April 26th Agenda
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Check-in 8:30 AM - 8:40 AM
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Room A+B ![]() Opening Remarks The Honorable Nickolas H. Guertin (OSD/DOT&E)
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Nickolas H. Guertin was sworn in as Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) on December 20, 2021. A Presidential appointee confirmed by the United States Senate, he serves as the senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense on operational and live fire test and evaluation of Department of Defense weapon systems. Mr. Guertin has an extensive four-decade combined military and civilian career in submarine operations; ship construction and maintenance; development and testing of weapons, sensors, combat management products including the improvement of systems engineering; and defense acquisition. Most recently, he has performed applied research for government and academia in software-reliant and cyber-physical systems at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute. Over his career, he has led organizational transformation, improved competition, and increased application of modular open-system approaches, prototyping, and experimentation. He has also researched and published extensively on software-reliant system design, testing, and acquisition. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from Bryant University. He is a retired Navy Reserve Engineering Duty Officer, was Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certified in Program Management and Engineering, and is also a licensed Professional Engineer (Mechanical). Mr. Guertin is involved with his community as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Merit Badge Counselor for two local Boy Scouts of America troops, and is an avid amateur musician. He is a native of Connecticut and now resides in Virginia with his wife and twin children 8:40 AM - 9:20 AM
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Room A+B ![]() Keynote 1 Col Sacha Tomlinson (United States Space Force)
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Colonel Sacha Tomlinson is the Test Enterprise Division Chief for Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. She is also the STARCOM Commander’s Deputy Operational Test Authority. In these two roles, she is responsible for establishing STARCOM’s test enterprise, managing and executing the continuum of test for space systems and capabilities. Colonel Tomlinson’s background is principally in operational test, having served two assignments in the Air Force Test and Evaluation Center first as the Test Director for the Space Based Infrared System's GEO 1 test campaign, and later as AFOTEC Detachment 4's Deputy Commander. She also had two assignments with the 17th Test Squadron in Air Combat Command, first as the Detachment 4 Commander, responsible for testing the Eastern and Western Range Launch and Test Range Systems, and later commanding the 17th Test Squadron, which tested major sustainment upgrades for Space systems, as well as conducting Tactics Development & Evaluations and the Space Weapon System Evaluation Program. 9:20 AM - 10:00 AM
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Room A+B ![]() Keynote 2 Mr. Peter Coen (NASA)
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Peter Coen currently serves as the Mission Integration Manager for NASA’s Quesst Mission. His primary responsibility in this role is to ensure that the X-59 aircraft development, in-flight acoustic validation and community test elements of the Mission stay on track toward delivering on NASA’s Critical Commitment to provide quiet supersonic overflight response data to the FAA and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Previously, Peter was the manager for the Commercial Supersonic Technology Project in NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission, where he led a team from the four NASA Aero Research Centers in the development of tools and technologies for a new generation of quiet and efficient supersonic civil transport aircraft. Peter’s NASA career spans almost 4 decades. During this time, he has studied technology integration in practical designs for many different types of aircraft and has made technical and management contributions to all of NASA’s supersonics related programs over the past 30 years. As Project Manager, he led these efforts for 12 years. Peter is a licensed private pilot who has amassed nearly 30 seconds of supersonic flight time. 10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
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Break 10:20 AM - 12:20 PM: Parallel Sessions Room A ![]()
| Session 1A: Cybersecurity in Test & Evaluation Session Chair: Mark Herrera, IDA
Room B ![]()
| Session 1B: Validation of Statistical Software and Self-Validated Ensemble . . . Session Chair: Tom Donnelly, JMP Statistical Discovery
Room C
| Session 1C: Statistical and Systems Engineering Applications in Aerospace Session Chair: Melissa Hooke
Room E ![]()
| Mini-Tutorial 1 Session Chair: George Khoury, IDA
12:20 PM - 1:30 PM
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Lunch 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM: Parallel Sessions Room A ![]()
| Session 2A: Statistical Engineering Session Chair: Peter Parker, NASA Langley Research Center
Room B ![]()
| Session 2B: Situation Awareness, Autonomous Systems, and Digital Engineering in . . . Session Chair: Elizabeth Green, IDA
Room C
| Students & Fellows Speed Session 1 Please note many of the Speed Sessions will also include a poster during the Poster Session Session Chair: Alyson Wilson, NC State
Room D
| Contributed Session 1 Session Chair: Elizabeth Gregory, NASA Langley Research Center
Room E ![]()
| Mini-Tutorial 2 Session Chair: Caleb King, JMP Statistical Discovery
3:00 PM - 3:20 PM
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Break 3:20 PM - 4:50 PM: Parallel Sessions Room A ![]()
| Session 3A: Methods & Applications of M&S Validation Session Chair: Benjamin Ashwell, IDA
Room B ![]()
| Session 3B: Software Quality Session Chair: Sushovan Bhadra, UMASS Dartmouth
Room C
| Students & Fellows Speed Session 2 Please note many of the Speed Sessions will also include a poster during the Poster Session Session Chair: Jim Starling, United States Military Academy at West Point
Room D
| Contributed Session 2 Session Chair: Jim Warner, NASA Langley Research Center
Room E ![]()
| Mini-Tutorial 3
Session Chair: Jason Sheldon, IDA Data Management for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
It is important to manage Data from research, development, test, and evaluation effectively. Well-managed data makes research more efficient and promotes better analysis and decision-making. At present, numerous federal organizations are engaged in large-scale reforms to improve the way they manage their data, and these reforms are already effecting the way research is executed. Data management effects every part of the research process. Thoughtful, early planning sets research projects on the path to success by ensuring that the resources and expertise required to effectively manage data throughout the research process are in place when they are needed. This interactive tutorial will discuss the planning and execution of data management for research projects. Participants will build a data management plan, considering data security, organization, metadata, reproducibility, and archiving. By the conclusion of the tutorial, participants will be able to define data management and understand its importance, understand how the data lifecycle relates to the research process, and be able to build a data management plan.
Heather Wojton 4(IDA)
It is important to manage Data from research, development, test, and evaluation effectively. Well-managed data makes research more efficient and promotes better analysis and decision-making. At present, numerous federal organizations are engaged in large-scale reforms to improve the way they manage their data, and these reforms are already effecting the way research is executed. Data management effects every part of the research process. Thoughtful, early planning sets research projects on the path to success by ensuring that the resources and expertise required to effectively manage data throughout the research process are in place when they are needed. This interactive tutorial will discuss the planning and execution of data management for research projects. Participants will build a data management plan, considering data security, organization, metadata, reproducibility, and archiving. By the conclusion of the tutorial, participants will be able to define data management and understand its importance, understand how the data lifecycle relates to the research process, and be able to build a data management plan.
Matthew Avery 4(IDA)
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM: Parallel Sessions Café
| Poster Session and Reception
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