The Gateway

For this episode, the guys discuss the impact artificial intelligence may have on our interactions as a society. Reference: https://qz.com/open-ai-sam-altman-chatgpt-gpt4-please-thank-you-1851777047

For this episode of Tech Bytes, the guys discuss AI's impact on the future of learning.

For this episode of The Gateway, we are excited to welcome Samarth Shiramshetty, Samarth is a Northern Illinois University graduate student pursuing a degree in Management Information Systems. During Samarth's time at NIU, he has been able to pursue a plethora of opportunities---one including TreeHacks where Samarth's team won the education area with their development of HiveMInd.

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to welcome Ashley Bartelt. Ashley is the Program Director of the HASC Writing Center at Northern Illinois University. With a background in nonprofit administration, retail, and higher education, she has spent over a decade supporting students, faculty, and staff with their academic and professional writing. As part of her current role, she explores how generative AI can be a powerful tool for streamlining writing processes while emphasizing the critical skill of assessing and refining AI-generated work to ensure accuracy, quality, and effectiveness.

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to welcome Tyler Otto is an analytics professional with over a decade of experience in data science ranging from the fintech space to medical aesthetics. He has a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a Master's in Analytics from LSU.

In this episode, The Gateway was thrilled Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian (they/them,) a Research and Advocacy Fellow at the Center for AI and Digital Policy. Mélissa is a social entrepreneur and civic tech practitioner working at the intersection of technology, AI regulation, and advocacy. As the founder of Activists Of Tomorrow, they focus on how digital spaces can be used by everyday people to bring meaningful and lasting change to their community. Mélissa is an expert in AI policy, frameworks, and regulation, and has previously worked in the field of AI and digital policy, civic technology, and digital identity. They held several consulting positions in the private sector and is part of the AI ethics Advisory Panel of the Canadian Digital Governance Council. During their free time, Mélissa hosts the podcast they created called Activists of Tech — The Responsible Tech podcast, exploring the intersection of technology and social justice.You can follow it here: https://rss.com/podcasts/activistsoftech/

For this episode, the three discuss computer literacy and competency when utilizing such powerful tools.

For this episode The Gateway is proud to have Ansel Robateau, a software engineer who has been a full-stack developer with 25 years experience in the industry. Ansel has extensive experience with server-side software development and data processing. Projects Ansel has worked on include performance tuning, user interface design, web application development and database administration.Ansel also administered projects using AWS services and Google Cloud service, Ansel is well versed in containerized application development and distributed computing solutions.Ansel is constantly in pursuit of knowledge and look beyond programming languages for solutions that give results.

Happy New Year and happy new season! We discuss AI and how open-source models are impacting the tech landscape.

For this episode, we look back at 2024 and all of the wonderful guests we talked with. Thank you to everyone who listens and thank you to each of our guests:Jalal SarabadaniKolina KoltaiRaffaelle CirielloAidan WalkerAdam HoodDoga KurcuogluThomas SmithJoey AvrahamDenis SitailoKarl SwansonAnna KlisDavid GunkelPete PachalThomas HigginsHappy New year to everyone!

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to speak with Thomas Higgins! Thomas is currently the supply chain optimization manager at Winland Foods. His professional background involves experience related to supply chain and inventory management, production and manufacturing planning, data analytics, data engineering, and machine learning applications. He has been working in the supply chain management and analytics space for the last 8 years.

Amin and Biagio pull the curtains back on all things at the end of the semester.

For this episode, we explore the impact of social media and the consumption of information in academic spaces.

