Escape Velocity 2017: Full Schedule

10:45am PDT

Mechanical Morals: The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence

We take a look at some fictional AI characters you know and love (robots, androids, holograms, artificial personalities of whatever form) and examine the ways they're treated by the human characters in their respective works. What rights do they have? Do they get the same respect as non-AI lifeforms? Why or why not? And most importantly, what lessons we can take as we think about our own near future?

Speakers

Tom Hyre

Director of Panel Operations, MAGFest

Tom Hyre is on loan to Escape Velocity from MAGFest, where he's been Director of Panels for six years, and often steps in as a discussion moderator to keep the qualified experts from wandering off-topic or degenerating into unintelligible jargon. In real life he's a specialist in... Read More →

Anastasia Klimchynskaya

Anastasia Klimchynskaya is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute on the Formation of Knowledge at the University of Chicago. Her current book project focuses on articulating how the new technoscientific paradigm brought about by industrialization gave rise to the literary form... Read More →

Diane Samuelson

Diane Samuelson has a Master's degree in 20th Century English Literature from the University of Edinburgh. Research interests include Golden Age sf, utopian/dystopian literature, underlying philosophies of sf, and early comics. Diane is also an actor, ballroom dance instructor... Read More →

Doug Samuelson

Douglas A. Samuelson is President and Chief Scientist of his own consulting company, InfoLogix, Inc., in Annandale, Virginia. He has been a Federal policy analyst, consultant, successful high-tech entrepreneur and executive, patented inventor, and an adjunct and research faculty member... Read More →

Volunteers

Karina DarJuan

Director of Pop Culture, Escape VelocityAssistant Curator, Museum of Science FictionCurrently studying "Film and Fashion Makeup Design" at New Image College, Vancouver BC

Friday September 1, 2017 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
5 - South (250)

Pop Culture, Partners

Logistics microphone x3, Projector

12:00pm PDT

Co-existing with Technology

Presented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

As the future unfolds, we are thinking hard about our dependence on technology and how we’re going to co-exist in a world of hyper connectivity.

This discussion will change the way you think the role science and technology has on our hometown security.
In the digital age, you enjoy being connected to your family and friends 24-7/365 – right? However, with the evolution to connect to everything there are tradeoffs with tech capabilities, evolving threats, safety, security, privacy, and how to confront the unknowns.
Just imagine this: as more of our planet relies on the cloud where billions of sensors are embedded in our operating systems -- the same ones which run public safety, transportation, agriculture, medical, finance, and utility networks – bad things happen that can interfere with all these systems.
What happens when things go dark or break – whether from natural causes or malicious activity? How does the government enable safety and security in a constitutional, federated democracy without becoming too much of a big brother?
This conversation will put a spotlight on what it will take for us to collectively co-exist with the enormous impact of technology in our lives while still keeping us safe and secure. Are you ready to think differently?

Moderators

John Verrico

Chief of Media Relations, Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

High-energy, thought-provoking and humorous trainer and consultant on motivational leadership and communication. John Verrico is the Immediate-Past President of the National Association of Government Communicators, and has more than 37 years of experience as a public affairs... Read More →

Speakers

Dr. Meghan Houghton

Staff Associate for Strategic Engagements, National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)

Meghan supports an array of emerging CISE research frontiers, including Smart and Connected Communities, as well as cross-agency, industry, and international partnerships. Meghan is co-chair of the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program’s... Read More →

Scott Tousley

Deputy Director of the Cyber Security Division for the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T)

Scott’s responsibilities include organizational liaison, project leadership for educational/operational efforts such as the Computer Security Incident Response (CSIRT) project. He also supports several initiatives in critical infrastructure protection and cyber-physical systems... Read More →

Volunteers

Stacy Bruss

Director, Event Programming, Museum of Science Fiction

Stacy Bruss, MS, MSIS, is a reference librarian at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). At NIST, she supports all Physical Measurement Laboratory researchers and manages the Innovation Hub, a center with 3-D printers, technology bar, data visualization tools... Read More →

Friday September 1, 2017 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Science

Logistics chairs, head table, house sound, microphone x4, power, Projector, projector screen, table for projector

1:15pm PDT

Eclipse Across America: through the eyes of NASA

NASA scientists discuss the science of the recent eclipse and more!

