Jim Brazell has 27 years of experience in education, technology and business innovation. As president of VentureRamp Inc., he serves entrepreneurial, industrial, academic and government clients globally. To learn more check out eXtreme start-ups. Over the past decade, his work includes: supporting the formation of the Austin-San Antonio Corridor, accelerating one dozen high technology start-up companies; catalyzing regional and international high technology initiatives; performing technology forecasts for the State of Texas; designing video games for major military commands and civilian workforce initiatives; and advocating for TEAMS and classical contemporary education in school reform. A technology forecaster and strategist, Jim's message is that innovation is the key to education, workforce, and economic development goals in the 21st Century. His work in K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities includes facilitating design of new formal and informal learning programs, leading teacher professional development, and dissemination of best practices. Jim is a member of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development and he is IDEAS Orlando’s STEM consultant. Jim has led public policy, leadership training, and teacher professional development in STEM for a decade. In education, workforce, and economic development, his analysis of the changing nature of work, technology trends, and regional economic development strategy have influenced public policy nationally. In 2014, Jim provided input to the: Office of Science and technology Policy Request for Information to create "Pull Machanisms" for Advanced Learning Technologies and the Texas Legislative Budget Board on the topic of STEM. In 2009, Jim and a team from the Society for Design and Process Science submitted comments that were read publicly to the President's Council of Advisors for Science and technology, a body composed of members of the National Academies of Science. The comments related to the vocation of STEM and the importance of Career and Technical education in the context of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). In 2008, the essay, "The Bellwether Sounds," was one of the first public voices proclaiming the need for the people to recognize the importance of science and technology to U.S. global competitiveness and security. Co-authored with support from General Robert F. McDermott, the founding academic dean of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Col. Francis X. Kane, Ph.D., military father of the Global Positioning System (GPS), the essay was the first public mention of a virtual Sputnik Moment in the context of social, political, and historical exigencies.

1. The Future Is Here

2. Where Do You Fit?

3. Speeches
The Future Is Here – Executive Leadership......................................................... 4-5
Talent Network – Human Capital Practitioners................................................. 6-7
Science Fiction to Reality – Students................................................................. 8-9
Pandora’s X-Box – General Audience................................................................10-11
Heart of Innovation – General Audience........................................................12-13
Jim Brazell.......................................................................................................................14
Biography..............................................................15
Audiences........................................................16-17
Publications...........................................................18
Jim delivers timely strategies to address global competitiveness, educational
innovation and workforce talent. His insights and experiences open up the worlds
of emerging technology, jobs, students, schools, and communities. Jim’s talent
is an ability to move you from why you need to change-to-what you need to do
today. Whether you are an educator, workforce practitioner, economic developer,
employer, student or parent, Jim has a message for you.
The Future is Here.
Today’s Speaker–Jim Brazell

4. 2

5. Quotes
“Jim is a powerful story-teller.”
— Dr. Anne Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association
“Jim sees things through a different lens... and it’s a perspective
that community leaders need to share.”
— Richard Anderson, County Judge, Marshall, Texas
“Brazell has mastered the mixed audience. We invite students,
parents, faculty, local industry, workforce, and economic development
leaders and we get everyone motivated and on the same page!”
— Dr. Bill Segura, Chancellor, Texas State Technical College System
“He showed us all where our future is... he is showing us what we
need to be doing now with our students.”
— Alice Gage, CTE Director, Pine Tree High School
“After seeing Jim’s keynote, we hired him for an 8 hour workshop for
all workforce practitioners in the state.”
— Jennifer Brackney, Workforce Development Division Manager, City of Peoria
“Jim’s speeches have been a catalyst for workforce, education and
economic development innovation in Texas.”
— Kaki Leyens, Office of Employer Initiatives, Texas Workforce Commission
“Brazell is compelling. I have seen him captivate educational
audiences from the US to Singapore.”
— Dr. Nelson Heller, President and Publisher, The Heller Reports, A QED Company
“In Stavanger, Norway, we think of elearning before Jim Brazell
and after...”
— Atle Lokken, Director NettOP, University of Stavanger
“Brazell addresses the imperative of developmental planning
necessary to transition the baton of leadership to the generation
that will take us to Mars and beyond.”
— Dr. Francis X. Kane,“Father of Global Positioning System,”
President, Schriever Institute
3

