IEEE Military Communications Conference
30 October – 3 November 2023 // Boston, MA, USA
Communications Supporting Military Operations in a Contested Environment

VIP Panels

VIP Panel 1:  Importance of Satellite Communication SatCOM in a disruptive Era

Date:  Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Time:  10:00 - 11:10
Room:  Salon A - E

Abstract:

  • Global War on Terrorism
  • focus of the Great Military Powers on the use of its satellite resources.
  • importance of layered LEO, MEO, and GEO satellite constellations
  • resiliency infrastructures,
  • greater need for interoperability

 

Organizer/Moderator:

Upkar DhaliwalUpkar Dhaliwal

President, Future Wireless Technologies and full-time with a major US Prime

 

View Upkar Dhaliwal's Biography

Upkar Dhaliwal is a Parallel Entreprenezur and Wireless Technology subject matter expert on Mobility, He has hands on wireless and internet experience undertaking Application, Intellectual Property, Business Development and Technical advisor support on Present and Future Wireless Technologies and its product development for startups, OEMs, private equity and with most of Market Leaders.

A Professional Chartered Engineer of Engineering Council UK, He is a Senior Wireless & RF System Architect Executive, an industry expert serving on numerous industrial/technical/policy bodies with US National Policy influences and technical societies with specialized knowledge and technical leadership for many Start up, Internet Giants and the investment community. He has worked at BBC, Marconi, Thorn-EMI Electronics, Samsung, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics until taking up more innovative roles.

At present, working on beyond 4G charting towards 5G in terms of SatCOM, UxV, Cognitive Radios, Distributed Mesh Sensor Radios and beyond LTE-Advance into the World of Big Data and Internet of Things IoT that will drive the next generation of Internet. Volunteering in many IEEE roles.
He grew up in West London England and studied for Bachelors & Masters Degrees in Engineering, Leeds and University College London Universities respectively, leading to early career experiences & contributions in device modeling, circuit design and subsystem developments where he led worldwide engineering teams in some World Class Firsts. Some new Firsts are still being implemented in MANET connected devices, Hybrid Cloud Services and Predictive Insight Big Data.

Upkar Dhaliwal C.Eng. MIET, SMIEEE, MSc UCL, General Co-Chair IEEE IMS Connected Future Summit 2021, 2022, 2023, 5G Summit San Diego 2019,  IEEE TTM 2018 Local Arrangements, IEEE San Diego Section Senior Past. Chair, IEEE COM-SOC Region 6 NA Board Past Member, IEEE IOT-J Steering ExCOM, SDN-I, 5G-I, CEO Future Wireless Technologies, Biz Dev: Cognition Systems, Phluido, AgShift, Big Data Federation, Assured Wireless,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/upkar/

 

Panelists:

Eric Burger

Eric Burger

Research Professor of NextG Security and Research Director, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and Technical Program Director, Next G Alliance

 

View Eric Burger's Biography

Eric Burger, Research Professor of NextG Security and Research Director, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, since 2011 and Technical Program Director of the Next G Alliance. Dr Burger served as the Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Assistant Director of the office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House, where amongst other accomplishments launched the Advanced Wireless Testing Platforms Team in the WSRD NITRD Work Group, highlighting the importance of making Federal facilities available to the private sector to advance the state of the art. Prior to Georgetown, Dr. Burger was CTO of a number of network equipment and communications companies. Early in his career he wrote and lead the development of device and systems design tools and simulators at Valid Logic Systems, known today as Cadence.

 

Thomas Popik

Thomas S. Popik

Chairman and President of the Foundation for Resilient Societies

 

View Thomas S. Popik's Biography

Thomas S. Popik, Chairman and President of the Foundation for Resilient Societies. Mr. Popik is an advocate for resilient and sustainable electric grids. He has appeared before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Canadian Parliament, and the legislatures of multiple U.S. states and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, Politico, The Economist, Reuters, Newsweek,Marketplace, and USA Today. His recent published work on electric grids includes articles in Foreign Affairs, "Ukraine’s Coming Electricity Crisis," and the Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, "Preserving Ukraine’s Electric Grid During the Russian Invasion." Mr. Popik holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. In his early career, Mr. Popik served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, with a final rank of Captain.

