DIRECTED ENERGY PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY Directed Energy Systems Symposium 15-18 December 2025 Monterey, CA   Overview   Symposium Contacts Event Agenda Short Courses Attendee Info Location & Hotel Local Weather Registration & Fees Companions Security Presenter Info Submissions Release Forms Exhibitor Info Exhibit Exhibit Brochure Hosting Opportunities Hospitality Suites   Symposium Overview As the Directed Energy community continues a transition from years of Science & Technology to Programs of Record, the theme for this year's Systems Symposium is "DEW Systems: The Solution to Real World Issues" The Hyatt Regency Monterey is the Symposium hotel. The 2025 Directed Energy Systems Symposium will be held 15-18 December 2025 in Monterey, CA at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel (Visit the hotel website or Book your room) and at an offsite location. The DE Systems Symposium focuses on systems aspects of Directed Energy in a limited-attendance environment. Some portions of the Systems Symposium are held at a CUI/Limited Distribution level while others are conducted at the Secret level. Attendance for this event is limited to U.S. citizens from government, industry and academia with appropriate clearance and/or need-to-know, depending on which sessions they wish to attend. See Visit Request Information. Attendees wishing to access sessions at the offsite location, will also need to fulfill facility access requirements. More information is available here. Note that base access will only be by CAC if you have not completed the SECNAV form by 14 November. Distinguished Speakers We are pleased to announce the following distinguished speakers at our Tuesday Plenary Session: Vice Admiral Ann Rondeau, U.S. Navy (Ret.), President of the Naval Postgraduate School Dr. Chris Vergien, OUSW(R&E)/OASW(CT) Dr. Kelly Hammett, Director and Program Executive Officer (PEO), Space Rapid Capabilities Office (Space RCO) Dr. Nicholas Morley, AFRL Dr. Keith Krapels, Director, Technical Center, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command CDR Curran,U.S. Navy Commander, PEO IWS Dr. Sean Ross, RCCTO Laboratory Tour - CIRPAS and LEENA, NPS Department of Meteorology A tour will be held on Friday morning. Private transportation is required. Meet NPS staff on the upper floor of the Hyatt Conference Center at 8:00. CIRPAS Airborne Research Facility is based in an operational hangar at Marina Municipal Airport (3200 Imjin Rd., Suite A, Marina, CA 93933), approximately 20 minutes drive from the hotel. Participants will caravan in personal/rental vehicles from the Hyatt Convention Center. Tour is approximately one hour. Sign up at the conference registration desk. Two laboratories within the Naval Postgraduate School's Department of Meteorology - the CIRPAS Airborne Research Facility and the Laboratory for Environmental Effects on Naval Applications (LEENA) - will showcase advanced atmospheric measurement capabilities that support electro-optical (EO) and directed-energy (DE) research and test and evaluation applications. Together, CIRPAS and LEENA provide complementary sensing capabilities to characterize the full atmospheric boundary layer using surface-based and airborne measurements. Both facilities have collected extensive METOC datasets during atmospheric and defense-focused field campaigns worldwide. These efforts have supported numerous NPS student theses, faculty research projects, and publications, and have enhanced the understanding of environmental impacts on US Navy operations. The tour will include: CIRPAS Airborne Research Facility - De Havilland Twin Otter - A customized research aircraft configured for atmospheric science and environmental characterization missions. The Twin Otter carries a comprehensive suite of basic meteorological parameters, aerosol, radiation, and turbulence sensors with flexible mounting options for pod-, nose-, and wing-based payloads. It has supported numerous field studies relevant to EO/DE propagation and modeling. Recent modifications include a reinforced nose section to expand payload capacity and accommodate ISR-related instrumentation. LEENA Environmental Sensing Systems - Display of gimbal-mounted EO/IR sensors, LIDAR/SODAR profilers, and meteorological and turbulence instruments used to assess environmental effects on EO/DE propagation. These systems have been deployed concurrently with the Twin Otter and in support of directed-energy test events such as