Speakers

Dr. Janet C. Wolfson, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Wolfson is responsible for accelerating the Department of the Air Force technological advantage by enabling world class scientists and engineers to securely transition cutting edge S&T and prototyping and transform experimentation and engineering capabilities. She supports the Air Force Acquisition Executive by providing technical advice and counsel on major acquisition programs and rapid prototyping. She assists in the functional management of more than 16,000 military and civilian scientists and engineers. Dr. Wolfson advises the preparation of policy, guidance and advocacy for the Air Force's annual $2.9 billion science and technology program and $1 billion developmental prototyping and experimentation program. As part of this role, she assists in overseeing the Air Force's international science and technology outreach via various bi-lateral and multi-lateral engagement fora, including the NATO Science and Technology Organization and the NATO Air Force Armaments Group.

Dr. Wolfson entered civil service in 2008 upon completing her Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. She has held various assignments in the Air Force Research Laboratory, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), and Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Space Acquisition and Integration). These assignments have spanned the spectrum of basic, applied, advanced technology research, technology transition, classified programs and the establishment of the Office Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Space Acquisition and Integration). Prior to assuming her current position, Dr. Wolfson served as the Director, Science, Technology and Engineering, Office Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Space Acquisition and Integration) in the Pentagon.

Before entering public service Dr. Wolfson worked as a structural engineer for Applied Research Associates and the Thornton-Tomasetti Group. She practiced building design, forensic engineering and blast-resistant design. She is a registered professional engineer in California and was a member of the response team for the World Trade Center Disaster.

Ms. Batra assumed the role of AD for Resource Management in June 2024 after 15 years of experience with HPCMP. She oversees and directs all HPCMP Resource Management's areas of responsibilities including user system access and control, allocation, information resource management, data analytics, and Frontier/High-Priority Project oversight. She previously served as deputy AD for resource management, during which time led the adoption of pIE DevSecOps processes using Agile SCRUM methodology.

As a computer scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory, she has also served the AFRL DSRC as acquisition program manager and chief of the Enterprise Operations Center. She has also held roles as a contracting office representative and as a HPC Centers and CREATE senior financial analyst and requirements analyst.

Batra earned an M.S. in administration-information resource management from Central Michigan University and a B.S. computer studies from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Mr. Dalton leads the HPCMP's critical mission with personnel in ITL and team members across the Army, Air Force, and Navy; five Defense Supercomputing Resource Centers (DSRCs), operations of the Defense Research and Engineering Network, and software and training programs. Mr. Dalton brings a wealth of expertise to the program as its new Director. Most recently, Mr. Dalton was the Technical Director of the Air Force DSRC located at the Air Force Research Laboratory. There, he led developments in classified high-performance computing including TS/SCI and Special Access Program capabilities. His efforts also included advancing Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis capabilities to support wargaming and advancement of software tools such as AF-SIM, as well as efforts across the Air Force and HPCMP to broadly engage with users.

Prior to his role as Technical Director with the Air Force DSRC, he served as Director of the Air Force Simulation and Analysis Facility (SIMAF); leading a team of over 150 personnel in critical programs that shaped long-range planning and MS&A efforts for the Air Force, Army, Navy, Joint, and OSD programs. His efforts as SIMAF Director and prior assignments in RDT&E and acquisition engineering roles included execution of $100M+ programs and shaping $B decisions in weapon systems including the F-22, requirements for the F-35 program, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), DARPA Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, congressionally-directed B-21 Raider strategic bomber, and establishing the DoD Test Facility for High-Powered Laser and Microwave Technologies.

Mr. Dalton has an MS in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School of the National Defense University, MS in Computer Science from the University of Dayton, MS in Computer Engineering from Ohio State University, and BS in Electrical Systems Engineering from Wright State University.

Mr. Hedgepeth is the Productivity Enhancement and Training (PET) Associate Director of the Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. The program provides productivity enhancement, technology transfer, and training services to meet the computational science expertise that enables scientists and engineers to conduct a wide range of focused development, research, and test activities.

Mr. Hedgepeth previously served as ERDC Acting Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO). He was responsible for assisting the ERDC CIO in managing the execution of ERDC's IT program with policy and strategic planning. He formulized and developed the ERDC Cloud Computing Environment.

Prior to being in the ERDC CIO Office, Mr. Hedgepeth served as ERDC Program Manager for the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Enterprise Information System Army Logistics Program. This is a joint program falling within the mission area of mobility and transportation for passengers and cargo during war and peace. It automates the process of planning, organizing, coordinating, and overall unit-related deployment activities supporting the DoD's total deployment process. He also served as Technical Program Manager for the Portal Information Environment (pIE) for the HPCMP. He led a code development team and IT operations.

