The short courses listed below are a preview of some of the courses that will be offered on Monday, 30 March in conjunction with the
2026 Annual Directed Energy Science & Technology Symposium. More courses will be added soon. Expand each course to learn more.
Continuous Learning Point (CLP) credits will be awarded for completion of the short courses.
Not all courses are open to all registrants. While all classes are unclassified, some have
additional participation requirements, which are defined here and specified in the Classification
section of each course description.
Distribution A - Open, public release. Any registrant may participant.
Distribution C - Restricted to employees of the U.S. Federal Government or its contractors.
Distribution D - Restricted to employees of the U.S. Department of Defense or its contractors.
Registration for these short courses requires payment of a fee, and will be open soon. Registration for a short course does not require registration for the Symposium.
Classification: Unclassified, Public Release (Dist A)
Instructor: Mark Neice, Directed Energy Consultants
Duration: Half-day course
Credits awarded: 2 CLPs, runs 0800- - 1200
Course Fee: $300 ($50 discount if you take two courses), Current Full-Time Students: $100 ($50 discount if you take two courses)
Course Description: This lecture will introduce the field of HEL weapons and their associated technologies using an interweaving of
technical requirements, history, and accomplishments. The basic attributes of HEL weapons will be covered, leading into discussions of laser-material
interaction, lethality, potential weapon applications, system requirements, laser power scaling, propagation, and beam control. DoD interest in
tactical applications, current technical issues, and areas of research emphasis will be highlighted.
Intended Audience: This course is geared to those with a technical background who seek an overview of HEL
technology and the current state of the art. Individuals who are beginning to work in the field or technical managers who
wish an integrated overview would benefit from the class.
Instructor Biography: Mark Neice is the President of Directed Energy Consultants, providing DE subject-matter expertise to the directed
energy community. Mark is the former Executive Director of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). DEPS fosters research and development
in Directed Energy, to include high-energy laser and high-power microwave technologies for national defense and civilian applications, through
professional communication and education.
Mr. Neice is formerly the Director of the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office, working for the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering.
There he supervised the research and development of solid-state, free electron & gas laser devices, beam control technologies, lethality analysis, and the
modeling & simulation tools that create military applications of laser energy for combat operations.
A command pilot, Col (ret) Neice has time in the 4950th Test Wing, and as initial cadre of the Joint Stars test team. He has over 7800 flying hours,
mainly in the C-135 and B-707 variants, and is a member of the DoD Acquisition career force, certified in program management; test & evaluation;
systems engineering; and science & technology management. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Enginerring Sciences from USAF Academy and a Masters
of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton.
Classification: Unclassified, Public Release (Dist A)
Instructor: Dave Kiel, Directed Energy Consultants
Duration: Half-day course, runs 0800 - 1200
Credits awarded: 2 CLPs
Course Fee: $300 ($50 discount if you take two courses) Current Full-Time Students: $100 ($50 discount if you take two courses)
Course Description: This introductory course is designed to provide an appreciation of
Systems Engineering in the pursuit of the Directed Energy (DE) Weapons revolution. After many
decades of Research & Development, emerging DE weapons systems must navigate the technology's
"valley of death" through thoughtful application of Systems Engineering principles to successfully
field new warfighter capabilities.
The course will introduce the principles of Systems Engineering, define DE's High Energy Lasers
(HEL) and High-Power Microwave (HPM) Systems, then review DoD guidance and tools in the context
of the warfighters' missions. Conceptual HEL/HPM applications will provide instantiation examples
and enable interactive discussions.
At the end of the course, attendees will be better able to craft their programs to leverage
proven DoW SE processes and effectively integrate into existing and future DoW weapons systems/networks.
The course will cover the Systems Engineering Process throughout the Lifecycle.
Topics to be covered in this course include:
The Big Picture/Overview
DE Weapon Systems Definitions: HEL & HPM
Military Requirements and User Interactions
DoD SE Guides to include Mission Engineering (ME), Digital Engineering, System-of-Systems (SoS), Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA), Software Engineering (SWE), and The Software Acquisition Pathway
Systems Architecture and its application to DE Systems
Tools to Enable Engineering Success: Modeling & Simulation (M&S) and How M&S supports DoD Processes
Testing as an Integral Part of SE: the Different Types of Test & Evaluation (T&E)
SE for High Energy Laser Weapon System Integration and T&E
SE for HPM Weapon Systems and T&E
Intended Audience: This course is open to the public and requires no specific background
as it is general in nature, but rich in helping to understand the fundamental concepts of DE
Weapon Systems and how to apply System Engineering processes.