6. The Future Is Here
“The South Korean government
wants to see mass production
of networked robots to
begin next year and hopes
to put a robot in every
household by 2020.”
— Lovgren, Stefan. A Robot
in Every Home by 2020,
National Geographic News,
September 06, 2006
4

7. Format Keynote
Time 20 Minutes to 2 Hours
Topics Culture of Innovation
Audience Executive Leadership
The Future is Here:
Emerging Technology, Jobs
and Community Strategies
We live in a new world--the world of globalization. This is a world where everything
is connected together and everyone is moving at light speed. In virtually every
industry, every city, every school, American communities are asking:
If the world is flat, where do we fit in?
Jim Brazell’s “The Future is Here” is designed to move communities from why they
need to change to how. This keynote investigates emerging technologies, emerging
jobs and community strategies to enhance competitiveness and innovation. Jim
specializes in individual and mixed audiences including industry, education,
workforce and economic development leaders.
If you are looking for more than a keynote, “Talent Network” is a facilitated
workshop designed to be delivered as a follow-up to “The Future is Here”.
5

8. “ After seeing Jim’s keynote,
we hired him for an 8 hour
workshop for all workforce
practitioners in the state.”
— Jennifer Brackney,
Workforce Development
Division Manager,
City of Peoria, IL
Talent Network
66

9. Talent Network:
Engagement Strategies for
STEM Workforce and Academics
In the world today, no competition is tougher than the talent race. In virtually every industry,
every city, every school, American communities are asking:
How do we build a world class workforce?
“Talent Network” delivers tools, techniques and program ideas to enhance human capital strategy.
If the end goal includes recruiting and retaining more local young people to STEM-based academics
and careers, “Talent Network” is designed to help you produce the capacity for innovation from
within your community.
From robots and video games to career simulation, Jim can teach you how to deliver winning
programs that grow year-to-year.
* STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Format Facilitated Workshop
Time 2 to 8 Hours
Topics Human Capital/Talent
Audience Human Capital Practitioners
7

10. Science Fiction to Reality
— Alice Gage, CTE Director,
Pine Tree High School
Panoramic Image of Grand Canyon
Spirit Mars Rover
Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
“He showed us all where our future is...
he is showing us what we need to be
doing now with our students.”
8

11. Format Keynote
Time 20 Minutes to 2 Hours
Topics Career Exploration
Audience Students
Charmed Labs $250
Consumer robot for
panoramic pictures
McMurdo Panorama from Spirit Mars RoverScience Fiction to Reality
Technology is moving at breakneck speed. It is not hard to identify examples of science fact
that were science fiction in the past. For example, today’s video game consoles have as much
computing power as a $100 million dollar super computer from the 1990’s. The cars we drive
have as much computing power as rockets used to put man on the moon. Invisible robots are
now embedded in the fabric of everyday life—from ATM machines to airplanes.
Designed specifically for high school students, “Science Fiction to Reality” explores the following
questions: What emerging technologies are changing the way we live, work and play? What are
employers looking for from entry-level job applicants? What are the hot jobs?
Jim has delivered “Science Fiction to Reality” to schools and youth programs with one simple
reaction: “I have never seen anyone hold my students’ attention like Jim Brazell.”
Career Exploration for
High School Students
9

12. 29 is the average age of gamers
75% of Americans play video games
17% of gamers are 50 or older
26% of gamers are women 18 or older
21% of gamers are boys 6 to 17
Source: Entertainment Software Association
pandora’s X-Box
10

13. Pandora’s X-Box:
Video Games, Virtual Worlds and Mixed Reality
While we were not looking, video games leaped out of the box of entertainment into serious
domains such as health care and military training. Games are now a medium giving birth to
new modes of playing, learning and socializing.
Pandora’s X-Box is a way to pierce the veil of play and find out what is happening in the
dynamic world of games. From game builders-to game players-to serious games, Jim Brazell
delivers insights into trends that are shaping new media and mediated-life in the 21st Century.
From emergency response training to language acquisition, video games, virtual worlds and
mixed reality are evolving the media and educational landscape. If you want to know what
is happening in new media, “convergence” and educational technology, Pandora’s X-Box is
designed for your organization.
Format Keynote or Hands-On Workshop
Time 20 Minutes to 4 Hours
Topics New Media
Audience General
Compliments ofWhyville.net
“ In Stavanger, Norway, we
think of elearning before
Jim Brazell and after...”
— Atle Lokken, Director NettOP,
University of Stavanger
11

