8:30-9:50 AM: Opening Keynote Presentation
The History of the Universe from Beginning to End
Dr. John C. Mather
Dr. John C. Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he specializes in infrared astronomy and cosmology. He and his team showed that the cosmic microwave background radiation has a blackbody spectrum within 50 parts per million, confirming the Big Bang theory to extraordinary accuracy. Dr. Mather now serves as Senior Project Scientist (1995-present) for the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the great Hubble Space Telescope. (Read more…)
The history of the universe in a nutshell, from the Big Bang to now, and on to the future. John Mather will tell the story of how we got here, how the Universe began with a Big Bang, how it could have produced an Earth where sentient beings can live, and how those beings are discovering their history. Mather was Project Scientist for NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, which measured the spectrum (the color) of the heat radiation from the Big Bang, discovered hot and cold spots in that radiation, and hunted for the first objects that formed after the great explosion. He will explain Einstein’s biggest mistake, how Edwin Hubble discovered the expansion of the universe, how the COBE mission was built, and how the COBE data support the Big Bang theory. He will also show NASA’s plans for the next great telescope in space, the James Webb Space Telescope, which will look even further back in time than the Hubble Space Telescope: It will peer inside the dusty cocoons where stars and planets are being born today, it is capable of examining Earth-like planets around other stars using the transit technique, and future missions may find signs of life.
9:55-10:55 AM: Concurrent Sessions
9:55-10:55 AM (IEEE Session):
Post-silicon Realization of “My System” on a Chip – Myth or Reality?
Dr. S. K. Nandy
Technologies and Applications play a complementary and dual role in converting what is “science fiction” today into something that is an “App” tomorrow. In less than five decades, we have witnessed how Silicon Micro-Chips revolutionized the miniaturization of electronic systems. Today’s System-on-Chips (SoCs) solutions achieve extreme levels of application performance at low power budgets considered infeasible even a decade ago.
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) is today reaching levels wherein billions of transistors are packed on a single chip. A 1024 core chip will possibly have 50 billion transistors at 10nm technology. This development gives rise to the following questions:
- Can we really use billions of transistors?
- Do we have applications and the corresponding volume to justify the non-recurring engineering (NRE) cost for designing such chips?
In seeking answers to the above questions, we find opportunities that enable new applications spanning a wide variety of domains such as Numerical Linear Algebra, Crypt Analysis, Molecular Dynamics, DNA and Protein Sequencing for Next Generation Medicine, etc.
This presentation will respond to the above questions by exploring the benefits of post-silicon domain customization and personalization of a SoC through runtime reconfiguration of hardware. Special focus will be given to the reality of the realization of such post-silicon “My System” on a Chip solutions.
9:55-10:55 AM (ISSA Session):
The “New Normal” – Integration of Social Media and Physical Security
Dr. Terry Gudaitis
In today’s world, social media and physical security are tightly correlated and in some cases inseparable. This presentation will focus on some of the key aspects of the social media impact on physical security. This includes preparation and response planning, incident response/mitigation, and post incident assessment, There are, of course, the obvious ties such as GPS on smart phones, and posted images which contain geo-location data and time and date stamps. However, the ability to disclose information is endless, particularly in light of the increase in social media sharing, apps, and functionality of sites such as Facebook (Timeline, Graph Search), Google+ (Circles, Hangouts, and Sparks), Snapchat and Instagram. Other apps and social media can be used to collect data, assist in investigations, or assess individual or organizational vulnerability. Several actual case studies will be provided which outline the contemporary impacts, results, and consequences of incidents that demonstrate how sharing and communications via tablets, smart phones and social media are re-writing how to plan for and respond to physical security incidents.
9:55-10:55 AM (PMI Session):
Managing Projects In A Multi-Cultural Environment
Robert Ferguson & Wind Chen
This session will present an overview to aid today’s Project Manager in understanding the differences in culture, ethics, business perspective, politics, and regulation in China, compared with the current U.S. environment. Differing value assumptions between the two cultures will be explored as a foundation to understanding personal perspectives that drive behavior. Discussion will focus on current areas of business contention as related to topics such as intellectual property, trade and currency manipulation, fiscal and social policy, and more.
11:00 AM-12:00 PM: Concurrent Sessions
11:00 AM-12:00 PM (IEEE Session):
The Diamond of Innovation, Integrating Engineering, Innovation, and Project Management
Dr. Aaron Shenhar
In a fast-changing world, no organization can survive without innovation. But innovation is a risky business and too many good ideas never make it to market. For innovation to succeed, in-depth market knowledge must be combined with superior engineering talent, first-class project management, and a carefully-managed innovation process. However, the knowledge-base in each of these disciplines has evolved separately. Traditional engineering, marketing, project, and innovation communities typically hold separate conferences. Their work and research are published in different journals, and the communities rarely interact with each other. In the real world, however, they are all part of the same process – the process of turning ideas into useful products and profitable businesses.
