Shehzan Mohammed, Director of 3D Engineering and Ecosystems, Cesium

As Director of 3D Engineering & Ecosystems, Shehzan Mohammed oversees the growth of the Cesium ecosystem through outward-facing engineering, partnerships, community growth, and customer success. He is in charge of advancing the engineering and development of Cesium’s products and runtime engines in ways that will have the greatest impact on Cesium's users. He also contributes to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to advance open standards for geospatial applications and is a frequent contributor and speaker on 3D geospatial technology.

Prior to his current role, Shehzan was a 3D Graphics engineer and brought his expertise to the 3D Tiling Pipeline and measurement analytics. He is a contributor to 3D Tiles and glTF, and has a strong background in parallel programming and GPU computing as well as open source.

Shehzan previously worked at ArrayFire on GPU computing, high-performance GPU libraries, and graphics applications. He also helped lead the effort to open source the ArrayFire library.

Shehzan also teaches GPU Programming and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with an MSE in Computer Graphics and Game Technology in 2013.

He enjoys traveling, watching soccer and Formula 1, and playing Settlers of Catan.

Marc Petit, Co-host BuildingTheOpenMetaverse.org podcast; Consultant, Epic Games; Co-chair 3D Asset Working Group, Metaverse Standards Forum

Marc Petit was the vice president of Unreal Engine Ecosystem at Epic Games until mid-2023, where he was working across numerous industries and standards organizations to help everyone build the open metaverse. Marc represented Epic Games and co-chairs the 3D Asset Working Group of the Metaverse Standards Forum, a venue that brings together standards organizations and companies to foster the development of interoperability standards for an open and inclusive metaverse, and to accelerate open standards development and deployment through pragmatic, action-based projects.

Marc previously served for 7 years as general manager of Unreal Engine, a role in which he oversaw growth across markets using real-time technology, including architecture, engineering and construction (AEC); automotive and manufacturing; computer and video games; education; media and entertainment (M&E); product design and visualization; and simulation and training.

Prior to joining Epic Games in mid-2016, Marc was a partner and Entrepreneur-In-Residence at XPND Capital, a Montreal-based investment fund where he co-founded and launched Taxelco, a sustainable urban transportation company. Between 2002 and 2013, Marc ran Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment business unit steering development and marketing of the industry’s leading 3D animation and VFX software products. Marc started his career at TDI in 1988 and joined Softimage in 1991 where he ran 3D Products and oversaw the design and development of Softimage XSI.

Neal Stephenson, Author

Neal Stephenson is an influential American science fiction writer known for dense, speculative novels such as Snow Crash (1992) and Cryptonomicon (1999). He helped popularize the cyberpunk genre and coined the term "metaverse." Stephenson's books explore wide-ranging concepts including math, cryptography, philosophy, currency, and science history. He has won multiple awards, including the Prometheus Award and Hugo Award. Through forward-thinking fiction, Stephenson has played a key role in the sci-fi genre and beyond.

Solomon Rogers, Global Director of Innovation, Magnopus

In 2011, Sol founded REWIND, the UK’s leading immersive spatial design and innovation company, and led its leadership as CEO until its acquisition by Magnopus in 2021. Magnopus, founded in 2013 by Oscar winners Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning (HUGO CABRET), is known for its continuous innovation in the entertainment industry; its Emmy-nominated VR projects; its role as a leader in virtual production through its groundbreaking work on Disney’s THE LION KING (2019); and its pioneering work in building the spatial web.

Before REWIND, Sol was a senior university lecturer for 15 years in digital animation, VFX and emerging technology. He taught more than 1,300 students, wrote undergraduate and Masters degrees, and supervised PHDs during his tenure.

Sol is also Chairman of BAFTA’s Immersive Entertainment Advisory Group, and Chairman of Immerse UK – the first nationwide network for immersive companies working to make the UK the global leader in immersive technologies.

Sol considers Time the only thing of true value, and his greatest achievement is being a proud father of twins.