Join us for a fantastic networking breakfast at the Sheraton St. Paul Woodbury Hotel, where you’ll have the opportunity to connect with professionals, exchange ideas, and build valuable relationships. Enjoy a delicious, premium breakfast while engaging in meaningful conversations that could lead to new opportunities. This is the perfect chance to expand your network and create lasting connections with like-minded individuals. The breakfast is complimentary for hotel guests, and just $18.00 for those who are not staying at the hotel. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to grow both personally and professionally!
Michael Kesti 3M
Eric Follstad USCENTCOM
The AALTO Zephyr is a persistent fixed-wing High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) capable of flying in the stratosphere for days, weeks, and months at a time. Uniting the best of technological development in battery and solar cell technology, Zephyr is a solar-powered unmanned aerial system, with secondary batteries that recharge during the day to enable night flight
Andrew Ness AALTO
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Yoshihisa Kishiyama NTT DOCOMO, INC.
Join us for an exclusive opportunity to network and make new connections over a complimentary lunch and have the exclusive opportunity to explore the 3M Innovation Theater. Discover decades of groundbreaking innovations that have shaped the products you use every day. This special tour is available only to attendees and is not open to the public, offering a unique glimpse into the world of 3M's cutting-edge advancements. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect, learn, and experience innovation up close!
For over 30 years, Northrop Grumman has defined High Altitude Long Endurance Autonomy. Northrop Grumman continues to push the boundaries of sensing, speed, materials, and autonomy. HALE platforms are deployed worldwide ensuring peace, supporting civil defense, and moving science forward.
Steve Fox Northrop Grumman
Developing cutting-edge power systems and battery technology is critical for current and future UAS operations. Packet Digital's mission is to empower autonomous systems, including high-altitude and space systems, to take on the most challenging missions in some of the most difficult operating environments.
Terri Zimmerman Packet Digital
Brandon Bartling 3M
Bob Davidson, CEO of Prismatic/BAE
Robert Davidson BAE/Prismatic
Aerostar's stratospheric platforms continue to fly—literally! With over 850 days of continuous global operation and a new world record of 336 days aloft for a single vehicle, each month brings new lessons. Russ will share updates on the ongoing development of the Thunderhead long-duration system, including results from last year’s wildfire monitoring and communications missions. He’ll also discuss renewed interest in shorter-duration flights and the practical use of smaller stratospheric systems, particularly in defense applications.
Russ Van Der Werff Aerostar
Panel Members:
Paul Snyder University of North Dakota
Mark Askelson University of North Dakota
Nuri Oncel University of North Dakota
Dr. Robert Kraus University of North Dakota
What does innovation mean anyway? And what does culture have to do with it? And how does one create a culture of innovation? In this talk, Jayshree will share key tenets of the culture at 3M and perspective against the backdrop of her own journey on what it takes to drive much-needed innovation in current times.
Jayshree Seth 3M
Panel Members
Dr. Scott Snyder University of North Dakota
Terri Zimmerman Packet Digital
Andrew Ness AALTO
Noren Pan Microlink Devices
Howard Creel 3M
Join us for a networking social to wrap up the day at the symposium. Enjoy a complimentary drink and a selection of delicious appetizers while connecting with fellow attendees in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s the perfect opportunity to unwind and continue the conversation.
Join us for a fantastic networking breakfast at the Sheraton St. Paul Woodbury Hotel, where you’ll have the opportunity to connect with professionals, exchange ideas, and build valuable relationships. Enjoy a delicious, premium breakfast while engaging in meaningful conversations that could lead to new opportunities. This is the perfect chance to expand your network and create lasting connections with like-minded individuals. The breakfast is complimentary for hotel guests, and just $18.00 for those who are not staying at the hotel.
