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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/07/2024
The chapter hosted its inaugural Cyber & IT Summit in November at Moffett Field, California. The event was held in the 63rd Readiness Division. Six presentations were delivered by speakers from government and industry in the amphitheater. Sponsors and refreshments were available in the drill hall. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with several participants deciding to join AFCEA!
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/09/2023
In November, the chapter held an event at Scott's Seafood in San Jose, California. Guest speaker Halin Garcia-Gordon, from Datasophical LLC, is also the new chapter Emerging Leaders chair.With data breaches and cyber attacks rising, effective security is more crucial than ever for organizations operating in the cloud. This informative talk explored how Python and Amazon Web Services (AWS) services can be leveraged to bolster the security of AWS cloud environments now and in the future. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 02/22/2023
At the February Luncheon, Ricky J. Deutsch delivered a presentation on HEXAGON, the history of film-based reconnaissance satellites. During the Cold War, the United States evolved reconnaissance, resulting in today's real-time video technology. Initially, the film was used in satellites to monitor treaty compliance and intelligence gathering of the Soviet Union and other denied areas. The vehicle, HEXAGON, was 60 feet long and took pictures from 100 miles up. The program was urgent and required cooperation between the CIA and the U.S. Air Force, guided by the National Reconnaissance Office. A chapter member, Andrew Watters, demonstrated a prototype of a wearable augmented reality helmet that uses a see-through display and a panoramic camera mount to provide thermal vision overlaid on the real world, as well as targeting and symbology.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/31/2022
The STEAM Project sponsored by the chapter member donations to the Educational Fund is completed! Check out the video at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM4Ov6MrZcoWhile it looks like it's about gardening, gardening is the vehicle for these Main Street Scholars to develop a science project and produce a video, a fun technology project for them. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 03/09/2022
Cybercrime cost the world almost $1 trillion in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic provided new opportunities for hackers to target consumers and businesses. Despite a surge in crime, many companies lack a clear plan for dealing with cyber attacks. Gartner predicts that annual global spending on cybersecurity will reach $170 billion by 2022. Even with these ever-increasing levels of organizational spending on security-related hardware, software and services, cyber attacks continue unabated. The average total cost of a data breach is $4.24 million and dwell time is 287 days. This session focused on venture capital investments and mergers and acquisitions trends in security, innovative segments that are attracting investors, how investors are evaluating security startups, recent exits and post-initial public offering performance.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 02/09/2022
Main Street Scholars, a private learning center located in Half Moon Bay, California, received a STEAM grant from the chapter. The grant is funding the Root View Planter Project, an experiment in plant germination and growth, created by Sarah Kiser. The project objective is for students to study the germination and growth of seeds, study the development of roots, and document the growth cycle of various plants. The experiment will be documented with video and posted on YouTube.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 01/12/2022
In January, Gustavo Sanchez, Pandata Tech, spoke to the chapter about mitigation and use cases of intrinsic risk for deployed artificial intelligence systems. Cybersecurity is anything to do with digital risk. It is not exclusive to protecting systems from hackers and enemy bad actors. In terms of artificial intelligence (AI) and decision algorithms, there are two main cyber risks that need to be mitigated: 1. External Risk: This is what comes to mind whenever anyone hears 'cybersecurity.' Hackers and bad actors manipulating our systems. 2. Intrinsic Risk: Many think of a lot less of this when discussing cybersecurity. This includes flawed engineering, legacy equipment, bad data and what happens once external risk mitigation fails. Although it may be counterintuitive, the number one risk to deployed AI systems is NOT bad actors and hackers, but the data the system depends on. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/10/2021
In November, Adrienne Pierce presented "Sustainability for Profit and Growth" for the chapter meeting. There is a universal understanding that a "new normal" can be a result of the pandemic. For many, the path to a "new normal" leads into unknown territory. How can we know if we are on the right trail? The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals provide help for the journey. There are concerns that changing methods could decrease profit, impede production and limit growth. Pierce discussed following the "Do Well by Doing Good" path to a better future for your company and for the planet. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 06/09/2021 Walt Paley, vice president of communications for SafeLogic, is responsible for strategy, content, marketing and outreach. He brings experience from several start-ups and companies in growth stages, including Nukona (acquired by Symantec) and Bitzer (acquired by Oracle). At the June event, Paley discussed the landscape of certifications typical for federal procurement and covered FedRAMP, Common Criteria, CMMC and the NIST publications that provide the technical backbone for them. He also discussed the specifics of FIPS 140, NIST's cryptographic validation that consistently delays and derails certification efforts across the board. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 02/10/2021 Greg McGregor, CEO, Bright Apps, is leading a team of expert engineers into the future of Quantum Entropy security systems with the development of the QCloud. He is at the forefront of the open blockchain, artificial intelligence, wireless and big data technology. He is also a strategist with the innate ability to visualize and develop next-generation technologies. His expertise has positioned him to develop a sustainable and secure digital foundation for blockchain. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 03/10/2021 5G promises blazing-fast data speeds, reduced latency and greater density for smart devices. But can 5G really live up to the hype? At the chapter's March event, Walt Maclay, president, Voler Systems, answered this question and discussed details that are often skipped amid user excitement over 5G. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 04/14/2021
The world is on the cusp of an explosion for new autonomous systems that will host fleets of land, sea, air and space vehicles. How will these systems safely and securely emerge, grow and scale to the opportunity and promise of this new world?