Pete Pachal is the Founder and CEO of The Media Copilot, a newsletter and podcast about how generative AI is changing the media. He also teaches creative professionals in journalism and PR about how to use AI tools, and he consults with companies of all sizes on how to incorporate generative AI into real work. Pete has a long career in journalism, previously holding senior roles in global newsrooms such as CoinDesk and Mashable. As a thought leader in tech, crypto, and AI, he often appears on TV news, including appearances on Fox Business, CNN, and The Today Show. He also puts his encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Who to good use in his side hustle, the popular podcast Pull To Open

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to welcome David J. Gunkel (PhD Philosophy). David is an award-winning educator, researcher, and author, specializing in the philosophy of technology with a focus on the moral and legal challenges of artificial intelligence and robots. He is the author of over 115 scholarly articles and has published seventeen books, including The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics (MIT Press 2012), Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics After Remix (MIT Press 2016), Person, Thing, Robot: A Moral and Legal Ontology for the 21st Century and Beyond (MIT Press 2023), and Handbook on the Ethics of AI (Edward Elgar 2024). He currently holds the position of Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University.

For this episode the gateway is excited to welcome Professor Anna Klis. Anna earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2015 and joined NIU the following August. Anna is a microeconomist who applies the techniques of game theory to questions of public economics and externalities. She is also a faculty associate with the NIU Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy and the School for Public and Global Affairs.

For this episode the gateway is excited to welcome Dr, Karl Swanson. Karl brings over ten years of combined experience in data science and informatics at the intersection of the clinical and biomedical domains. Karl's passionate about developing innovative applications using artificial intelligence for clinical use cases. Karl holds a D.O. in Osteopathic Medicine, an M.S. in Computational Biology, and a B.S. in Biology. Karl has completed a residency in internal medicine and started a fellowship and combined research post-doc in clinical informatics at UCSF, but left to found a company towards this same aim.

The Gateway is excited to welcome Denis Sitailo a Principal Technical Program Manager with the GE Healthcare IT Business Development Team. Denis has been with the company for 15 years, starting as an intern in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Along his journey, he held multiple positions ranging from completion of the Information Technology Leadership Program, to running IT Infrastructure Integrations for GE Healthcare, GE Digital, and GE Corporate. In his various roles he has made significant contributions to integrating 30+ M&A deals, enhancing GE's digital footprint, and streamlining numerous processes. His expertise spans from understanding wide-ranging technology stacks, assessing W2W business processes, enterprise applications, change management, user enablement, and PMO/program management. Denis holds a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago in Communications Networks and Security. Denis lives in Naperville, IL with his wife and two daughters. Outside of work he enjoys camping, gardening, cryptocurrency, and supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to welcome Joey Avraham. Joey is a technology sales executive at Microsoft. Joey graduated from NIU in 2008 with a degree in accountancy and again in 2011 with an MBA. Joey has worked in Technology since 2008 starting his career at Dell and has worked at major companies like Google and Microsoft. Joey has 17 years of experience in tech sales with a specialty on Academic Medical Centers and R1 Higher Education Institutions.

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to talk with Thomas Smith!Thomas is currently a coach in Dallas, TX with 7+ years experience building people up across sport, technology and art.He began his journey exploring what's possible by collaborating with researchers in NLP topic models, then entrepreneurs with physical products and finally global data decision platforms with software engineers across North America, Europe and Asia.He now is back in sports, helping athletes take their next step in the sport with an emphasis on simplicity, gratitude and technique in training.

For this episode, The Gateway is happy to welcome Dr. Doga M Kurkcuoglu, a theoretical physicist at Fermilab. His current research interests are quantum technologies, quantum simulation, quantum algorithms and machine learning. Throughout his career, Dr. Kurkcuoglu has published in many subdisciplines of quantum physics. After completing Ph.D. program at School of Physics at Georgia Institute of Technology, he worked as Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University. Then, he worked as postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and finally postdoctoral researcher at Fermilab, where he was promoted to staff scientist.

During this episode, the guys discuss tech promises and consumer expectations.

For this episode, the guys talk about AI in the classroom--a problem with so many solutions.Links addressed in the episode: https://today.umd.edu/your-favorite-prof-backed-by-a-bothttps://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/toolkits/artificial-intelligence/index.shtmlhttps://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/class-policies-for-ai-tools.shtml#:~:text=Introduction%20to%20Sociology-,Policy,CSCC%27s%20student%20code%20of%20conduct.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80e1gp9m9zo#

For this episode The Gateway is excited to welcome singer/songwriter, Adam Hood. For all things Adam Hood please check out his website: https://www.adamhood.com/Or listen to his music anywhere good tunes are found: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oqOpULfSzd2BRoBT4aTXk?si=9-AUT0WgSvS9cMHVmO8iCg

During this episode the Amin and Russ talk about the hype around technology and the elements of maturity within the start up sector.

