Hear the latest on funding and technical developments, as well as challenges and opportunities, from leaders from industry, academia, and the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). Panelists will address key areas critical to the future success and adoption of directed energy systems.

• what is needed to support the transition of directed energy from the demonstration phase into deployment?
• how do we ensure a reliable supply chain of key components?
• what steps can we take to engage with the next generation of scientists and engineers to help build careers in directed energy?

This will be an energizing discussion about a coming-of-age technology that has been in development for decades.

Moderator

Robert Walker Vice President of Strategy and Business Development Leonardo (United States)

Robert Walker Robert Walker is an accomplished business development executive with over 25 years of experience in the laser and opto-electronics industry. He is currently the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Leonardo Electronics US, where he plays a pivotal role in securing major deals and partnerships, developing new product lines and markets, and driving the company's growth and success. Robert has held several positions in engineering, program management, sales, marketing, and business development at Leonardo Electronics US and II-VI Coherent (Marlow Industries), gaining expertise in all aspects of the business. He is also an active participant in the photonics industry, co-authoring and presenting several papers on laser diode technology and leading a photonics industry technical webinar series. Robert is a recognized industry expert and has led industry panels in Directed Energy and he co-chairs the Arizona Photonics Days annual conference for Optics Valley, a committee of the Arizona Technology Council. Robert holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and has a proven track record of success in driving revenue growth, building strategic partnerships, and positioning companies as leaders in their respective fields.

 

Panelists

Sandra Biedron Executive Director Directed Energy Professional Society (United States)

Sandra Biedron served as a senior physicist and DOD project office director at Argonne National Laboratory for 20 years, a research professor of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Mexico; and deputy lead engineer for the integration and test of an Innovative Naval Prototype for Boeing, Biedron has extensive experience in both defense and civilian science and technology. In 2010, she received a Letter of Commendation from the Chief of Naval Research for both her technical and collaboration building efforts on a directed energy program. Now the working Executive Director of DEPS, Biedron will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Society and is responsible for overseeing the administration, programs, and strategic plans of the Society in accordance with Society bylaws, objectives and policies established by the Board of Directors. She will serve as the Society's highest-level liaison with DEPS, the federal government, and other government, industry, academia, not-for-profits, and international organizations.

 

Martin C. Richardson Professor and Founding Director Center for Directed Energy University of Central Florida (United States)

Martin Richardson is the founding director of the Center for Directed Energy (CDE) He has a long and distinguished career as an academic and a researcher in the areas of energy, lasers, and photonics. He holds multiple degrees including a doctorate in physics from London University and a Docteur Honoris Causa, from the University of Bordeaux. He has led major research programs in Canada, the University of Rochester, UCF, and has held visiting positions in France, Germany, Japan, Australia, Qatar, and Singapore. He was a National Academy of Science Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Department of State and held the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair at Bordeaux. He is a recipient of the Schardin Medal of the German Physical Society, the SPIE Harold Edgerton Award, and other international awards. He is a Fellow of Optica, APS, IEEE, DEPS, IoP, AAAS, NAI, and SPIE.

 

Andrew Held Vice President Coherent Aerospace and Defense, Defense Solutions (United States)

Andrew Held is currently Vice President of Coherent's Aerospace and Defense, Defense Solutions Division. Defense Solution's product offerings include laser components, laser systems, and DE laser subsystems. Andrew has over 30 years of experience in general management, research, sales, and marketing of commercial and defense-related lasers in a broad range of markets and applications. He received his B.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Laser Spectroscopy from the University of Pittsburgh and was an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the Technical University in Munich.

 

Christopher D. Marshall Deputy Program Director for DOD Technology Programs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (United States)

Christopher Marshall is the deputy program director for DOD Technology Programs at LLNL. In this role, he provides programmatic leadership for various large-scale pulsed laser-technology and national security mission development efforts. Over the past three decades, Marshall has provided technical integration and management of multi-disciplinary teams at LLNL ranging in size from dozens to hundreds of employees. Most recently, he was the systems engineer for the High Repetition Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS), the world's highest rep-rate petawatt-class laser system. Marshall received his Ph.D. in chemical physics from Stanford University.

 

John Lund Principal Research Engineer, Univ. of Alabama Huntsville (United States) and U.S. Army RCCTO (United States)

John Lund is a Principal Research Engineer at the University of Alabama Huntsville, currently assigned to the Directed Energy Program Office at the US Army Rapid Capability Critical Technology Office (RCCTO). Mr. Lund has almost four decades of involvement in the design, production, modernization and sustainment of military electro-optics, laser and sensor systems. His current assignments include new technology strategy and demonstration initiatives, and evaluation of development efforts to ensure risk, cost and schedule are managed effectively by the Government. Mr. Lund majored in Physics at Augustana College and holds two Master of Science degrees from the Florida Institute of Technology.