SAN ANTONIO (November 1, 2019) — More than 300 people are expected to attend the 12th annual Resilience Week Conference in San Antonio Nov. 4-8, 2019. Hosted by Idaho National Laboratory and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the event is dedicated to improving the resilience of critical cyber-physical systems from unexpected and malicious threats.
In recent years, resilience has emerged as a national topic of conversation as utilities, local, state and federal governments, and the military seek ways to quickly restore vital services following an accident or deliberate shutdown.
This year, the event will focus on topics such as developing agile response capabilities for industrial control systems (ICS), improvements to advanced sensors and data analysis, wireless communication and embedded technology, and workforce development. A student-led poster session and job fair will also be held in conjunction with this year’s activities.
Keynoting the conference will be U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro from the 20th Texas congressional district. He will be introduced by Dr. JoAnn Browning, Dean of UTSA’s College of Engineering, who will give the welcoming remarks.
Attendees will also hear from the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr. Rita Baranwal, and Patricia Hoffman, the principal deputy assistant secretary for the DOE’s Office of Electricity. Additional speakers and panelists from national laboratories, universities and private industry will fill the event’s four-day agenda including a number of UTSA faculty members and their research partners.
On Tuesday, November 5, INL has offered a “Student Day” which is free for all students in the San Antonio region to attend. There are a number of activities and events geared for students including an all-day job fair where students can speak to representatives from organizations addressing threats that impact critical infrastructure. Registration is required but free on this day.
In addition, UTSA’s Dr. Nicole Beebe and David Manz from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have organized a number of panels on the cyber workforce. This track will cover perspectives of recent cyber graduates, career growth and improvement, and host keynote speaker Dr. Diana Burley, executive director and chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P) and professor at George Washington University.
A panel of national labs and industry representatives from CACI International Inc., Ernst & Young, FireEye, and Harland Clarke will speak on the cyber security workforce of the future including what it takes to obtain a job in cyber security, maintaining one’s relevancy and learning about the challenges facing cyber security training and workforce development.
That same day, Brigadier General (Ret.) Guy Walsh, Founding Executive Director of the National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) at UTSA, will be the plenary speaker at lunchtime.
On Monday, November 4, Dr. Jesse Reeves (INL) and Patti Geppert (UTSA) have organized an Infrastructure Special Session: Electromagnetic Pulse track in the afternoon. It will feature the findings of the Domestic Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (DEMSO) Working Group, an initiative of Joint Base San Antonio, the NSCC at UTSA and Southwest Research Institute. Dr. Reeves will give a technical overview of EMP and its threat; Dr. Brian Kelley (UTSA) will present on 5G and its importance in EMP resiliency; and Lt. Col. Eddie Stamper (JBSA) will speak on San Antonio’s community efforts in the SA-EMP project. [Registration is not required on Monday.]
UTSA’s newest initiative, the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), will also be featured at the conference. In partnership with 15+ leading research universities, CyManII was established to address every aspect of the digital transformation and intelligent/energy efficiency in advanced American manufacturing; to secure the supply chain in a way that is pervasive, unobtrusive, resilient, and economical; and to enhance intelligent efficiency in manufacturing operations that lead to billions of dollars in energy costs. Dr. Howard Grimes, CEO of CyManII, and Zach Tudor, INL Associate Laboratory Director for National and Homeland Security, will host a plenary on Thursday, November 7.
For more information on this year’s conference or to register, please visit https://events.inl.gov/Resilience-Week-2019. Follow Resilience Week highlights on social media using hashtag #ResWeek19.