In this episode we discuss our technological infrastructure and how to improve it.

During this episode Amin and Biagio discuss the benefits of coding languages.

In this episode, The Gateway is excited to talk with Aidan Walker. Aidan is a meme researcher and content creator. You can find more of his work on memes at his Substack blog, How To Do Things With Memes or on TikTok @aidanetcetera.

An exploration of transparency, regulations, and the endless potential of AI

A conversation about the brilliant, innovative and divisive mind behind Tesla.

For this episode Unpacking the Ethical Paradoxes in Human-AI Companionship, The Gateway is happy to welcome Raffaele Ciriello, a tenured Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems at The University of Sydney Business School. Raffaele specializes in compassionate digital innovation, focusing on decentralized governance and ethical/societal implications of emerging digital technologies. Raffaele gravitates toward dialectical inquiry and qualitative research but remains methodologically open-minded. Raffaele is deeply committed to mentorship, having guided dozens of research students across several countries, all while actively contributing to the academic community as a reviewer and editor. Raffaele has been recognized with teaching awards, Best AE Awards and as a Distinguished Member of the Association for Information Systems. Raffaele 's research appears regularly in leading journals and conferences. Raffaele live in Sydney with his wonderful wife and two mad scientists!

For this episode, Amin, Biagio, and Russ are excited to have to speak with Kolina Koltai! Kolina is a senior investigator and trainer at the open-source investigation outlet, Bellingcat. Kolina is an expert in sociotechnical systems especially in the intersection between misinformation and social media platforms. Kolina has focused extensively on scientific and health misinformation and currently focuses on non-consensual AI deep fakes and AI related misinformation. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Information Studies and a postdoc at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public.

A conversation about AI, content creation, and the implications new technology has. UPDATE: Here is a specific article regarding OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/05/22/openai-scarlett-johansson-chatgpt-ai-voice/Here are the links address in the episode: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7DfaV0tKB-/?igsh=MTk3azk0MTc1MW9uMw%3D%3Dhttps://www.bellingcat.com/https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/22/24162429/scarlett-johansson-openai-legal-right-to-publicity-likeness-midler-lawyers

For this episode, The Gateway is excited to have Dr. Jalal Sarabadani! Jalal is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at San Jose State University. He is an active researcher, focusing on the dark side of IT. His main area of research includes technostress, its influence on individuals and the way they cope with this phenomenon in different contexts. As a passionate teacher, he is also deeply committed to pushing the boundaries of his knowledge and encouraging his students to do the same. Jalal is also the CEO and co-founder of WritingChex, a startup that aims to empower students overcome challenges with writing skills using an AI-powered writing tutor to better prepare them for the writing component of English proficiency exams such as the IELTS or TOEFL. Outside of academia, Jalal is an avid explorer, seeking out new experiences through hiking and networking. He is always looking to learn, expand his skills, and stay out of his comfort zone.

This week Biagio, Amin, and Russ explore the impact generative AI is having on the publishing space.Articles discussed in the episode below:https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/26/23570967/chatgpt-author-scientific-papers-springer-nature-banhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468023024002402https://johnwiley2020news.q4web.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2024/Wiley-announces-pilot-of-new-AI-powered-Papermill-Detection-service/default.aspx

As the Vice President of Student Affairs for Northern Illinois University, Dr. Reneau strives to create meaningful connections across our entire campus. Reality is being augmented by new and novel technologies rapidly, how does innovation change the traditional campus experience? What does the future of learning look like?

