New Panel Format for Annual Showcase of SERC Research
The annual SERC Research Review will take place on November 10 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. This in-person gathering will showcase government-funded projects through panel discussions featuring technical presentations organized around SERC research focus areas.
The new panel format, shifting from traditional longform presentations, aims to foster conversations on systems engineering (SE) advances to benefit national security among the attending academic experts, federal government sponsors, and industry innovators.
The focus areas featured in this year’s agenda include:
Acquisition Innovation: Focuses on bringing business, legal, and technical disciplines from academia to bear on acquisition efficiency and effectiveness, enabling faster response to evolving threats and technology. Sponsored research by SERC’s Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) to be presented will include Policy Test Lab: Acquisition Reform Modeling. (Featured in the April 2026 AIRC Insights series episode.)
Digital and Data-Driven Systems: Focuses on moving faster from data to decision, and from decision to fielded capability. Sponsored research to be presented will include Systems Engineering Transformation Through Digital Engineering.
Trusted Systems: Focuses on ensuring dependability and security as systems grow more autonomous. Sponsored research to be presented will include Development of Tools and Methods for Secure Cyber Resilient Engineering.
Enterprises and SoS: Research at the forefront of system complexity and scale that focuses on enabling capability analysis at the mission, system-of-systems (SoS), and enterprise levels using AI and data visualization. Sponsored research to be presented will include Space Systems Command Military Communications & Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Directorate – Mission Engineering and Integration of Emerging Technologies.
Speakers
| Dr. Dinesh Verma, Executive Director, SERC and the Acquisition Innovation Research Center | Mr. Tom McDermott, SERC Chief Technology Officer |
| Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber, SERC Chief Scientist and Research Council Chair; Professor and Special Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, The George Washington University | Dr. Bryan Mesmer, Director of the Army Human Systems Laboratory, The University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| Dr. Philip S. Antón, AIRC Chief Scientist | Dr. Mark Blackburn, Senior Research Scientist |
| Dr. Michael Orosz, Research Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Spatial Sciences | Dr. Barry Ezell, Research Professor & Interim Chair, Academic Affairs, Old Dominion University |
| Dr. Douglas J. Buettner, AIRC Deputy Chief Scientist | Dr. Valerie Sitterle, SERC Deputy CTO |
| Dr. Deri Draper-Amason, Lead Project Scientist, Old Dominion University | Dr. Laura Freeman, Research Professor of Statistics and Deputy Director, Virginia Tech National Security Institute |
| Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez, Associate Professor and Division Director of Enterprise Science and Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology | Dr. Ali Raz, Assistant Professor, Systems Engineering and Operations Research Assistant; Director of Intelligent Systems and Integration, C4I & Cyber Center of Excellence, George Mason University |
Details on other speakers, including a keynote address, will be announced soon.
The day will conclude with a presentation of the Founders Award, given annually to a distinguished contributor within the SERC research network.
Registration is available via Eventbrite until November 3 at 12 pm ET, unless attendees reach capacity beforehand. For questions, contact SERC Communications Manager Alan Skontra.
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