Dave Arland is the president of Arland Communications in Carmel, Indiana. With more than 30 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry, Dave Arland is respected by both editors and listeners as a knowledgeable resource.  Dave graduated from Butler University in 1985 with a degree in Radio & Television. He spent three years on-air at WIBC and WIRE Radio before being named Press Secretary to four-term Indianapolis Mayor, Bill Hudnut. After a wealth of city government and national association experience, Dave joined Thomson/RCA in 1991.  At Thomson, Dave moved up through the ranks to be named Vice President of Global Consumer Marketing. He led the public relations efforts to introduce MP3 music players, high-definition TV, and e-book readers to consumers throughout the United States and Europe. He also served as the company’s voice in Washington, testifying twice before Congress and helping staff of the Federal Communications Commission understand complex digital technology developments.

In 2008, he started Arland Communications and has helped consumer companies, broadcasters, and trade associations reach new audiences with the help of a dedicated team and key partners.  In 2015, he was named Executive Director of the Indiana Broadcasters Association. Dave volunteers as Master Steward educator for Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, is a passionate STAR TREK fan, and is on the board of WFYI Public TV in Indianapolis.

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books of science fiction and fantasy, including Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, City at the End of Time, Mariposa, and Hull Zero Three. His upcoming novel, WAR DOGS is due to arrive in October 2014. Although he has also illustrated both hardcover and paperback novels, he devotes his talents almost exclusively to writing.

Greg has lectured around the world on literary, scientific, and technological subjects. He has served on political and scientific action committees and has advised Microsoft Corporation, Xbox, the U.S. Army, Sandia National Laboratories, Callison Architecture, Inc., Homeland Security, and other groups and agencies.

Between 1983 and 1999, he served on the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy, a private group organized by Jerry Pournelle, James Ransom, and Larry Niven, consisting of scientists, military specialists, space scientists and engineers, astronauts, and writers. The group contributed substantially to the end of the Cold War and advised NASA on the future of commercial space.

In the late 1960s, Greg helped found the San Diego Comic-Con with a group of high school friends and local fans. He served on the committee for a number of years. Today, Comic-Con is a totemic multimedia extravaganza drawing more than 120,000 attendees yearly. He also helped found the Association of Science Fiction Artists.

David Brin is a scientist, speaker, technical consultant and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages

His 1989 ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A 1998 movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on The Postman.

Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI and nanotechnology, future/prediction and philanthropy. His non-fiction book—The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy?—deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.

As a public "scientist/futurist" David appears frequently on TV, including, most recently, on many episodes of The Universe and on the History Channel's best-watched show (ever) Life After People. He also was a regular cast member on "The ArciTECHS." (For others, see "Media and Punditry.")

Brin's scientific work covers an eclectic range of topics, from astronautics, astronomy, and optics to alternative dispute resolution and the role of neoteny in human evolution. His PhD in Physics from UCSD—the University of California at San Diego (the lab of nobelist Hannes Alfven)—followed a masters in optics and an undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Caltech. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Space Institute and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Hal Davis is a senior vice president and cultural studio leader in SmithGroupJJR’s Washington, DC office, with comprehensive management and design responsibilities. He is both a registered architect and registered interior designer, with over 35 years of experience in the programming of large-scale and complex projects.  A 1969 graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor of architecture degree, Hal received his master of architecture degree from Louis Kahn’s studio at the University of Pennsylvania in 1970.  He came to Washington, DC in 1976 when he joined the firm of Metcalf & Associates, later becoming a partner of the same firm, which ultimately became known as Tobey + Davis before merging with SmithGroupJJR in 2000.

 Hal has been a key member of the firm’s recent and current work on many of the District’s most significant projects along the National Mall and within the Monumental Core, encompassing preservation of National Historic Landmark buildings as well as construction of new facilities. Among his current clients are: the Smithsonian Institution, George Washington University, George Mason University, the American Type Culture Collection, the Library of Congress, and the Architect of the Capitol. Among his projects for the Smithsonian are the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the NMAI Cultural Resource Center, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Arts and Industries Building Renovation, the Kogod Courtyard Enclosure, and others.

 Throughout his work, Hal has played a significant role in team coordination, consensus-building, and commission review and approvals processes. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, member of the Federal City Council, the Economic Club of Washington, Lambda Alpha, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, American Alliance of Museums, International Association of Museum Facility Administrators, and the Board of Spirit Serving Veterans.

Phil Frana is an Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies and Associate Dean of the Honors College at James Madison University (Harrisonburg VA). He is currently writing a book on the history of artificial intelligence, The Past, Present, and Future of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Automation (ABC-CLIO, 2019).