Speakers

Yari Collado-Vega

Lou Mayo

Astronomer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Lou Mayo is a planetary scientist and program manager working for ADNET Systems at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and professor of astronomy at Marymount University. His research interests include modeling planetary atmospheres of the outer planets. He is currently... Read More →

Kristen Weaver

Outreach Specialist, SSAI/NASA Goddard

Kristen Weaver is the Deputy Coordinator for the GLOBE Observer project, which aims to extend the long-standing citizen science program Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment to non-school based audiences. She is also an Outreach Specialist for the Global Precipitation... Read More →

C. Alex Young

Associate Director for Science, Heliophysics Science Division, NASA

Solar astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Associate Director for Science of its Heliophysics Science Division. Alex is also a member of the Museum’s Board of Advisors and Chair of the Technology Subcommittee.

Volunteers

Stacy Bruss

Director, Event Programming, Museum of Science Fiction

Friday September 1, 2017 1:15pm - 2:15pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Science

Logistics chairs, head table, house sound, microphone x4, power, Projector, projector screen, table for projector

2:30pm PDT

Robots, AI, and Drones in Military SF

Military science fiction has long incorporated robots, AIs, and drones in books, films, and TV. How has the ever increasing real world use of these and related technologies changed their fictional portrayal? What are the new directions for military SF to explore?

Speakers

Tom Doyle

Author

Tom Doyle’s latest work for Graphic Audio is the Agent of Exiles series of supernatural spy adventures in the 6th century BCE. His recent SF novel, Border Crosser, follows the far-future journeys of Eris, a psychologically extreme secret agent whose shifting loyalties cause chaos... Read More →

Joe Haldeman

writer, MIT

Joe Haldeman is an American science fiction author and combat veteran of Vietnam. He is best known for his 1974 novel The Forever War. That novel, and other of his works including, The Hemingway Hoax (1991) and Forever Peace (1997), have won major science fiction awards including... Read More →

jason hansa

Jason Hansa is an active-duty Major in the United States Army who has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Having previously served in both South Korea and Germany, Major Hansa is currently assigned as a CASCOM doctrine developer at Fort Lee, Virginia. He is a two-time winner... Read More →

Lee Konstantinou

Lee Konstantinou is a fiction writer and literary scholar who specializes in post-1945 U.S. fiction. He published the dystopian science fiction satire Pop Apocalypse (Ecco/HarperCollins) and the literary history Cool Characters: Irony and American Fiction (Harvard University Press... Read More →

David Walton

David Walton is an award-winning science fiction author, a space industry engineer, and the father of eight children. His latest book, THREE LAWS LETHAL (Pyr, 2019), takes on the future of the self-driving car industry, with its legal and social ramifications, while exploring the... Read More →

Volunteers

Aisha Matthews

Director of Literature Programs at Escape Velocity, Museum of Science Fiction

Aisha Matthews is a Ph.D. student in English Literature at Southern Methodist University, having finished her Master’s Degree at Southern New Hampshire University in early 2017. As an undergraduate at Yale (’13), she studied Young Adult Science Fiction Literature (alongside more... Read More →

Friday September 1, 2017 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Pop Culture, Lit

Logistics audience microphone, chairs, head table, microphone x5, power

3:45pm PDT

Getting your Super Powers with Watson and AI Solutions

Recent advances in AI will make it possible for people to have super powers once reserved for super heroes in comic books. This talk will discuss some of the technology behind these advances and where the field is going to help humans and humanity not only battle evil but perhaps save civilization itself.

Speakers

Frank Stein

Director of Analytics Solution Center, IBM

Frank is IBM's Director of the DC-based Analytics Solution Center, focused on Big Data, Analytics, and Cognitive Computing. Ask him about AI, ML, Conversation Bots, Embedded Cognition, and how Humans + Machines working together is the future.