Instructor Biography:
Classification: CUI, Limited Distribution C
Instructor:TBD
Duration: Half-day course, runs 0800 - 1200
Credits awarded: 2 CLPs
Course Fee: $300 ($50 discount if you take two courses) Current Full-Time Students: $100 ($50 discount if you take two courses)
Course Description: This course will present and discuss the effects of optical and radio frequency energy
upon biological systems. With the growing presence of directed energy (DE) sources in the military, it is increasingly
important to understand their biological impact to safeguard our troops. We will describe the mechanisms by which DE can
affect living tissue and the exposure parameters at which these effects occur. This information will be placed within a
broader context of safety, legal, and policy considerations, shedding light on the challenges faced by the DE community as
systems are navigated through the acquisition environment. Topics include:
Why is the Department of War Interested in Directed Energy Bioeffects?
Laser Bioeffects
Applications and Considerations
Modeling Hazards and Assessing Effectiveness
Mechanisms of Damage for Tissues
Eye Vs. Skin
Long Exposures
Moderate Length Exposures
Short Pulse Exposures
Special Considerations
Laser Summary
RF Bioeffects - Background
RF Safety Standards
Modeling and Simulation for RF Bioeffects
RF ? High Average Power Exposures
RF ? Considerations for Pulsed Exposures
DE Bioeffects ? Concluding Remarks
Intended Audience: This course is intended for anyone interested in the biological effects
of laser and radiofrequency energy. Rigorous scientific directed energy bioeffects information
will be presented in a context of safety, legal, and systems development
Instructor Biographies:
Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution C
Instructor: Steven Fiorino, AFIT
Duration: Full-day course, runs 0800-1700
Credits awarded: 4 CLPs
Course Fee: $550 Current Full-Time Students: $150
Course Description: This course addresses how to characterize and quantify the major
effects of the atmosphere on directed energy weapons propagation. A first principles atmospheric
propagation and characterization code called the Laser Environmental Effects Definition and
Reference (LEEDR) is described and demonstrated. LEEDR enables the creation of climatologically-
or numerical weather prediction (NWP)-derived vertical profiles of temperature, pressure, water
vapor content, optical turbulence, and atmospheric particulates and hydrometeors as they relate
to line-by-line or band-averaged layer extinction coefficient magnitude at any wavelength from
200 nm to 8.6 m. Applying those atmospheric effects to High Energy Lasers (HELs) is addresses
by introducing and demonstrating a high-fidelity scaling-law HEL propagation coded called the
High Energy Laser End-to-End Operational Simulation HELEEOS. The course outline is as follows:
Intro to atmospheric structure and constituents
Atmospheric boundary layer
Aerosol / fog / clouds
Atmospheric radiative / propagation effects
Extinction, refraction
Optical turbulence, scintillation
Laser Environmental Effects Definition and Reference (LEEDR)
High Energy Laser End to End Operational Simulation (HELEEOS)
Intended Audience: US Government personnel and their direct contractors who have program
requirements for or are interested in methods and tools to assess realistic environments and
environmental effects for HEL modeling and simulation, HEL mission planning, and/or military
systems operations. The course assumes the students have some technical background in radiative
transfer through the atmosphere--either via an undergraduate degree or career experience.
Instructor Biographies: Steven T. Fiorino received his BS degrees in geography and
meteorology from Ohio State (1987) and Florida State (1989) universities. He additionally holds
an MS in atmospheric dynamics from Ohio State (1993) and a PhD in physical meteorology from
Florida State (2002). He is a retired USAF Lt Col who is currently a Professor of Atmospheric
Physics within the Engineering Physics Department at AFIT and is the Director of the AFIT Center
for Directed Energy. His research interests include microwave remote sensing, development of
weather signal processing algorithms, and atmospheric effects on military systems such as
high-energy lasers and weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Fiorino is a member of SPIE, AMS, AIAA,
Optica, and DEPS.