Jane Frank is a science fiction and fantasy author, collector, and art dealer who, with her husband Howard, has been an avid supporter of the science fiction and fantasy genre for almost forty years. The Frank Collection of original fantasy art and literature is regarded as one of the world's finest, and two books documenting the collection have been published: The Frank Collection: A Showcase of the World's Finest Fantastic Art (1999), and Great Fantasy Art Themes from the Frank Collection (2003).  In 1991 Jane established the Worlds of Wonder art agency to gain wider exposure for the artists, and the original artworks, that are used to illustrate science fiction and fantasy books, games and commercial products. She has authored two illustrated biographical art books: The Art of Richard Powers (Paper Tiger/Chrysalis, 2001, a Hugo Award finalist) and The Art of John Berkey (Paper Tiger/Chrysalis, 2003), and has written and lectured widely on various aspects of the field, including many articles on art and collecting. In 2005 she edited two books on the well-known British weird fantasy author William Hope Hodgson: The Wandering Soul – Glimpses of a Life: A Compendium of Rare and Unpublished Works, and The Lost Poetry of William Hope Hodgson (both for PS Publishing/Tartarus Press). She edited a collection of illustrated essays titled Pixel or Paint?  The Digital Divide in Illustration Art (Nonstop, 2007),  and left her position as college adjunct lecturer in 2006 so as to complete A Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists in 2009 (McFarland & Co).  She completed a similar Biographical Dictionary of Role-Playing Game and Collector Card Game Artists in 2012, also for McFarland.  She is a life-time member of the Association of Science Fiction Artists (ASFA), a member of the Society of Illustrators (NY), and an affiliate member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Jane was Guest of Honor at Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, IL in 2012, the first time an agent was so honored, and arranged for the showcasing of H. Rider Haggard illustrative art from the Frank Collection for the convention.  Jane blogs weekly under the byline The Artful Collector for Amazing Stories and has published her short fiction in the e-zine Estronomicon.  As part of her academic career and contributions, Jane for fifteen years taught business courses at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland (College Park), and undergraduate and graduate courses in Communication and Public Speaking at American University (Washington, DC), and she has consulted on sales and marketing issues for small businesses, authors and artists.

She has published several papers in refereed academic journals, and has contributed to books on linguistic, communications and business topics. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from Georgetown University, an MBA in Marketing, an MS in Education, and a BA in Anthropology/Sociology.

Kurt Kuhn is the founder and owner of Modeler's Miniatures & Magic, an online forum and gallery dedicated to supporting and showcasing the artistry of the studio-scale modeling community. Kurt's passion for model making and building began at an early age when he saw the original Star Trek TV series and Star Wars movie. Since then, he has built and overseen the construction of hundreds of models and props in his lifetime, many of them near identical replicas to what had been used on set during filming. Kurt works with major film studios and professional artists worldwide for projects that require high quality miniatures or blue screen photography. His photos have been used in Star Wars calendars, Topps Cards, and Celebration posters, among others. While he continues to oversee the creation of new items through his network of artists, Kurt is also active in various charitable and community service foundations. He owns a company dedicated to immune system health products, and Kurt and his wife now enjoy leading service-oriented lives.

Morgan Gendel is an award-winning television and film executive. Among Morgan's more notable accomplishments is his Hugo Award-winning episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Inner Light. The Inner Light which places USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard in an alternate life for what seems to him like 50 years, was recently ranked by science fiction website io9.com as the #8 best episode from among all 700 hours of various Trek series. The tale of Picard’s road not taken, into a life of hearth and home, has resonated fans for nearly a quarter of a century.

Mr. Gendel is a former journalist and network executive who over the last 25 years has written or produced more than 200 episodes of television, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Law & Order, MTV's Spider-Man, V.I.P. and The Dresden Files. He is partnered with Stan Lee on the graphic novel Hellana and is currently adapting the Ursula K. LeGuin novel, The Telling as a feature film. He teaches Drama TV Writing at Columbia College Chicago, International Film School of Cologne, the Filmakademie in Stuttgart, and speaks at dozens of science fiction events around the world.

Mason Peck is an Associate Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University and the Director of Cornell's Space Systems Design Studio. His research interests include space-systems architecture and satellite dynamics and control. Beginning in 2012 he served a two-year term as NASA's Chief Technologist in Washington, DC. In that role, he acted as the agency's chief strategist for technology investment and prioritization and chief advocate for innovation in aeronautics and space technology.

Dr. Peck received an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, a Master's degree in English at the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at UCLA. From 1994 to 2001 he was a systems engineer and attitude-control specialist at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (the former Hughes Space and Communications) in El Segundo, California. From 2001 to 2004 he was a Principal Fellow at Honeywell in Phoenix, Arizona, where he directed research related to agile satellites.

Since 2004 he has been on the Faculty at Cornell University, where he is jointly appointed to the Systems Engineering program and the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His lab currently leads three spaceflight technology demonstrations, the most recent of which is Kicksat, a crowd-funded technology demonstrator for satellites-on-a-chip.

Jeffrey Rutenbeck is the Dean of the School of Communication (SOC) at American University in Washington, DC. Since 2012, Dr. Rutenbeck has worked to build McKinley Hall, the new home for the School of Communication (SOC) and expanding the Dean’s Internships with organizations such as NPR, The Smithsonian, USA Today, and National Geographic. Dr. Rutenbeck has also launched several new initiatives at the university including an Investigative Journalism Practicum with the Washington Post, and a new campus-wide initiative in Game Design and Persuasive Play. He also joined the first DC-area team to enter the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon.

