On September 28th and 29th, UT Dallas President Richard Benson led a delegation to Fed Supernova in Austin, Texas. Organized by Capital Factory, this event brought together hundreds of Department of Defense (DOD), corporate, and academic representatives to collaborate in improving our national defense. Over 1,000 more attended virtually.

The US Department of Defense and its various agencies, as well as groups from individual branches of the armed services (Army, Air Force, etc.) already provide significant funding for UT Dallas research.

The involvement by the UT Dallas delegation at the Fed Supernova last month was a significant step towards deepening relationships with defense industry principals.

President Benson spoke in the keynote session with Capital Factory founder Josh Baer, the Texas A&M System Chancellor, John Sharp, and UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. He also met with key DOD research leaders, together with Vice President for Research, Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, AVP for Innovation & Commercialization, Steve Guengerich, and Corporate Relations Director, Jonsson School of Engineering & CS, Pete Poorman.

Throughout the two days, university research teams exhibited in the first-ever Academic Alley, an academic-research-engagement program available to the attendees. UT Dallas was represented by three exhibits:

Computer Science professor Chung Hwan Kim, together with Research Associate Major Liu, presented work on automated root cause analysis of anomalies in the behavior of autonomous vehicles.

Materials Science Research Scientist Dr. Alfonso Caraveo presented work on novel semiconductor technology for detection of nuclear and radiological weapons of mass destruction.

Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr. Rodolfo Antonio Rodriguez-Davila presented work in semiconductors for, rugged, efficient, portable and scalable radiation detection systems.

There was also a single exhibit from University of Texas at Arlington, one from the George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex (TAMU), and one from Texas Christian University.

UTD’s deep participation in this event was enabled by the partnership that the university has with Capital Factory. UTD is the only higher education industry member of Capital Factory’s Innovation Council.

The event was an outstanding opportunity to meet many principal investigators, program managers, and other budget authorities from the defense department and military in a short amount of time. For more information about this event or Capital Factory, please contact Steve Guengerich.