Connecting the Data, Applications, and Experiences That Define Modern Life
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Networks are the foundation of our digital society and economy, increasingly connecting people, devices, and systems across every sector, from healthcare and education to manufacturing and global supply chains. They will play a critical role in our AI-enabled future, powering data centers, smartphones, augmented reality experiences, connected vehicles, drones, sensors, and delivering the user experiences that define modern life.
This forum will explore the key technologies shaping our connected future, focusing on the foundational elements of next-generation networks and the innovations driving their evolution. Topics will include integrated photonics, advanced microelectronics, AI for networks and networks for AI, software-defined networking, and satellite communications.
Powering the next-generation economy and enabling the distributed intelligence needed to address global challenges will require networks with ever-greater performance, robustness, scalability, convergence, flexibility, and intelligence.
Registration Fee: ILP Members: Complimentary MIT Community: Limited in-person seats available, complimentary General Public: $500 for in-person/ $250 for livestream
Cancellation Policy: You may cancel your registration for a full refund through October 21. Refunds will be issued to the original form of payment. After October 21, partial refunds will be available, minus a service fee ($50 for in-person registrations and $25 for virtual). No refunds will be issued after October 28. To cancel, please email ocrevents@mit.edu
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The agenda below is subject to change without prior notice.
Steve Palmer is a Senior Director within MIT’s Office of Corporate Relations. Steven comes to OCR with many years of experience building relationships, advancing diplomacy, and seeking new business initiatives in both the public and private sectors. He has spent his career highlighting and translating technological issues for policy makers, engineers, analysts, and business leaders. Steven has worked in government, industry, and academia in the U.S. and abroad. He is also an Executive Coach at MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School. Steven earned his Bachelor of Science at Northeastern University, and his M.B.A. at MIT Sloan where he was in the Fellows Program for Innovation and Global Leadership.
Senior Research Scientist, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
David Clark is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and AI Lab, where he has worked since getting his PhD from MIT in 1973. He was a member of the original Internet design group and led that group from 1979 to 1989. His research interests include Internet security, alternative designs for the Internet, and the relation of technology and architecture to economic, societal, and policy considerations. His current priorities include the challenges of large-scale collection and curation of data about the Internet, and mitigating the abusive uses of Internet applications. He is the past chairman of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies and has contributed to a number of studies on the societal and policy impact of computer communications. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
When we started designing the Internet, local networks and personal computers were a vision lurking inside research labs like Xerox PARC. We were hooking up large time-sharing systems. Along one dimension, the trajectory of the Internet has been expanding our vision of what to hook up. The PC. The home. With broadband. "Things." The phone in your pocket.
I am actually an optimist about some of these endeavors. We are getting rural broadband. Slowly, but it is happening. But a lesson I learned, starting around 1995, is that the technology is necessary, but it was money that made the future happen. Every time I thought some new technology would shape the future, I learned this lesson again. I hired an economist to work with me.
More recently, my focus has shifted from the physical and protocol layers to the higher layers, where what we are connecting up is not computers but people. We were techno-optimists when we designed the Internet, but what we were optimistic about was the ways people would use it. I now see that this optimism must be tempered with some concern. In 1995, I hired an economist to work with me. I am now collaborating with a behavioral psychologist to understand why people behave as they do and how technology and people interact.
In this talk, I will explore my own trajectory of learning over the past 50 years and offer some suggestions for the future.
Principal Research Scientist, MIT Microphotonics Center and Materials Research Laboratory
Dr. Anu Agarwal is a Principal Research Scientist at MIT’s Microphotonics Center and Materials Research Laboratory. Her work has focused on the technologies for the foundational components of electronic-photonic chips, including polysilicon waveguides, LEDs, couplers, and photodetectors.
Dr. Agarwal has led several research projects at the Microphotonics Center/Initiative for Knowledge and Innovation in Manufacturing (IKIM) at MIT since its inception. Her prior research includes the integration of active and passive optical components on silicon, using standard Si-CMOS fabrication processes. As a part of this research, she developed, evaluated, and later confirmed the utility of polycrystalline silicon material for waveguide applications. She also developed a design for a graded-index chip-to-fiber edge coupling scheme.
Her current work centers on the mid-IR wavelength regime. Although previous silicon microphotonic devices predominantly utilized the NIR range, the MIR regime is extremely interesting for hyperspectral imaging and chem-bio sensing because most chemical and biological toxins have their fingerprints in this range. Her work on MIR linear and nonlinear materials and devices is creating a planar, integrated, Si-CMOS-compatible microphotonics platform, which is enabling on-chip imaging and sensing applications.
