5:30 PM - 5:35 PM:
Symposium Chair opening remarks

Ann Marie Raynal, Sandia National Labs. (United States) and Ravi Ravichandran, BAE Systems (United States) welcome all SPIE Defense + Security 2026 attendees and will announce the winner of the SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award.

 

5:35 PM - 5:40 PM:
SPIE Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award
Presented in recognition of impactful innovations in computational perception-based image processing, especially in blind-image quality assessment and randomness measurement, contributing to advancements in image enhancement and medical imaging.

 

5:40 PM - 6:20 PM:
Space’s role in the DAF BATTLE NETWORK

Raj Agrawal , Military Deputy for Space, Department of the Air Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management (DAF PAE C3BM) (United States)

Raj Agrawal is Military Deputy for Space; Department of the Air Force Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management; Headquarters, United States Space Force. Prior to this assignment, he was the inaugural commander of Mission Delta 2, the United States Space Force’s first Space Domain Awareness mission area command, amounting to $4.6 billion-dollar oversight across operations, sustainment, development, cyber defense, and intelligence; spanning the globe with over 1000 personnel at 17 locations supporting national security objectives in four countries. Col Agrawal earned his commission from the USAF Officer Training School in 2001 after serving for eight years as a schoolteacher in Texas. The colonel has extensive joint and battle management experience spanning five Air and Space Operations Centers, the National Reconnaissance Office, multiple combatant commands and named operations. Colonel Agrawal is a graduate of the US Air Force Weapons School, the US Army Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officer School, a Distinguished Graduate of Air Command and Staff College and the Eisenhower School, a graduate of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, and has a Ph.D. in Business Administration.

 

6:20 PM - 7:00 PM:
Science and technology determines the future

Stacie Williams, Chief Science Officer, Headquarters United States Space Force (United States)

Stacie Williams, a Senior Level executive, is the Chief Science Officer of the United States Space Force (USSF). She serves as the central lead for all science and technology matters for an organization that comprises approximately 14,000 space professionals worldwide. In this role, she develops long-term military requirements for the USSF and interacts with other principals, operational commanders, combatant commands, acquisition organizations, and international communities to address cross-organizational science and technical issues and solutions. Dr. Williams represents the USSF science and technology community across the U.S. government, industry, academia, the international community, and other scientific and technology organizations. Dr. Williams joins Headquarters, USSF from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), where she was the Space Science Architect for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). At AFOSR, Dr. Williams led the basic research investment strategy for space, ensuring that basic science investments effectively met USSF mission needs. In prior assignments, she led AFOSR's remote sensing research portfolio as well as AFRL's space imaging portfolio. Dr. Williams served as a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office, where she led a portfolio focusing on remote sensing, small satellite technologies, and high-energy laser detection. Dr. Williams entered government service in 2011 at AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate, and spent several years as the Technical Advisor at the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site, leading researchers and operators in developing and transitioning the world's only 24-hour resolved imaging capability, in addition to other space domain awareness technologies.

Event Details

FORMAT: General session with live audience Q&A to follow each presentation.
MENU: Water will be available outside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.