Volunteers

Stacy Bruss

Director, Event Programming, Museum of Science Fiction

Jonathan Spencer

Friday September 1, 2017 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Science

Logistics audio link to computer, chairs, HDMI connect to proj, head table, house sound, microphone, power, Projector, projector screen, table for projector, theatre seating

5:00pm PDT

Computers in Space - brought to you by BAE

Computers in space have been a frequent theme in science fiction in both film and books. They have taken on roles from villains (like HAL and Skynet) to heroes (like Data and the computers in The Martian). The reality of space computers are just as interesting as their fictional counterparts, with some famous examples being the computers onboard NASA probes or the computers in satellites used for the modern telecommunications and GPS. Computers in space must survive in an environment that is significantly more challenging than on Earth. This panel will compare the reality of computers in space to the fiction, with experts from the industry to talk about what it takes to build a computer that can survive launch, temperature extremes, and even radiation.

Moderators

Steven Danziger

Senior Manager of Quality, Site Executive, BAE Systems

Mr. Steve Danziger serves as Quality Manager for BAE Systems Space Systems as well as the Site Executive in Manassas. Mr. Danziger is responsible for improving the overall quality and efficiency for the organization's ($150M/yr in business) products and technology. Mr. Danziger has... Read More →

Speakers

Michael Bear

Technical Director, BAE Systems

Michael Bear is a Technical Director at BAE Systems in Manassas, Virginia. He over 30 years of experience in the electronics from advanced device reliability and ASIC design through systems architecture. He has served on both the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and National Academy... Read More →

Joe Marshall

Global Engineering Fellow, BAE Systems

Joe Marshall is a Global Engineering Fellow working on embedded processor systemsat BAE Systems in Manassas, Virginia. He has developed and/or led development of hardware, software and subsystems at GTE, IBM, Loral, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems with the last 29 years focused on... Read More →

Volunteers

Stacy Bruss

Director, Event Programming, Museum of Science Fiction

Friday September 1, 2017 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Science

Logistics audience microphone, chairs, head table, large area sound, microphone x4, power, Projector, projector screen

6:15pm PDT

The (Virtually) Real Economy

Come join us for a discussion on the ways virtual reality will impact different industries and our habits as everyday people. Through entertainment, health, wellness and travel, virtual reality could revolutionize the way we live. Hear from experts and entrepreneurs in the VR/AR industry to see how they are shaping the future.

Moderators

Kimberly Hearn

Kimberly Hearn is a senior public policy and administration major at James Madison University. She is a fourth year member of the Honors College and Marching Royal Dukes. Outside of school, gaming is her biggest hobby and she developed an interest in virtual reality at a young ag... Read More →

Speakers

Phil Frana

Associate Dean and Associate Professor, James Madison University

Philip 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... Read More →

Maria Schultheis

Dept Head and Professor, Psychology Department, Drexel University

Maria Schultheis, PhD, is the Department Head for the Department of Psychology as well as a Professor with appointments in the Department of Psychology and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. Schultheis is a Clinical Neuropsychologist who received her... Read More →

Dominic Swayne

Director, James Madison University

LTC Nick Swayne retired in December 2006 with over 26 years of service and has worked at James Madison University in a variety of positions since leaving active duty. He currently serves as the Executive Director of 4-Virginia – a formal collaboration of six Virginia universities... Read More →

Canny Weems

Virtually Anywhere started in 1998 as an offshoot of a successful commercial photography studio owned and operated since 1984 by Carrington “Canny” Weems. Mr. Weems started VA with the goal of not relying on tricky, cool “spin around” versions of his own photos, but instead... Read More →

Volunteers

Nico Pandi

Friday September 1, 2017 6:15pm - 7:15pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Video Game

Logistics chairs, HDMI connect to proj, head table, house sound, microphone x5, power, Projector, projector screen, table for projector

7:30pm PDT

Making Video Games With Little Coding

Thanks to tools like GameMaker, Stencyl, and Construct 2, anyone can make a videogame. Spreading the word and inspiring new voices in games not only diversifies the voices involved in videogames and expands the medium, but it also helps demystify the process of game creation. Without programming backgrounds, James Earl Cox III, Ben Sironko, and Blake Andrews discuss how they make games using such tools and give insight with tips and tricks to making games with little code.

