IBM TechXchange: National Society of Professional Engineers Symposium 2024 | IBM | 16 July 2024 | Huntsville Portable Toilets, 340 The Brg St NW Suite 109, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA

The omnipresence of software and semiconductors has profoundly reshaped our world. The breakneck speed of technological progress has surpassed our ability to effectively manage and safeguard public health, safety, and welfare in the face of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, cloud computing, and robotics, all rooted in a complex system of hardware, software, and human factors.

Contemporary engineered systems undergo digital augmentation and modification, seamlessly integrating with the physical fabric of our environment. This digital transformation encompasses concepts such as Hardware Security & Trust, Software Factory, Software & Hardware Supply Chain, DevSecOps, Cybersecurity, Software Bill of Material, and Open-Source Software. The influence of digital systems and tools extends beyond mere end products, permeating design, and implementation processes.

Ethical dilemmas, questions of liability, and issues of responsibility linger in the wake of these advancements. The imperative for software to guide engineers in safeguarding public security and welfare is paramount, especially as software becomes embedded in our defense, infrastructure, and control systems. The public relies on the engineering profession to avert digital accidents and fatalities, which have, in some instances, resulted from lapses in fundamentals beyond the scope of Professional Engineers' oversight.

Critical facets of these systems necessitate proactive measures for the prevention, isolation, and remediation of errors, mistakes, attacks, and breaches. It is crucial not to underestimate the ongoing trend of process workflow automation, integration, and innovation powered by hardware and software.

This event assumes a pivotal role in establishing standards and certifications. It furnishes guidelines to assess the safety preparedness of technologies earmarked for deployment.

2024 Speakers

Dr. Jeff Daniels
Professor and Director, Lockheed Martin

Tony Dezonno
Open-Source Program Office at Boeing

Dr. Robin Yemen
Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute

Dr. Suzette Johnson
Northrop Grumman Fellow, Lean-Agile - NDIA SED, Vice Chair

Cassie Crowley
Vice President of Software Security at Schneider Electric

Dr. Ben Amaba
Professional Engineer, CPIM®, LEED®AP BD+C Federal Business Development NSPE Board Member – Emerging Technology

Dr. Domenic Forte
Professor and the Steven A. Yatauro Faculty Fellow, University of Florida

Mark Kovich
IBM Business Development Leader - Engineering

Dan Witliff
President of NSPE 2012-2013 and Subcommittee Chair on Systems Software Integration

Cate Richards
Director, Sonatype and NSPE/NICET Committee Leader