Theme: DARE

A one day event.

Dream.

Rise above.

Break through barriers.

Make our world a better place.

DARE.

Palo Alto College Performing Arts Center
1400 W Villaret
San Antonio, Texas, 78224
United States

Alex OTTO Martin

Alejandro Martín Moreno Alonso (a.k.a “OTTO”) is a young, emerging artist. Born in Mexico City in 2000, his art work is a mixture of Bauhaus style and modern architecture with colorful lines and curves full of life. In 2016, Otto tried his hand at producing his first piece made entirely of metal. That was the moment he realized he wanted to be a sculptor. His sculptures are a combination of the same piece reproduced several times, creating a three-dimensional figure. Constantly looking for inspiration, sculpting gave Otto the ability to express himself creatively. His sculptures represent the care and love he has for his work and he views his art pieces as members of his family. He even considers his sculptures his kids; made by him and, at the same time, giving back a projection of his inner self. Otto had his first solo exhibition in February 2019 in San Antonio, TX.

Caleb Eubanks

Caleb Eubanks is an XR content creator & marketing professional. He is the founder of ProVRGear.com 3D-Printed Accessories and works as Social Media Manager for ARVORE Immersive Experiences based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He can be found creating informative content for YouTube, competing in VR E-sports events, or spending time with his son Daniel in Clearwater, FL. Through years of community building, Caleb has been featured on several tech podcasts, spoken on important panels, and appeared on public broadcasts around the world. One of the founding members of VRSpies.com, Caleb has written several articles and participated in a VR podcast on and off since 2015. Originally from Lincoln, NE, Caleb enjoyed camping, hunting, and playing sports growing up. After moving to Chicago in 2012 to teach English to foreign speakers he moved to Springfield, MO, where he headed event production and held the first public VR event in the city. In 2016, Caleb moved to Clearwater, FL, where he still currently lives part-time when he is not working abroad. In the past year, Caleb has been traveling around the world to work on XR related projects to help push the industry forward with education and giving hands-on experiences. Most recently, he represented the United States in China during the World Cyber Games first ever VR E-sports Tournament in Xi’an. Follow Caleb on Twitter and Instagram @RealityCheckVR, and see his current projects before they make it into a video.

Camila Coutinho

Camila Coutinho is one of the most influential bloggers in the world due to her simple, fun and creative writing style. Coutinho created “Garotas Estúpidas” (“Stupid Girls”) in July 2006, the first fashion blog in Brazil, which covers the main highlights of national and international fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Coutinho originally created “Garotas Estúpidas” (“Me, Stupid?”) as a way of sharing her passion for fashion with her friends, but her project collected national and international recognition in 13 years of existence. Over the years, Coutinho has collaborated with a variety of international fashion brands such as Jimmy Choo, Dior, Burberry, Diane Von Furstenberg and Dolce and Gabbana. She was the first Brazilian digital influencers to join The Society Management. With over 2.4 million Instagram followers, Coutinho is one of the most recognized bloggers worldwide, and appeared in the prestigious list on Forbes Brazil’s 30 under 30 in 2015 under the fashion and lifestyle blogger category. In 2017, she reached the Business of Fashion 500 list as one of the most influential people on fashion in the world. Coutinho launched her first book, “Estúpida, Eu?” in 2018, which tells the story of her career; transforming her hobby into a business.

Chistopher Salas

Christopher Salas started his career after high school as a sales rep for TruGreen and quickly became one of their top salesmen. But after a car accident in 1997, his life changed forever after a broken neck left him paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair. After years of physical and mental therapy, Salas started volunteering and visiting newly injured patients, which led him to his new-found passion. In 2010, Salas started Rolling Inspirations, a support group for those with mobility impairments, which eventually became a certified 501 c3 nonprofit. It wasn’t long until Rolling Inspirations gained national attention from United Spinal. Salas became president of their San Antonio chapter and served as a peer mentor for the Christopher Reeve Foundation, leading to him becoming the South Texas ambassador. After all he’s achieved, Salas feels like his work is never done and lives by his mantra: “Disabled is a label I intend to redefine!”