As the leader of the LEAP at MIT.nano since January of 2018, she has and continues to (i) build a roadmap document of photonic sensors through the Integrated Photonic Systems Roadmap – International (IPSR-I), by identifying technology gaps in materials, components and systems for photonic sensors, and (ii) enable education and workforce development in integrated photonics across the talent pipeline from K to Gray.
As the director of Electronic-Photonic Packaging (EPP) at MIT’s Microphotonics Center, she is exploring innovative photonic testing and packaging solutions. In this role, Anu is currently pioneering a program for microchip manufacturing and operation that is establishing a path towards resource efficiency across technology, value chain innovation, and workforce.
Anu was named a 2022 Optica Fellow with over 250 journal and refereed conference publications, 21 awarded patents, and 1 pending patent. Prior to coming to MIT, she received her doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, where she investigated the spatial extent of point defect interactions in silicon. With Dr. Agarwal’s cross-disciplinary training in Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Materials Science, and industrial experience, she has successfully connected basic sciences with relevant applications, using integrated devices that are manufacturable on a large scale.
National security and economic prosperity cooperatively provide protection and creative stimulus for our nation’s economic growth. However, the path of growth continually confronts boundaries of cost, materials availability, and business viability. Solutions to these boundaries are most critical to maintaining the 40 years of exponential revenue growth of the microchip industry. The requirement for high-performance microchip systems underpins the communication, computing, and learning resources for the entire US economy. The urgency to align microchip system performance scaling with a commercially viable manufacturing value chain dominates business and technology decisions today.
FUTUR-IC, with its participants and partners in industry, government, and academia, provides a transformative industry-driven solution that simultaneously optimizes across three critical dimensions of System Technology, Value Chain Innovation, and Workforce Development, to ensure business continuity and national security.
Frontier constraints in the microchip industry are: 1) Technology: Enhanced microchip functionality for next generation applications such as AI, 6G, LiDAR etc. can no longer depend solely on shrinking the dimensions of a transistor; PFAS mitigation is essential; 2) Value Chain Innovation: A flexible template for accounting on the use of electricity, water, materials, etc. across the microchip industry value chain can help optimize resource-usage; 3) Workforce: Leadership from a new STEM- and resource-efficiency-skilled workforce is required to reshore and maintain domestic leadership in the semiconductor industry.
Concurrently engineered solutions are expected to power the next 40 years of progress for the semiconductor industry.
Thomas Lord Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Professor Kimerling earned a BS in metallurgy in 1965 and a PhD in 1968, both from MIT. He was head of the Materials Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories when he joined the faculty at DMSE in 1990. In addition to serving as the founding director of the MIT Microphotonics Center, Professor Kimerling was director of the MIT Materials Processing Center for 15 years, establishing the organization as the industry portal for faculty across all materials-related disciplines. He is the lead for MIT’s Initiative for Knowledge and Innovation in Manufacturing and the AIM Photonics Institute executive for education, workforce development. He has authored more than 600 technical articles and more than 75 patents in integrated photonics and semiconductor processing. He is a fellow at numerous professional organizations, including the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, the Materials Research Society, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Optica.
F. G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry, MIT Inaugural Director, Quantum@MIT
Danna Freedman is the F. G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry at MIT and the inaugural director of Quantum@MIT. Her laboratory’s research focuses on applying inorganic chemistry to address challenges in physics. Key areas of research in her lab include a molecular approach to quantum information science and pressure as a vector for chemical transformation. Danna began her career at Northwestern University as an Assistant Professor. She moved to MIT in 2021 as the F. G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied magnetic anisotropy in molecules. As a postdoc at MIT, she engendered spin frustration in kagomé lattices to create quantum spin liquids. Danna’s laboratory's research has been recognized by a number of awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship, the ACS award in Pure Chemistry, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and an NSF CAREER award.
Irina Gaziyeva comes to Corporate Relations from the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT where she worked 10 years as Administrative Assistant where she has supported four senior faculty members and their research groups (20-25 graduate students). Since 2018, Irina has acted as program coordinator, teaming-up with the program manager and program faculty lead for the MechE Alliance program. She has facilitated 45+ virtual seminars, workshops, and mentoring events in this informal role. Irina has also actively connected members of the MechE community to support student career development, mentorship, and networking opportunities with MIT alumni and industry. Before MIT, Irina held positions as Administrative Assistant and Member Representative at Brookline Dental and Tufts Health plan, respectively. Irina has also been a Community Organizer in Worcester, MA.
