David Diaz
Chief Architect
Department of the Air Force Digital Transformation Office
Presentation: Moving Out of the 90s with Digital Technologies
Mr. David Diaz is the Chief Architect for the Department of the Air Force Digital Transformation Office located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. He has over 35 years of experience in a variety of engineering and leadership roles, 25+ in defense and 10 in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. As an experienced Chief Engineer, Mr. Diaz brings significant program acquisition experience to provide expert advice and guidance in unleashing the power of digital technologies to deliver dominant capabilities for Air Force acquisition programs. He has worked a variety of aircraft programs like the B-2 bomber, F-16 fighter, HH-60W helicopter, and AC/HC/MC-130Js series. He serves on the board of directors of the Kittyhawk Chapter Association of Old Crows, promoting electronic warfare superiority. In his current role, Mr. Diaz is an active leader with a passion for the advancement of digital technologies, frameworks, architectures, and data initiatives.
Simone Youngblood
Principal Professional Staff, Johns Hopkins Applied Physic Laboratory
Presentation: Emerging Concepts in Rigorous Simulation Validation
Simone M. Youngblood is a member of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physic Laboratory’s Principal Professional Staff. Leveraging an extensive background in simulation development and credibility assessment, Simone Youngblood has served as a DoD VV&A focal point for the past 26 years. Ms. Youngblood was the editor of the DoD VV&A Recommended Practices Guide and has chaired the development of several VV&A related standards including: IEEE Standards 1278.4, 1516.4, and 1730.2 as well as MIL-STD 3022. Ms. Youngblood has served as the V&V and/or Accreditation agent for numerous M&S efforts that span a broad organizational spectrum to include: PEO IWS 1, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Department of Homeland Security, the US Naval Air Systems Command, and the US Army Medical Research and Material Command. Ms. Youngblood has a B.A. in mathematics as well as a B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer science.