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The chapter hosted its 40th annual New Horizons Symposium in February at the Boston Marriott Newton. Chapter President Pat Dagle of the Georgia Tech Research Institute served as master of ceremonies and welcomed 500 attendees to this annual scholarship fundraiser that provides industry partners a preview of pending new federal business opportunities. Dagle introduced keynote speaker Brig. Gen. Sarah Zabel, USAF, director of information technology acquisition process development, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. The general provided the crowd with insights about the future of Air Force software acquisition. New business presentations came from Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Program Executive Officers Maj. Gen. Dwyer Dennis, USAF, C3I and Networks; Steven Wert, Battle Management; and Col. Alfonso LaPuma, USAF, Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3). Other featured speakers included Paul Antonik, chief scientist, Information Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York; Craig Rettie, deputy director, Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC); Alan Thomas, commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service; Casey Kelley, director, Customer Engagement Division, General Services Administration; Col. Mike McGinley, USAF, East Coast lead, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx); Sheryl Thorp, special assistant to the commander, AFLCMC; and Farris Welsh, director of small business, Air Force Materiel Command. A panel discussion titled "Agile Software Development Operations" followed and was moderated by Anita Carleton, deputy director of the Software Solutions Division at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. Panelists included Wes Haga, distinguished engineer, Booz Allen Hamilton; Steve Foote, technical director, MITRE; and Sujit Mohanty, then-federal chief technology officer of Pivotal Software. Then, Dagle congratulated and thanked the chapter's Young AFCEANs for their recent AFCEA International awards and their contributions. After a stirring tribute to the troops and discussion of a recent deployment by a staff sergeant from the 66th Air Base Group, Dagle presented a $500 donation to 2nd Lt. Jonathan Belveal, USAF, and Lt. Josh Scollo, USAF, for the Hanscom Air Force Base troop care-package fund. Dagle adjourned by thanking symposium sponsors and hardworking organizers, particularly Claire Goulet, vice president, operations.<br><br><br>
The chapter hosted Jason Ingalls, CEO of Ingalls Information Security, who spoke in February about cybersecurity data visualization. Sixty members of industry, government and the military from the Bossier City-Shreveport area of Louisiana attended the event. He detailed the evolution of cybersecurity breach response, from combing through print logs to look for anomalies to using augmented reality (AR) to create 3-D data visualization. Ingalls and his team demonstrated the AR technology they developed to quickly respond to and neutralize a cyber breach. They created a 3-D map of IP addresses and their connections for a network. An analyst using AR glasses could then reach out with his or her hands to select an IP address or link to request additional information for events showing anomalies. This is a new and innovative way of how the human analyst can leverage tools such as virtual and AR displays to gain significant benefits in their analyses of cybersecurity data. <br><br>
Maj. Gen. Pete Bosse, USAR, commanding general of the 335th Signal Command, spoke in January at the chapter's first luncheon of the year. On a blistering cold day, attendees learned about the Army's multidomain task force as well as putting doctrine into practice from the general. <br>
The chapter hosted its first Tech Talk of what will be many this year at Geekdom, a co-working space in San Antonio. The goal of Tech Talks is to give Young AFCEANs tangible knowledge they can use immediately in their respective work centers and to enhance their skill sets. Chris Gerritz, founder of Infocyte, and Jacob Stauffer of Coherent Cyber led the February event, "Powershell Scripting for Security Ninjas." Charlie Weissenborn, vice president of Young AFCEA, said it was extremely successful: "There were a lot of participants and a lot of positive feedback. This event was purposeful because the subject is something you will use in the field." Stauffer said the event was put together well, and he enjoyed interacting with participants. His presentation involved some challenging exercises taught in Powershell that audience members eagerly used their laptops to solve. Participant Shawn Cressman explained how he thought the event was helpful. "The more people involved in this course, the more valuable they can become at work. If used properly, Powershell can save time and help automate things at work," he said. The success of this event has the chapter looking forward to the next Tech Talk.
Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, USA, acting director of cybersecurity for the Army Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6 office, addressed a full house at the chapter's March luncheon. In his remarks, the general defined the Army's vision for the network as flat, fast, mobile and protected. He summed up the service's approach to achieving this vision in three steps: Stop what the Army is doing wrong, fix what is broken, and pivot to new technology and strategy. Cybersecurity efforts will focus on three so-called "buckets": risk management framework (RMF), endpoint security through Joint Regional Security Stacks (JRSS) and network security for the enterprise. The Army is exploring potential industry solutions, including commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions to automate the RMF process.
