Plenary Session

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Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Location: Beacon A/B
In-Person presenters in this session provide pre-recorded presentations for viewing by registered attendees on Tuesday, January 28.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS 

8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

Dr. Sherman Lo
ION President, Stanford University

Dr. Andrew Neish
ITM Program Chair, Reliable Robotics

Dr. Josef Vojtech
PTTI Program Chair, CESNET

8:45 a.m. - 9: 45 a.m.

ITM  KEYNOTE

Global Geodetic Observation Systems –Global Challenges to a Shared Resource

Dr. J.N. Nikki Markiel is a member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Leadership and serves as the Senior GEOINT Authority for Geomatics (SGA), Source Directorate, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are critically dependent on geodetic parameters and products to operate. That global geodesy supply chain may soon be in crisis. Despite the importance of the global geodesy supply chain, the risk associated with weaknesses in the global geodesy supply chain remain hidden to many people. In this talk, we will discuss what the global geodetic supply chain (GGCE) is, the critical dependence of GNSS on the GGCE, and what is needed to ensure strong, resilient, and robust GGCE on a National and International basis.

 

Break: 9:45 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Exhibit Hall

10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

PTTI KEYNOTE

Precision Timing and the Quest to Capture Images of a Black Hole

Dr. Michael Johnson is the Deputy Associate Director for Science at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian. He co-led the team that captured the first image of a black hole, and his awards include the 2024 New Horizons Breakthrough Prize in Physics. He is leading the Black Hole Explorer, a mission that will deliver the sharpest images in the history of astronomy.

Explosive growth in digital technologies has created a radio interferometry renaissance, leading to breakthroughs including the first images of black holes with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). These images were produced using the technique of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), which requires precise synchronization among telescopes distributed globally. I will summarize the EHT results and will describe how new technologies for precision timing and high-speed downlink are now enabling extensions of the EHT to space. A space-enhanced EHT would produce the sharpest images in the history of astronomy, revealing the bright and narrow "photon ring" that is predicted to exist in images of black holes, produced from light that has orbited a black hole before escaping. I will describe this recent progress and the extraordinary opportunities for black hole research that will be enabled through advances in the coming decade of precision timing.

 

11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

EXHIBITOR PRESENTATIONS

Moderated and Organized by Dr. Michael Coleman, Naval Research Laboratory
Exhibitors shall have three minutes each to describe new commercial applications available for viewing in their exhibit booth.

In-Person Presentations These presentations will be given in-person at the conference. Presenters will provide a pre-recorded presentation for on-demand viewing by virtual attendees.
1.	Global Geodetic Observation Systems-Global Challenges to a Shared Resource Dr. J.N. "Nikki" Markiel, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
2.	Keynote: Precision Timing and the Quest to Capture Images of a Black Hole Dr. Michael Johnson, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m. Attendee Lunch Buffet Served in Exhibit Hall

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