Leading experts in defense technology will come together to share their insights on the current defense research and development ecosystem at the Potomac Officers Club’s 10th Annual Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 31.
This year’s edition of the summit features an impressive lineup of keynote speakers and panelists. Click here to register for the event, and keep reading for more speaker information.
Keynote Speakers
Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, a three-time Wash100 Award winner, will kick off the event with an opening keynote address. In her position in the Department of Defense, Shyu leads all DOD R&D and prototyping activities and oversees the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Missile Defense Agency and DOD Laboratory and Engineering Center enterprise.
Stephen Welby, deputy director for national security at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, will deliver a morning keynote address. Welby’s responsibilities center around the assessment, development, deployment and governance of current and emerging technologies in support of long-term national technology goals.
Brig. Gen. John Cushing, commanding general of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, will follow with a second morning keynote. Cushing leads DEVCOM in its mission to empower Army research, engineering and analytical success to provide the service branch with important capabilities.
The summit’s afternoon keynote will be delivered by Dr. Tom Drake, head of the Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department at the Office of Naval Research. He is responsible for guiding the unit’s work, which surrounds ocean and meteorological science, undersea warfare, mine warfare, space technology and marine mammals.
Following Drake is Aditi Kumar, deputy director for strategy, policy and national security partnerships at the Defense Innovation Unit. Kumar drives collaboration between the military departments, Joint Staff and Office of the Secretary of Defense to promote cooperative technology development in her role.
Jay Dryer, director of the DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office, will close out the event. Dryer leads the office in its mission to create new ways to address emerging threats in every domain to attain strategic operational impacts.
Panel Sessions
Innovation to Implementation
Speakers participating in this panel include William Bailey, director and program executive officer of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office; Melissa Johnson, acquisition executive for the U.S. Special Operations Command; Donald Kelley, fusion cell lead at the Marine Corps Systems Command; and Mike Loomis, general manager of Nokia Federal. Christopher Yaw, vice president of End-2-End Solutions at Ericsson North America, will moderate the discussion.
The Great Power Competition
Dr. Patrick Baker, director of DEVCOM’s Army Research Lab; Capt. Jesse Black, commanding officer of the Naval Research Laboratory; Maj. Gen. Scott Cain, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory; and Dr. Randy Yamada, vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, will join moderator Randy Fields, chief technology officer of command, control, intelligence and encryption at Ultra Intelligence and Communications, for this conversation.
The New Virtual Battlespace
This panel will be moderated by Dr. William Casebeer, director of artificial intelligence and machine learning at Riverside Research, and will feature Dr. Monique Beaudoin, associate research scientist at the University of Maryland Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security; Col. Dave Chaboya, senior materiel leader for the Department of the Air Force; CSM Jesse Potter, brigade command sergeant major of the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber); and Michael Sieber, defense market cybersecurity lead at Maximus.
Technological Overmatch: Ensuring the Innovation Advantage in a Complex Security Landscape
Sgt. Maj. (Ret.) Daniel Gile, vice president of national security at Digital Science, will moderate this panel, which will include Black; Maynard Holliday, who is performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for critical technologies; William McHenry, senior advisor to the director of the DIU; Dr. Eric Moore, deputy to the commanding general of the Army Futures Command; and Dr. Richard Vaia, chief scientist for the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at the AFRL.
Intelligent NetOps
LTC Tim Lawrence, J6 chief operating officer for the Joint Special Operations Command; Lt. Col. Benjamin Pimentel; technical lead for Expeditionary and Tactical Programs FutureG within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; Juan Ramirez, director of the 5G Cross Functional Team within the DOD’s Office of the Chief Information Officer; and Dr. Martin Weiss, director for FutureG applied research and technical lead for resilient and open commercial solutions within OUSD R&E, will speak in this panel discussion, which will be moderated by Kevin Stiles, chief technology officer of Oceus.
Unlocking Potential for R&D Results With AI
Speakers featured in this panel include Stan Drozdetski, extranet integration lead at MITRE, and Lisa Sanders, director of science and technology for special operations forces, acquisition, technology and logistics for the U.S. Special Operations Command. Wyn Elder, managing director of global and U.S. public sector at Box, will moderate the session.
Don’t miss your chance to hear from these influential speakers! Click here to register for the 10th Annual Defense R&D Summit.
