When generative AI can offer tricks such as analyzing long documents in a flash, the promise of artificial intelligence is very appealing. Agencies everywhere are trying to unlock and leverage its power potential, but when it comes to requirements that Federal Research has to meet, will AI make the grade?
This week at Feds At the Edge, experts dive into the challenges of integrating AI in government work.
Quentin Kreilmann, Deputy Director for the Center for AI at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, warns AI enthusiasts to proceed with caution when it comes to sensitive data. Ramesh Menon, CTO at DIA, provides us with the critical questions to ask in order to ensure fair and unbiased data.
We’ll also explore medical data security and the risks of backdoor attacks.
Tune in on your favorite podcasting platform today to take a deep dive into AI’s potential, pitfalls, and the importance of transparency and human oversight.
To view this webinar: AI Promises to Unlock Research Potential to Solve Big Challenges.
Featured Speakers:
Basia Sall
Director, DIME
Ms. Basia Sall currently serves as the Director of the Data, Information Management, and Enterprise Governance (DIME) Division within the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) at the NRC, where she is the agency Chief Data Officer. Since joining the NRC in 2007 as a Senior IT Specialist in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), Ms. Sall has held roles of increasing responsibility.
Her notable positions include managing the NRC Leadership Development Program within the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) and serving as Branch Chief for the Service Fulfillment and Delivery Branch in the OCIO in 2019. For the three years, she was the Deputy Director for the IT Service Delivery and Operations Division in the OCIO. Her exemplary work has earned her multiple accolades, including the NRC’s Meritorious Service Award in 2022.
Prior to her tenure at the NRC, Ms. Sall dedicated seven years to the U.S. Peace Corps, where she held the role of Chief Administrative Officer for the OCIO and other leadership positions at both headquarters and in Senegal and Mali, West Africa.
Ms. Sall is a distinguished graduate of the NRC’s 2023 Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program, during which she completed a rotational assignment with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as the agency’s Chief Data Officer.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Information Systems and Operations Management from The University of Toledo and a Master of Education in Computer Science Education from Temple University.
Director of DIME, OCIO,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Quentin Kreilmann
Deputy Director, Center for AI
Quentin Kreilmann is the Deputy Director of the Center for AI and leads the Innovation Team in Research Computing at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Before PNNL, he expanded the science advisory board and spearheaded impactful research dissemination initiatives for Bioinformatics Inc., a life science market research firm in Washington, DC. There, he developed opinion research published in top tier publications, including the Washington Post. Since his start at PNNL in 2017, Kreilmann has been pivotal in refining operational frameworks within the Communications Division and introducing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance communication quality. Currently, he shapes strategies to operationalize generative AI at the laboratory for research and operations.
Deputy Director for the Center for AI,
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Tanna Nelson, Ph.D, R.N., NI-BC
Informatics Clinical Trials Bioinformatician
As a clinical research informatics specialist, I oversee several clinical informatics and data science projects that utilize machine learning and large language models (LLMs) to advance clinical trials research for NCI. I collect and utilize data from multiple sources including devices and wearables, clinical and research data, and open-source data to (1) advance ground-breaking ways to streamline clinical trials research and reporting, (2) develop and train LLMs, and (3) harmonize data using standardized terminologies and common data elements.
Clinical Research Informatic Specialist,
Center for Biomedical Informatics & IT, NCI
Ramesh Menon
Chief Technology Officer
Mr. Ramesh Menon was appointed Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on March 1, 2021. Mr. Menon is responsible for technology and strategy planning, experimentation, emerging technology solutions architecture supporting DIA and IC priorities including FVEY partners. Mr. Menon assumed his current position upon his appointment to the SES / DISL-T1. Mr. Menon serves as the CTO and authoritative information technology expert for DIA. He develops a cohesive technological strategy for CIO’s, business, and mission partner’s capabilities on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System and in the Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems enterprise.
Mr. Menon serves as the senior DIA technologist and interface to the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, Military Service’s Intelligence Centers, Combatant Commands, international partners, national labs, industry and academia. He conducts feasibility assessments of current and future technology trends within the private and public sectors and makes recommendations on adoption that will increase DIA’s decision advantage. As the CTO, Mr. Menon will serve as the principal advisor for artificial intelligence to the Director and collaborate with other IC and DoD AI leaders.