Moderators

James Earl Cox III

Digital Wizard, Seemingly Pointless

Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2017, James Earl Cox III completed a self-set challenge of making 100 games in 5 years. Co-founder of Seemingly Pointless, he holds a masters degree from the University of Southern California in Interactive Media and Game Design and is a Miami University... Read More →

Speakers

Blake Andrews

Blake Andrews is an artist from New York whose games are known for having uncomfortable or confusing controls, disorientating visual and audio aesthetic, and social and political subjects. Most of these games are made in software that is free, cheap, or suited towards programing education... Read More →

Ben Sironko

Ben Sironko is a game designer and programmer interested in multiplayer arcade games, experimental games, gallery games, and big games across media, especially as they fit into the idea of the New Arcade.His games have been exhibited worldwide at festivals including the IndieCade... Read More →

Volunteers

Alex Knoll

Friday September 1, 2017 7:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Video Game, Pop Culture

Logistics chairs, HDMI connect to proj, head table, house sound, microphone x3, power, Projector, projector screen, projector table, table

11:00am PDT

A Crash Course in IP Law

This is an overview of intellectual property with a particular focus on copyright and fair use. A great panel for artists who want to know how to protect their work, and how to honor the work of fellow artists.

Moderators

Seth Polansky

Managing Partner, Law Offices of Seth Polansky

Seth, the managing partner of The Law Offices of Seth Polansky, LLC, is a veteran business and IP attorney. He’s advised numerous startups and artists of all kinds, and provided pro bono services to artists’ rights organizations like Art Pact. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland... Read More →

Volunteers

Karina DarJuan

Director of Pop Culture, Escape VelocityAssistant Curator, Museum of Science FictionCurrently studying "Film and Fashion Makeup Design" at New Image College, Vancouver BC

Sunday September 3, 2017 11:00am - 12:00pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Education

Logistics audience microphone, chairs, head table, house sound, Lrg Area Audio, microphone x3, power, Projector, projector screen, Stage, table for projector

12:15pm PDT

Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact: Living on Mars

Hugo Award-winning TV writer-producer Morgan Gendel (ST:TNG, THE 100, DRESDEN FILES) offers the first public sneak preview of a new extraterrestrial habitat project he's spearheading. How does a sci-fi writer end up working on a product that could end up on Mars? Hear Gendel tell the answer in his own words.

Moderators

Charles Hildebrandt

Production Counsel, Museum of Science Fiction

Charles represents, advises, and litigates on behalf of clients in commercial, copyright, and entertainment law matters, including film, television, publishing, games, and music production, licensing, and distribution. Charles has over 20 years of experience negotiating and drafting... Read More →

Speakers

Morgan Gendel

Screenwriter, producer, and futurist

Morgan Gendel is a screenwriter, producer and futurist with more than 200 credits,including the CW Network hit, The 100; Star Trek: The Next Generation and DeepSpace 9; the TekWar TV movies; The Dresden Files; Drop Dead Diva and Law & Order. He is perhaps best known as writer of “The... Read More →

Volunteers

Stacy Bruss

Director, Event Programming, Museum of Science Fiction

Sunday September 3, 2017 12:15pm - 1:15pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Guest Science

Logistics HDMI connect to proj, house sound, microphone x2, Podium, Projector, projector screen, projector table, Stage

1:30pm PDT

Surviving the Robo-pocalypse

"Human" experts tackle the following topics on the Robo-Pocalypse: Why is it such a popular trope? Should we legitimately be worried about an uprising? And most importantly, how can we survive through it?

Moderators

Sean Woods

Speakers

Anastasia Klimchynskaya

Volunteers

Karina DarJuan

Director of Pop Culture, Escape VelocityAssistant Curator, Museum of Science FictionCurrently studying "Film and Fashion Makeup Design" at New Image College, Vancouver BC

Sunday September 3, 2017 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
5 - South (250)

Pop Culture

Logistics microphone x2, Projector, projector table, projector screen, head table, chairs, house sound, power

2:45pm PDT

History of Science Fiction: Comic Book Edition

A brief glimpse into the history of Science Fiction, spotlighting the media of comic books and graphic novels

Speakers

Pop Culture, Comics

Logistics microphone x2, Projector, head table, chairs, projector screen, house sound, power