Emerging Tech Horizons

In this episode, our guest Karen Thornton introduces us to the recently launched Defense Civilian Training Corps (DCTC) and explains how the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC)  is partnering with four pilot universities and key DoD organizations to strategically develop talent who can immediately contribute to solve challenging national security problems in collaboration with industry a...

What are the biggest financial vulnerabilities in the defense supply chain? How are global market and economic conditions affecting supply chains? How can the Department of Defense use advanced financial data analytics to better understand their complex supply chains? Join James Gellert, the Executive Chair of RapidRatings International, as he discusses how DOD can assess financial and economic ri...

In today's episode, our guest Nick Sinai discusses strategies and best practices for navigating the bureaucratic complexities inherent in emerging technology adoption, as well as making an impact when working with or within large bureaucracies. Hack Your Bureaucracy by Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai https://www.hackyourbureaucracy.com/ __________________________________________________________ Th...

Today's podcast guests are the Honorable Alan R. Shaffer, Director of Washington Operations at MIT Lincoln Laboratories, and ETI Associate Research Fellow, Wilson Miles, who will discuss their new paper, "Enabling the Joint Warfight: Challenges & Opportunities." The paper is based on a series of workshops organized by ETI on the Joint Warfighting Concept. In this episode, the Hon...

Join Jacob Winn, NDIA ETI Associate Research Fellow, and Dr. Michael Fritze, an independent consultant, to discuss their new paper, "Modernizing Defense Microelectronics: Challenges and Opportunities." The pair discuss the findings of their research and lay out recommendations on how DoD can integrate more advanced microelectronics into their systems. To read the report, click here: www....

In May 2023, the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)’s Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI), the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Air Force, and NDIA’s Science and Engineering Technology (S&ET) Division co-hosted a workshop on “Strengthening DoD-Industry-Academia Collaboration to Increase STEM Engagement with MSIS." Join Wilson Miles, NDIA ETI Associate Research Fellow, to...

NDIA’s Emerging Technologies Institute visited the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. ETI's Executive Director, Dr. Arun Seraphin, is joined by Letterkenny Army Depot's director of strategic management, Kate Williams, and Chris Ghigliotti, an electronics engineer. Kate spoke about the weapons maintenance, safety, and modernization process and the return of supplies to so...

Dr. Nick Maynard, CEO and Co-Founder of U.S. Ignite, speaks on the various uses of 5G technology, including the ability to connect 5G networks with smart city centers. Widely recognized as a critical emerging technology, 5G and Future G capabilities are to be leveraged across industries to support mission-critical tasks with optimal and efficient results. Dr. Maynard also discusses funding for 5G...

The Department of Defense is experiencing an explosive increase in its demand for software-implemented features in weapon systems. The combination of exponential increases in computing power and similar advances in memory density and speed has made software-mediated implementation of system features increasingly attractive. In the meantime, defense software productivity and industrial base capacit...

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Reed Skaggs, Lewis Burke's Chief Strategy and Business Operations Officer. Listen as Dr. Skaggs explores the DoD S&T budget and priorities using the FY2024 President's Budget Request as a launch point. How do these priorities translate into success in the critical technology areas? What about addressing workforce challenges, or improving our ability...

In March 2023, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute released their "National Security Innovation Base" report card, which assesses the health of the U.S.' national security innovation ecosystem. This project is builds on the Ronald Reagan Institutes' 2019 Task Force on 21st century National Technology and Workforce. Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at the Ronald Reagan...

How does Texas innovation fit within larger, national defense missions? At the 23rd Annual Science & Engineering Technology Conference, Dr. Arun Seraphin is joined by Drew Scheberle (Executive Director of the National Security Innovation Council) and Jim Perschbach (President & CEO at Port San Antonio) to learn more about Texas' contribution to the defense industrial base.

The Honorable Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering joins Dr. Arun Seraphin for a discussion on the upcoming Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference & Exhibition. The Conference will bring S&T leaders from government, industry, and academia to focus on three specific mission areas: Contested Logistics, Counter-UAS, and Operational Energy. During this epis...

