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Thursday April 23, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
How do we activate, scale, and grow the defense and intelligence innovation base — and what coordination gaps are slowing it down? Join this session and the conversation with agencies, DIBs and innovators in the dual-use and defense spaces.

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Note: This Summit session is ticketed.
Please purchase your tickets on Humanitix. You will then receive an email from Sched with login information that allows you to make your personal schedule.

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A special thank you to our sponsors: The 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival is presented with the University of Virginia, Virginia Tourism, R.L. Beyer Custom Homes, Ludwig Kuttner, and The City of Charlottesville
Speakers
avatar for Rebecca Haydock

Rebecca Haydock

CEO, Venture Central

avatar for James Garrett

James Garrett

CEO, Luna Labs USA
Dr. James Garrett is the CEO of Luna Labs, a product development company solving complex challenges in the defense, industrial, and healthcare markets. With a PhD from Penn State and an MBA from William & Mary, he has built a career at the intersection of technology, business strategy... Read More →
avatar for Daniel Bailey

Daniel Bailey

Principal and Managing Director, Go Line Strategy Group
Daniel Bailey, Astraea’s CEO and Co-Founder, is using his broad experience garnered from his time in Military Intelligence and as an Artificial Intelligence consultant to Fortune 500 companies to now help decarbonize the global economy. Leveraging his experience in requisitioning... Read More →
avatar for Sunnie Capelle

Sunnie Capelle

CEO, C-Star Solutions
Sunnie has over 20 years of Defense and Intelligence experience building and leading science and engineering technical teams. As a U.S. Army civilian at the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) she managed MASINT and GEOINT programs for research and operationalization of remote... Read More →
avatar for Nat Puffer

Nat Puffer

Partner, In-Q-Tel
Nathaniel is a global strategic investor working on behalf of American and allied Intelligence Communities. His work has allowed him to engage with some of the most innovative startups in the world, tailoring their solutions for commercial and strategic outcomes. After the better... Read More →
avatar for Brian Ralston

Brian Ralston

President, General Atomics Intelligence
Brian Ralston is the President of General Atomics – Commonwealth Computer Engineering Inc. (GA-Intelligence). He is a retired Air Force Colonel with 25 years of military experience in a wide range of analytic leadership roles. He led test and evaluation activities for the B-1B... Read More →
avatar for Emily Pochter

Emily Pochter

Director, Software and Cybersecurity, VEDP
Emily Pochter serves as the Director of Software and Cybersecurity at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), where she leads strategic initiatives to position the Commonwealth as a national leader in technology, cybersecurity, and AI innovation. She cultivates collaboration... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for Laser Thermal

Laser Thermal

Laser Thermal is a Charlottesville-based technology company born out of decades of academic research and development in the ExSiTE Lab at the University of Virginia. What started as academic work has grown into a small but rapidly emerging company focused on solving a problem many... Read More →
avatar for Luna Labs

Luna Labs

High-impact solutions for mission-critical challenges.
Luna Labs is a product development company working with leading organizations and key government agencies to create unique solutions for complex challenges in defense, industrial, and healthcare markets.
avatar for UVA Innovates

UVA Innovates

The Entrepreneurship Initiative will coordinate and amplify entrepreneurship activities across UVA. 
Thursday April 23, 2026 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Irving theater, CODE Building

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