The chapter hosted February luncheon speaker Tim Meixner, information technology officer for the Air Force Sustainment Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, who presented, "Leveraging Technology to Enable the Supply Chain." More than 150 people attended the luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn near Dayton. Meixner manages the center's portfolio of information technology systems, facilitates its information system requirements management and governance processes, and acts as the senior functional for the cyber operations-related career fields. These enabling functions affect the work of approximately 33,000 Air Force Sustainment personnel. Meixner highlighted that global logistics command and control (C2) is critical to people, processes and technology. His office is tasked with reviewing the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) life cycle information technology governance process supported by AFMC Instruction 33-108. This instruction develops the scope, responsibilities, membership and processes for implementing and executing AFMC information technology investments.
The chapter's January kickoff luncheon spotlighted Lt. Gen. Robert D. McMurry Jr., USAF, the new commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The AFLCMC is the single center responsible for total life-cycle management covering all aircraft, engines, munitions and electronic systems. Gen. McMurry arrived at Wright-Patterson in 2016. Before assuming his current position, the general was commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson. Gen. McMurray provided a commander's perspective on acquisition and product support and how the AFLCMC will become the organization that others benchmark against. The general, who entered the Air Force in 1984 through the University of Texas ROTC program, has served in various engineering, program management, staff and command positions within Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command and Air Force Space Command as well as the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and the Missile Defense Agency. The January luncheon spotlighted recurring corporate sponsors The MITRE Corp., Segue Technologies and TACG LLC. Renewing companies were Alion, CDW and Illumination Works. Also announced were board members, including Brent Ahlers, James Masonbrink, Jacqueline Janning-Lask and Tim Meixner.
The highlight of the chapter's March luncheon was the presentation of the Distinguished Life Member Award. Chapter leaders presented the honor to Lt. Col. Ed Ryglewicz, USAF (Ret.), AFCEA regional vice president for the Pacific region. The colonel is a longtime chapter member.
The chapter hosted its February luncheon, drawing a near-record crowd with guest speaker Chris Keller, project manager, Sensors-Aerial Intelligence (SAI), for the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S). The program was held at the Water's Edge Events Center in Belcamp, Maryland. Keller detailed the SAI's mission, speaking of its close collaboration with the Army aviation community to deliver high-quality airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (AISR) equipment to U.S. warfighters. He also discussed the organization's heavy reliance on the contracting community and outlined upcoming opportunities to support the Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (MARSS), Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL) and Sensors-Unmanned and Rotary Wing (SURW) divisions. Rounding out the event were presentations by Greg Kamigawachi, president of Phoenix Operations, a small business, and Dave Thomas, president of the nonprofit group High Performance Heroes, which helps combat-wounded veterans participate in vintage road racing.
The chapter hosted its 40th annual New Horizons Symposium in February at the Boston Marriott Newton. Chapter President Pat Dagle of the Georgia Tech Research Institute served as master of ceremonies and welcomed 500 attendees to this annual scholarship fundraiser that provides industry partners a preview of pending new federal business opportunities. Dagle introduced keynote speaker Brig. Gen. Sarah Zabel, USAF, director of information technology acquisition process development, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. The general provided the crowd with insights about the future of Air Force software acquisition. New business presentations came from Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Program Executive Officers Maj. Gen. Dwyer Dennis, USAF, C3I and Networks; Steven Wert, Battle Management; and Col. Alfonso LaPuma, USAF, Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3). Other featured speakers included Paul Antonik, chief scientist, Information Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York; Craig Rettie, deputy director, Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC); Alan Thomas, commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service; Casey Kelley, director, Customer Engagement Division, General Services Administration; Col. Mike McGinley, USAF, East Coast lead, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx); Sheryl Thorp, special assistant to the commander, AFLCMC; and Farris Welsh, director of small business, Air Force Materiel Command. A panel discussion titled "Agile Software Development Operations" followed and was moderated by Anita Carleton, deputy director of the Software Solutions Division at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. Panelists included Wes Haga, distinguished engineer, Booz Allen Hamilton; Steve Foote, technical director, MITRE; and Sujit Mohanty, then-federal chief technology officer of Pivotal Software. Then, Dagle congratulated and thanked the chapter's Young AFCEANs for their recent AFCEA International awards and their contributions. After a stirring tribute to the troops and discussion of a recent deployment by a staff sergeant from the 66th Air Base Group, Dagle presented a $500 donation to 2nd Lt. Jonathan Belveal, USAF, and Lt. Josh Scollo, USAF, for the Hanscom Air Force Base troop care-package fund. Dagle adjourned by thanking symposium sponsors and hardworking organizers, particularly Claire Goulet, vice president, operations.<br><br><br>
The chapter's Gretchen Stewart of Intel Corp. welcomed almost 300 guests to the eighth annual Gold Circle Breakfast, an adjunct fundraiser supporting chapter scholarships, held in conjunction with February's New Horizons Symposium at the Boston Marriott Newton. As master of ceremonies, Stewart introduced featured speaker Melvin Greer, chief data scientist for Intel's public-sector business. Greer is responsible for building Intel's data science and artificial intelligence (AI) platform and accelerating data's transformation into strategic assets. He received last year's Black Data Processing Associates Lifetime Achievement Award and the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) 2012 Technologist of the Year Award recognizing outstanding technical contributions having a material impact and high value to society. Greer presented "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work." At the breakfast's conclusion, Stewart thanked sponsors Raytheon, General Dynamics, Intel, BAE Systems, Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Solidus Technical Solutions.
