Speakers

Brandon Branham, chief technology officer (CTO) and assistant city manager, leads the City of Peachtree Corners’ groundbreaking smart city and Internet of Things (IoT) programs. Overseeing one of the first real-world smart city ecosystems deployed in the United States, he is bringing the region to the forefront in the development of next generation IoT technologies that will change the face of business and society in the near future – both within the country and across the world.

Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners is the country’s first true smart city technology proving ground – featuring real connected city infrastructure and thousands of interacting residents/vehicles that can’t be replicated by closed or controlled testing environments. The 500-acre technology park and 1.5-mile autonomous vehicle test street creates conditions that enable robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous services/vehicles and countless more emerging applications to be trialed, developed and ultimately deployed globally.

Serving as the model for how government entities and the free market must collaborate to build out smart cities and regions in the United States, Curiosity Lab showcases how buildings and other city fixtures are enabling, and connecting with, devices and solutions. When it comes to autonomous technologies, for example, Curiosity Lab’s mobile 5G network, combined with direct short-range communications (DSRC) roadside units, enable disruptive technology developers to test vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications in an unprecedented manner. Intelligent traffic cameras and traffic signals, along with smart street lights and data sensors, push video and invaluable data to a central operations center for analysis and action. All reflective of how city infrastructure will soon communicate with machines and humans on a scale never seen before.

Branham serves on various boards in the community, and recently received his certification in cybersecurity leadership from the Professional Development Academy, in conjunction with the International City Managers Association.

Captain Cohen enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2005 and initially served in an infantry battalion before being selected to join the Marine Reconnaissance community in 2006. Sergeant Cohen served five years with the Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. In 2011, he was assigned to Special Operations Training Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force where he served as the lead instructor for Maritime Interdiction Operations. He was accepted for a commissioning program in 2013 and attended The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. After graduating in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in supply chain management, Second Lieutenant Cohen chose the logistics officer pathway and was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. After being selected to Naval Postgraduate School in 2020, First Lieutenant Cohen earned masters degrees in Defense Systems Analysis and Applied Design for Innovation, graduating in June 2022. He is currently assigned to Marine Corps Installations Command - West as the Director of Emerging Technologies and the NavalX Southern California TechBridge Director. 

Dan Elmore is the Director of Critical Infrastructure Security & Resilience in the National & Homeland Security directorate at the Idaho National Laboratory. He also serves as the Executive Director of the INL Wireless Security Institute.

Mr. Elmore provides strategic leadership in support of the research, development, and deployment of engineered solutions to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure. Significant focus areas for his organization are resilient control systems, electric power grid security, spectrum sharing, and wireless communications challenges targeted at large infrastructure, as well as military systems and platforms. Mr. Elmore has been a senior leader on INL’s national security team since 2013.

Mr. Elmore is a retired Air Force colonel with more than 27 years of activeduty military experience leading organizations comprised of military, civilian, and contractor teams performing cyber operations support, communications systems, and networks engineering, national and nuclear command and control systems operations, and Continuity of Government and contingency operations planning. His last active-duty assignment was at the Pentagon where he directed the largest single cyberspace office in Air Force Headquarters.

Prior to the Pentagon, Mr. Elmore served in a variety of positions and locations, including the White House, U.S. Strategic Command, Alaska, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan. His extensive operational experience, coupled with a fundamental knowledge of critical infrastructure and its relationship to mission assurance, exposure to the inner workings of federal and intelligence agencies, as well as broad exposure to specialized and classified capabilities, helps to advance National & Homeland Security programs.

Mr. Elmore attained his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, Master’s degree in Systems Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School, and Master’s degree in Computer & Information Resources Management from Webster University. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association, Life Member of the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association, and a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical & Electronics Engineers.

John Avery is director of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state of Georgia's technology incubator. A serial entrepreneur who was part of four startups, Avery is a tech startup veteran with broad experience in data and wireless voice technologies.