But that’s not all! Join us for an exclusive opportunity to take part in an exclusive tour of the 3M Innovation Theater. Discover decades of groundbreaking innovations that have shaped the products you use every day. This special tour is available only to attendees and is not open to the public, offering a unique glimpse into the world of 3M's cutting-edge advancements. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect, learn, and experience innovation up close! Please note the tour starts at 8 am sharp at the 3M Innovation Center
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Dr. Robert Kraus University of North Dakota
Dr. Scott Snyder University of North Dakota
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Russ Van Der Werff Aerostar
The near space environment of the stratosphere offers great potential for persistent ISR and Earth Observation, uniquely combining wide-area coverage, a property associated with space-based observation, with high resolution, dynamic and targeted acquisition normally associated with aerial imaging and sensing. However, the current generation of fixed-wing HAPS have limited operating envelopes restricting their availability, while lighter-than-air HAPS struggle to maintain station particularly at high latitude during winter months. Join Voltitude CEO, Paul Stevens, in discussing his recent experiences using new technologies to greatly expand the operating envelope of fixed-wing and lighter-than-air systems to offer complementary gap filling capabilities, year-round from the stratosphere.
Paul Stevens Voltitude
The CSIR- National Aerospace Laboratories, India, has embarked on a project to design, develop and build a prototype of a solar-secondary battery, fixed wing HAP. The chosen operating altitude is 20 km, in the stratosphere, above the weather. The goal is to have a design capable of a 90-day endurance at that altitude. The first step has been a subscale prototype which has already taken flight. Achieving the full-scale target has significant engineering challenges, given the requirement to fly autonomously for months using solar-power during the day and batteries at night and withstand atmospheric turbulence, extreme low temperatures, and low pressures, despite being a lightweight structure. Recent experiences from the subscale flight and on the development of a propeller for the full-scale aircraft will be presented
Lakshmi Venkatakrishnan National Aerospace Laboratories Bangalore India
For long endurance solar-powered stratospheric flights, solar cells having high efficiency with minimal mass are required. Lightweight and flexible multijunction inverted metamorphic (IMM) solar cells manufactured through epitaxial lift-off (ELO) are now being assembled into solar array sheets with specific powers in excess of 1500 W/kg . This is the enabling solar technology for perpetual flight of high-altitude long endurance (HALE) platforms.
Noren Pan Microlink Devices
Join us for an exclusive opportunity to network and make new connections over a complimentary lunch.
High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) are emerging as a key complement to LEO satellite mega-constellations, offering a scalable solution for global connectivity and bridging digital divides where terrestrial and satellite networks fall short. Operating from the stratosphere, HAPS leverage advanced beamforming and free-space optics (FSO) to deliver high-capacity and low-latency communications across diverse geographical areas. This talk explores the technological connectivity advancements driving HAPS by highlighting how intelligent beam management and optical feeder and inter-HAPS links can democratize broadband access and provide unique solutions for disaster recovery, paving the way for a more connected world.
Slim Alouini ECE KAUST
Rural and remote connectivity are not the only applications of the HAPS paradigm. The deployment of HAPS networks in metropolitan areas is where their true potential resides. HAPS networks can offer computing, edge intelligence, surveillance, sensing, monitoring, positioning, localization, navigation, and much more in addition to resilient, sustainable, green, clean, and eco-friendly connections.
Halim Yanikomeroglu Carleton University
PowerLight is currently executing on the DOD sponsored PTROL – UAS Program for wireless power beaming to Group II UAS. The program is led by CENTCOM and the alpha integration partner is Kraus Hamdani Aerospace. Wireless power beaming to UAS is designed to increase the range, operational endurance, and payload capacity for UAS platforms operating all the way up to HAPS in the stratosphere, while minimizing their ground personnel and infrastructure sustainment requirements. This presentation will provide an overview and update on the PTROL-UAS Program and introduce PowerLight’s parallel productization and partnering efforts to support the growing requirements to deploy and sustain autonomy at scale.
Tom Nugent Powerlight Technology
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Dr.Matthew Wiebold Honeywell Aerospace
An overview of NASA interests in HAPS, and updates on funded projects to develop HAPS payloads, mission concepts, flight planning tools, and safe means for routine access to airspace
Matthew Fladeland NASA Ames Research Center
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Dr. Robert Kraus University of North Dakota