Emerging Tech Horizons

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for a deep dive into the evolving challenges of research security in national security R&D with guest Dr. Shanni Silberberg of Lewis-Burke Associates. Dr. Silberberg discusses the need to balance global scientific collaboration with national security protections, as well as the practical challenges of implementation and assessing research risks. The conversation als...

Join host Arun Seraphin for a discussion into the complexities of tracking Pentagon funding for emerging technologies with experts Bess Dopkeen, founder of Keen Edge Strategies and former senior advisor to former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, and Andy Vanlandingham, Director of Strategic Outreach at Draper and former Senate Appropriations Committee Professiona...

Join host Arun Seraphin for an in-depth exploration of countering small unmanned aerial systems (CsUAS) technologies with Booz Allen Hamilton experts Todd Krakowski, Director of the Defense Technology Group, and Kelley Norton, Systems Engineer and Software Project Lead of the Small Unmanned Aircraft Detection System (SUADS) program. This conversation dives into the rapidly evolving drone warfare l...

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for an in-depth exploration of the Pentagon's Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) strategy with Dr. David Bray, Chair of the Accelerator at the Loomis Council and a Distinguished Fellow with the Stimson Center, and Courtney Stiles, Executive Director of Customer Activities at REDCOM laboratories. The conversation delves into the complex challenges of...

Join Dr. Arun Seraphin at the 2025 Women in Defense (WID) Conference for a conversation with Michelle Letcher, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and CEO of Break Trail, exploring the critical landscape of women in security. Letcher provides profound insights into the evolving nature of modern warfare, emphasizing how traditional defense strategies fail to address borderless conflicts involving c...

Join Dr. Arun Seraphin at the Women in Defense Conference for an engaging discussion with Tara Murphy Dougherty, CEO of Govini and Service to the Flag Award recipient. Tara shares insights on the future of defense technology, public private partnerships (PPP), data-based decision-making, and national security innovation. Drawing on her vast experience across academia, government, and industry, she...

Join Dr. Arun Seraphin for a conversation with Dana Goward, President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. Goward shares insights into the critical vulnerabilities of GPS and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies, highlighting the challenges facing U.S. national security. The discussion covers topics such as international PNT strategies and technological alternatives...

Join Arun Seraphin at the 2025 Women in Defense Conference for a conversation with Halimah Najieb-Locke, Senior Vice President of Global Public Policy at Darkhive. Halima explores how innovative defense technology startups can transform industrial policy and autonomous systems manufacturing, emphasizing the importance of distributed manufacturing, multi-agency partnerships, and strategic supply ch...

Join guest host Dr. Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, for a discussion at the 2025 Emerging Technologies Conference with Dr. Kimberly Elenberg from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Ellenberg explores how autonomous AI systems can enhance disaster response and mission-critical operations, emphasizing the importance of multi-agent swarm technologies, sensor integ...

Join guest host Dr. Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, for a discussion with Dr. Will Roper, CEO of Istari Digital, at the 2025 Emerging Technologies Conference . Dr. Roper explores how AI-driven tools can make innovation and collaboration more efficient, emphasizing the need for data control, software-based processes, and a unified framework that enables both...

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for a conversation with Dr. Steve Harber of Parallax Advanced Research and the Ohio Aerospace Institute. In this episode, Dr. Harber discusses neuromorphic artificial intelligence, an approach to AI that models computing after the human brain's efficient, adaptive neural networks. The discussion highlights the advantages of neuromorphic AI over traditional computing...

Join host Arun Seraphin at the 2025 Women in Defense Conference for a conversation with PhD Candidate Adrienne Rudolph and Professor Brent Barbee of the University of Maryland. Together, they discuss the importance of gender solidarity in the defense sector while sharing their expertise in planetary defense systems. Highlighting the need for asteroid and meteoroid deterrence capabilities, they als...