Before joining American University, Dr. Rutenbeck was the founding dean of the Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. During six years at Champlain, he oversaw growing programs in game design, game art and animation, communication, public relations, graphic design and digital media, and emergent media among other areas.  From 1989-2006 Jeff was a professor and administrator at the University of Denver where, in 1996, he founded the interdisciplinary bachelor’s and master’s programs in Digital Media Studies – a combination of communication, art, and computer science.  

Jeff’s digital life began in earnest in 1987 when he joined Microsoft and worked on the development team of Word for Windows 1.0. His early scholarly work focused on journalism history, but his most recent efforts have explored the technical foundations of the digital revolution and the increasingly complicated technology/society dynamic.  

He holds a BA in history and political science from Colorado College; an MA in journalism from the University of Missouri - Columbia, and a PhD in communication from the University of Washington.

Paul Stimers is a partner in the Public Policy and Law practice at K&L Gates in Washington DC.  He focuses his policy advocacy efforts on matters related to emerging technologies, such as commercial spaceflight, IT, nanotechnology, and water technology, and advises a wide range of companies and industry associations in pursuing legislation and representing their interests before Congress and federal agencies.

As policy counsel to several major commercial spaceflight companies and the leading industry association for commercial spaceflight, Paul has been active in helping the industry grow while continuing to support a strong role for NASA.  In the field of information technology policy, Paul works with software companies and industry associations to ensure data and network security without restricting technological development. He has helped manage industry-wide efforts to prevent technology mandates while improving security. He has also assisted companies in developing privacy policies that protect consumers’ personal information while enabling new products and services.

In addition to his work with emerging technologies, Paul works extensively with nonprofit organizations addressing the needs of the world’s poorest people. He helped to pass the Water for the Poor Act of 2005, which created a framework for the United States to help provide millions of people with sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and the Water for the World Act of 2014, which further expanded US efforts to improve access.  Since 2005, he has helped direct more than $1.5 billion toward providing water and sanitation to those who need it most.  He also advises organizations supporting funding for broader US poverty-focused development assistance.

Paul has a BA in political science from the University of Washington, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Henry "Trae" Winter III is an astrophysicist working for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). Dr. Winter has worked on eight NASA missions observing the Sun with varied duties such as designing optics, analyzing complex data sets, instrument calibration, planning observations, and designing software to automatically detect features in big data streams. His primary research focus is improving computer simulations to explore how energy is released in the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, and in other stars. Dr. Winter also designs video wall exhibits that bring the wonder and beauty of the Sun and the universe to public.  His exhibits have been featured at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, North Carolina State University’s Hunt Library, and the Harvard Art Museums’ Lightbox Gallery. His current project, Eclipse Soundscapes (EclipseSoundscapes.org), designed and built unique tools that brought the awe and wonder of the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse to people who are blind and visually impaired.

Dr. Winter spearheads many efforts to engage the public in scientific discovery at different levels.  He was part of the leadership team that revamped the Montana Space Grant Consortium's Space Public Outreach Team (SPOT) that taught college students how to give professional level presentations on NASA missions to K-12 students in Montana, primarily in rural schools. He also worked on the Yohkoh Public Outreach Project, which was one of the first mission based outreach programs that primarily used the Internet to engage students and teachers alike. Dr. Winter also worked in summer, science education programs at the Salish-Kootenai Flathead Lake Reservation. Currently Dr. Winter is an active member of the Education and Public Outreach Committee for the Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the AAS, Press Officer for the SPD, and partner in NASA’s Space Science Education Consortium.

C. Alex Young is a solar astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Associate Director for Science of its Helophysics Science Division. In this role he is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the education and public outreach (EPO) team for the division. In addition, he works with division scientists to promote and support their research. His research interests include solar activity, space weather, and statistical data analysis. 

Dr. Young received an undergraduate degree in physics at Florida State University where he worked as a research assistant for the Super Conducting Super Collider Detector Development Lab. He received a Masters and PhD in physics at the University of New Hampshire studying cosmic gamma-ray bursts and gamma-ray solar flares, respectively.

He joined the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliophysicists Observatory (SOHO) in 2000 to work with the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT). He later joined the Science Support Center for the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission and became a chief observer for the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the JAXA/NASA Hinode Mission. Dr. Young is a member of the California Harvard Astrostatistics Collaboration (CHASC) and the National Space Weather Implementation Plan Committee (NSWIP).

Dr. Young's passion for sharing knowledge has also been fueled by giving public lectures, television and radio interviews for NASA/TV and participating in several Discovery Channel, PBS, and BBC documentaries. To further this outreach he established The Sun Today website (www.thesuntoday.org) and social media channels (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.)

He has been an avid science fiction, fantasy, and comic book fan all his life. Star Trek, Star Wars, and COSMOS (with Carl Sagan) were huge drivers of his love for science and space.