Opening Keynote Session

COTS Integration Challenge
Chair: John McHale,Editor-in-chief, Avionics Intelligence, USA

Today system integrators face a changing defense procurement environment with an uncertain future. Managing the supply chain in the era of commercial-off-the shelf technology has many minefields especially in managing through life cycle costs.  The lack of a clear definition for COTS combined with the risk — real or perceived — in deploying commercial technology continues to make COTS integration a challenge for system integrators and defence programme managers. This session will cover how system integrators manage obsolescence and find the right balance between COTS and custom components in defence electronics systems.

Managing COTS Components Obsolescence and Reliability Risks
Joseph Zaccari, Vice President, Corfin Industries LLC, USA

COTS: the challenges
Peter Cavill, General Manager, GE Intelligent

14.00 – 15.30

Thermal Management
Chair: Gerald Janicki, Sr. Director Business Dev., Meggitt Defense Systems Inc

Current and future generation processors are making it difficult for designers defence electronics systems to efficiently manage thermals in mission critical systems, forcing design engineers to come up with new and innovative ways to get rid of the heat in the high-performance computing systems. This session will cover unique cooling solutions and power management schemes aimed at improving thermal efficiency new and legacy defence platforms.


Gerald Janicki, Sr. Director Business Dev., Meggitt Defense Systems Inc


Colin Davis, GE Intelligent Platforms


Steve Motter, AiTECH


Asad Mehdi, Meggitt Defense Systems Inc.
 

16.00 – 17.30

DEFENCE ELECTRONICS IMPORT/EXPORT COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES

Presented by: Matt Nolan, Director, Arent Fox, LLP, USA

Many companies in the defence industries are finding it difficult to do business with not only the U.S. government but other European, Asian and Middle Eastern nations due to the myriad of import/export compliance laws and regulations such as the U.S. ITAR --  International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Common pitfalls include a lack of training and understanding of the proper handling of protected technology, no proper record of employee citizenship status, poor handling of foreign visitors, improper export documentation, and ignoring license provisos. The fines for these missteps can be financially devastating. This session with will provide an overview of the regulations and discuss best practices and how to comply from legal experts and leading defence suppliers.
 

TRUSTED COTS and managing reliability in the supply chain
Chair: Mike MacPherson, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, USA

The defense electronics supply chain is constantly changing, often affecting component design in a negative manner, which could have dangerous consequences if the defence leadership is unaware. Due to this concern European military leadership is tasking industry to develop a process for ensuring the trustworthiness of electronic components. This session will discuss methods and solutions for assessing the vulnerability and reliability of associated electronic component designs for mission-critical military systems as well enabling anti-tamper capability at the component level.

Mike MacPherson, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, USA

Joey Sevin, Business Development Manager, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded computing, USA

Steve Goodison, Metaforic, USA

Nauman Arshad, Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing, USA