Bio’s in order of appearance

Aaron Dalton, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
NUWC Keyport

  • Stewards the Science and Technology capabilities of NUWC Keyport through internal investments, workforce development, growing partnerships, and strategic planning
  • Served as Deputy CT0, where he managed the Naval Innovative Science and Engineering portfolio at NUWC Division, Keyport
  • Research Scientist and Principal Investigator, leading fiber-optic acoustic transducer research and development and conducting structural acoustic wave basic research
  • Holds a Ph.D. in ME from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016, a MS degree in ME from Purdue University in 2011, and a BS degree in ME from Montana State University in 2007
  • Licensed Professional Engineering in Washington State
  • Avid runner and instrumental in NUWC Keyport co-sponsoring ITEA Cybersecurity Workshop

Mitch Crosswait, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor and Cyber Engineer SME
Modern Technology Solutions, Inc.

  • Joined Modern Technology Solutions Inc. (MTSI) in August 2025 after retiring as a Senior Executive in the Department of Defense
  • In current role, focuses on building cyber “purple teams,” helping to ensure national security systems remain resilient against evolving cyber threats
  • Formerly served as Deputy Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. Oversaw the Net-Centric, Space, and Missile
  • Defense Systems and managed the Department’s Cyber Assessment Program
  • Held senior leadership roles across the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the
  • Senate Armed Services Committee staff
  • Holds an engineering doctorate from MIT

Vernon “CJ” Parks
Mission Area Executive, Sea Control
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

  • Mission area executive for Sea Control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
  • Leads APL efforts supporting U.S. Navy and joint service missions to deliver essential capabilities on, under, and above the seas
  • Mission area advances maritime domain situational awareness; delivers kinetic and non-kinetic effects; enhances force survivability; and enables effective, affordable rapid prototyping and modernization
  • Retired from the U.S. Navy as a captain after serving more than 30 years as a submarine and joint officer
  • Experience includes submarine operations, Joint Force Global Force Management, and strategic command, control, and communications
  • Holds Bachelors, Masters, and MBA degrees

Michael Medgyessy
AWS Head of Innovation for DoW Cloud

  • Provides leadership in emerging technology application to the most difficult DoW problem sets
  • Focus area include Agentic AI, Quantum, Zero Trust, Cloud Edge modernization, and Experimentation as a Service
  • Former Air Force Intelligence CIO, and Cyber Security Authorizing Official for Air Force and Space Force where he had oversight of a $55B portfolio and over 1400 global programs including Special Access Programs
  • Co-chair of the GEOINT Data and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee in the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
  • Founded and incubated the Department of the Air Force Cloudworks office
  • Commanded both the AF European Network and Security Operations Center and executive airlift communications units
  • Deployments with Army and SOF forces include Iraq and Afghanistan

Jess Smith, Ph.D.
Senior Cybersecurity Research Scientist
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

  • National expert in cyber supply chain risk management, as well as a cyber-physical security expert
  • Research includes control system and supply chain security, with ventures into hardware security and data analysis
  • Has led research projects exploring state machine reverse engineering, defining resiliency in cyber systems and enabling trust in critical hardware and software control systems
  • Leading PNNL efforts in creating a portfolio of supply chain integrity investigation efforts to support various Government agencies
  • Prior to PNNL, she worked at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. and the MITRE Corporation

Frank Alvarado
Cybersecurity Architect
KBR Contractor, TRMC Cybersecurity

  • Cybersecurity Architect at TRMC with more than 30 years of experience across enterprise IT, infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, virtualization, identity, and Zero Trust
  • Helps organizations design, assess, and integrate secure, resilient, and scalable technology environments across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud ecosystems
  • Advises leadership, engineering teams, and stakeholders on architecture, modernization, technical risk, and the secure adoption of emerging technologies
  • Expertise in networks, servers, identity systems, virtualization platforms, cloud services, detection, and vulnerability management
  • Holds multiple cybersecurity and audit certifications, along with graduate and undergraduate degrees in cybersecurity

Tiffany DiNota
Principal Member of Technical Staff and the Resilient Systems/High Availability Architecture Group Leader
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory.

  • She is seasoned in Resilient Systems, System Security, High Reliability, & Digital Engineering Integration Campaigns for Mission Critical Space Systems, Strategic Weapon Systems, and Electronic System Across the Nuclear Triad –offering over 15 years of experience amongst these disciplines.
  • Most notably she’s known for her technical advising and organizational leadership steering, codifying, and operationalizing Digital Engineering Strategies in a way that’s clear, captivating, and demystifies complex concepts.

Penny McKenzie
Cybersecurity Engineer
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  • Specializes in cybersecurity, AI, machine learning, and cyber-physical systems
  • Established PNNL’s first Internet of Things Common Operating Environment to develop and integrate cybersecurity solutions across complex technology and operational environments
  • Leads several test and evaluation efforts in partnership with Space Systems Command, FEMA, and the Department of Homeland Security
  • Expertise includes industrial control systems, intrusion detection, forensic analysis, incident response, risk management, AI research, and critical infrastructure protection
  • Holds a joint appointment at the University of Texas at El Paso, where she mentors students and supports the development of future cybersecurity professionals
  • Key member of ITEA Cybersecurity Workshop Planning Committee and instrumental in hosting event in Pacific Northwest

Bill “Data” Bryant, Ph.D.
Technical Fellow
Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. (MTSI)

  • Cyberspace defense and risk leader with extensive experience in operations, engineering, planning, and strategy
  • Research focuses on quantitative and probabilistic risk assessment, cyber and full-spectrum survivability, and the use of MBSE and modeling and simulation in secure systems engineering
  • Created the Unified Risk Assessment and Measurement Process (URAMS) and supports cyber risk assessments for aviation platforms, weapon systems, and other critical cyber-physical systems
  • Co-developed Aircraft Cyber Combat Survivability (ACCS), advancing the application of kinetic survivability principles to cyber weapons
  • Over 25 years in the Air Force, Dr. Bryant has led major efforts to strengthen the cybersecurity and survivability of weapon systems
  • Holds multiple advanced degrees spanning engineering, strategy, and management, along with multiple certifications

Jeremy Werner, Ph.D.
Defense Tech Architect and Ambassador (DOT&E Chief Scientist Emeritus)
Cadence Design Systems

  • Physicist, data scientist, and scientific computing architect with petabyte-scale big data expertise
  • Expert in Test and Evaluation (T&E) and served as the Pentagon’s top weapons tester’s—Director, Operational Test and Evaluation’s (DOT&E)—Chief Scientist from 2021 to 2025
  • Led an R&D portfolio with the primary thrust of digitally transforming the US Department of Defense/Department of War T&E enterprise
  • Founded a data science-oriented military operations research team at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory that transformed the analytics of an ongoing military mission to solve critical challenges
  • Earned a PhD in physics from Princeton University and received a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California, LA

Tyler Cody, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Data Science, UVA

  • Research focuses on systems theory and systems engineering for artificial intelligence
  • Particular interests in learning systems, AI-resilience, T&E, and engineering of adaptive & autonomous systems
  • Work spans fundamental theory and applied research in emerging defense and space applications

Peter Beling, Ph.D.
Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Research
School of Data Science, UVA

  • His work focuses on mission-aligned AI, with broader interests in cyber resilience and trusted systems
  • Studies large language models, reinforcement learning, and the co-design of AI algorithms with the systems in which they operate
  • Research addresses mission engineering, test and evaluation, and predictive maintenance