14. 1965
THE FUTURE IS HERE! San Antonio
2007“In the spirit of Ed White, children such as Evan Gray make it
in the realm of possibilities that the first person to walk
on Mars will be from San Antonio.”
– Dr. Francis X. Kane, Father of Global Positioning Systems
Evan Gray
San Antonian
World Robotic Champion
Three time international Champion of the
K*Bot K’Nex Robot Competition
Ed White
San Antonian
First US Astronaut to walk in space
June 3, 1965
© 2007 • Rio Design
SM12

15. Heart of Innovation
San Antonio 1910 to the Present
What do Mount Rushmore, aerobics, the first US Astronaut to walk in space and the Loch Ness
Monster have in common?
San Antonio
Gutzon Borglum, designer of Mount Rushmore, planned his sculptural project in San Antonio and
wintered in town. Dr. Kenneth Cooper invented aerobics while stationed in San Antonio at the
School of Aerospace Medicine. San Antonian Ed White performed the first US space walk during
the Gemini 4 Mission. And Tom Slick, Jr. was an Indiana Jones-style adventurer who hunted the
Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot and the Yeti.
Journey from 1910 to present and discover San Antonio’s character, its hidden history and its
unique capacity for innovation. In this richly illustrated and entertaining speech, Jim shares a great
story while exemplifying a method for connecting history to industry, education, workforce and
economic development initiatives called “historical marketing.”
If your conference or group is planing to meet in San Antonio, book Jim Brazell for an unparalleled
program that can scale from an after dinner keynote to a bus tour of the city’s sites of innovation.
Format Keynote or Facilitated Workshop
Time 20 Minutes to 2 Hours
Topics Historical Marketing
Audience General
13

16. Jim Brazell
14

17. Biography-Jim Brazell
Jim Brazell is a consultant, researcher and orator focusing on 21st century issues including
community competitiveness, educational innovation, emerging technology and jobs. Jim’s clients
include think tanks, companies, universities, community colleges, workforce boards, economic
development organizations and K-12 schools.
Jim’s research, writing and speaking have resulted in the formation of Technology, Engineering,
ARTS, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) talent network initiatives in Texas and California. Jim’s
strategies are proven based on four years of work in Texas as a consultant to the University of Texas
at Austin’s Digital Media Collaboratory, IC2
Institute and the Texas State Technical College System.
Between 2004 and 2008, Jim co-authored major reports and briefs on emerging technologies and
their implications to workforce, education and economic development for the State of Texas.
Published research topics include Mechatronics, Digital Convergence, Video Games, Machine-to-
Machine Computing, Crime Scene Technology, High Performance Computing, Combined Heat
and Power and Web Evaluation and Usability.
Jim received a bachelor of science in sociology, Summa Cum Laude, from Bradley University,
Peoria, Illinois, in 1995. While at Bradley, Jim was a George Gilder Fellow in High Technology
and Public Policy and a Principal Investigator of the Interlabs Research Institute and the Social
Informatics Minor. Jim earned national rankings for the Bradley Speech Team, including awards
as a national champion in the American Forensics League and a top-ten overall speaker in the
National Forensics League.
15

18. 2008 Speeches (current – 8/08)
National School Boards Association TL Conference•
Peoria Next•
Maryland School Board Association•
Illinois State Workforce Conference•
Los Angeles County Tech Prep•
Pearland ISD•
National Education Computing Conference•
San Antonio North Chamber of Commerce•
Texas Ed Service Center Region 8•
Austin Community College•
Monroe Community College•
Heartland Region - National Association of Workforce Professionals•
Iowa Manufacturing Conference•
Butler Community College•
Maui Community College•
Alief ISD•
National School Boards Association Annual Conference•
Orlando Science Center•
San Angelo Technical Training Center•
Mt Pleasant High School•
The New York City Department of Education•
Gulf Coast Tech Prep•
Oklahoma State Department of Career and Technical Education•
C-STEM Houston•
Waco Chamber of Commerce•
Community College Futures Assembly•
2007 Speeches
Edgewood Independent School District – San Antonio•
Bryan College Station Workforce Board•
Defense Language Institute•
Victoria Texas Workforce Board•
Nicaragua National University of Agriculture•
Nicaragua National University of Engineering•
Nicaragua Polytechnic University•
Texas State Technical College System and Waco Independent School District•
Genesee Community College•
10th International Conference for Technology Policy and Innovation•
Texas Economic Development Council Annual Meeting•
Texas State Technical College Board of Regents•
Career and Technology Education Association of Texas•
Kilgore Economic Development Council and Region 7 Education Service Center•
Lake City Community College Florida•
Sweetwater ISD and TSTC Sweetwater•
Lubbock Economic Development Association•
National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers•
Audiences
16

