Hume Seminar Series: Putting Data and Technology to work for National Security and Intelligence

About the Event

Please join us for a rousing discussion on how technology is being applied to the intelligence marketplace.  From hardware development leading to spectrum advantage to software development leading to analytic outcomes, our three panelists are in the middle of much of what the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense and Federal Civilian Agencies are doing with data.  Your Virginia Tech engineering and non-engineering degrees will play a big part in the future.  The panelists will talk about a variety of topics including:  The importance of the electromagnetic spectrum, the growing value of open source information to the intelligence profession, what makes a good tool versus a bad tool, what is “trusted AI” and “transparent AI”, how ChatGPT is good, but also how it’s dangerous, and how to think about your classes and their applicability to jobs in national security and intelligence.  Throughout the seminar, the panelists will provide plenty of stories and give attendees ample opportunity to ask questions. Pizza will be provided during this seminar. 

About the Panelists

Glenn Kurowski

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CACI, a $6.5B Fortune 1000 company providing expertise and technology for national security and government modernization.  Glenn joined CACI in 2014 after 30 years with Lockheed Martin.  He is a champion for the next generation of talent and is very active with the Virginia Tech community including a member of the VT National Security Institute (NSI) Board, the executive sponsor of CACI’s VT Scholarship and Research Program, the CACI technical sponsor for their 300 summer interns which includes 80+ Hokies, and a frequent speaker in the VTs NSI seminar series, CS/Sources program, as well as various courses on campus.  Glenn holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, is a certified architect, a certified program manager and is responsible for CACI’s technology investments, it’s strategic partner program, it’s University programs, as well as a variety of internal CACI initiatives including a cloud-hosted common software development environment.   

Kevin Hoffman

An Artificial Intelligence specialist at CACI where he develops Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and data pipelines to enrich data and empower analysts to lawfully leverage information and to counter threats on the Dark Web.  His work is part of CACI’s BlueStone DarkBlue and DarkPursuit, a cloud-hosted platform used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to leverage information on the dark and deep webs while protecting analysts from the unsavory aspects of those environments.  Prior to his current position, Kevin was a senior software engineer at Krit, building new web and mobile applications for startups and small businesses. He holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Data Science finishing each in 2015 and 2021 respectively. 

Ryan Traeger

Esq. enlisted in the Army after Sept. 11^th 2001 and served with 3^rd Special Forces Group. He then began work with CACI continuing to support Special Operations and Federal Law Enforcement communities. Ryan has supported counter terrorism operations on five continents and been assigned to national mission units, Army Special Operations groups, Theater Special Operations Commands, and DEA Special Operations Division. Some of the more recent highlights of his work include: support to international criminals investigations targeting drug kingpins Rafael Caro Quintero, a Mexican drug lord who co-founded the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel and was responsible for the kidnapping of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, and David Cardona Cardona, a Colombian national living in west Africa who was involved in transporting narcotics to Europe and was charged with arranging to trade cocaine for surface-to-air missiles and other advanced weaponry with members of Al-Qaeda. Ryan is a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and his work has been recognized by numerous senior leaders including the former Director of the FBI Robert Mueller and DEA's current Chief of Operation's Ray Donovan.  He is an expert in the application of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) for lawful investigations and national security purposes as well as applying technology for intelligence analysts. 

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Sarah Downer at humecenter@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.