For this episode, The gateway will explore technology and higher education with our good friend Kirk Paille! Kirk brings over 20 years of recruitment, sales, and operations experience to his role as Director of Solutions Architecture at Collegis Education, a company enabling innovation in higher ed as thought leaders and tactical pros. During his 12-plus years at Wiley Education Services (formerly Deltak) and AVENU Learning, he led cross-functional teams to facilitate the successful launch of multiple new college and university partners, in addition to leading existing partners in the expansion of program offerings to accelerate revenue. Prior to that, he held admissions leadership roles at DeVry University Online. Kirk leverages his recruitment experience and deep understanding of the student lifecycle to enable partner universities to implement process enhancements that drive student engagement. He earned his B.S. from John Carroll University in University Heights, OH, where he played collegiate football and met his wife, Amy. Kirk and Amy live in Naperville, IL with their dog Birdie and during his free time, he is an avid college and pro football fan, takes his endless pursuit to create the perfect chicken wing very seriously, and spends countless hours trying to improve his golf game. For more information:www.collegiseducation.com

The this episode, The Gateway is happy to welcome Don Kenobi.Don Kenobi is a hip hop artist/songwriter who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. A former college baseball player turned music artist, Don draws influence from seasoned hip-hop acts such as Mac Miller, J Cole and Gucci Mane . Don has established a solid international fanbase through his middle Eastern Roots while also generating a steady following in the US in his six year career. Don Has worked with the likes of Mick Jenkins, Mark Battles, Skydxddy, and Sarcastic Sounds which has evolved his sound through the years. Listen to Don Kenobi on Spotify! (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5IgGBVmqy3oXJ1d9dT05Sw?si=oWjegMhQRM6TzhtEWN25cw)

For this episode, Black Box Algorithms, the Gateway way will explore the unknown world of artificial intelligence while contemplating the ethical and social implications of utilizing technologies we don't fully understand. To help us navigate this black mirror of existence, the gateway is excited to have Dr. Amin Vahedian. Amin is currently an Assistant Professor of Information Systems with Northern Illinois University. He received a Ph.D. in Business Analytics in 2019 at the University of Iowa. With a background in engineering, Amin enjoys research and teaching at the intersection of Applied Computing and Business. His research interests are in Business Analytics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning Applications and Spatial Big Data Analytics. His work has resulted in numerous top tier journal publications in addition to several presentations and proceedings in highly selective conferences.

For this episode, The Gateway will be venturing into the unlimited potential of generative AI. With novel tools like Chat GPT dominating the media cycle and our imagination, our future seems boundless… if these tools are utilized effectively. To help us exam the multitude of possible futures, we are excited to have Dr. Dominik Dellermann captain this conversation into a new frontier. Dr. Dellermann is the CEO and Founder of Vencortex—a ground-breaking start-up augmenting the entire decision-making process by combining human intuition with artificial intelligence.

David Hochberg! is an NIU alum and College of Business graduate. While at NIU, David completed his Bachelor of Science in Business with a Marketing emphasis. During that same time, David was an SA Senator, President of a fraternity, Tugs Chairman, and Homecoming King! After graduating, David's career has taken him from scrap trading, to the financial industry with notable stops that include owner of Townstone Financial, Vice president of Mortgage Lending at Perl Mortgage and at Lower LLC where he currently presides. In addition to a glorious reign on NIU's campus, and an impressive career, David is also the host of Home Sweet Home Chicago radio show airing on WGN AM 720 each Saturday from 10-1pm. David, thank you so much for being here!

For this episode, The Gateway will explore what it means to have a professonal calling, who we think should do what occupations, and how work and our identiies are interwoven. To help us explore the work we do, The Gateway is happy to have Dr. Bethany Cockburn. Bethany Cockburn earned her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa (2018). Her expertise and interests relate to work-related transitions, workplace stress and how team membership affects individual and team outcomes. For example, she has studied the impact of stress on physical and mental health and mortality; the effect of retiring and returning to work on one's identity; and how team membership affects helping behaviors, deviant behaviors, and performance. Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology and Journal of Management Studies. Bethany has taught classes such as managerial negotiations, strategic human resources and leadership and personal development.