 

David Simpson

Rear Admiral (retired) David Simpson

U.S. Navy

 

View Rear Admiral (retired) David Simpson's Biography

Rear Admiral (retired) David Simpson, U.S. Navy David Simpson has influenced U.S. Defense and Homeland Security policy for over thirty years. He is a Professor at Virginia Tech, leading Cybersecurity Risk and Technology Leadership graduate studies and research. He currently serves on several Federal Spectrum and 5G planning committees and works to help Public Safety Communications officials with strategic planning. He leads a consulting practice that focused on emerging technology and innovation initiatives.

He previously served as Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau overseeing emergency management, communication resiliency, cybersecurity, and disaster preparedness activities with over 30,000 commercial companies in the telecommunications sector. He has served as a senior U.S. delegate to several ITU conferences. Rear Admiral Simpson served in the U.S. Navy in leadership positions at sea and around the world. He served as Director of Naval Networks, Vice Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and Director of Communications and Information Services in Iraq. He had Space, Combat Systems, cybersecurity, and Information Technology assignments in multiple countries around the world. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and earned a master's degree in space systems technology from the Naval Postgraduate School.

  • “5G is Smart, Now Let’s Make it Secure” Brookings Institution research report (2022)
  • “Supply Chain Matters When it Comes to Next Gen 9-1-1” The Hill (2021)
  • “Billions for broadband but not a penny for cybersecurity” The Seattle Times (2021)
  • “Maintaining 5G Security as Roll-outs Move Along” Info-Security Professional Magazine (2021)
  • “Initiative Finds Common Ground on Spectrum Sharing” Defense Magazine (2020)
  • “5G Factsheet for Policy Makers” Harvard’s Belfer Center (2020)

VIP Panel 2: Delivering JADC2 through DoD and Industry Collaboration

Date:  Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Time:  10:00 - 11:10
Room: Salon A - E

 

Organizer:

 

Lizy Paul

Lizy Paul

Lockheed Martin

 

View Lizy Paul's Biography

Lizy Paul is the Director for 5G.MIL® Programs, Lockheed Martin. In this position Lizy leads the strategy and execution of 5G.MIL and advanced communications programs for corporate. She is also responsible for the development and management of strategic industry relationships.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Lizy was the Director of Technical Strategy for Defense Communications, Datalinks and Networking Solutions for Collins Aerospace, an RTX company. Lizy has also held engineering leadership positions at Motorola, Ericsson, and Hughes Network Systems.

Lizy currently serves as the appointed co-chair for the Council on Competitiveness, Alliance for Transformational Computing (ATC) leading the advocacy to maintain U.S. leadership in transformational computing and its applications and is the appointed General Chair of IEEE Military Communications (MILCOM) for 2024. She has also served as the elected chair of the U.S. National Spectrum Consortium (NSC). Lizy was honored with the career achievement award by the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) in 2023.

Lizy has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an Executive MBA from the University of Iowa. She holds 18 United States patents in RF Communications and Networking technologies.

 

Moderator:

Lt Gen Bob Elder

Lt Gen Bob Elder, USAF (Ret)

Research Faculty, ECE, George Mason University

 

View Lt Gen Bob Elder's Biography

Lieutenant General Robert Elder (USAF, retired) joined the George Mason University faculty as a research professor with the Volgenau School of Engineering following his retirement from military service as the Commander of 8th Air Force and U.S. Strategic Command’s Global Strike Component. He currently conducts research in the areas of command and control, assured communications, strategic stability and deterrence, competition-cooperation management, and international actor decision-making. General Elder served as the Central Command Air Forces Deputy Commander for Operation Enduring Freedom, Air Operations Center Commander and Deputy Air Component Commander for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Commandant of the Air War College. He was the first commander of Air Force Network Operations and led the development of the cyberspace mission for the Air Force. He received his Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Detroit.

 

Panelists:

Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo

Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo - USAF

PEO C3IN (Invited)

 

View Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo's Biography

Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo is Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, and Networks, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. In this position, he is responsible for more than 2,700 personnel and acquisition execution of a $17 billion portfolio responsible for developing, producing, deploying and sustaining Department of the Air Force Aerial Networks, Enterprise Information Technology and Cyber Infrastructure, Cybersecurity and Cryptologic Systems, Software Development Factories and Platforms, combat communications, and special programs to enable reliable connectivity at the point of mission need for more than 600,000 users.