Join guest host Dr. Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute at the 2025 Emerging Technologies Conference, for a conversation with James Appathurai, Interim Managing Director of NATO DIANA. Together, they address key security and defense issues on NATO’s agenda, including military support for Ukraine, challenges in innovation and acquisition, and priority emerging tec...

Join Emerging Technologies Conference 2025 guest host Dr. Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, for a conversation with Elīna Egle, CEO of the Federation of Security and Defense Industries of Latvia. Egle shares insights into Latvia’s growing defense and security sector, highlighting its strengths as well as its vulnerabilities. The discussion covers topics such a...

Join guest host Dr. Liz Specht for a conversation with Nicole Favreau Farhadi, Senior Research Biochemist at the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s (DEVCOM) Soldier Center, Combat Feeding Division (CFD). This episode, the final installment of our five-part biomanufacturing series, explores food research within the Department of Defense and the intersection of food biomanufacturing inno...

Join guest host Dr. Liz Specht for a conversation with Dr. Michael Koeris, Director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This episode, the fourth in our five-part series, explores national security and defense readiness cases for food manufacturing and DARPA’s role in driving innovation in this sector. The discussion examines DARPA’s broad...

Nick Sinai, former U.S. Deputy CTO and venture capital investor, is a leading authority on federal innovation policy and defense start-ups.  We spoke to Nick about how hackathons are being used by DOD to address real operational problems outside the formal requirements process.   Nick explains that these events build networks of talent, expose participants to new tools and datasets, and foster ide...

Join host Dr. Liz Specht for a conversation with Dr. Michelle Rozo, Vice Chair of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, to discuss why biotechnology is becoming a critical pillar of U.S. national security. Dr. Roso explains how breakthroughs in biomanufacturing promise to secure DoD supply chains and create new defense capabilities, producing key materials like synthetic bloo...

Join host Arun Seraphin for a conversation with defense acquisition expert Moshe Schwartz to discuss how the FY 2026 NDAA is shaping up. Arun and Moshe lean on their deep expertise in the authorization process to break down new provisions that could significantly change how DoD creates requirements, budgets for systems, and works with commercial and non-traditional contractors. To receive updates...

Join guest host Dr. Mark Lewis and Meritech Capital Partners cofounder Paul Madera for a talk on Series C/D investing, how VCs judge business models, and where defense tech actually fits. A former Air Force fighter pilot turned investor, Paul helped build one of Silicon Valley’s leading late-stage venture firms. In this episode, he dives into the real economics of late-stage venture and what it ta...

Join guest host Dr. Liz Specht for a conversation with Matt Spence, the managing director and global head of venture capital banking at Barclays. In this episode Dr. Spence discusses the role food security plays in national security and how the government can incentivize and support biotechnology research and development. The episode explores how synthetic biology can be leveraged into additional...

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for a conversation with Dr. Liz Specht, a Horizon Institute Public Service Fellow with the Emerging Technologies Institute. This episode launches a five-part series exploring the intersection of national defense and biomanufacturing. Dr. Specht opens the series by examining vulnerabilities in food manufacturing and explaining how emerging technologies can help build res...

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for a conversation with Dr. George Dougherty, who is a retired Air Force Colonel with deep experience in the Air Force Science & Technology Enterprise. In this episode, Dr. Dougherty discusses his forthcoming book Beast in the Machine: How Robotics and AI Will Transform Warfare and the Future of Human Conflict . This episode provides a preview of the book's cent...

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for a conversation with Mr. Tom McSorley, General Counsel the NATO Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, or DIANA. In this episode, Mr. McSorley discuss the role NATO DIANA plays in supporting the development of critical emerging technologies for defense and security across all 32 NATO-member nations. Additionally, Mr. McSorley previews the role DIANA w...

Join host Dr. Arun Seraphin for a conversation with Dr. Reed Skaggs, Chief Strategy and Business Operations Officer at Lewis-Burke Associates, and Jennifer Walsh, Director of Divisions at the National Defense Industrial Association – NDIA. In this episode, Dr. Skaggs and Ms. Walsh discuss the upcoming NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition and the role the Science and Eng...