Svafa Grönfeldt is a Professor of the Practice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a founding member and faculty Director of MIT’s newest innovation accelerator DesignX focused on the design and development of new ventures created at MIT. Dr. Grönfeldt is the co-founder of The MET Fund, a Cambridge-based seed investment fund.

Gilad Rosenzweig is an architect and urban planner with vast experience in community development, urban tech, and design. As Executive Director of DesignX, the venture accelerator of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, he is laying the groundwork for new technology to improve the comfort and efficiency of buildings, places, and cities. Before DesignX, Gilad created Smarter in the City, an accelerator for high-tech startups in underrepresented communities. He is a graduate of MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Bartlett School of Architecture in London.

Dr. Robert T-I. Shin is a Principal Staff member in the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Tactical Systems Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He is also the Director of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaver Works Center and a member of the MIT School of Engineering Extended Engineering Council. Prior to becoming Principal Staff, he served as the Head of the ISR and Tactical Systems Division, where he oversaw research and prototype development of systems for ISR, tactical applications, and counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, and he oversees programs assessing U.S. air vehicle survivability. 

Dr. Jonathan E. Gans leads the Systems and Architectures Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He oversees multiple BMD related programs for the Missile Defense Agency, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Air Force, with a focus on developing new discrimination techniques and providing in-depth assessments of domestic and foreign Ballistic and Hypersonic defense concepts. Dr. Gans recently led a report to Congress on Space Based Interceptors and his team was a major contributor to the MDA Defense Against Hypersonic Weapons AoA. Jonathan graduated from Vassar College in 1999 and earned a Ph.D. in particle physics from Yale University in 2004.

Dr. Edwin F. David is the Head of the Engineering Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He joined the Laboratory in 1998 as a technical staff member in the Systems and Analysis Group, supporting the Air Vehicle Survivability program. His research focused on modeling, simulation, and testing of navigation and guidance systems, sensor systems, and directed energy systems. In this role, he supported the Defense Science Board Task Force for the Global Positioning System space segment modernization. He also served as program manager for the Directed Energy Countermeasures Assessment Team.  

Jarrod Goentzel is founder and director of the MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab in the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. His research focuses on meeting human needs in resource-constrained settings through better supply chain management, information systems, and decision support technology.