For this episode, The Gateway is going to explore ways to cultivate a culture of giving in a corporation. To help us do so, we are happy to welcome Henry Heisler! As a General Manager at Perficient, Henry has executive leadership and P&L responsibility for the California market, including leading sales and consulting teams, operations, as well as stewardship of Perficient's award-winning company culture. With over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and business, Henry is passionate about creating transformative value for clients by aligning people, process and technology to business strategies and objectives. Henry also serves as co-chair of Perficient's newest employee resource group, the Giving ERG, which is focused on employee volunteering and support for meaningful charity causes, and inspiring further enthusiasm and action across Perficient's global organization.

Diversity has been highlighted within news reports, articles, and leaders across the globe. While this commitment to embracing diversity is justified, it is difficult to develop strategies to invigorate change beyond boilerplate stump speeches.The well-crafted diversity statement has become an integral element of a modern company. Saying the right things about inclusion is only the first step; embodying equity at all levels of business must be scaffolded by intentionality, commitment, and compassion. To help explore ways to embrace the complexities of who we are, the College of Business is proud to have special guest and NIU alum, Jocelyn Moore. Jocelyn Moore is globally astute Human Resource Executive. Jocelyn is the General Manager, Global Diversity & Inclusion at Microsoft. In this capacity Jocelyn is responsible for leading Global Diversity & Inclusion for the Microsoft Customer & Partner Solutions group and for all geographies. She brings 20 years of progressive Human Resources experience from global companies like Aon Hewitt, Medline Industries, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and DXC Technology. Jocelyn has held many transformative Human Resources roles. She started her career as a HR Coordinator and worked her way through the ranks to more progressive complex Human Resources positions.Prior to joining Microsoft, she was with a North American based company, responsible for transforming the entire HR department. Jocelyn also spent time as the VP Global Talent Acquisition with DXC Technology, responsible for recruiting 30,000 new employees each year across the company's global footprint. In this capacity, Jocelyn was directly responsible for leading all Global Talent Acquisition strategies, including relationship management, workforce planning, talent channels, and overall governance.She recognizes she was helped along her career journey and wants to pay it forward. Over the years, Jocelyn has done resume and interviewing workshops, served on many nonprofit boards all focused on helping students with diverse backgrounds, and has had several mentees. She holds a Bachelor of Science in HR Management and MBA from Northern Illinois University was the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Management Department and the 2021 Distinguished Alumni for the NIU College of Business. Please join the College of Business for this inspiring conversation with Jocelyn Moore and moderator, Dr. Christine Mooney on March 1st from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. (CST).

For this episode, The Gateway will be taking to the putting greens with the hopes of finally beating the windmill as we discuss innovation, hospitality, and providing a unique entertainment experience for customers with Puttshack's CEO, Joe Vrankin.Puttshack is a leading concept in the emerging and growing market of competitive socializing. Combining a tech-infused mini golf game with exceptional food and beverage offering, Puttshack has multi-generation appeal. Patented Trackaball™ technology al-lows guests to play a point scoring game surrounded by an upscale and exciting environment. Puttshack currently operates 9 total locations in the U.S. and U.K. with 11 more locations coming soon.Joe Vrankin is a 20+-year C-Suite executive – Current CEO of Puttshack, Former CEO, Topgolf International. Joe's core experience is focused on middle-market businesses, within multiple industries, that find themselves at a key inflection point in their company development. At the start of 2019 Joe joined Puttshack as its CEO and a member of its board of directors. Joe served as CEO of Topgolf for five years and joined when there was just one location in the U.S. Topgolf was acquired in early 2021 by Callaway in a transaction valued at $2.6 billion.https://www.puttshack.com/

