Timothy Akers, M.S., Ph.D., Chief Research Officer and Associate Provost for Academic Research, California State University, San Bernadino

Dr. Timothy A. Akers, M.S., Ph.D., is a distinguished researcher and executive leader at the nexus of public health, epidemiological criminology, and quantum literacy. He serves as Chief Research Officer and Associate Provost for Academic Research at California State University, San Bernardino, and as Chief Executive Officer of the National Quantum Literacy Network (NQLN), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Across a career spanning academia, government, and the military, Dr. Akers has demystified quantum technologies by developing, along with his team, the first e-learning platform and micro-credential certification in quantum literacy education.

At the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he served as a senior scientist and developed a cutting-edge HIV/AIDS biomedical and behavioral classification taxonomy. He is the originator of the emerging theory and discipline of Epidemiological Criminology and has authored two seminal books in the field. A former U.S. Air Force Security Police officer specializing in nuclear weapons security, Dr. Akers has conducted groundbreaking interdisciplinary research supported by the NSF, NIH, DHS, and other sponsors.

In 2020, he was appointed by the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy to a three-year term on the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC); he has also served as vice chair at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, focusing on the responsible conduct of research. Recognized internationally, he has published more than 268 scholarly works and received prestigious awards across the military, CDC, academia, and industry. An autodidactic innovator, Dr. Akers is the inventor on two patents in biomedical technologies for rapid clinical assessments using AI, as well as a cystic fibrosis vest that applies therapeutic wave frequencies to address respiratory congestion.

Dr. James Freericks, Professor and McDevitt Chair in the Department of Physics, Georgetown University

James Freericks is passionate about making quantum mechanics more widely accessible in order to prepare more students for the second quantum revolution. Indeed, he believes everyone can become a quantum mechanic! Educated at Princeton University (1985) and the University of California, Berkeley (1987,1991), he held postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and at the University of California, Davis before moving to Georgetown University in 1994. He is a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of  Science and the American Physical Society and has won awards from the Alpha Sigma Nu Society, the Office of Naval Research, edX, and Georgetown University. He is currently Professor and McDevitt Chair in the Department of Physics.

His research has spanned the fields of superconductivity, transport in strongly correlated materials, ultracold atoms in optical lattices, dynamical mean-field theory, ion-trap-based quantum simulation, nonequilibrium many-body physics, mathematical physics, quantum computing, quantum chemistry, and quantum pedagogy. He volunteers by offering three classes annually on edX in mathematical methods and quantum mechanics. He has served as the Secretary-Treasurer and as the Councilor for the Division of Computational Physics at the American Physical Society and as the Treasurer of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Dr. Mumm has spent thirty-one years in government and contractor service, building teams to address complex problems in national security, homeland security, and advanced technologies. He was the Division Chief for Cybersecurity at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), programming and executing a budget of over $ 140 million. He developed a unique set of continuous monitoring capabilities and the rogue wireless detection capability that supported the ICD-503 Risk Management Framework..

Dr. Mumm is a proven leader in diverse fields, including autonomous systems, post-quantum cybersecurity, AI and machine learning, advanced fuel systems, cognitive scientific research, and all aspects of the military intelligence community. He has thirteen published books, dozens of white papers, and five published co-authored quantum computing research papers.

He has notable experience in research and systems engineering, including winning awards and contracts for UAV (autonomous systems) research and creating an advanced, multiple-fuel system (AI-based), where he operated the world’s first and only helicopter that flies on five separate fuels without engine modifications. His research extends into emerging and disruptive technologies for both offensive and defensive missions, supporting US and coalition operations. His UAV and robotics expertise has focused on determining the specific uses, exceptions, and allowances for robotics operations, including studying the unintended consequences, future use, and misuse of such technologies.

Dr. Merrick S. Watchorn, DMIST provides a myriad of services within the Cybersecurity industry based on his sixteen-years of active service in the United States Navy (USN) and the last several within the United States Government (USG). His work background included formal training in semantic ontologies, Big Data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence methods, theories, and cognition. As a co-founding member of the Quantum Security Alliance (QSA), he serves as Chair for the Security Reference Architecture (Q-SRA).

Mr. Van Dyke practices in patent, trademark, copyright, intellectual property and technology law; enjoys helping his clients achieve their goals, obtain market share, and thwart unfair practices, with particular emphasis on U.S. and foreign patent and trademark consulting, preparation, prosecution, portfolio management, and patentability, validity, enforceability, and infringement opinions, including defending and bringing the third party oppositions and other post-grant procedures. Also, teaching others on IP and changes to IP laws.

Specialties: Technology and Intellectual Property Law, Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law, Preparation, Prosecution, Opinion, Oppositions, Reexaminations/Reissues, Consulting, Strategizing, Licensing, Negotiation and Litigation. Advising, Educating and Teaching for Universities and Government. Information Technologies, Software, Life Sciences, Emerging and Converging Technologies, Nanotechnology. Publishing and Media Rights.