Based on two decades of research, involving over 1000 projects and innovations, this presentation will propose “The Diamond of Innovation” as a unified framework for engineering, marketing, project, and innovation management. “The Diamond” is a part of Strategic Project Leadership® (SPL), which is a comprehensive, research-based, and industry-proven methodology that transforms managers into leaders of business who take ownership of their projects’ business outcomes, by combining the strategic aspects of innovation, the operational needs of timely delivery, and the leadership perspectives of inspiring and motivating teams. This presentation will demonstrate the method on several well-known projects, and it will illustrate how careful selection and planning of innovation contributes to better project and business success.
11:00 AM-12:00 PM (ISSA Session):
Cyber Security Strategy – Why We’re Losing and What’s Needed to Win
Steven Chabinsky
Everybody seems to be spending more on cybersecurity, but with questionable return on investment. In fact, the problem clearly is getting worse. This presentation explores the typical cyber risk environment, considers the proper balance and likely effectiveness of threat deterrence, vulnerability mitigation, and consequence management to reduce cyber risk, and examines the current and evolving roles of government agencies and the private sector in addressing the problem. Backed by powerful, real-world examples of threat actor tactics, this presentation will help managers develop a better understanding of how their current security approach is most likely to succeed or fail over time, and what strategies will most likely shift the advantage to the “good guys.”
11:00 AM-12:00 PM (PMI Session):
Power, Influence, and Politics in Project Management
Vijay Verma
Ignoring the external and internal politics surrounding your project can be hazardous to your project’s health. Instead of ignoring the politics, gain the power you need to influence and lead others and get the job done!
This session will help you understand the importance and dynamics of power and politics in project management. It will outline the characteristics and outcomes of power, and assist you in analyzing the political context in your organizations. It will emphasize the importance of managing stakeholders through leadership and influence. Finally, it will help you identify eight forms of power, understand characteristics and outcomes of power, develop strategies to increase your total power, and learn practical guidelines to exercise influence successfully without formal authority.
The techniques and reminders covered in this highly-interactive and engaging session will give you many practical tips that you can immediately use to understand the dynamics of power and learn how to use your power effectively in your own organization.
12:05-1:25 PM: Luncheon Keynote Presentation
(title of presentation to be announced)
Wayne Towson
Wayne Towson serves as Chief Information Officer of INTERPOL Washington, the United States National Central Bureau. As the current chair of the INTERPOL Law Enforcement Technical Advisory Group (ILETAG), Mr. Towson advises the INTERPOL General Secretariat on the strategic development of cost-efficient technologies that support global police and law enforcement activities for INTERPOL.
1:30-2:30 PM: Concurrent Sessions
1:30-2:30 PM (IEEE Session):
Getting Teams to High Performance – The Soft Stuff Counts!
John H. Cable, RA; PMP
Research shows that clear, attainable goals and timely constructive feedback, as well as net positive emotional tone in the workplace (e.g., in the Project Team), tap into intrinsic motivation (relatedness, autonomy, mastery, and purpose), and well-being or happiness at work. The material is all empirically researched, and linked to key organizational outcomes; furthermore, it offers measureable benefit, is easily actionable, and generates high return on effort / investment. In this session, Professor Cable will walk you through these concepts and show how they produce high performance teams.
1:30-2:30 PM (ISSA Session):
NASA’s Defense-in-Depth Strategy for Responding to Cyber Security Attacks and Intrusions
Howard Whyte
Mr. Howard Whyte is the Security Operations Executive in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (Read more…)
The NASA brand and cutting-edge activities, coupled with the uniqueness of its mission, make NASA a popular target for cyber security attacks and intrusions. In the last year, like most Federal agencies, NASA has seen the full spectrum of cyber security attacks and intrusions. NASA continues to identify and mitigate a voluminous number of intrusions, which lead to a profound and negative impact on the Agency’s mission-assurance posture. Because of NASA’s high profile, some of these attacks and intrusions have received public media attention.
NASA employs the defense-in-depth strategy to prevent, mitigate and respond to attacks or intrusions on its networks and information systems. The employment of a defense-in-depth strategy provides NASA with a proven framework as it designs, deploys, and continuously assesses its security posture based on best practices in the hardware, software, and policy arena.