Classification: CUI, Limited Distribution C
Instructor: Mark Spencer, University of Arizona
Duration: Half-day course, runs 1300-1700
Credits awarded: 2 CLPs
Course Fee: $300 ($50 discount if you take two courses) Current Full-Time Students: $100 ($50 discount if you take two courses)
Course Description: This half-day course closely follows the material presented in six
chapters of a recently published DEPS textbook entitled: "Beam Control for Laser Systems, 2nd Edition."
By the end of this course, the interested student will have been exposed to beam-control topics ranging
from optics fundamentals to adaptive optics (see the full list below). Thus, the interested student
will have been exposed to the introductory material needed to become independent learners with respect
to beam-control technology.
Please note that students completing this course will be able to purchase a copy of
"Beam Control for Laser Systems, 2nd Edition" at a significantly reduced
cost. The material presented in this textbook is tutorial in nature with exercises
found at the back of each chapter. A companion CD also provides solutions with MATLAB code for these
exercises.
Topics to be covered include:
Optics fundamentals (Chapter 2)
Systems engineering (Chapter 3)
Classical controls (Chapter 5)
Modern controls (Chapter 6)
Optical train Components (Chapter 11)
Adaptive optics (Chapter 14)
Intended Audience: This course is for the working professional. Both technical personnel
and program managers will benefit from the material presented. With that said, the material presented
assumes an undergraduate education in science and engineering.
Instructor Biography: Dr. Mark F. Spencer is the Director of the Joint Directed Energy
Transition Office (JDETO) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and
Engineering (OUSD(R&E)). Mark is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Optical Sciences and
Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) within the Department of Engineering
Physics. He is an active member of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS), a senior member
of Optica (the society advancing optics and photonics worldwide), and a fellow of SPIE (the
international society for optics and photonics).
Classification: Unclassified, Limited Distribution D
Instructors:
- Dr. Sean Ross, AFRL/RDMP
- J. Dana Teague, AFRL/RDLA
Duration: Half-day course, runs 1300-1700
Credits awarded: 2 CLPs
Course Fee: $300 ($50 discount if you take two courses) Current Full-Time Students: $100 ($50 discount if you take two courses)
Course Description: High Energy Lasers obey the laws of thermodynamics... just like
everything else! Come and learn the reasons why the laser subsystem might only occupy 15% of the
size and weight of a laser weapon system but drives the size and weight of two-thirds of the
system size and weight. We will cover basic heat transfer mechanisms and the "tools in the
toolbox" available to the laser designer and the principles of laser-thermal co-design necessary
for any application in a size and weight constrained environment.
Intended Audience: Intended audience is anyone involved in laser subsystem or laser
weapon system design or development. There will be limited algebraic mathematics so the course
will be friendly to both technical and non-technical attendees.
Instructor Biographies: Dr. Sean Ross is currently the Lead Program Manager for Directed
Energy Prototyping for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. He has worked in Directed Energy
since 1994 and has been the Deputy High Energy Laser Technical, the Directed Energy Program Element
Monitor, lead the creation of the Environmental Laser Test Facility and has worked on numerous laser
source development projects. He is the author of “Laser Beam Quality Metrics” textbook and frequently
teaches courses on the subject. He is a DEPS Fellow and has served as a board member of the Directed
Energy Professional Society. He has been involved in power, thermal, structural and other
high-energy laser integration issues for over a decade and has led the expansion of technology
readiness level to include system, organizational and integration concepts. Dr. Ross holds a BS and
MS in Physics from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Optical Science and Engineering from the
Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, College of Optics and Photonics.
Dana Teague is the Power, Thermal, and Energy Storage Lead for AFRL/RDL and has over 12 years of
experience supporting HEL systems. He started as the Platform Engineer for DLWS, moved on to be the
Power Subsystem Lead for SHiELD, and now supports programs across DoD on power and thermal matters. He
received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and
his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico. In addition to monitoring
and developing HEL power and thermal subsystem architectures, he develops novel concepts for photoconductive
semiconductor switches.
