Defense Innovation at Startup Speed

Defense Innovation at Startup Speed: Autonomy & the Commercial/Defense Interface

Monday, December 2, 2019 | 5:00-8:00 PM

Capital Factory | 701 Brazos Street | Austin, TX | Voltron (1st Floor)

Join Capital Factory and BAE Systems for an evening of discussion and exploration as part of the Innovation at Startup Speed series. The night's focus will be on Autonomy. Come to learn about not only some of the leading edge work BAE Systems is doing, but also hear from several government, industry, and academic experts pursuing refined technologies in this space. Discover collaboration opportunities and explore strategies for startup engagement in the Austin ecosystem. Interact with potential customers including government agencies in attendance to explore and develop broader opportunities.

TOPICS

• A prime contractor perspective on Autonomy and its market potential in the defense and commercial industry

• What can commercial autonomy learn from the experience in defense? What can defense learn from commercial autonomy? How can these two spheres collaborate?

• Are self-driving cars and autonomous aircraft and ground vehicles in our near future? What are the key enabling technologies and critical challenges?

• What is the relationship between autonomy and artificial intelligence/machine learning?

• How can an autonomous system be implemented in such a manner that it can perform as both an autonomous system and one that allows for human override, without “doubling” the complexity?

• Which factors will dominate the rate of acceptance of autonomous systems: a) The socio/political concerns regarding application and legality, or b) The technical and cost challenges of product realization?

• What are the means to validate the performance of an autonomous system under a wide variety of use cases?

AGENDA

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Refreshments, Networking, and Autonomy Demonstrations

6:00 PM – 6:15 PM BAE Systems Autonomy Introduction: Dr. Matt Henry

6:15 PM – 7:00 PM Autonomy Panel Discussion and Q&A

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Refreshments, Networking, and Autonomy Demonstrations

SPEAKERS

Paul Decker, Deputy Chief Roboticist, US Army
Dr. Matt Henry, Chief Scientist, FAST Labs
Ali Tabibian, Founder, GTK Partners
Dr. Ufuk Topcu, Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Jerry M. Wohletz, Vice President and General Manager of FAST Labs

Click HERE to learn more and RSVP. 

This is an opportunity external to the NAMC please do not contact NAMC directly with questions.