Maj. Gen. Genatempo is a career acquisition professional who has served in numerous program management and senior leader positions including avionics program manager for the F-22, Deputy Division Chief of the Tactical, Special Operations Forces and Trainer Aircraft Division at the Pentagon, and as Commander, F-35 Aeronautical Systems Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He is a graduate of the Air Force Legislative Fellows Program where he served as a Military Legislative Assistant for the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Prior to his current position, the general was Commander, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, and Air Force Program Executive Officer for Strategic Systems, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. As the Commander, he was responsible for the lifecycle management of nuclear weapons systems including intercontinental ballistic missiles, air-launched cruise missiles, gravity bombs, nuclear certification, and nuclear command-and-control communications systems.

 

Daniel Duvak

Daniel Duvak

Assistant Director for C5I Engineering

 

View Daniel Duvak's Biography

Mr. Daniel Duvak is a Senior Science and Technology Manager and the Assistant Director of C5I Engineering in the U.S. Army Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center, at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD. As the Assistant Director, Mr. Duvak leads technology development and engineering support across tactical communications, satellite communications, operations intelligence, and defensive cyber. Previously, Mr. Duvak was the Deputy Assistant Director for Network and Spectrum as well as a Division Chief leading the Radio Frequency Communciations Division and the Systems Engineering, Architecture, and Modeling and Simulation (SEAMS) Division. He also served as the Deputy Associate Director for Systems Engineering and worked 10 years in the Antennas & Spectrum Division, holding both technical and managerial positions. Mr. Duvak is considered a Subject Matter Expert in antennas, spectrum, electromagnetics, Army tactical radios, electromagnetic modeling and simulation, and systems engineering.

Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Duvak has been awarded the Commander’s Award for civilian service, received the U.S. Army’s Greatest Invention Award, was twice awarded as CERDEC Team of the year, was the CERDEC Employee of the Year, and has received the Best Paper Award at the Army Science Conference. Mr. Duvak is a member of the APG Senior Leader Cohort, received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, received a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, and received a Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering from Steven’s Institute of Technology.

 

Kevin Mulvihill

Kevin Mulvihill

Acting Deputy Chief Information Officer for
Command, Control, and Communications, Office of the
DoD Chief Information Officer

 

View Kevin Mulvihill's Biography

Mr. Mulvihill has held various leadership positions in civilian and military arenas, focusing primarily on operations and warfighting requirements for DoD C2 systems at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of warfare. He began his government service career upon graduation from Lewis University in Joliet, Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honors in Aviation Maintenance Management. He was commissioned and served in the United States Air Force in various operational and staff positions, commanding an E-3 Sentry squadron and leading coalition Airborne Early Warning (AEW) operations. A combat veteran from Operation Desert Shield and Storm, he also commanded combat deployments for Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring, and Iraqi Freedom and conducted continuous 24/7 AEW air patrols after 9/11 for Operation Noble Eagle. He started his military career in 1985 as part of the Peace Shield Program supporting the RSAF AEW in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He completed his final operational tour as Director, Cheyenne Mountain Command Center, in 2009.

Kevin Mulvihill civilian education includes a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. His professional education includes graduating from Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada; U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama; Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia; and National Security Studies Seminar 8, Canadian Forces College, Toronto, Ontario Canada, APEX 48 and Harvard Kennedy School for Senior Executives in National and International Security Program (NIS) program, and Vanguard Senior Executive Development Program.

 

Dan Rice

Dan Rice

VP, 5G.MIL Programs, Lockheed Martin (Confirmed)

 

View Dan Rice's Biography

Dan Rice is Vice President of 5G.MIL® Programs for Lockheed Martin, reporting to the corporation’s Chief Engineer and Senior Vice President, Engineering & Technology. Dan leads the strategy and execution of the corporate programs for 5G and advanced communication technology solutions. He is responsible for corporate IR&D including development, demonstration, and integration across all of Lockheed Martin’s business areas. He is also responsible for development and management of strategic relationships.

Previously, Dan Rice served as the Vice President of Technology Strategy and Research for Lockheed Martin, reporting to the corporation’s Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Dan led the integration and execution of the corporate technology strategy including technical intelligence, global science & technology research projects and development of the cross-corporation advanced R&D laboratory enterprise.