Mr. Hedgepeth is a past recipient of the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service Award, ERDC Operational Support Award, the Commander's Award for Civilian Service, and 2 Superior Civilian Service Awards. He received his bachelor's degree in computer science from Mississippi College. He also earned his master's in project management at George Washington University. He is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps with Level II certification in Program Management. He earned his Project Management Professional certification at University of California Berkeley.

Dr. David McDaniel began his career serving in the US Air Force conducting flight tests to assess the stability and control characteristics of various military bomber aircraft. He later taught aerodynamics and thermodynamics at the US Air Force Academy where he first entered into the world of computational aerodynamics. He worked as a researcher in the Aeronautics Lab at the Academy for several years developing computational techniques for parallel simulations of various multidisciplinary problems. He continued with this activity as one of the founding developers of the Kestrel fixed-wing product of the CREATE effort managed by the HPCMP. Dr. McDaniel has been a member of the research faculty at the University of Alabama, Birmingham for many years now as part of the CREATE team, eventually serving as the Kestrel Principal Developer, the CREATE-Air Vehicles Project Manager, and currently as the HPCMP Associate Director for CREATE. He is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy (BS), The George Washington University (MS), and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (PhD).

Mr. Ralph A. McEldowney serves as the Associate Director for Networking for the High Performance Computing Modernization Program. In this capacity, he is responsible for the Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN). DREN is the premiere high performance wide area network supporting the Department's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, and Acquisition Engineering communities. He is responsible for a staff of nearly 60 Government employees and contractor staff, the management of more than 200 DREN sites across 34 US states and the District of Columbia.

Mr. McEldowney provides program management oversight for the DREN 3 and DREN 4 contracts, both 10-year Firm Fixed Price contracts valued at $750M and $495M respectively. The DREN 4 contract created a new wide area network with enhancements in bandwidth, performance and security for DoW research, test, and engineering data in-transit across the country. Implementation of the new network was completed in June 2023.

He assumed his current role in April 2012. He has more than 35 years of Air Force civilian service in a variety of roles and responsibilities such as program management and team leadership; technology evaluation, acquisition, and integration; system and network administration; and supervisory responsibilities. Prior to serving as the Associate Director for Networking, Mr. McEldowney served on the staff of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) DoW Supercomputing Resource Center (DSRC) as Chief of the Advanced Technologies Section at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. In this capacity, he was responsible for the acquisition and integration of next-generation technologies for the AFRL DSRC, including high performance computers, high-capacity storage, and high-performance networking.

Prior to his roles with the HPCMP, Mr. McEldowney served as an Air Force computer engineer in various capacities for the Aeronautical System Center, 88th Communications Group, Acquisition Logistics Division, and HQ Air Force Logistics Command, all at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.

Mr. McEldowney is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society, and the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing. Mr. McEldowney has served on the Executive Committee of the annual co-sponsored IEEE-CS and ACM Supercomputing Conference as SCinet Chair in 2009, Finance Chair in 2012, and General Chair in 2018.

Dr. Newell assumed the role of HPCMP Deputy Director in March 2026 after serving in an acting position since April 2025. She brings significant experience to the role, previously serving as the Director of Business Intelligence for ERDC. In that role, she facilitated development and tracking of ERDC research business intelligence and reimbursable growth opportunities. Prior to that role, she served as ERDC Liaison to Army Futures Command, team leader and research biologist in the Environmental Laboratory, and ERDC Liaison to the Office of Assistant Secretary for the Army, Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology (ASAALT).

Dr. Newell Is a graduate of National Defense University, Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, Ft McNair, Washington, DC; holds a Ph.D. from University of New Brunswick, a Master of Science from Oklahoma State University; and a Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University. She is a graduate of the USACE Emerging Leaders Program and has received numerous awards including the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and Superior Service Award.

Mr. Keith Obenschain the Chief Technology Officer for the HPCMP. He Obenschain brings a wealth of HPC experience and has been a computer scientist with the Naval Research Laboratories for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics department for more than 20 years, most recently as acting director of the Code. He has been Branch Head of the Laboratory for Advanced Computational Physics since 2020. He had led numerous efforts investigating emerging architectures and has designed Top500 class HPC systems. Mr. Obenschain has previously supported the two previous CTO's for HPCMP, providing insights into how upcoming computing architectures will impact HPCMP and the wider DoD community. He is a co-holder of two patents and has published numerous scientific papers.