Information & Organizers

AIAA DEFENSE Forum is a Secret/NOFORN event providing a venue for leaders from government, military, industry, and academia to advance and accelerate innovation. The 2023 forum, to be held 11–13 April at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD, covers the strategic, programmatic, and technical topics and policy issues pertaining to the aerospace and defense community. This year’s theme will explore the critical role of the science and technology community in providing innovative and operationally relevant capabilities to win the strategic competition.

The forum’s program consists of two main parts: a technical program offering a deep analysis on research and technologies geared to solve specific problems, and high-level plenary sessions tackling the most pressing issues impacting the future of national security.

Highlights from previous AIAA DEFENSE Forums can be found in the Archives.

AIAA DEFENSE Forum Executive Steering Committee

• Scott Allison, Raytheon Missiles and Defense
• Dave Denhard, Missile Defense Agency
• Aaron Dufrene, CUBRC
• Ryan Fontaine, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (Technical Program Chair)
• Dean Gehr, IERUS Technologies
• Darren Hayashi, Raytheon Missiles and Defense
• Barry Ives, Lockheed Martin
• Anjaney Kottapalli, Lockheed Martin
• Laura McGill, Sandia National Laboratories
• Tony Mitchell, CAES
• Jamie Morin, The Aerospace Corporation
• Ali Raz, George Mason University
• Katherine Rink, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
• Robie Samanta Roy, Cerberus Capital Management
• Ed Swallow, The Aerospace Corporation
• Jeff Tober, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
• David Van Wie, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Forum Technical Chair

• Ryan Fontaine, Technical Staff, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

The Technical Program Committee is listed on the Call for Technical Briefings page.