and Consumer Sciences, CHHS

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Mr. Casey Goeller is a full-time lecturer in the Gerontology program in the FCS Department, where he has been teaching online and hybrid classes for the past 16 years here at the Beach.  In addition, he previously served as the campus Quality Matters Coordinator, Master Reviewer, and QM Course facilitator in two core classes.  With over 30 national online course reviews completed, he has developed a broad skill set in various learning management systems and best practices in the online environment.  He works closely with the Chancellor’s Office on online and blended learning projects and workshops.  In addition to his degree in Gerontology, he also has a Master's degree in Educational Technology.

In the course of his duties working with the Academic Technology Department, he has conducted a number of faculty training workshops and previously served as the campus eLearning consultant during his time on the transition team that applied our current learning management system, Desire2Learn, in 2011.  Previous employment before his career in academia, Mr. Goeller enjoyed a long career in hospitality management and worked for six years in IT.  After his undergraduate degree in Education at the University of Florida, he served as a commissioned officer in the US Army at various locations around the globe.  Following that service, he was a French-language student at the University of Montpellier, France.

Faculty AI Presenter

Lecturer of Journalism and Public Relations, CLA

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Dr. Scott Moss brings over 25 years of experience in educational technology within both university and K-12 settings. He is a Lecturer in the Journalism and Public Relations department at CSULB. Dr. Moss also serves as the Academic Program Director for National University’s Master of Science in Learning Experience Design and Educational Technology Program. Dr. Moss has previously worked as a Technology Coordinator at the Los Angeles and San Diego County Offices of Education. He earned his M.A. in Educational Technology from San Diego State University and his doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Los Angeles.

With a focus on the intersections of artificial intelligence and critical media literacy, Dr. Moss is committed to exploring how the nexus of these areas can enhance educational and journalistic practices. His work on critical algorithmic literacy seeks to broaden the traditional concept of literacy to include artificial intelligence and other algorithmically-driven media.

Faculty AI Presenter

Professor of Finance, COB

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Dr. Laura Gonzalez is a Full Professor of Finance with over 15 years of experience teaching finance courses at MS Finance Analytics, MBA, and undergraduate levels. She is a certified Beach Mentor with extensive experience in University Honors, pre-doctoral McNair & Sally Casanova, and Undergraduate Research Office UROP and OURS programs.

Since 2014, Dr. Gonzalez has been ranked as Top Ten Percent Download author worldwide in the Social Sciences Research Network in relation to her research in Financial Technology (FinTech). Artificial Intelligence executive education includes Harvard Business and California State University. Her service to the profession includes the Editorial Board of International Review of Financial Analysis since 2021, Editorial Board of Managerial Finance since 2023, Editorial Board Policy Committee of The Journal of Financial Research, and Guest Editor for Finance Research Letters. Dr Gonzalez has experience leading the editorial of special issues, including FinTech, and has served as the 2024-2025 and 2023-2024 President of the Southwestern Finance Association.

Dr. Gonzalez has served in about 100 program committees for academic conferences in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Middle East. She has also served in over 20 Best Paper Award committees for the Financial Management Association, Eastern Finance Association and Southwestern Finance Association.

Dr. Gonzalez has over 30 publications, 16 in refereed academic journals including Journal of Financial Economics. Her research has been presented at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C., Federal Reserve of New York, Federal Reserve of Chicago, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Financial Management Association among other regional, national and international institutions and conferences in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Reviewer experience includes assisting Columbia Business Publishing and Harvard Business with cases, beside 11 academic journals including Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of International Money and Finance, The Financial Review, Journal of Financial Intermediation, and Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money. Finance practitioner experience includes expert witness consulting for Jones Day Law, 4 years as consultant for Prolider on Spanish multinationals, 3 years as import entrepreneur with partners in China, India and Canada, as well as 6 months as finance intern at the S. Illinois University Foundation - university where she earned two master’s with full tuition waiver graduate assistantships.

Electrical engineer experience includes a 2-year Research & Development collaboration with Telefonica SA, the leading communication operator in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets. Media experience includes over 300 collaborations with Univision, WalletHub, MSNBC, KABC, Thomson Reuters, Wall Street Journal, CNN, New York Times, Fortune CNN Money, Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, International Business Times, TV Tokyo, IE Business News in India and CCTV in China.

Dr. Gonzalez provides financial literacy workshops to CSULB students and community in collaboration with Student Affairs and student associations across campus. She serves as Academic Advisor in the CSULB Association of Women in Business and has policy experience following her service in Academic Senate. In 2023-2024 and 2021-2022, Dr. Gonzalez received Outstanding Levels of Service to Students Awards.

Author of Artificial Intelligence - A Martian Odyssey: Beyond Human, Beyond Machine - The Rise of Robo Sapiens

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ALIREZA MEHRNIA holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from UCLA. He is the Author of Artificial Intelligence - A Martian Odyssey. He has spent over 25 years navigating the high-tech engineering frontier with an eye toward the stars.

With more than 20 patents to his name and a high-tech engineering career that includes leading digital signal processing algorithm design for satellite communications and wireless chips, he knows a thing or two about pushing boundaries, both earthly and cosmic.  He enjoys transforming complex concepts and technologies into compelling narratives. When he’s not engineering or crafting sci-fi adventures, he delves into space technology, synthetic biology, the future of computing, and the fascinating intersection of AI and humanity.

In Artificial Intelligence - A Martian Odyssey(Beyond Human, Beyond Machine—The Rise of Robo Sapiens), he invites readers on a thrilling journey to a near-future Mars, where artificial intelligence, humanoids, and synthetic life collide with the lives of Martian explorers. Through thought-provoking storylines, the novel explores the existential consequences of merging human intelligence with robots and advanced AI; challenges that take on an entirely new dimension on the Red Planet.

Connect with him online on LinkedIn, on YouTube, or through his Amazon Author Page.

To bring interested faculty and staff together and provide a space to learn about the metaverse, AI, and current resources to support instruction in the metaverse

To explore opportunities for instruction in the metaverse and desired outcomes (e.g., increased student access and engagement, improved academic outcomes, etc.)

To provide faculty and staff a space to connect with each other based on interest and/or experience teaching in the metaverse

Disseminate work in AR/VR/AI at CSULB internally to foster an understanding of progress and achievements to date

Form an Interest Group and commitments to participate in future events to discuss the future of the metaverse at The Beach