The chapter gathered for a March membership luncheon at the Ramstein Officers' Club on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Chapter Vice President Lt. Col. Steven Brummitt, USAF, commander, 86th Communications Squadron, presented Airman 1st Class Mekhi Witherspoon, USAF, the chapter's Young AFCEAN Emerging Leader Award for his contributions to the squadron and its efforts during the Windows 10 transition. The airman also received a one-year AFCEA membership. Col. Brummitt was introduced guest speaker Maj. Joseph Maguadog, USAF, of the 693rd Intelligence Support Squadron (ISS). Maj. Maguadog illustrated what his unit brings to the fight to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance throughout the European theater. One highlight of the 693rd ISS is its fusion of operation analysts with cyber technicians to drive mission innovation. As an example, the squadron took an operation that once required 11 machines six hours to complete and reduced it to just one machine and 10 seconds.<br>
The chapter gave $1,000 in grants to notable teams competing in March's Heartland Regional Robotics Championship at Cross County High School, Stromsburg, Nebraska. The event was a VEX World Championship and a U.S. Open Robotics Championship qualifier for high school teams from Nebraska and Iowa. The chapter provided teams the $400 Honor Award, $250 President's Award, $150 Innovation Award and $100 awards for Skills and Perseverance. Bernard Lichvar, president of iConsult4u, represented the chapter at the event and presented the awards. Lichvar, who holds a doctorate in information systems, reported that the participants were quite energetic and devoted to learning more about the robotics field. He said there were some unique robots at the event. One was constructed out of wood, while another team used automobile seat motors to mobilize its robot. The chapter's Honor Award went to a team that created its robot entirely out of 3-D parts. This same team scored high in the skills and challenge point categories.<br><br>
Col. Erik Quigley, USAF, senior materiel leader for GPS space vehicles, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, spoke to the chapter in March. The colonel presented details on the development, production and launch readiness of 10 GPS lll satellites and the acquisition of 22 GPS lllF satellites.
At March's seventh annual Winter IT Luncheon held by the chapter's Young AFCEANs, more than 20 federal leaders came to discuss doing more with less in small roundtable conversations. Topics ranged from digital transformation, such as development and operations (DevOps) and cloud, to cybersecurity, disruptive technology and data governance, legacy system modernization and government services alignment. Federal guests included chief information officers (CIOs) and program leaders from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and State; the Small Business Administration; the General Services Administration; the Federal Election Commission; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Office of Management and Budget; the Federal Communications Commission; the U.S. Air Force; the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; and the FBI. More than 120 attendees and sponsors together raised over $10,000 for local STEM scholarships. Thank you to everyone who came and supported this event, including sponsors NIC Federal, ReefPoint Group, CTAC, SIE Consulting Group, Rigil Corp., JHC Technology Inc., Nuvitek, InterImage, RIVA Solutions, Horus Technologies and The Ambit Group.