For today's episode, Feeling the Flow, The Gateway is proud to welcome Chandler! Chandler is best known for his viral smasher “Hot Pocket” — a collaboration with critically-acclaimed producer Matty Beats and his consistent tracks with Fellaair. Originally from Newport News, VA, he grew up on the likes of Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Missy Elliott and more. This garnered a love for the wide variety of sub-genres within rap and hip-hop. He began writing lyrics at the age of nine and never put the pen down. He stopped putting out his solo work publicly in 2014 to pursue an education at VCU and a career as a rock band's drummer. During his time in that role, he played on bills that featured acts like DRAM, Dirty Heads, The Knocks, Biz Markie, etc. That band has been mentioned in The Huffington Post and The Chicago Tribune. In 2018, Chandler left the group and relocated to take on New York City and the entertainment industry. After appearing in theatre productions in Manhattan and Brooklyn through early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as reason for Chandler to make a public return to his most beloved art form. So in 2021, he did. In 2022, with songs like “mister” & “DOUBLE GOOSE”, Chandler created a following that showed him support he had yet to see. In 2023, Chandler continues to sharpen his pen by starting the year off with Stafford Beats-produced “NEW SONG MIX 1 SORRY I DONT KNOW THE NAME”.

For today's episode, Movies Done Independently, The Gateway is proud to welcome Eric Norcross! Eric is an award-winning filmmaker, published writer, and podcaster. He is an experimentalist that approaches everything as a learning opportunity, and although he works in a variety of mediums, all his work goes into cinema in various forms. In addition to his certifications in Graphic Design, Video Technology, and Film, he earned a BA in Cultural Studies from SUNY Empire State College, and an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. He has won awards for his work in experimental and avant-garde cinema, and in 2012, the Manhattan Film Festival created the New York Spotlight Award for his short film, Caroline of Virginia, which they continue to award annually.Please follow Eric's work utilizing the links belowWebsite: www.EricNorcross.comYouTube & TikTok: @Eric NorcrossLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-norcross/

For today's episode, Multiplying Moore's Law, The Gateway is proud to welcome Bilal Chehab. Bilal is a member of the Technology Development group at Intel Corporation, where he has been working since January 2022 on competitive intelligence and advanced technology targeting. Prior to joining Intel, he spent 7 years at IMEC in Belgium as a researcher, where he worked on advanced logic design. He has over 30 publications and 250 citations, as well as 10 patents in the field of advanced semiconductor. Bilal received his Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Pavia in Italy.

For this episode, Psyching Up Psychology, The Gateway is proud to welcome Emily Towner, a 3rd year PhD Student in Psychology at the University of Cambridge and a Gates-Cambridge Scholar. Emily studies adolescence and the brain — and is interested in learning, mental health, and understanding the impacts of stress and social interactions during development. She is currently training in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab led by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. Her Ph.D. research focuses on social isolation in adolescents - where she is investigating the effects of isolation and loneliness on fear learning and mental health. Through the use of high-definition magnetic resonance imaging she is also exploring structural associations between the brain and one's response to social isolation. In addition, she hopes to examine whether virtual social interactions (such as the use of smartphones and social media) might mitigate or exacerbate the effects of social isolation.Please check out all of Emily's work: https://www.emilytowner.com/

For this episode, Physical Education In Virtual Reality, The Gateway is proud to welcome Dr. Zachary Wahl-Alexander, Associate Professor of Physical Education Teacher Education at Northern Illinois University. With a Ph.D. in Human Performance from the University of Alabama, Dr. Wahl-Alexander's research examines which pedagogical changes can inform and impact teaching practices within the context of physical education and physical activity. Dr. Wahl-Alexander also investigates the sport education pedagogical model, negotiated curriculum and building community-based partnerships (i.e., summer camps, juvenile detention centers) focused on providing youth opportunities to be physically active.Please check out the Project FLEX:https://sites.google.com/view/project-flex/home?pli=1https://www.instagram.com/niuprojectflex/

For this episode, a growing business, The Gateway is happy to welcome Zack Goodson, co-owner, and founder of Shwifty Hemp Company. Zack isa bit of a business anomaly since he doesn't come from the traditional entrepreneurial cloth. Originally, got his start in Tobacco Harm Reduction efforts via E-Cigarettes, when he became fixated on upstart industries and the cultures they spawn. Through a series of fortuitous events, Zack became involved in both political advocacy as well as public communication via social media garnering a large internet following. The agency afforded by social media helped spawn his involvement in the founding of Shwifty Hemp Co, an alternative cannabinoids company which caters to the underserved consumers in cannabis-prohibited markets.