Born in India Mr. Menon earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from California State University. He has co-authored three books and has a patent pending for supply chain assurance using Blockchain technology.
Mr. Menon was a CTO in the private sector at IBM and a Chief Architect at Johns Hopkins University – Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) leading Artificial Intelligence, cloud, cyber and strategic national security initiatives.
Mr. Menon is a member of IEEE congressional delegation on science and technology and an invited frequent guest lecturer on emerging technologies at Johns Hopkins University was a member of Brookings Institution AI expert panel on autonomous weapon systems and served on space innovation council workgroup along with NASA, SMC and DARPA. He is also a mentor to AFRL catalyst campus, NASA Frontier Development Labs supporting OSINT and EdgeAI to operate in contested spaces.
He lives in beautiful Pacific Northwest with his wife of 23 years and their daughter. He enjoys hiking, traveling, cooking and nature.
Chief Technology Officer,
Defense Intelligence Agency
Chris Cyr
Chief Technology Officer
Chris Cyr, Sterling’s Chief Technology Officer, is an enterprise architect and industry thought-leader. Cyr’s expertise spans artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain technologies, cloud technologies, computer vision and machine learning, IoT topologies, advanced manufacturing technologies, network architectures, big data, aerospace design and engineering. Cyr logged 28+ years working within the federal government, NASA, and Special Operations community, developing future end-to-end reference architecture. As a high-level computer scientist, he supported the NASA Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions and designed and manufactured a rescue and flying tactical hovercraft. He was a member of the team that designed and built the first Joint Air Operations Center and the Joint Forces Experiment Program. For 13 years he was also a member and leader in Air Force Special Ops. He is currently building on Sterling’s patents for cross-domain data workflows, cross-domain enabling third party software and how they work within cloud and non-military entities.
Prior to joining Sterling, Cyr worked at Oracle, where he served as Enterprise Cloud Architect and founding member of the Cloud Pursuit Team, Cloud Execution Team, and Cloud Technology Office responsible for Oracle’s transformational pivot to cloud services. He was the subject-matter expert on Oracle Cloud, Enterprise Architecture, and Multi-Cloud Interoperability. Cyr has also worked with Fortune 50 companies such as FedEx, General Motors, Verizon, Coca-Cola, and Amazon. In his Sterling orbit Cyr co-authored and was awarded the Federal Contract for NASA SEWP V. He holds numerous prized manufacturer certifications. As Sterling’s CTO, he drives the company’s technology strategy and related endeavors. These include empathetic digital personalities, humanoid and multi-legged/wheeled robots, quantum-hybrid technologies and workflow, 5G and 6G research, and end-to-end AI workflows.
Chris is an active member of technology advisory councils for Nvidia, Intel, VMware, AMD, Cisco and HPE. He is also a member of the Florida K-12 AI Curriculum Development Council, and the State of Florida Orange County Technology Career and Education Committee.
Chief Technology Officer,
Sterling
John Breeden II
Moderator & Contributing Editor
FedInsider Contributing Editor John Breeden II is an award winning journalist and reviewer who has spent 20 years working in the federal, technology and government space. Articles and reviews written by him have appeared in numerous national publications including Chief Security Officer, Stars and Stripes, The Washington Post, NextGov Magazine, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Technology, Network World, The Sacramento Bee, The Boston Globe, Government Computer News, Up Front New Mexico and many others.
For FedInsider, he has written many articles and white papers and acted as the moderator for over 20 interviews featuring federal, state and local officials discussing technology, policy and governmental issues.
In addition to his normal writing, Breeden has authored two technical how-to type computer books published by Prompt Publications. Those titles, Exploring Microsoft Office and Guide to Webcams enjoyed both commercial success and reviewer acclaim. He is also the founding publisher and chief editor of Gameindustry.com, one of the longest running publications covering the video game industry. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group of professional journalists who craft thought leadership projects for government and private organizations.
He has twice been awarded Jessie H. Neal gold medals for excellence in business journalism as well as numerous national awards for journalism by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
Contributing Editor,
FedInsider