Additionally, Dan served in a variety of leadership roles in Defense & Intelligence Solutions including Vice President of Engineering & Technology, Vice President of Operations and Performance Excellence, and Vice President of the Spatial Solutions line of business. He also held previous roles as the Director for the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter Air System; Director of Products responsible for processors, displays and electronic warfare systems; and Director of Intelligent Systems responsible for advanced mission management systems and UAVs, including the DARPA/Army Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program. He has held business development and capture management posts in the military aerospace and commercial information systems domains, including managing the Lockheed Martin field office in Detroit, MI.

A graduate from Rochester Institute of Technology with a BS in Computer Engineering, Dan also earned an MS in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

ComingDan is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu engineering societies. He has been granted four US Patents and is a Lockheed Martin Certified Program Manager.

 

  Maj. Gen (Ret.) Clinton Crosier

  Director, Aerospace and Satellite Solutions
  Amazon Web Services - AWS

 

View Major General Clinton Crosier's Biography

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Clint Crosier is Director of the AWS Aerospace and Satellite business, established to help accelerate innovation in the global aerospace and satellite industry. He leads a global team that is dedicated to working alongside commercial and government space customers to provide tailored, secure, and cost-effective cloud solutions to help them solve their toughest challenges. The team continues AWS’s long history of supporting customers in the space industry by helping commercial and government customers build satellites, conduct space and launch operations, and reimagine space exploration.

Prior to joining AWS, Crosier served 33 years in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. His career includes a broad range of experience in space operations, including a one-year deployment to the Middle East as the U.S. Central Command Director of Space Forces. He served in staff assignments in the U.S. Senate, Secretary of the Air Force's Action Group, U.S. Air Force Office of Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Air Force Space Command and US Strategic Command. During his career, he operated global positioning service (GPS), satellite communication, and missile warning satellite constellations; launched Atlas and Titan rockets putting national security payloads in orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and NASA; and led Requirements and Strategy Development for the entire US Air Force. Prior to retiring from military service as a Major General, he was the lead planner and architect of the U.S. Space Force, leading the stand up the first new military service in 72 years.

Crosier earned his degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University. In 2020 he was inducted into the ISU Aerospace Engineering Hall of Fame.  He has also earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi (Summa Cum Laude), and a Master’s of Science in National Security Studies from the U.S. Naval War College with Highest Distinction.  His military service awards include the Bronze Star for exemplary service in a combat zone, Air Force Space Command’s Sijan Leadership Award, two Defense Superior Service Awards, three Legions of Merit, and the NRO Director’s Gold Medal.  His military academic awards include Distinguished Graduate and Top Graduate accolades at Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and the Naval War College.


VIP Panel 3: Proliferated LEO and MEO systems

Date:  Thursday, November 2, 2023
Time:  10:00 - 11:10
Room:  Salon A - E

Organizer: Bryan Cooley, Aerospace Corporation

Moderator:

“Vincent Chan

Vincent Chan

Joan and Irwin Jacobs Chair Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Claude E. Shannon Communications and Network Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Steve Schwarzman College of Computing, AI and Decision System Sector Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA https://www.rle.mit.edu/networks/

 

View Vincent Chan's Biography

Vincent Chan received his BS/MS/EE/PhD from MIT (1971-1974.) He was the Head of the Communications and Information Technology Division of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory (now Cyber and Communications Divisions), and Director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. He initiated the US’s Laser Intersatellite Transmission Experiment Program and the follow-on GeoLITE Program in 1980-1989. He was the first to use “Dual-Use Technology Investment” by the Clinton Administration to form and chaired: the All-Optical-Network Consortium among MIT/AT&T/DEC, the Next Generation Internet Consortium, ONRAMP among MIT/AT&T/Cabletron/Nortel/JDS, and a Satellite Networking Consortium formed among MIT/Motorola/Teledesic/Globalstar. His research focus is on communications and network architectures, intelligent network management and control and security. He chaired many advisory committees including the Defense Science Board Taskforce on Communications and Networks and DHS’s Science and Technology Advisory Board, and has been active with start-ups, a Board Member of a Fortune-500 network company, and a Member of the Corporation of Draper Laboratory. He is a Life Fellow of IEEE and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America.

