Gail Carmichael
(She/Her)
Senior Staff Instructional Engineer at Splunk, a Cisco Company
Gail Carmichael has something of a unicorn skill set: she designs evidence-based learning experiences, has worked as a developer, and has both taught and published in academia. She earned her undergraduate and master's degrees in computer science from Carleton University before spending seven years at Shopify, where she led the design and launch of the Dev Degree program. Now at Splunk, she's an Instructional Engineer, helping engineers learn, grow, and do their best work. When she's not thinking about technical education, you can find her leading a Scouts group, defying gravity on the aerial hoop, or playing with adorable journaling stickers.
How to Become a Computing Educator — and Why You'll Love It
From outreach to teaching to enabling engineers in industry, there are countless reasons to learn the art (and science) of computing education. In this highly interactive session, you'll not only discover how to become a computing educator—you'll get to experience some of the techniques yourself. I'll also share my own journey from computer science student to technical learning expert at Splunk, showing how the most rewarding career paths are rarely straight lines.
CUSEC 2026 was held January 8–10, 2026. The next edition is CUSEC 2027.