Neal Ziring is the Technical Director for the National Security Agency’s Capabilities Directorate, serving as a technical advisor to the Capabilities Director, Deputy Director, and other senior leadership. Mr. Ziring is responsible for setting the technical direction across many parts of the capabilities mission space, including in cyber-security. Mr. Ziring tracks technical activities, promotes technical health of the staff, and acts as liaison to various industry, intelligence, academic, and government partners. Prior to the formation of the Capabilities Directorate, Mr. Ziring served 5 years as Technical Director of the Information Assurance Directorate.

Dr. Evan Austin is a computer scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory's Center for High Assurance Computer Systems. In his current role, he provides technical leadership and strategic guidance to help align research investments to match United States Navy and Department of Defense priorities. Prior to joining the Naval Research Laboratory, Dr. Austin was a research scientist at Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC-LANT). At the tail end of his time at NIWC-LANT, Dr. Austin was detailed to the Pentagon serving in the capacities of both the Deputy Director, and Acting Director, for Cyber Technologies within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Dr. Austin received the Naval Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his work performed in these two roles. He holds Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from the University of Kansas, with his Ph.D. research funded by the Department of Defense SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program.

Dr. Aaron J. Ferguson is currently serving as the Deputy Technical Director (TD) of the Fusion, Analysis, and Mitigations (FAM) Deputy Directorate at the NSA. As TD, he is responsible for providing technical leadership to the FAM leadership team, personnel, and missions, including analytics, systems and technology analysis, and operational analysis and mitigations. Dr. Ferguson holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Howard University, an M.S. in Operations Research from the University of New Haven, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Delaware. His personal expertise areas include machine learning, software engineering, systems engineering, and risk assessments.

Cathie Cope Photo and info coming