Meet the Experts

Peter Morales is an AI Research Scientist with a decade of experience at BAE Systems, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Code Metal AI Labs. His expertise spans reinforcement learning and computer vision, with notable publications in top-tier conferences and a best paper award at AAMAS. At MIT, Peter was a foundational member of the AI Technology group, spearheading automation and robotics projects for the Air Force. His contributions include devising and bringing to production algorithms that safeguard the F-35 joint strike fighter and the U.S. Capitol from UAS threats, and developing the fusion engine behind the U.S. Army Hololens' scene understanding platform. Additionally, Peter has successfully founded a VC backed company that was acquired in 2022.

Alex Showalter-Bucher spent a decade developing algorithms, modeling/simulation, and AI capabilities for national security at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He has worked with OSD, Navy, Army, MDA, and DHS. Alex was affiliated with ALERT, a DHS Center of Excellence, and is Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership Fellow. He holds advanced degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a specialization in AI.

Ben Rosenberg is a seasoned technology leader with over 20 years of experience in building and securing large-scale applications and services across the music, sports, gaming, magazine, and blockchain industries. He has worked with prominent clients such as Netflix, ESPN, Major League Baseball, the NFL, Sterling Sound, Condé Nast, and Hearst Corporation. As both a consultant and a director of large teams, Ben has led projects from initial concept to full deployment, implementing cutting-edge technologies and methodologies to meet client needs. He has also played a crucial role in growing startup companies and securing partnerships with other industry-leading firms. His extensive expertise spans software development, application security, project management, and strategic consulting. Ben has also appeared on panels and discussions about innovative blockchain and gaming technologies, including those hosted by Amazon

Armand is a Research Engineer with experience in shipping machine learning research code to large infrastructure. He has developed firmware and fleet communication systems for Aerospec during his time in SEAL at the University of Washington. He brings experience in building predictive pipelines as an engineer at Expedia Group focused on cancellation and metasearch bidding.

Dr. Samson Melamed served as the Director of Research at GLC Technologies, Inc. in Huntsville, AL and at Skydisc, Inc. in Fukuoka, Japan.  He was a Post-Doctoral Researcher and Invited Researcher with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan.  His current research interests include thermal simulation and modeling, heterogeneous integration, and security for microelectronics. Dr. Melamed is a member of the IEEE, has authored or co-authored over 30 conference and journal papers, and has been awarded one patent.  He has served on technical program committees, given keynotes, and chaired technical sessions at international conferences.

Education
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering; North Carolina State University, 2011M.S.
Electrical Engineering; North Carolina State University, 2007
B.S. Computer Engineering; University of Maryland Baltimore County, 2004

Dr. Octavian Udrea is a distinguished AI Research Scientist with 20 years of experience at IBM Research AI, Dataminr, and Code Metal. His expertise spans neuro-symbolic AI, large-scale machine learning, automated code generation, knowledge graphs, and distributed systems. At IBM, Dr. Udrea played a pivotal role in developing IBM Streams (formerly System S), the first commercial stream processing platform. He also led the creation of an auto-ML platform for streaming data tailored for defense applications, the award-winning IBM Scenario Planning Advisor, and co-invented a top-tier knowledge graph platform integrated into DB2. At Dataminr, he spearheaded the development of a knowledge platform that provides intelligent context for alerts from over a million sources around the clock. Dr. Udrea has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and patents and has received multiple best demonstration awards for his contributions to the field.

Zander is a technical author and AI researcher at the University of Washington. His publication, Language Models: A Guide for the Perplexed, explores the current landscape, capabilities, and future of large language models with co-authors Prof. Noah Smith and Sofia Serrano. He is a multiple time best-selling textbook author, with works on programming and game development. Zander is part of Noah Smith's ARK lab where his research focuses on the improvement of language models for real-world settings.

Tzofi is a researcher in computer vision, computational imaging, and perception. His research focuses on AI-driven computational design, hardware-software co-design, and neural rendering/simulation. He brings years of research experience in both academia and companies, such as Amazon, NVIDIA, and Meta, and has published at top computer vision venues including CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, and ICCP. Tzofi is also a PhD candidate and Qualcomm Innovation Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Niranjan Hasabnis is Principal Research Scientist at CodeMetal. Niranjan brings years of research and engineering experience in both academia as well as companies such as Intel. At Intel, he was exploring applications of AI, ML, and formal method techniques to solve problems in compilers, high-performance computing (HPC), software systems, and software engineering. He also implemented and open-sourced an autonomous system, named ControlFlag, that learns to detect programming errors in code. ControlFlag is has been covered by several news outlets such as Communications of ACM, Venturebeat, ZDNet, TechRepublic, etc. Previously, Niranjan obtained his PhD in Computer Science from Stony Brook University, where he conducted research in program analysis, ML, and compilers. Niranjan has published in top-tier computer science conferences such as CGO, ASPLOS, FSE, among others. He regularly serves on the program committees of various conferences such as ICSE, FSE, USENIX ATC, etc. He holds 11 patents in the areas of compilers, computer architecture, machine learning, and code optimizations.

Edward Loew is a business leader and executive, with over 20 years of senior-level expertise in developing and executing go-to-market strategies across diverse industries. With a proven track record of driving revenue growth and market expansion, Edward Loew has consistently demonstrated the ability to translate vision into actionable plans that deliver measurable results. He has successfully led cross-functional teams and managed multi-million-dollar budgets. He possesses a deep understanding of market dynamics, customer needs, and competitive landscapes, enabling him to identify and capitalize on emerging opportunities. He has helped scale and lead the following companies: Orange Comet, Vivos Therapeutics, Veebow, Inc. Amerifunds Diversified Funding, and IMH.

Will Meris is an entrepreneurial business leader with a proven track record in leading sales teams and managing operations. He has successfully led multiple company exits, including two IPOs and a sale to JPMorgan Chase Ventures. With over a decade of experience as an SEC public reporting CEO, Will brings extensive expertise to the table. He holds a business degree from Arizona State University and has completed the AI program at MIT Sloan Executive Education

Alexander Harstrick is a co-founder and Managing Partner of J2 Ventures, a leading dual-use deep tech investment firm focused on seed and series A companies. He founded J2 Ventures after serving in procurement positions at the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, leading investment efforts for its function, National Security Innovation Capital, as well as the U.S. Air Force’s rapid procurement cell, AFWERX. In total he has helped the U.S.  Department of Defense deploy over $2B worth of capital into early stage civilian tech companies and is consistently cited by CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and other leading publications for his views on the space.

Alex is a special operations combat veteran, serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq - a position he was recruited for from the U.S. Army, where he enlisted after working as a healthcare technology focused venture capitalist. He holds a B.A. from Columbia University and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.