SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2019 (DCS) — a leading conference on imaging, sensing, and photonic technologies designed for defense and security applications — is set to take place at the Baltimore Convention Center April 14-18, 2019. The conference will include two technical programs featuring 1600 presentations, a 300-company expo, and 29 courses focused on training and education. Baltimore Convention Center, courtesy of iStock.com/aimintang. Scientists, engineers, and researchers from around the world will explore new business opportunities and showcase their latest in technical advancements; network with colleagues during one of the many social events and discuss new ideas; present and review in-progress research; peruse and add to the world’s largest collection of optics and photonics research; and gain competitive insight by advancing scientific understanding and contributing to current trends in developments. IR imaging Exhibitors will show their latest infrared technology and products at the expo, including IR imagers and IR image processing systems. At the ThermoSense vendor presentation and reception, conference-goers will be able to familiarize themselves with many of the featured products, such as Telops advanced IR cameras, cryocooler developments for HOT detectors from RICOR USA Inc., calibrated zoom cameras from InfraTec, dual-FOV SWIR lenses, and many more. Exhibitors also include FISBA and its complex, compact, and lightweight optics and systems; LightPath Technologies Inc. with its aspheres, IR collimating lenses, collimators, IR optics custom designs, and thermal imaging; Lockheed Martin’s innovation hub Santa Barbara Focalplane with the latest in IR components, imaging systems, and cameras; and other companies featuring their most recent developments in sensors, IR technology, laser systems, spectral imaging, optical components, radar, lidar, robotics, and much more. Product demonstrations at the exhibit hall demo area will include blackbody for radiometric thermal imager calibration; optical filters for lidar applications; 3D and snapshot hyperspectral cameras; an accurate laser power meter with both Bluetooth and USB connectivity; and properties, use, and selection of synthetic sapphire. Sensing for agriculture and defense Current topics addressed in the industry sessions will include lidar for autonomous vehicles, nonautomotive lidar for 3D sensing, CMOS-based imaging, cybersecurity, exporting and the defense industry, sensors for agriculture applications, sensors for security and defense applications, and updates from DARPA. The program features 45 conferences broken out in four categories: materials and devices, imaging and analytics, advanced sensing and imaging, and next-generation sensor systems and applications. Topics include energy harvesting and storage; algorithms, technologies, and applications for multispectral and hyperspectral imagery; big data: learning, analytics, and applications; anomaly detection and imaging with x-rays; and autonomous air and ground sensing systems for agricultural optimization and phenotyping. Early-career professionals to be feted Symposium-wide plenary sessions will kick off with an award ceremony welcoming 12 notable early-career professionals as 2019 DCS Rising Researchers. In its third year, the SPIE Rising Researcher awards program entails a rigorous selection process to select candidates who show exemplary work toward important advances in research and product improvement in areas of defense, commercial, and scientific sensing, imaging, optics, or related fields. Keynote speakers will highlight the latest advancements, technologies, and strategies with presentations from Dr. Timothy Grayson, office director at Strategic Technology Office DARPA; Philip Perconti, director at Army Research Lab; and Albert “Skip” Rizzo, director for Medical Virtual Reality at the Institute for Creative Technologies and a research professor at USC Davis. Symposium chairs this year are Ruth Moser, director of the sensors directorate, Air Force Research Lab, and Jay Kumler, president of Jenoptik Optical Systems LLC. Technical events will include a panel discussion on machine learning for automatic target recognition highlighting accomplishments and the challenges ahead in designing and deploying deep learning and big data analytics algorithms, systems, and hardware. Each panelist will provide a short talk on topics such as adversarial learning, ethics, pattern-of-life analysis, and graph analytic multisensory fusion. Attendees will be able to participate in subsequent discussions. Courses offered will give attendees the chance to learn new methods and practical skills in several categories: materials and devices, imaging and analytics, advanced sensing and imaging, next-generation sensor systems and applications, and optical and optomechanical engineering. And there will be three snapshot courses for nontechnical staff. Professional development workshops and social/networking events will be held several times throughout the week, including a welcome reception, luncheons, and even an expo happy hour.