View full biography.

 

Panelists:

Kevin Steen

Kevin Steen

CEO, OneWeb Technologies

 

View Kevin Steen's Biography

A recognized leader in the satellite industry, Mr. Steen most recently served as CEO of iDirect, a market leading ground segment technology provider for commercial products and the U.S. Department of Defense. Upon stepping into the role as CEO in 2017, he oversaw the company’s revenue and market share doubling in size through organic and inorganic growth strategies.

Mr. Steen has more than 20 years of experience in technology business development and operating executive positions. Previously, he was Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at SAP Americas, where he participated in strategic M&A activities. Steen holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Denver. He sits on several boards in a financial and operations advisory capacity.

Mr. Steen is known for his strong customer relationships, successful track record in balancing strategy against execution, and enthusiasm for developing exceptional leadership teams. He said his "focus has always been on providing customers with the technology innovation and the tireless support they need to thrive in an exciting and rapidly expanding market."

 

Eric Gunzelman

Eric Gunzelman

Senior Director, Space and National Security Initiatives, SES Space & Defense

 

View Eric Gunzelman's Biography

Mr. Eric Gunzelman joined SES Space & Defense (SES SD) in November 2016 and serves as the Senior Director for Space and National Security Initiatives. Mr. Gunzelman is responsible for new Space Initiatives like developing a new commercial space relay market using our O3b mPOWER constellation and worldwide C-band capabilities. Based on emerging U.S. Government (USG) requirements, he also works SES fleet development, ensuring SES has the assets and solutions to meet emerging USG requirements that want to increasing leverage commercial assets. He has also been responsible for helping to ensure SES satellite networks meet USG cybersecurity requirements, and our emerging managed solutions have approved frequency clearances. He also supports broader efforts to find new, non-traditional solutions to meet USG’s expanding mission sets that help expand SES SD’s addressable market. All of these efforts help shape our opportunities to support USG missions around the world.

Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the SES SD Senior Director, Mobility Sales and Integrated Development with focus on Aero opportunities, from February to August 2020. Prior to that, he served in SES SD Business Development, developing the SES SD Aero strategy. He also brought in USAF/DEUCSI effort to SES SD which promoted path-agnostic MEO and GEO satellites capabilities to the DoD, and a bridge to O3b mPOWER. In this role, he also authored a number of responses to RFIs and contributed to proposals led by sales. Finally, Eric came to SES SD as program manager, and served for 2 years managing three major GEO programs (supporting NOAA, FAA, USAF), and SES SD’s first three MEO programs. Of particular note, Eric led SES SD’s O3b plan to strengthen our commercial O3b service reliability & availability to the more stringent set of U.S. government requirements.

Prior to starting with SES SD, Eric spent 26 years in the Air Force leading Space and command/control efforts. The first half of his career was in space spanning operations, acquisition and headquarters assignments. The latter half of his career was spent in command and control with time at NATO managing U.S. equities in NATO’s largest acquisition program ever. His last major USAF program was leading the AWACS program, a $250M/year effort to improve and sustain the US and international fleets. Since retirement from the Air Force, Eric has held positions in OSD as a support contractor, in a proposal management firm serving DoD contractors, and in a private 4G/LTE company.

Mr. Gunzelman grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He holds two Bachelor degrees, one in Space Physics and the other in Astronautical Engineering, and two Master degrees, one in Mechanical Engineering and the other in Business Administration.

 

Gerard Jansson

Vice President, Services and Solutions Development, Telesat Government Services

 

View Gerard Jansson's Biography

Gerry Jansson is the Vice President for Services and Solutions Development for Telesat Government Services and is responsible for architecting a hybrid SATCOM capability with Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network, Telesat Lightspeed, to meet the U.S. Government, its allies and coalition partner’s needs.

Mr. Jansson has over 30 years’ experience in research, development and deployment of advanced communication technology and has published in the field of hosted payloads, service solution development and demonstration. Prior to Telesat, Mr. Jansson was responsible for business development for space systems and hosted payloads at Intelsat General Corporation, Intelsat’s government business unit. Mr. Jansson held various satellite payload roles with Intelsat, Orion Network Systems and Lockheed Martin AstroSpace.

Mr. Jansson earned his BSEE from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and his MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison.

 

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