Texas Engineering Hosts U.S. Army ‘Mad Scientist’ Conference

Thursday, April 25

8 – 8:45 AM
Accurate Technology Forecasting to Enable Army Operational Overmatch into the Deep Future
Troy Alexander, Technology Forecasting Lead, Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), Army Research Laboratory

THEME: Future of Space and Ethics

8:45 – 9:30 AM
Robotics in Space
Julia Badger, Project Manager, Robotics Intelligence for Human Spacecraft Team, NASA

9:30 – 10:30 AM
PANEL: Ethics and the Future of AI Innovation
Moderator: Ken Fleischmann, Associate Professor, UT Austin School of Information
Jakki Bailey, Assistant Professor, UT Austin School of Information
Danna Gurari, Assistant Professor, UT Austin School of Information
Matt Lease, Associate Professor, UT Austin School of Information
Evanna Hu, Fellow, International Security Program at New America, CEO and Partner of Omelas

10:45 – 11:30 AM
Hypersonics and Autonomy in Near Earth Orbit
Alex Roesler, Deputy Director of the Integrated Military Systems Center, Sandia National Labs
Gary Polansky, Chief Scientist for Hypersonic Technology Development and Applications, Sandia National Labs

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Space Traffic Management and Situational Awareness
Moriba Jah, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, UT Austin
Diane Howard, Adjunct Professor, UT Austin School of Law

1:45 – 2:45 PM
PANEL: Space Law Games
Matt Bold, Lockheed Martin
Diane Howard, Sustaining Orbital Activities, Laws, Policies, and Strategies
Student Panelists

2:45 – 3:30 PM
Planet Habitability and Life Forms
Xenobiology for Military Applications: Andrew D. Ellington, Professor, Molecular Biosciences, UT Austin
Europa Clipper Mission: Krista Soderlund, Research Associate, UT Austin Institute for Geophysics

3:45 – 4:30 PM
Science Fiction and the Future Operational Environment
Martha Wells, Science Fiction Author, Murderbot Diaries