Keynotes

Dr. David A. Honey is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (DUSD(R&E)). In this role, he assists the Under Secretary and Chief Technology Officer in managing research, development, and prototyping activities across the Department of Defense (DoD) enterprise. He also helps oversee the activities of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Space Development Agency (SDA), the DoD Laboratory and Engineering Center enterprise, and the Under Secretariat staff focused on developing advanced technology and capability for the U.S. military.

Dr. Honey previously served a Special Assistant to the Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He has served in several other capacities at DARPA; as the Acting Deputy Director, the Director of the Strategic Technology Office (STO), Director of the Advanced Technology Office (ATO) and the Deputy Director of and program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO).

In 2019, he served as Acting Director of the Strategic Capabilities Office. From 2011-2017, he served as the Director, Science and Technology, and as the Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Science and Technology in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Honey served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He was responsible for oversight of Department of Defense science and technology programs from basic research through advanced technology development.

From 2007 to 2009, Dr. Honey was the Defense Sector General Manager and a Senior Vice President in a small business and during this time he also served on the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Honey is a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who began his military career as a pilot in the B-52D and H model bombers and the FB-111 fighter-bomber, and later transitioned into managing a wide variety of R&D programs.

Dr. Honey holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in solid state science from Syracuse University, a Master of Science in optical science from the University of Arizona, a Master of Science in engineering physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), and a Bachelor of Science in photographic science from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Mung Chiang is the 13th president of Purdue University and the Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He was previously the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and executive vice president for strategic initiatives at Purdue University, as well as the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University. 

Chiang founded the Princeton EDGE Lab in 2009 and then founded several startup companies and industry consortia in edge computing. As the Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State in 2020, he initiated tech diplomacy programs for the U.S. government. Currently he serves on the inaugural board of the U.S. Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation and several corporate and nonprofit boards. 

Chiang received his BS (1999), MS (2000) and PhD (2003) from Stanford University and an honorary doctorate (2024) from Dartmouth College. For his research in communication networks, he received the NSF Alan T. Waterman Award (2013), as well as the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award (2012), the IEEE INFOCOM Achievement Award (2022) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2014). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Class of Mathematical and Physical Sciences 2024), the National Academy of Inventors (2020) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (2020). 

Mr. Gilbert (Gil) V. Herrera serves as the Director of Research at the National Security Agency. The Research Directorate conducts world-class research to develop new and innovative techniques and technologies to enable the Signals Intelligence and Cybersecurity missions of the NSA. Mr. Herrera joined NSA in 2021 after an almost-40-year career at Sandia National Laboratories. His final position at Sandia was Laboratory Fellow, one of 15 such appointments made since Sandia was founded in 1949. Prior positions included serving as Director of the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, a USG research institute located at the University of Maryland on assignment from Sandia, and Director of Microsystems Science and Technology, where he led semiconductor, microelectronics, and microsystem research. His responsibilities as Microsystems Director also included serving as Director of the MESA FAB Complex, the largest capital investment in the history of Sandia. From 1997 to 1999 on leave from Sandia, Mr. Herrera was the Chief Operating Officer of SEMI/SEMATECH, an Austin-based consortium of U.S. suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and materials. He was selected as an AAAS/Sloan Executive Branch Science Fellow in 1991, serving a year in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy working for President Bush (41) Science Advisor D. Allan Bromley. 

Mr. Herrera was appointed by President Biden to the United States National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee in 2022, and in 2021 was appointed by the Secretary of Energy to serve on the DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014 and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has served on multiple academic, industrial, and government advisory boards.

Deirdre Hanford was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Natcast in January 2024. In this role, Hanford leads Natcast as a new, purpose-built, non-profit entity created to operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) consortium, established as a key component of the CHIPS and Science Act of the U.S. government. The NSTC is a public-private consortium convening government, academic, and industry organizations across the semiconductor ecosystem. Its mission is to serve as the focal point for semiconductor research and engineering, advancing and enabling disruptive innovation to provide U.S. leadership in the industries of the future.

Prior to Natcast, Hanford served as an executive at Synopsys, a technology and market leader in electronic design automation and semiconductor design intellectual property. Over the span of thirty-six years, Hanford’s roles included being Chief Security Officer, Co-General Manager of the Synopsys Design Group, and leader of a variety of customer engagement, applications engineering, sales and marketing groups.

Well known within the semiconductor ecosystem, Hanford has served on many industry advisory boards, including being a leader in the Department of Commerce Industrial Advisory Committee formed through the CHIPS Act. 

In July 2024, Hanford was selected to receive the 2025 IEEE Frederik Philips Award “for visionary leadership in electronic design automation for secure and energy-efficient microelectronics.” Hanford has additionally been named to WomenTech’s 2022 list of Women in Tech Leaders to Watch, VLSIresearch’s 2017 list of All Stars of the Semiconductor Industry, and National Diversity Council’s 2014 list of Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology. In 2001, Hanford was a recipient of the YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) Award and the Marie R. Pistilli Women in EDA Achievement Award.

Hanford earned a B.S. Engineering (electrical engineering) from Brown University and an M.S.E.E. from University of California, Berkeley.