Irina earned her B.A., Management (with Innovation & Entrepreneurship track) at Clark University in Worcester, and her M.S., Program and Project Management from Brandeis University in Waltham. She has received many awards at MIT for outstanding service, and she has extensive community volunteer work to her credit.
Founder and CEO, Notch
Shahriar Khushrushahi is the founder and CEO of Notch, a company pioneering radio-frequency metamaterials for advanced antenna and electronic warfare systems, serving both the wireless industry and the U.S. Department of Defense. His career spans breakthrough innovations across sectors, including contributions to moonshot projects for Fortune 50 companies such as Google and Airbus—ranging from modular smartphones to reconfigurable aircraft and urban air mobility solutions. At MIT, his research extended into diverse fields, from targeted drug delivery technologies to environmentally responsive systems for oil spill remediation. A named co-inventor on more than ten patents spanning RF engineering, materials science, and applied physics, Shahriar blends deep technical expertise with entrepreneurial vision. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as a master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Co-founder and CPO, Bevel Software
Juan is the co-founder and CPO of Bevel Software. He previously did research at MIT and TUM and has consulted for some of the largest banks in Canada. His session sets the stage for discussion about MCP and the future of agentic tool calling, especially in the enterprise setting.
Founder & CEO, Chronos
Marco Ganouna is the Founder & CEO of Chronos AI, a defense-tech company pioneering decentralized 3D location and communication networks that operate without GPS, cell towers, or the internet. With a track record of anticipating future market needs and building breakthrough technologies, Marco leads Chronos AI’s mission to redefine positioning, navigation, and communication for defense, public safety, and smart infrastructure worldwide.
CEO, Qunett
Dr. Laura Andre is the CEO of Qunett, an early-stage deep-tech company based in Boston, focused on developing scalable hardware solutions for quantum networking. Qunett’s technology seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure to enable deployable quantum networks, supporting diverse quantum platforms and accelerating the adoption of quantum technologies.
Laura earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship from the University of Michigan, where she received the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Leadership Award. She also participated in the Ross School of Business Leaders Academy, gaining experience at the intersection of technology and business. Combining her expertise in quantum optics with a strategic approach to commercialization, she leads Qunett’s efforts to translate cutting-edge quantum innovations into scalable, real-world solutions.
Program Director, MIT Industrial Liaison Program
Steve Whittaker has almost 40 years’ of experience in R&D, innovation, and strategy. He has a background in computer science and AI, coupled with very broad interests in emerging technologies and their impact on individuals, organizations, and society.
Before joining MIT, Steve was responsible for BT's partnerships with US research universities and business schools. He was recently awarded the inaugural MIT CSAIL Connector Award for industry partnerships, and he was a resident visiting scientist/research affiliate at the MIT Media Lab for more than a decade.
Prior to relocating to the US, Steve held various research, research management, strategy and business development roles at BT's Adastral Park research labs.
Senior Technical Fellow, Research, Collins Aerospace
Sanjay is currently a Senior Technical Fellow at Collins Aerospace. His career has been dedicated to leading the development of cutting-edge technologies towards secure, reliable, better, faster, and cheaper wired, wireless, and hybrid communications. His expertise spans wireless engineering, digital design, modeling, and software. He has served as principal investigator on government-sponsored research programs with AATD, DARPA, and NAVAIR, developing and using wireless sensor networks for instrumentation and control. Sanjay was appointed as the Chair of the sub-working group for co-existence and non-interference for EUROCAE/RTCA WG-96/SC-236 (DO-378) and contributes to multiple RTCA and SAE committees on secure wireless aerospace networks. He has 29 granted patents with several pending applications.
Sanjay is an invited panelist at the ERAU-NASA-NSF cybersecurity workshops in 2024 and 2025, and on the Aviation and Aerospace Cybersecurity panel at SAE AeroTech in 2022. He is also an invited reviewer for papers and abstracts for multiple conferences. Sanjay's current focus is InteliSence- an AI/ML approach to improving the passenger experience and cabin operations.
David Clark is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Since the mid-70s, he has been leading the development of the Internet; from 1981-1989 he acted as Chief Protocol Architect in this development, and chaired the Internet Activities Board. His design research looks at re-definition of the architectural underpinnings of the Internet, and the relation of technology and architecture to economic, societal, and policy considerations. He supported the U.S. National Science Foundation Future Internet Architecture program. His current priorities include Internet security, the challenges of large-scale collection and curation of data about the Internet, and mitigating the abusive uses of Internet applications. He is past chairman of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies, and has contributed to a number of studies on the societal and policy impact of computer communications. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Hari Balakrishnan is the Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science at MIT and a Director of MIT's Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing. His research is in networked computer systems, with current interests in networking, sensing, and perception for sensor-equipped mobile devices connected to cloud or edge services running in datacenters. He has made many highly-cited contributions to mobile and sensor computing, Internet transport and routing, overlay networks and P2P systems, and data management.
