SPIE’s annual showcase for mission-critical sensing technology and innovation heads to the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area for a five-day run from April 21-25. The Defense + Commercial Sensing (DCS) show will play host to over 250 exhibitors and run more than 1200 presentations located at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The Symposium Plenary on Monday evening, April 22, will feature Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and Deeph Chana, managing director of the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA). Shenoy’s topic has yet to be determined, and Chana will present on a case study on DIANA’s reimagining of defense innovations. Other plenaries will include talks by Shamik Das, chief engineer for MITRE Labs; Carl McCants, special assistant to the DARPA director for the Microelectronics Policy Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Anil Rao, vice president and general manager in Intel Corporation’s CTO Office; and MIT’s Anu Agarwal, principal research scientist at the Microphotonics Center and Materials Research Laboratory. Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. Courtesy of Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. Leaders from industry, government, and beyond will present innovations in technology areas including sensors, infrared, laser systems, spectral imaging, lidar, and autonomous systems in 38 conferences grouped into four industry tracks. The “Materials and Devices” track will showcase spectroscopic technologies, image sensors, photon counting, energy harvesting, and quantum technologies, with applications spanning wearables, cybersecurity, information processing, energy storage, microscopy, and drones. The 11 conferences in the “Imaging and Analytics” track focus on spectral imaging, geospatial imaging, pattern recognition, metrology, and 3D imaging. Applications in security and defense, climate monitoring, big data, deep learning, machine vision, target detection, and tracking will be discussed. In the “Advanced Sensing and Imaging” track, presenters will lead sessions on topics in infrared and thermal imaging, fiber optic sensors, lidar, radar, laser radar, x-ray detection and imaging, advanced optics for imaging, and image processing using artificial intelligence/machine learning. Applications range from novel defense and security systems for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, to infrastructure monitoring, energy, autonomous vehicles, and remote sensing. DCS 2024’s largest track, “Next-Generation Sensor Systems and Applications,” will comprise 12 conferences and explore emerging technologies for specific applications such as autonomous systems; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives; agriculture and food safety; cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things; and more. Technical events feature seven panel presentations, including topics such as edge-based computing in sensor fusion and machine learning in automated targeting systems. Technology showcases and industry events taking attendees in depth on autonomous systems, infrared technology, and testing requirements for infrared imaging systems will be held throughout the week. The SPIE-led advocacy and public policy and photonics market updates will once again be included as part of the industry program. SPIE DCS 2024 is scheduled for April 21-25 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. The exhibition will run April 23-24, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and April 25, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration and additional event information is available at www.spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/defense-and-commercial-sensing.