• Claire Hughes, 2025 Conference Chair, Design Interactive, LLC
• VADM Sean Buck, USN (Ret.), President, NTSA

• Scholarship Award Presentation
• VADM Sean Buck, USN (Ret.), President, NTSA  

Join an invited panel of leaders from NSWCDD, ONR, and top industry innovators as they explore transformative approaches to driving innovation in DoD acquisition. This panel will highlight strategies for integrating cutting-edge ideas, forging agile partnerships with start-ups and research institutions, and accelerating mission success in today’s rapidly evolving defense landscape. Attendees will gain actionable insights and collaborative methods for pushing innovation beyond traditional contracting models.

• VADM Sean Buck, USN (Ret.), President, NTSA Moderator
• Dr. Edwin Ahn, Research Engineer - Lead M&S Subject Matter Expert, NSWCDD
• Jay Pitman, Vice President and General Manager; Training, Logistics and Simulation, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems
 

This panel examines the evolving tension within Department of Defense wargaming, where time-honored tabletop approaches clash with emerging modeling and simulation (M&S) technologies. Traditional wargaming—rooted in human decision-making, abstraction, and experiential learning—faces pressure to integrate computational tools promising scalability, multi-domain fidelity, and data-driven insights. Yet this fusion risks diluting the strategic intuition and adaptability that define manual methods. Experts representing both paradigms will debate critical questions:
• Can M&S enhance traditional wargaming’s pedagogical value without undermining its "design for effect" philosophy?
• How can hybrid approaches overcome limitations in representing multi-scale operations (e.g., cross-domain, cognitive warfare)?
• What safeguards ensure technology complements—rather than replaces—human ingenuity in scenario design and analysis?

• Luke DeVore, Managing Partner, Voltron Group Moderator
• Sebastian Bae, Senior Game Designer & Research Scientist, Center for Naval Analysis
• Stephen Nelson, U.S. Army Futures and Concepts Center
• Capt Nathan Tidwell, Wargaming Operations Officer, Brute Krulak Center for Innovation & Future Warfare, Marine Corps University  

In this dynamic session, presenters distill their professional essence into a single slide and 60 seconds. Presenters will introduce themselves, outline their services or capabilities, and share their conference goals. Whether you’re a researcher, entrepreneur, or industry professional, this rapid-fire spotlight ensures maximum impact in minimal time.

• Luke DeVore, Managing Partner, Voltron Group Moderator  

• Claire Hughes, 2025 Conference Chair, Design Interactive, LLC  

• Jennifer Riley, Director, Design Interactive, LLC  

This is our fourteenth annual session to address the growing issue of managing the human/ machine interface as we hurtle towards the Singularity and the Metaverse. We will continue our discussion of how to achieve fluency with smarter balance between humans and machines to optimize outcomes. The Simulation Century Panel presentations this year will focus on the challenges and opportunities of implementing AI and simulation in the intelligence community.

• Richard Boyd, CEO, Ultasim Moderator
• Adam Leslie, Director, Australian Strategic Policy Institute DC Office
• Robin Lobb, President, Zeroes & Ones, Inc.  

Click the “Download Program/Agenda" link at the top of the page to view the full list of Paper Sessions.  

• The Hon. Bobby Scott, U.S. Congress, 3rd District, VA  

Click the “Download Program/Agenda" link at the top of the page to view the full list of Paper Sessions.  

This roundtable explores how GenAI and LLMs can be a partner in elevating how we in the training simulation community provide tools that ensure operational readiness. The Roundtable will include experts speaking distinctive approaches to leveraging AI for readiness, covering topics like:
• GenAI as Your Co-Creator - How GenAI can collaborate with training developers to design simulations faster and smarter
• Simulation: Impossible - Using GenAI to generate synthetic data for rare or high-risk training scenarios
• Getting Ready for Readiness - Leveraging predictive analytics to anticipate training needs, forecast learner performance, and proactively address skill gaps.

• Dr. Benjamin Bell, VP Advanced Capabilities, Potawatomi Business Development Corporation - Federal Group Moderator
• Dr. Jamieson Gump, Senior Technical Advisor, Dept of the Air Force
• Dr. James Pharmer, Chief Scientist, Naval Air Warfare Center Training System Division  

• Welcome Remarks: Claire Hughes, 2025 Conference Chair, Design Interactive, LLC
• Reception Sponsor: VMASC  

• Claire Hughes, 2025 Conference Chair, Design Interactive, LLC  

As healthcare and military medicine evolve, so must the training tools for future medical professionals. This session convenes a panel of experts from research, technology, military operations, and government to discuss the transformation of medical simulation, from traditional mannequins to immersive, AI-enhanced environments. Topics include the integration of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality in training, the use of haptics for procedural accuracy, and the role of human factors in system design. The panel will also explore challenges in scaling simulation across diverse settings, share insights from real-world deployments, and highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Attendees will gain a strategic outlook on how emerging technologies, policy changes, and evolving threats are shaping the future of medical readiness and education.

• Frank Karluk, Account Executive, DLH Corporation Moderator
• JoAnn Archer, Deputy Director RDT&E, Design Interactive, LLC
• Cheryl Lockhart, Senior Military Advisor, SimX VR
• Madison Quinn, Research Lead, Engineering & Computer Simulations, Inc.
• CMSgt Adam Reading USAF (Ret.), Director of Simulation Sales, North American Rescue  

Click the “Download Program/Agenda" link at the top of the page to view the full list of Paper Sessions.  

Click the “Download Program/Agenda" link at the top of the page to view the full list of Paper Sessions.  

From drug development through agriculture and ship building, immersive, spatial and AI technologies are helping accelerate new discoveries and fundamentally changing the way companies are building, deploying, and marketing their products. This panel will explore how these technologies are used today, and the strategies teams are using to overcome the technological and institutional challenges that threaten adoption. The impact of technologies such as the next generation of wearable AR glasses, neurosymbolic AI, and the use of digital twins will be discussed. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how these technologies are changing development at Fortune 50 companies and how these lessons can be leveraged at their own organizations.

• Claire Hughes, Portfolio Manager, Design Interactive, LLC Moderator
• Chris Binion, Director of Digital Innovation, Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Sean Danowski, CEO, MergePlot
• Dr. Joseph Marr, Lead Data Scientist, Newport News Shipbuilding
• Chris Mulberry, Senior Solutions Architect, Industry Solutions, Unity Technologies  

• Claire Hughes, 2025 Conference Chair, Design Interactive, LLC
• Vance Souders, 2026 Conference Chair, Thermo Fisher Scientific