In 2010, based on the CarTel project, Balakrishnan co-founded Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a company that uses mobile sensing, statistical methods, AI, and behavioral science to make roads safer by making drivers better. Over the past few years, CMT has become the world's largest telematics service provider, serving millions of users in 25 countries via partnerships with insurers, cellular carriers, rideshare companies, and automobile makers. He was an advisor to Meraki from its inception in 2006 to its acquisition by Cisco in 2012. In 2003, Balakrishnan co-founded StreamBase Systems (acquired by TIBCO), the first high-performance commercial stream processing (aka complex event processing) engine.
Balakrishnan received his PhD in 1998 from UC Berkeley and a BTech in 1993 from IIT Madras, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 2013. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2015 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. His honors include the IEEE Kobayashi Computers and Commnications Award (2021), Fellow of the ACM (2008), Fellow of the IEEE (2020), Sloan Fellow (2002), and the ACM dissertation award (1998). He has received several best-paper awards including the IEEE Bennett paper prize (2004), and six "test of time" awards for papers with long-term impact from ACM SIGCOMM (2011), SIGOPS (2015), SIGMOD (2016), and SIGMOBILE (2017, 2018), and SenSys (2019). He has also been honored for excellence in research and teaching at MIT: the Harold E. Edgerton faculty achievement award (2003), the HKN best instructor award (2018), the Jamieson award (2012), the Junior Bose teaching award (2002), and the Spira teaching award (2001).
Can an AI autonomously design mechanisms for computer systems on par with the creativity and reasoning of human experts? We have developed Glia, an AI architecture for networked systems design that uses large language models (LLMs) in a human-inspired, multi-agent workflow. Each agent specializes in reasoning, experimentation, and analysis, collaborating through an evaluation framework that grounds abstract reasoning in empirical feedback. Unlike prior ML-for-systems methods that optimize black-box policies, Glia generates interpretable designs and exposes its reasoning process. When applied to a distributed GPU cluster for LLM inference, it produces new algorithms for request routing, scheduling, and auto-scaling that perform at human-expert levels while yielding novel insights into workload behavior. Crucially, it achieves these results in 10x-100x less time than human experts. Our results suggest that by combining reasoning LLMs with structured experimentation, AI can produce creative and understandable designs for difficult problems in computer and AI systems design.
This is based on joint work with Prof. Mohammad Alizadeh and our students.
Sheila Evans Widnall (1960) Professor, MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Kerri L. Cahoy is a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and leads the Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation (STAR) Lab, where her team develops small-satellite technologies for laser (free space optical) communications, weather sensing, Earth observation, and astrophysics space telescopes. Her group has built and flown multiple CubeSat missions (e.g., MicroMAS-2A, DeMi, TROPICS, CLICK-A) for NASA and DARPA, and in collaboration with MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Cahoy has also supported NASA technology demonstrations for exoplanet direct imaging adaptive optics technology toward missions such as the Roman Space Telescope and future Habitable Worlds Observatory, and is developing on-orbit robotic assembly technology for AFRL.
Before joining MIT, she worked on space communications at Space Systems Loral (which later became Maxar Technologies, most recently Vantor and Lantis). Cahoy holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell (2000) and both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford (2008). At MIT, she has served in AeroAstro leadership roles and co-directs initiatives that grow the small-satellite ecosystem. She is the Academia Chair for the Small Satellite Conference and Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. Cahoy is widely recognized for mentoring and for impactful technology demonstrations that connect space networking and communications research to real missions and industry.
Emerging space networks—from Starlink to Kuiper—are paving the way toward a programmable fabric in low Earth orbit. This talk explores how dynamic tasking and onboard AI/edge compute let satellites determine how to efficiently use their resources for sensing and decide whether what they have sensed is useful and when to deliver it, all while laser communications provide low-latency crosslinks and supplement high-rate downlinks. We talk about recent progress in onboard autonomy and outline future architectures that fuse 5G NTN standards with optical crosslinks for resilient space-to-space and space-to-ground connectivity, enabling real-time tipping/cueing, federated learning across constellations, and “mission apps” deployed on-orbit. Work is underway with lab demos and simulations building toward field flight demos of capable pointing, acquisition, and tracking, resource scheduling, and interoperability that can scale to constellations. The result is a blueprint toward autonomous, service-oriented space networks that envision satellites as cooperative, updatable nodes in a global communications and sensing cloud.