SSL-TM, HELIOS, and HELCAP. Outdoor Demonstration (weather permitting) - Live operation of the MZA DELTA-Wx system and supporting meteorological sensors for real-time environmental monitoring. Please note that the CIRPAS Airborne Research Facility is based in an operational hangar at Marina Municipal Airport. As the site is part of an active airfield, visitors are asked to follow all safety instructions and remain in designated tour areas. Laboratory Tour - Spacecraft Research and Design Center (SRDC) The tour will consist of three testbeds. The tour is now at full capacity. Email melissa@deps.org to join the waiting list. A tour will be held on Monday at 1330 of the Naval Postgraduate School Laboratory Spacecraft Research and Design Center (SRDC) hosted by Dr. Brij Agrawal, NPS Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Astronautical Engineering and Director of Spacecraft Research and Design Center. SRDC laboratories are used for instruction and research in space system engineering and space operations curricula. The emphasis has been on providing students with hands-on experience in the design, analysis, and testing of space systems and systems and to provide students facilities for experimental research. Learn more about the Laboratory here. Meet at the conference registration desk located in the Hyatt Regency Convention Center. Please note that attendees must meet base access requirements. The tour will consist of three testbeds: NPS High Energy Laser Beam Control Research Testbed (HBCRT) - It has a 30cm diameter telescope, acquisition sensor, and adaptive optics. Multi Conjugate Woofer-Tweeter Adaptive Optics Testbed - It consists of three deformable mirror and two wavefront sensor. Segmented Mirror Telescope - It consists of six segments, 3 m diameter, with 156 piezo actuators on each segments, 3 fine and 6 coarse actuators on each segments for alignment, FSM, and focal plane. I want to... Attend Present Exhibit Take a Class Highlights: Professional Development Short Courses Tuesday all-day plenary session System-oriented CUI & Classified breakout technical sessions Poster Session Exhibits and an Exhibitor Reception Laboratory Tour of the Spacecraft Research and Design Center Program and Agenda An overview of the agenda is provided below, while the preliminary technical program is available here for DEPS users that are logged into their account. Note that login is required; only DEPS users who are logged into their DEPS account can view the detailed agendas for DEPS events. Overview Agenda   Monday, 15 December Short Courses Laboratory Tour - Spacecraft Research & Design Center Evening Welcome Event Co-Hosted by IPG Photonics   Tuesday, 16 December Tuesday Breakfast Co-Hosted by Systems Planning and Analysis AM/PM Plenary Session Evening Reception Co-Hosted by Five-Nine Optics   Wednesday, 17 December AM/PM Technical Breakout Sessions Wednesday Lunch Co-Hosted by Optimax   Thursday, 18 December AM/PM Technical Breakout Sessions Symposium Adjourns   Friday, 19 December Laboratory Tour - CIRPAS and LEENA Symposium Contacts     Symposium Co-Chairs   Lawrence Grimes   Bonnie Johnson     Technical Program Chair   Conor Pogue     Symposium Technical Committee   AI for DE (Artificial Intelligence for Directed Energy)   Teresa Berra, Amanda Coleman     Airborne DE Systems   Matt Whiteley     Counter DE Warfare (CDEW)   John McElhenny, Kent Averett     DE Bioeffects   Emily Boice, Brent Voorhees     DE Manufacturability, Readiness, & Sustainment   Chris Behre     DE Systems for Non-Weapon Applications - Power Beaming, Sensing, Communications   Dana Teague     Directed Energy (DE) System Modeling & Wargaming   Chris Wilcox     HEL Components - Lasers, Combiners, Beam Control   Matt Whiteley     HEL Non-lethal Weapons   TBD     High Energy Laser (HEL) Systems   Neset Akozbek, Brian Curran     High Power Microwave (HPM) Systems   David Simon     HPM Effects & Lethality   George Che     Space-Based DE Systems   Victor Gamiz     Symposium Coordinator   Cynnamon Spain (505) 998-4910 Cynnamon@deps.org     Technical Program Coordinator   Devona Valdez (505) 998-4910 devona@deps.org     Short Courses   Melissa McCrary (505) 998-4910 melissa@deps.org     Registration & Payments   Raheela Bokhari (505) 998-4910 raheela@deps.org     Presentations and Releases   Devona Valdez (505) 998-4910 devona@deps.org     Copyright © Directed Energy Professional Society   DHTML/JavaScript Menus by OpenCube   DEPS Policies and Terms of Use Last updated: 9 December 2025