2024 Speakers
Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
Dr. Stacey A. Dixon was sworn in as the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI) on Aug. 4, 2021. She currently serves as the sixth Senate-confirmed PDDNI. Possessing 20 years of intelligence experience, Dr. Dixon has led the Intelligence Community at the highest ranks. Dr. Dixon joined ODNI after serving as the eighth Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) from 2019-2021, where she assisted the Director both in leading the agency and managing the National System for Geospatial Intelligence. From 2018 to 2019, she was the fourth Director of...
See More
Director Kennedy Space Center
Janet Petro was named the 11th director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 30, 2021. She had been serving as acting director since May 2021 following NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson’s announcement that Robert D. Cabana, previous Kennedy director, would assume the role of NASA’s associate administrator. Experience Prior to being named director, Petro served as Kennedy’s deputy director since April 2007, where she shared responsibility with the center director in managing the Kennedy team of civil service and contractor employees...
See More
Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, DoE
Corey Hinderstein was sworn in on Dec. 6, 2021, as Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, where she leads NNSA’s efforts to prevent state and non-state actors from developing nuclear weapons or acquiring weapons-usable nuclear or radiological materials, equipment, technology, and expertise. Prior to assuming her current role, she was vice president of International Fuel Cycle Strategies at the Nuclear Threat Initiative based in Washington, D.C., where she focuses on international nuclear fuel cycle and...
See More
Director of Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection, ACC
Brig. Gen. Jennifer Hammerstedt is the Director of Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. As Director, she reports directly to the Commander, Air Combat Command as the senior logistician within the lead Major Command for Combat Air Forces. She is responsible for strategy, policy, resources and performance managements of aircraft maintenance, munitions, supply, transportation, logistics plans, installation support, and force protection activities. Providing mission generation and sustainment oversight for 16 combat...
See More
Program Executive Officer, Space Systems Command Assured Access to Space
Brigadier General Kristin L. Panzenhagen is quad hatted as Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Assured Access to Space; Commander, Space Launch Delta (SLD) 45; Director of the Eastern Range; and Director of Launch and Range Operations, Space Systems Command (SSC/S3). She also serves as the Space Force University Partnership Program Co-Champion for Purdue University. As PEO, General Panzenhagen is responsible for organizing, training and equipping 22,000 government and contractor personnel at SLD 45 at Patrick Space Force Base (SFB) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (SFS), SLD 30 at...
See More
Commander, Air Force Technical Applications Center
Colonel James “Cobra” Finlayson is the Commander, Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Space Force Base, Fla. AFTAC operates and maintains the United States Atomic Energy Detection System to monitor foreign compliance with various treaties limiting nuclear testing. The focus of AFTAC’s more than 1,000 professionals is to detect special events in the atmosphere, underwater, underground, and in space to determine if they are nuclear and to report them to U.S. senior decision makers. Colonel Finlayson received his commission in 1997 from the United States Air...
See More
Commander of 17th Training Wing, Goodfellow AFB
Colonel Angelina M. “PINT” Maguinness commands the 17th Training Wing, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. A joint center of excellence, Goodfellow is the home for the Department of Defense Fire Academy and multi-service intelligence technical training. The wing is responsible for training more than 14,000 firefighting and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance warriors annually for the United States Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force, Coast Guard and other government agencies and allied nations. In addition to Goodfellow, Colonel Maguinness has command...
See More
Commander of 55th Wing
Colonel Kristen D. Thompson, U.S. Air Force, was most recently the commander of the 55th Wing at Of-futt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where she was responsible for or-ganizing, training, and equipping six groups and thirty squadrons executing worldwide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; electronic attack; and nuclear command, control, and communica-tions support. As the commander, she was also responsible for supporting more than fifty associate units, including U.S. Strategic Command, the 557th Weather Wing, 595th Command and Con-trol Group, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and...
See More
Assistant Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
Dr. Toby Daly-Engel’s research uses a combination of remote sensing, genomics, field ecology, and modeling to study mating systems, habitat use, and the impacts of climate change on sharks and other highly migratory marine species. She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in 2009, where she used genetics to describe the evolution of mating behavior in sandbar and Galapagos sharks. She expanded on these concepts with a sex role-reversed insect model, the giant water bug Abedus herberti, as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona beginning in 2009, before becoming...
See More
Joint National Coordinator for Global Health and Biosecurity, NIM-CGI, NCBC
Dr. Sharon Gandy joined NIM-CGI and NCBC as the joint National Coordinator for Global Health and Biosecurity in March of 2023. She serves in joint duty capacity from her home agency of NGA and has a diverse background which broadly supports counterproliferation and global health expertise. She was most recently the Senior GEOINT officer to NGA’s Office of Weapons and Counterproliferation where she was responsible for broad program management efforts to include leading a multi-national GEOINT forum and supporting NGA’s counterproliferation tradecraft development. She holds...
See More
Deputy Chief Scientist, Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC)
Dr. Theresa E. Watson serves as the Deputy Chief Scientist of the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Space Force Base, Fla. The focus of AFTAC's more than 1,000 professionals is to detect special events in the atmosphere, underwater, underground, and in space to determine if they are nuclear and to report them to U.S. senior decision makers. As the Deputy Chief Scientist, Dr. Watson is charged with advising the AFTAC Chief Scientist, Commander, and Senior Executive Staff on scientific and strategic issues related to the center's mission, technology development, vision...
See More
Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Arms Control and International Security
Dr. Tracey-Ann Wellington is a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. Department of State (DOS). In her current role, Dr. Wellington advises the Under Secretary on a wide range of complex and critical foreign and national security issues encompassing nuclear deterrence, nuclear terrorism, nonproliferation, as well as negotiations and advocacy pertaining to treaties and commitments on nuclear and radiological weapons issues. Previously, Dr. Wellington served in the Office of Nuclear Forensics as the Senior Interagency Coordinator for...
See More
Meteorologist, AFTAC, Patrick SFB, FL
Aarolyn Hayes is a Meteorologist in the Meteorological Modeling and Analysis flight, Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. AFTAC operates and maintains the United States Atomic Energy Detection System to monitor foreign compliance with various treaties limiting nuclear testing. The focus of AFTAC’s more than 1,100 professionals is to detect special events in the atmosphere, underwater, underground, and in space to determine if they are nuclear and to report them to U.S. senior decision makers. Mrs. Hayes joined AFTAC as a civilian employee in...
See More
President, Space Propulsion & Power systems Sector Aerojet Recketdyne
Kristin Houston is the President of the Space Propulsion & Power Systems sector within the Aerojet Rocketdyne segment of L3Harris Technologies. She is responsible for business strategy, financial performance and successful execution and growth of the sector’s core capabilities that span launch propoulsion, in-space propulsion, and power systems. Kristin joined L3Harris in 2021 to serve as the President of the Electro Optical sector within the Integrated Mission Systems segement. In this role, Kristin grew the sector to $1.6B, with 4,500 employees across multiple divisions and...
See More
CEO, Tanagra Enterprise
Sarah Mineiro is the CEO of Tanagra Enterprises, a defense, intelligence, space, science and technology consulting firm based in the national capital region. Sarah has worked within the national security and defense sector for decades. Over her career Sarah has worked in venture capital backed private industry, the Executive, and Legislative branches of government. Previously, Sarah was the Senior Director of Space Strategy for Anduril Industries, a hypergrowth VC-backed defense unicorn specializing in AI/ML enabled defense technologies. Sarah was responsible for...
See More
Click here to see our past keynotes and other speakers from previous events.
