Keynote 1: Dr. Douglas Schmidt

Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt was sworn in as Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) on April 8, 2024. 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. Prior to DOT&E, Dr. Schmidt served as the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering in Computer Science, the Associate Chair of Computer Science, and a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems at Vanderbilt University. From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Schmidt was a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (AF SAB), where he served as Vice Chair of studies on cyber situational awareness for Air Force mission operations and on sustaining hardware and software for U.S. aircraft. He also served on the advisory board for the joint Army/Navy Future Airborne Capability Environment initiative. From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Schmidt served as a program manager in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Exploitation Office and Information Technology Office. Dr. Schmidt is an internationally renowned and widely cited researcher. Dr. Schmidt received Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Sociology from the College of William and Mary, and Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.