The ongoing evolution of the NASA Security Operations Center (SOC) has seen the incorporation of additional threat and intelligence data sources, the addition of detection and analysis tools, and the establishment of enterprise incident detection, monitoring, reporting and response procedures. Collectively, these improved capabilities have enhanced the Agency’s ability to detect and provide actionable information to stakeholders on cyber attacks and intrusions.
1:30-2:30 PM (PMI Session):
Leader in the Mirror
Ron Taylor
Although the fundamentals of leadership have remained the same for eons, the demands upon leaders have changed. Today, people expect their jobs and their projects to be challenging, interesting and engaging. The leaders of successful projects, programs and organizations know this, and they know how to create a collaborative environment in which their team members and employees are challenged, interested, and engaged. They recognize their success is not solely the result of how well they perform, but how well others perform, so they invest their time and energy in helping others succeed.
In this presentation, you will learn foundational leadership principles that have proven to work in a wide variety of circumstances. You will also have the opportunity to learn from others how you might solve your most difficult leadership challenges.
2:35-3:35 PM: Concurrent Sessions
2:35-3:35 PM (IEEE Session):
Signal Processing and Compressive Sensing: A Perspective
Dr. Rabinder Madan
In applications of data processing there are two functions. The first is acquisition followed by compression, and the second is recovery or reconstruction of the original data and an associated physical picture of interest. In digital signal processing, the Shannon Nyquist theorem states that in order to capture and eventually reconstruct the original data exactly, the sampling rate should be at least twice the maximum frequency in the signal. The challenge of compressive theory is to directly sample a signal during acquisition so that data is collected at a rate lower than the Shannon Nyquist rate. In recent times, the theory of compressive sampling (CS) has introduced the notion of sparsity, by showing that one can recover a signal from far fewer samples than required by the Shannon Nyquist theorem. The main idea has revolved around reconstruction of a signal. For example, if the signal has been acquired in the time domain, the CS theory reconstruction takes place in a space in which the signal is sparse, instead of in the time domain in which it was acquired. In particular, the theory of CS states that a K-sparse signal x of length N can be recovered exactly with high probability from O(KlogN) measurements via linear programming. A great deal of elegant work has been done in the recovery of a signal once the sparsity and the associated space have been enumerated, but there is no precise prescription in CS for capturing the signal using far fewer samples than prescribed by the Shannon Nyquist Theorem. In this presentation, we will review some developments of recent vintage and illustrate these points.
2:35-3:35 PM (ISSA Session):
Mobile Devices: The New Cybersecurity Threat
Amber Schroader
Mobile devices are more than the latest fad. They are the driving force in any organization and the largest security risk as well. Cybersecurity is now evolving to deal with the issues associated with these mobile risks, but what can your organization do? Learn how to identify the risks associated with mobile devices with discussions on the latest spyware. Stop these risks with new security rules and new techniques for auditing these devices. Finally, know how to respond when you are victimized by the use of these devices in a crime against your organization.
2:35-3:35 PM (PMI Session):
The Daily Habits of Successful Individuals
Tom Corley
Tom Corley is is President of Cerefice & Company, a CPA firm, and is the CEO of The Rich Habits Institute, an organization that offers Rich Habits training, seminars and education learning sessions.Tom has authored several books including his revolutionary self-help book “Rich Habits” and his “Top 100 Cheapest Places to Retire in the U.S.” book series.
This 60 minute Education Session will teach you the success habits that transform ordinary individuals into the super successful. During this session you will discover:
- The 10 success habits of successful individuals: simple techniques for changing your daily habits.
- How the successful create their own luck.
- The four techniques successful individuals use to grow/strengthen their relationships and make more money.
- The secret goal-setting strategies of the successful that you can use to achieve 100% of your goals.
3:40-5:00 PM: Closing Keynote Presentation
The First 40+ Years and Into the Future
James R. Snyder
James Snyder is one of the founders of the Project Management Institute (PMI). Often referred to as the “Father of PMI,” Mr. Snyder has been awarded the PMI Man of the Year Award and is an Honorary Life Member of the Institute. The James R. Snyder Knowledge and Wisdom Center at PMI Headquarters is named in his honor. (Read more…)
To understand the project management professional of 2013 (and beyond) requires an understanding of how we have matured and changed from the project schedulers and planners of the 1960s. Where did we come from, and how did PMI play a role in building a new profession? A look back at the people, places, and environment will not only tell us about our history, but will also help us understand where project management may be headed and how you can influence that direction.
This presentation aims to put you back in the 1960s, to help you understand the motivation for the founding of PMI, and to give you a look at the time and people. With this bit of history as a backdrop, we will then take a look at what the future may hold for the project management profession and PMI.
Please be prepared to ask questions and add your thoughts to the discussion.