19. National School Board Association Technology and Learning•
Texas Business and Education Honor Roll•
National Council on Workforce Education•
South Plains Lubbock Texas Workforce Board•
National Science Foundation Mechatronics Meeting•
Frisco ISD•
College Station ISD•
Tech Prep of Rio Grande Valley Texas•
2006 Speeches
Texas State Technical College Harlingen•
Texas State Technical College System•
Tenth Annual Texas Workforce Conference•
Texas State Technical College Sweetwater•
National School Board Association Annual Conference•
National Tech Prep Network Annual Conference•
Stavanger Norway Economic Development Association•
San Antonio City Public Service Executive Retreat•
Genesee Community College•
Texas Economic Development Council Annual Conference•
Naval Post Graduate School•
International University Presidents Conference•
Austin Video Game Conference•
Austin Community College•
US Army Morale, Recreation and Welfare Annual Conference•
Texoma Workforce and Economic Development Conference•
Northwest Vista College•
Chautauqua Institute•
Learning Strategies Consortium Conference•
EduComm•
National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development•
Weatherford College•
Air Force Education and Training Command Conference•
World Congress on Information Technology•
Texas P-16 Leadership Conference•
South-by-Southwest•
Training 2006 Conference and Expo•
The Guildhall at SMU•
Texas AM University•
The Gallop Organization•
University of Texas at San Antonio•
St. Mary’s University•
Sam Houston High School•
Texas Workforce Commission Quarterly Summit•
California Community College’s Economic and Workforce Development Program•
Orlando Science Center•
Audiences
17

20. Brazell, Jim. Web Usability and Evaluation: A Program for Emerging Technologies Brief.
Austin, Texas: Texas State Technical College System, 2008.
Full Brief: Forthcoming
Vanston, John H., Henry Elliott, James Irwin, Jim Brazell, and Michael Bettersworth.
Mechatronics Forecast: Implications for Texas Community and Technical Colleges.
Austin, Texas: Texas State Technical College System, 2007.
Table of Contents: http://system.tstc.edu/forecasting/reports/mechatronics.asp
Brazell, Jim, Laurel Donoho, John Dexheimer, Robert Hanneman, George Langdon, and
Eliza Evans M2M: The Wireless Revolution. A Technology Forecast, Implications for Community and
Technical Colleges in the State of Texas. Austin, Texas: Texas State Technical College System and IC2
Institute, University of Texas Austin, 2005. ISBN 0976850346
Table of Contents: http://www.system.tstc.edu/forecasting/reports/m2m.asp
Brazell, Jim, Nicholaus Kim, Honoria Starbuck, Eliza Evans, and Michael Bettersworth.
Gaming: A Technology Forecast, Implications for Texas Community and Technical Colleges
Austin, Texas: Texas State Technical College System and IC2 Institute, University of Texas Austin,
2004. ISBN 0978677358
Table of Contents: http://www.system.tstc.edu/forecasting/reports/dgames.asp
Evans, Eliza, Michael Sekora, Alexander Cavalli, Kinman Chan, Jeeyoung Heo Kenneth Kan,
Yue Kuang, Prakash Mohandas, Xiaoxiang Zhang, and Jim Brazell. Digital Convergence Initiative:
Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Texas. San Marcos, Texas: Greater Austin-
San Antonio Corridor Council, 2005.
Full Report: http://www.dcitexas.org/DCI_report.pdf
Brazell, Jim. Combined Heat and Power: A Program for Emerging Technologies Brief.
Austin, Texas: Texas State Technical College System, 2006.
Full Brief: http://www.system.tstc.edu/forecasting/techbriefs/chp.asp
Brazell, Jim. Crime Scene Technologist: A Program for Emerging Technologies Brief.
Austin, Texas: Texas State Technical College System, 2006.
Full Brief: http://www.system.tstc.edu/forecasting/techbriefs/cstech.asp
Publications
18

21. B o o king Ag ent
Lisa Cerv an tes
210.381.2835
lisa@ventureramp.com
www.ventureramp.com