Jason Liu received his B.S. degree from Beijing University of Technology in China in 1993, an M.S. degree from College of William and Mary in 2000, and a Ph.D. degree from Dartmouth College in 2003. He is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Computing and Information Sciences, Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida, USA. Previously, he was a Research Scientist at Dartmouth ISTS in 2003, a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign during 2003-2004, and an Assistant Professor at Colorado School of Mines during 2004-2007. He holds an honorary position as Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, China, and has been a Visiting Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC)/Laboratory of Information, Networking and Communication Sciences (LINCS).

Dr. Jason Liu’s research focuses on modeling and simulation, parallel discrete-event simulation, performance modeling and simulation of computer systems and computer networks. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS) and SIMULATION, Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation International. He is also on the Steering Committee of ACM SIGSIM Conference on Principles of Advanced Discrete Simulation (SIGSIM-PADS). He served as General Chair or Program Chair for several conferences in related areas.

Dr. Jason Liu is an NSF CAREER awardee in 2006 and an ACM Distinguished Scientist in 2014. His research has been supported by various funding agencies, including NSF, DOE, DOD, and DHS.

Tiana Solis is currently the Associate Director of Advising and Adjunct Faculty in the School of Computing and Information Sciences (SCIS). She received a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Science in 1992-1994 from State University of New York Institute of Technology, Utica. She was an instructor and academic advisor in SCIS from 1994 to 2007 before rejoining SCIS as an instructor in 2010. From 2008 to 2010, Ms. Solis was a programmer analyst at the Department of The Attorney General in Hawaii, a member of the team revamping the State Juvenile Justice Information System. She is a former Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Grader with the Educational Testing Service.

Ms. Solis has taught different Computer Science and Information Technology undergraduate courses in SCIS, including being the coordinator of the Undergraduate Senior Project course. She has published in the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference focusing on assessing BS-CS student outcomes using the senior project. She has mentored several FIU students participating in the Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP). Ms. Solis was the co-Advisor for the Women in Computer Science (WICS) student club in 2003-2005 and co-founded the FIU STARS (Students & Technology in Academia, Research & Service) in 2011.

Ms. Solis has dedicated her career as an advocate for higher education and student success. She is known by her peers and colleagues as a collaborator, connector, and by students as empathetic and socially oriented. Her research and instructional Interests include student success and retention, distance learning, software development, programming languages, and computer ethics.

Vanessa has several years’ experience working in higher education administration. Prior to joining FIU, she served as a graduate program coordinator at the University of New Mexico. She holds a BA in Spanish and Multi-Ethnic Studies and an MA in Latin American Studies.