A group of the chapter's Young AFCEANs supported the Massachusetts state competition of MATHCOUNTS in March at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. MATHCOUNTS promotes middle school mathematics achievement through coaching and fun bee-style mathematics competitions nationwide. This STEM-related competition is one of the country's largest and most successful educational partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students. Young AFCEANS proctored the Massachusetts competition, graded exams and awarded $250 AFCEA scholarships to the top four students who will be heading to Washington, D.C., for the national competition. The Young AFCEAN team included Capt. Jennifer Kannegaard, USAF, Lt. Ben Davis, USAF, Sarah Loerzel, Stephanie Hutch, Kaitlyn Davis, Ryan Carr, Kasie Gates and Kim Cranson. <br><br>
The chapter had an information table at a social event recently hosted by General Dynamics. Chapter, military and company leaders paused for a photo at the event. They include Col. Mike Fallon, USMC (Ret.), Quantico-Potomac Chapter; Col. Lewis Coyle, Australian army and Australian Chapter president; Group Capt. Dean Harvey, Royal Australian air force; Lt. Gen. Bob Lennox, USA (Ret.), senior vice president, General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) and AFCEA member; Garrick Simeon, managing partner, GDMS-Australia and Australia Chapter vice president; and Jon Petruzzi of GDMS, retired Air Force officer and AFCEA member. <br>
Claire Goulet, chapter vice president, operations, awarded three Middlesex Community College (MCC) students each a $1,000 STEM scholarship in a March ceremony at the school's Bedford, Massachusetts, campus. Jue Zhao received the Thomas P. O'Mahony Spirit of Excellence Award, which honors O'Mahony, former chapter president and chairman of the board, Senior Executive Service member and chairman of the board of the MCC Board of Trustees. O'Mahony died in June 2010. Originally from China, Jue is a resident of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Sopor Yean of Cambodia and now a resident of Lowell, Massachusetts, and Ismael Ouatta of the Ivory Coast, also a Lowell resident, received the other two scholarships. The chapter awards these scholarships annually to MCC students to promote education in engineering, computer science and physical science. Each of the recipients plans to pursue a bachelor's degree after graduation from MCC.
Chapter volunteers braved bad weather to serve as volunteer judges at the Anne Arundel County Regional Science and Engineering Expo in March. The expo is dedicated to promoting science education and recognizing and rewarding student achievement in science. Chapter volunteers interviewed 19 students with projects covering various STEM domains, such as mathematics, systems software, engineering and intelligent machines. First place middle school awards were given in the mathematics and intelligent machines categories. First, second and third place awards were given to high school students. Arundel High School junior Andrew Karam received the chapter's first place award. This is the second consecutive year he has won the award. Andrew's project, "Concealed Weapon Detection Using Infrared/Thermal Image Processing and Machine Learning," created a neural network to detect a concealed weapon. Andrew and South River High School senior Helen Dover, the chapter's third place winner, shared the expo's Grand Award with South River senior Simone Evans. Each earned the right to represent Anne Arundel County Public Schools at the International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) next month in Pittsburgh. Maya Albayrak from Chesapeake Science Point High School won the chapter's second place award. She also won a Grand Award Honorable Mention for her project, "A Tweet a Day Keeps the Doctor Away," and was invited to participate in Intel ISEF as a student observer. Chapter volunteer judges included Michael and Kathleen Berganski, Sarah Ramnarine, Jennifer Kielman, Russ Jones, David Knopp, Dan Noppinger and Terry McKinney.
The recent mail package bombings in the capital of Texas are a reminder of the criminal tactics people will use. During the chapter's March luncheon, FBI agent Raymond Martinez said a key setback in any scenario is the timeliness of information. Martinez is assigned to the San Antonio field office in the Cyber Squad. The cyber threats within the FBI are criminal, hactivism, espionage and terrorism, and they are state-sponsored, with the most hits in criminal and hactivism. With the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), devices bring additional security measures that must be put into place. "There are already too many cyber variables," Martinez explained. There are more than 73,000 locations with unsecured cameras in 256 countries. "There may be new tactics, but the methodology is the same. The target is people." He specified that only amateurs attack machines; professionals target people. And hackers don't discriminate. Small to medium businesses are 71 percent of the breaches targeted. Most of those small businesses will go out of business within six months of a data breach. "You have to watch for internal signs and have procedures in place," he offered. Email scams and direct and indirect targeting through social media assist in making up the bulk of breaches. So, what can be done to protect U.S. businesses and assets? That is where cyber defense comes in. Martinez advises using passphrases rather than passwords and two-factor authentication to decrease vulnerability throughout the network.
The CyberTexas Foundation's eighth annual San Antonio Mayor's Cyber Cup Awards Luncheon in March recognized top area high school and middle school CyberPatriot teams. With 309 teams registered, San Antonio had the most teams participating than any other state in the nation. Eighty of these teams played at the middle school level. Maj. Gen. Christopher Weggeman, USAF, 24th Air Force commander, delivered a speech at the Cyber Cup luncheon. He said meeting the younger generation of cyber warriors-the future of cyber-was great. The chapter sponsored two $6,000 scholarships that were awarded to the top rookie team, Byron P. Steele II High School Air Force JROTC, and the best overall team, Information Technology and Security Academy (ITSA). San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg addressed the growing attention that cyberspace has been getting. "Just take a look at the headlines to see the attacks happening in cyberspace," he said. The mayor added that the nation looks to teachers and students in San Antonio to build the pipeline of future cyber professionals. The chapter congratulates all the teams participating in this year's Cyber Cup.