Sumit Roy (Fellow, IEEE) received the B. Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur) in 1983, and the M. S. and Ph. D. degrees from the University of California (Santa Barbara), all in Electrical & Comp. Engineering in 1985 and 1988 respectively, as well as an M. A. in Statistics and Applied Probability in 1988. He served as Integrated Systems Professor (2014-19) of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Univ. of Washington-Seattle where his research and technology transition interests include analysis/design of wireless communication and sensor network systems with an emphasis on 5G & beyond standards, multi-standard inter-networking and spectrum coexistence using software-defined networks.

He spent 2001-03 at Intel Wireless Technology Lab as a Senior Researcher engaged in systems architecture and standards development for ultra-wideband systems (Wireless PANs) and next generation high-speed wireless LANs. He has active been in IEEE Communications Society in various roles (journal editor and Distinguished Lecturer) and was elevated to IEEE Fellow (2007) for contributions to multi-user communications theory and cross-layer design of wireless networking standards”. He currently serves as Program Director for Innovate Beyond 5G for OUSD R&E Beyond 5G initiative https://5g-to-xg.org 

Manny is an accomplished Technology Leader skilled at identifying and validating nascent technologies and business trends that transform the way we learn, work, play, and communicate. He is a thought leader in the area of Industrial IOT, Advanced Manufacturing, 5G and Multiaccess Edge Compute (MEC), influencing related industry standards. He is leading Verizon in driving engagement and adoption of Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) and Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) technologies by major ecosystem players and partners. Manny has 27+ years of industry experience and holds a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Click here to view Mr. McFadden's full biography.

Kevin McFadden is a subject matter expert in business architecture and government vertical solutions supporting Cisco Systems US Federal Solutions Team.  During his twenty-two-year tenure with Cisco, he has performed strategic and innovative roles in support of key programs for the departments of dense, homeland security, justice, and treasury focusing on enterprise, tactical, public safety, first responder, and law enforcement missions.  A veteran of the communications and software development field, he has more than twenty-eight years of real-world experience that enables him to act as trusted advisor to many of Cisco’s customers and industry partners.  

Chuck Mowery III is the U.S. Federal 5G Defense Strategist working collaboratively with customers, partners, and internal Cisco teams to drive the next generation of 5G capabilities.

Arshdeep Sawhney is the Director of Product Management for Public Sector at Verizon. She is responsible for enabling robust, mission critical and innovative solutions for Federal, State and Local, and Education customers. Arsh has successfully launched wireless, wireline, applications and cloud based solutions in Verizon. Previously, she has led product development, global strategy and business operations with roles of increasing responsibility at Panasonic, Motorola and Metrico Wireless (now Spirent). She has been in the telecommunications industry for 15+ years and holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA.

Alisha Powell Gillis is the senior editor at Route Fifty where she is responsible for programming live and online events content, moderating panel discussions, soliciting, editing and writing analytical pieces and overseeing the annual Navigator Awards program. Before joining Route Fifty, Alisha was the director for community impact at the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) where she worked to connect urban public libraries to critical issues in state and local government and led event programming. Prior to ULC, Alisha served the nation's governors for nearly a decade at the National Governors Association where she specialized in homeland security, emergency management and cybersecurity issues. Alisha holds a master's degree in global security studies from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Hofstra University.

Patrick Tucker is technology editor for Defense One. He’s also the author of THE NAKED FUTURE: WHAT HAPPENS IN A WORLD THAT ANTICIPATES YOUR EVERY MOVE? (CURRENT, 2014). Previously, Tucker was deputy editor for The Futurist for nine years. Tucker has written about emerging technology in Slate, The Sun, MIT Technology Review, Wilson Quarterly, The American Legion Magazine, BBC News Magazine, Utne Reader, and elsewhere.

Aaron Boyd is an award-winning journalist currently serving as senior editor for technology and events at Nextgov. He primarily covers federal government IT contracting and cybersecurity issues affecting both civilian and defense agencies. As a lifelong nerd and policy wonk, he feels right at home covering the intersection of technology and policy in the nation’s capital.