The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) will convene the community of scientists, engineers, program managers and leaders in the defense community to discuss innovations that address chemical and biological threats at the Chemical and Biological Defense Science & Technology (CBD S&T) Conference in Cincinnati from Nov. 18 – 21.
DTRA’s biannual conference fosters collaboration between government, academia and industry. This partnership is necessary in defending our warfighters and nation from the evolving threat of weapons of mass destruction, especially chemical and biological warfare agents.
The highlights will be the keynote addresses and a Warfighter Panel. The event will also focus on some of the most recent scientific developments in several fields, through poster presentations, oral presentations and special sessions:
● Approaches to characterizing large-scale chemical and biological releases
● Approaches to characterizing the threat from chemical and biological agents
● Developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats
● Generating actionable information in the digital battlespace
● Novel and enhanced detection and diagnostic technologies
● Shielding the warfighter from chemical and biological threats
● Sustaining the warfighter and mission through chemical and biological hazards
The scheduled keynote speaker for Tuesday, Nov. 19, is Mr. Chic Thompson, the founder and executive director of WAGiLab. Mr. Thompson is a Batten Fellow of Entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School. He is also an adjunct faculty at the Brookings Institution and at the Young Presidents’ Organization.
The scheduled keynote speaker for Wednesday, Nov. 20, is Katherine Sixt, Assistant Director of the Strategy, Forces and Resources Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses, where she leads the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Analysis group.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, the scheduled keynote speaker is Dr. Travis Taylor. Dr. Taylor is with the Quantum Entanglement and Space Technology Laboratory, Space and Missile Defense Technical Center, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
DTRA is also collaborating with the Cincinnati Public School District to enable 50 high school students to participate in the conference, to encourage young minds exploring careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In addition, special sessions will inform attendees on how to collaborate with DTRA.
Visit www.cbdstconference.com for conference information.
