SERC Researchers Present at 2025 NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense

Work by Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) researchers was presented at the 2025 NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition on August 27-29. This flagship event, held in Washington, DC, gathered technology leaders in government, the defense industry, the commercial sector, and academia to explore cutting-edge developments, operational needs, and business opportunities in critical mission areas.

SERC involvement at such key events furthers the founding vision of being the “go-to” national resource for systems research and its impact on issues of national significance. SERC contributions to the two-day agenda included:

• SERC Chief Technology Officer Tom McDermott was part of a panel of industry and government leaders in the session “Digital Transformation Application and Strategies,” which discussed strategies and best practices for leveraging digital transformation to accelerate value delivery to the warfighter. Mr. McDermott also presented “Generative AI, Visualization, and the Future of Managing Megaprojects,” an exploration of best practices across defense industry megaprojects and the potential for better management of these with generative AI. See a related report McDermott co-wrote for SERC’s Acquisition Innovation Research Center.
• SERC Chief Scientist Zoe Szajnfarber presented “Task, Workflow and System-level Opportunities for AI-based Tools to Support Defense Enterprise Efficiency,” which explored the need for a systems perspective on integrating AI into work flows and tasks.
• SERC Researcher and Research Council member Laura Freeman presented “From Data to Decision: Transforming T&E with Digital Engineering, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence,” which outlined a vision for revolutionizing test and evaluation (T&E) through digital engineering and AI-enabled tools. See a related report Freeman co-wrote for SERC’s Acquisition Innovation Research Center.
• SERC Researcher Brian Mayer (Virginia Tech) presented “An Approach Using LLMs and NLP to Support Large Document Changes,” which described an approach that uses Large Language Models (LLMs) and advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to help improve efficiency for laborious document changing tasks. See a related report Mayer co-wrote for SERC’s Acquisition Innovation Research Center.
• SERC Researcher Payuna Uday presented “From Silos to Synergy: A System-of-Systems Approach to Advancing the National Security Cyber Workforce,” which proposed sustained public-private collaboration and a system-of-systems construct can provide a pathway to attract, recruit, and retain a cyber-ready workforce capable of defending the nation. See a related SERC report Uday co-wrote on workforce development.

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