Ignite Innovation Speaker Series
Real world inspiration.
In the summer of 2020, Etrack launched the Ignite Innovation Speaker Series — where technology and entrepreneurship meet. Inspirational and fearless entrepreneurs and industry visionaries are featured throughout the year sharing stories of grit, resilience and innovation. USD's entire campus community, alumni, partners and community members from San Diego and beyond are invited to participate. The Ignite Innovation Speaker Series is sponsored by USD's Engineering and Computer Science Alumni Council.
Trailblazing Visionaries
Come be inspired! We invite you to explore our past speakers’ biographies and stories of influence, passion and invention.
Resilience with a Cherry on Top
Kicking off our inaugural speaker series in Summer 2020, USD alumni Andrew Billigmeier '18 and Connor Schofield '17 of Agrishield shared their story of becoming agtech-entrepreneurs. Even when faced with a traumatic accident, their passion for Agrishield was their ongoing inspiration. Agrishield specializes in agriculture equipment and design manufacturing, including engineering, CAD and drafting services, general metal fabrication and CNC plasma cutting.
Diagnostics: The Beginning, Middle & End of Healthcare Innovations
In our Fall 2020 speaker series, Mara Aspinall, Managing Director and Co-Founder of BlueStone Venture Partners LLC and CEO of Health Catalysts Group, shared the pioneering story of her leadership and commitment to the growth of health information technology and healthcare diagnostics. Aspinall is a co-author of Rockefeller Foundation's report on COVID-19, she serves as a professor of practice at ASU and was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences by PharmaVOICE magazine.
Influencer Marketing: Learnings from a 10-year Journey
Our Spring 2021 Ignite Innovation speakers were a huge success! The virtual event featured Baxter Box '06 (EE) and his wife, Amber Venz Box, founders of rewardStyle and the LIKEtoKNOW.it shopping app. Over the last decade, the duo has pioneered the influencer industry and carved a new career path for more than 100,000 digital creators around the world. We invite you to click on the video icon and discover how these innovators built a global company and what they learned along the way.