Social Event

Marriott Ballroom, Salon D

Sponsored by COLSA Corporation

There will be a wine and cheese social from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the exhibit area (Salon D) on Thursday, October 30th. Complimentary punch, wine, cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres are served to conference registrants and their guests, in a relaxed atmosphere at the end of the first day of the conference. This is a good opportunity to do some networking.

Invited Keynote Speaker

Mr. H. W. (Dell) Lunceford, Jr.

Director, U.S. Army Modeling and Simulation Office

Current Trends in the Application of Modeling and Simulation Within the Army

Marriott Ballroom, Salon E and F
Thursday, October 30, 2003, 9:00 a.m.

Sponsored by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

It has been a little over 10 years since Modeling and Simulation (M&S) technology started to make serious inroads within the Army.  Early on there was a robust expansion of technology investment that has by many standards dwindled over the past few years.  This isn’t actually surprising since many technologies go through phases of strong investments followed by periods of quiet as the marketplace sorts itself out.  The question at this point is: has enough time gone by that we should be coming out of this period of ‘sorting itself out’ and if so what is next?  This talk will discuss some of the trends that give a positive outlook for M&S but points out that the future investments may not be where you would expect them to be.  The challenge for both sides of the DoD/contractor fence will be to understand what is going on and what we must do to take advantage of it.

Invited Luncheon Speaker
Dr. David Hathaway
Group Lead, Solar Physics Group
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Video Image Stabilization and Registration System

Marriott Ballroom, Salon A, B and C
Friday, October 31, 2003, 12:00 p.m.

Sun spots and weather patterns aren't usually associated with crime-fighting, but the invention followed an FBI request for NASA's help improving images from tourist videos taken on the night of the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta in 1996.  As a solar astronomer, Hathaway uses space-based telescopes to try and get clean images of the Sun.  Space telescopes have some jitter in them and Hathaway was familiar with the techniques for cleaning up images.  The FBI had a number of videos taken the night of the bombing, but the quality of many was poor - full of the jiggly frames, odd zooms and other staples of amateur video.  The Olympic Park bombing case is still open, but the video technique helped exonerate a would-be suspect, after it identified the backpack he carried the night of the bombing. The FBI thought the pack might have been used to cover the bomb, but the suspect still had the pack and was cleared.   After the work with the FBI, the Hathaway and Meyer have helped both state and federal authorities in a number of other cases.  Recently, the VISAR has been used to help isolate images from the launch of the space shuttle Columbia, focusing on potential damage to the orbiter.