Danielle Di-Masi

Danielle Di-Masi is a futurist and specialises in digital communications and social media engagement. Obsessed with how technology and human behaviour interacts, Di-Masi’s main focus is her work as an international keynote speaker and ensuring her sessions not only have the most cutting-edge content and insights but also are dynamic, entertaining and actionable. Di-Masi is also an emcee, popular media commentator, and writes for The Huffington Post, all while maintaining a role as a university lecturer. Di-Masi works between Australia and the USA, holding strong relationships with tech giants in Silicon Valley which allows her to share the most up-to-date strategies. Although Danielle is a university lecturer, her discussions are far from standard, as she always seeks to understand her audiences and their needs, business goals, and obstacles to ensure her interactive sessions are game-changing moments. Among other awards, Di-Masi recently won the International Business Award for the 2019 “Most Innovative Communications Professional of the Year”, making it the third year she has received it.

David Morilak

David Morilak, Ph.D. is a Professor of Pharmacology, Director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program, and Director of the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at UT Health, San Antonio. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Morilak studied Psychology at Muskingum University in southern Ohio and obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience/Psychology in 1986 from Princeton University characterizing the acute stress responsiveness of noradrenergic neurons in the brain. The members of Morilak’s lab study mechanisms in the brain responsible for the adaptive response to stress, the pathological effects of chronic stress, and novel therapeutic approaches to alleviate the impact of stress on the brain, including both pharmacological and behavioral strategies. Using a broad range of multi-disciplinary techniques, his lab has established pre-clinical animal models to study human stress-related disease states and conditions ranging from depression, PTSD and schizophrenia to hormone ablation therapy for prostate cancer. They have discovered signaling mechanisms underlying neural plasticity as a basis for the beneficial effects of traditional and novel treatments, including a rat version of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy using extinction training as a therapeutic intervention.

Marcus Curtis

Marcus A. Curtis is a New York native passionate about a future that will integrate technology into our everyday lives. His early years of research began at Rutgers University, working alongside the Director of the Center for Communication and Health Issues—one of the first research groups in the nation to study the role of communication in students’ alcohol use and abuse. Before moving to Texas, Marcus worked as a public relations consultant, leading engagements with clients across a variety of industries and business sectors, with notable experience in financial services, corporate services, and technology. During this time, he also attended New York University full-time to receive his masters. As a thought leader in digital technology, his goal is to further his research and implement an effective solution to redesign the future of care using digital technology to bridge the communication gap and deliver collaborative and personalized care to ensure patients are fully prepared and positioned for the best possible outcomes.

Rithvik Ganesh

Rithvik Ganesh is a high school student from Jasper High School in Plano, Texas and has been involved in dementia research for the past several years. He has had the opportunity to present his research at local, regional, state and National symposiums and science fairs like the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Rithvik has collaborated with several scientists around the world, is one of the youngest individuals to publish a paper on dementia, and has been recognized with National awards for his research and accomplishments. With his experience, Rithvik hopes to make a breakthrough in his dementia research while motivating young scientists to pursue and reach their scientific goals.

Winslow Swart

Winslow Swart is the Chief Inspiration Officer at Winslow Consulting, where he helps executives and policy makers on four continents successfully meet the challenges of strategic planning, team and culture building, leadership development and organizational performance. He is also co-founder of the technology startup One Million Dreams, a mobile platform designed to help intrinsically motivate students, drive employee engagement, and create social impact. His most recent work focuses on building a world of dreamers and doers through dream mentor programs and user engagement on the One Million mobile app. Swart is also committed to “changing what it means to be sent to the office” by bringing dream mentor programs and technology into schools. Additionally, Swart is a master instructor in the Japanese cultural and martial art of Kenseido, a discipline he pioneered to the U.S. from Japan, and has dedicated over 50 years of his life to the study and sharing of these traditions in Japan and at his dojo in San Antonio.