Announcing the 4th Annual Hypersonic Innovation Conference

Knoxville, TN, February 28, 2025 --(PR.com)-- The DoD’s 2025 fiscal year budget requests nearly $30 billion in funding for US missile defense capabilities and $7 billion for hypersonic programs over the next year to support the United States’ ability to develop, deploy, and defend against hypersonic weapons and missile threats. To this end, the 4th annual Hypersonic Innovation Conference will bring together senior leaders from across the hypersonic and missile defense community to explore how to develop, test, and transition hypersonic weapons to enhance deterrence and enable warfighting advantage.

The 2025 Conference will feature three full days with 750+ hypersonic and missile defense community professionals, 25+ senior-level speakers, a R&D Focus Site Tour Day, exhibit hall complete with technology displays and 8+ hours of dedicated networking time. Speakers will address the need to strengthen missile defense systems with advanced signals and radars, hypersonic-tracking satellites, and early detection systems. In-depth sessions will explore how the DoD prioritizes investments in hypersonic development and deployment, including researching high-heat, advanced materials, supporting robust testing and evaluation measures and infrastructures, and next-generation, leap-ahead capabilities.

2025 Early Confirmed Speakers
· Event Moderator: Gen (Ret) Glen VanHerck, USAF, Former Commander, USNORTHCOM/NORAD
· LTG Robert Rasch, USA, Director, Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO)
· James Weber, ST, Principal Director for Hypersonics, OUSD R&E
· Garry Bishop, SES, Deputy Director, Land and Expeditionary Warfare, DOT&E
· Robert Baurle, PhD, ST, Senior Scientist for Hypersonics, Aerospace Systems Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory
· Dr. Gillian Bussey, Deputy Chief Science Officer, US Space Force
· Col. Timothy Shaffer, USA, Deputy Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense
· Dr. Aisha Haynes, Principal Director, Advanced Materials, OUSD R&E
· Lt. Col. Jeffrey Komives, USAF, PhD, Hypersonics Program Element Monitor, SAF/AQRM
· Scott Wilson, Developmental Test Lead for Hypersonics and Advanced Capabilities, NSWC Crane
· Kerri Phillips, PhD, Chief Scientist, Air and Missile Defense Sector, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
· Dennis Helmich, Director of the Integrated Military Systems Program, Sandia National Laboratories
· Dr. Yogendra Joshi, Microsystems Technology, Program Manager, DARPA
· Dr. Rodney Bowersox, Director, Texas A&M National Aerothermochemistry and Hypersonic Flight Laboratory and Deputy Director, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
· Dr. John Schmisseur, Associate Dean and Executive Director, University of Tennessee Space Institute
· Kareem Ahmed, PhD, Professor, Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research Faculty; Director, UCF Center of Excellence in Hypersonics and Space Propulsion
· Wesley Harris, PhD, Lab Advisor, Hypersonics Research Lab, MIT Lincoln Lab
· Dr. Christopher Goyne, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Aerospace Research Laboratory, University of Virginia
· Dr. Erica Corral, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Associate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona
· Len Zentz, Hypersonics Systems Fellow, SPA

Topics of Discussion Include:
· - Championing Space-Enabled Combat Effects to Ensure Space Superiority for Joint Warfighters Around the World
· - Accelerating Hypersonic Technology Innovation to Enhance Conventional Deterrence and Precision Strike
· = Breaking Barriers: Driving Technological Advances in Hypersonic Flight and Weapons Systems
· - Guiding the DoD’s Development and Integration of Hypersonic Weapons and Platforms
· - Accelerating Hypersonic Weapons Development with Robust Testing & Evaluation
· - Developing Hypersonic Missiles to Deliver Strategic Overmatch Capability to the Joint Force
· - Leveraging Hypersonic Innovation to Meet Evolving Threats and Modernize Naval Capabilities

DSI is now welcoming Sponsors and Exhibitors for the forum. To learn more please contact Amanda Delgado at adelgado@dsigroup.org or (201) 940-6680. Active US military and government and state personnel attend complimentary. Those interested in participating in the Hypersonic Innovation Conference can visit the website at https://www.hypersonicinnovation.com/. Anyone interested in learning more or sending questions please contact Jessica Joaquim at jjoaquim@dsigroup.org or (201) 824-0077.