How can DoD modernize software for defense missions? What came out of NDIA ETI and the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute's workshop? Listen in as Dr. Arun Seraphin and Dr. Forrest Shull discusses software acquisitions and the role of software for DoD. Also, be sure to check out NDIA ETI and CMU SEI's report, " Coding the Future: Recommendations for Defense Soft...

How can Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) support DoD and defense industry workforce needs? How have students from MSIs contributed to defense missions? Why is bringing more MSI STEM students into DoD and the defense industry such a critical focus? Listen in as Dr. Arun Seraphin and Dr. Michelle Atchison dig into the role that MSIs play in defense.

This year’s conference brought Industry together with the Department of Defense Research, Engineering, Acquisition, and Sustainment communities to examine the investment priorities and challenges across the OSD, Components, Agencies and Combatant Commands, including top-level strategy updates from Component and COCOM S&T leadership. Special featured topics for this year will include the S&...

Join us for a conversation with Jacob Winn, ETI Associate Research Fellow. This episode discusses a brand new ETI report on changes over time in the Department of Defense's "Science & Technology" portfolio, which is the money that the Pentagon uses to invest in the technologies of the future. We talk about how the military has funded science in the past, and how the funding is ch...

Join us for a conversation with NDIA’s new Executive Vice President, Brigadier General (Ret.) Guy Walsh. The podcast focuses on the University of Texas San Antonio’s National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC), which advances research, education and workforce development in cybersecurity, data analytics and cloud computing. The discussion wraps up with Guy Walsh reflecting on previous experience...

Glass is one of the oldest technologies in history. Is there any room for improvement? Is our defense industrial base healthy enough to manufacture and produce in advance materials in mass? What should the DOD do to support it? What are the manufacturing challenges and opportunities related to on-shoring of glass production and processing? How can the DOD assist contractors to improve production?...

Are U.S. supply chains capable of bearing the burden of expanded hypersonics production? How do supply chain vulnerabilities affect U.S. national security? What can be done to secure the critical supply chains of the future? In this podcast, lead author Rebecca Wostenberg, ETI Research Fellow, provides an overview of the first report of ETI’s Emerging Technologies Supply Chain Study, Hypersonics S...

Are commerically dervied technologies superior to the governemnt's systems? Are they inferior? How does the government's data management fare against the commericial sector? What can the private sector teach the governement. Which practices should the DOD adopt? Join us in this week's episode of Emerging Tech Horizons with Dr. Mark Lewis and Collin Carroll, Head of Federal and Defense Business at...

Has the United States fallen behind in the development of quantum computing to it's competitors? Is it even possible to build a general purpose one-million qubit quantum computer? Where and how could this technology be used? Join us in this week's episode of Emerging Tech Horizons with Dr. Arun Seraphin and Dr. Pete Shadbolt, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at PsiQuantum, as they discuss t...

What does digital twinning mean? How does it work? Can the DOD replicate the successes the private industry had made through digital twinning? Join Dr. Mark Lewis and Steve Carlson, Director of Aerospace and Defense Solutions at Cadence Design Systems to find out the DOD can utilize digital twinning. This webinar is presented by SCHOTT. SCHOTT is a leading global manufacturer of specialty glass, g...

How can the United States set the terms for technological advancements? Are there blurred ethical lines that give China an advantage over the United States? Is Washington D.C. prepared to suffer major losses? Given how connected the Chinese and American economies are what are the implications for National Defense? Join us in this week's episode with Dr. Mark Lewis and Dean Cheng, Non-resident Seni...

In recent years, the United States has fallen behind its competitors when it comes to industrial innovations and policies. How did this happen? Find out in the eye-opening discussion with Dr. Mark Lewis and William Bonvillian, Senior Director, Special Projects, at MIT's Office of Digital Learning. He previously served for seventeen years as a senior policy advisor in the U.S. Senate. His legislati...