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 01/13/2021 During the January meeting, the scheduled presenter experienced technical difficulties and was not able to present. Therefore, we took the opportunity to discuss the Capital breach and data protection. Attendees participated in a lively discussion about their experiences with data protection and lessons learned. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 12/02/2020 The chapter hosted a virtual meeting for December and received a presentation on Passwordless Authentication from StrongKey. The chapter learned about FIDO [Fast IDentity online], an easier and more secure open-source authentication option. FIDO can be used to remove passwords, minimize identity theft and easily adapt to existing environments to provide strong authentication to a wide range of applications used by service providers, developers and consumers alike. This method has been deemed the highest assurance level for authentication, even higher than digital certificate smart cards used by the U.S. Department of Defense. |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 09/30/2020
In September, Joy Montgomery, chapter vice president of scholarships and a strategic advisor for startup companies, shared a program on how to become the catalyst to grow STEM programs in schools where members have a connection. Chapter members contact the schools, introduce the program and provide an application. Completed applications are returned to the chapter where they are judged. The winning teams receive scholarships to assist with the purchase of supplies needed to carry out the STEM project. Advisors are matched to assist the team with the project. Advisors can be from AFCEA chapters or members of the community. Sponsors can provide cash or in-kind services. Be a Judge. Be an Advisor. Be a Sponsor. Be the Catalyst! The chapter is happy to share the program with others. Joy can be reached at stem@siliconvalley.afceachapters.org |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 08/05/2020
In August, the chapter welcomed to its virtual meeting Maj. Gen. Stephen Hager, USA, deputy commander of Operations, Cyber National Mission Force, U.S. Cyber Command. Gen. Hager discussed trends and innovations at Cyber Command.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 07/13/2020
In July, the chapter welcomed Col. Eric McFadden, USA, deputy commander of South Pacific Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Col. McFadden discussed how the Army Corps of Engineers Disaster Recovery Operations supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 03/04/2020
The chapter welcomed Lt. Gen. Robert M. Shea, USMC, (Ret.), president and CEO of AFCEA International, to the March Quarterly meeting. Gen. Shea delivered a captivating presentation on Current Global Threats and conducted one-on-one meetings with several companies. We welcomed our newest chapter officer, Noah Feingold, who be leading the chapter's Young AFCEAN program.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/02/2016
At a chapter meeting in November, Light Cyber's Jason Matloff showed attendees how machine learning and automated baseline analysis discover the behavior that attackers use after they compromise an organization's network. It's better to find out sooner rather than later that you've been hacked, but that usually is not the case. According to Stephanie Balaouras of Forrester Research, it takes an average of 200 days before an organization knows that they have been hacked and when they do, the chances are high that they find out when law enforcement shows up on their doorstep.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 08/10/2016
An August chapter meeting featured a presentation by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official as well as a Young AFCEAN and recognition for a longtime association leader. Bob Moorhead, who has been involved with AFCEA for more than 30 years and a chapter president for 10 years, received a certificate of recognition for outstanding service. The chapter's new slate of officers was sworn in. Andrew Waters, one of the chapter's Young AFCEANs, showed off his work with a radio surveillance system in a suitcase. Melissa Ho, managing director of the Silicon Valley Office at the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, talked about how a new entrepreneurial program in the mold of "Shark Tank" is helping startups with commercial off-the-shelf products of interest to the DHS get government funding with a lot less red tape than is typical with government contracts.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/05/2016
The chapter's May speaker was Rubrik's CEO, Bipul Sinha, who has more than 18 years of experience in building billion-dollar products and companies from the ground up. Rubrik is a typical Silicon Valley company with great information technology growth potential. Rubrik is striving to change the storage industry using webscale and hyperconvergent technologies. The storage industry has seen little innovation in the last few years. Rubrik, with its forward-leaning solutions, is trying to change that paradigm.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/12/2015
The chapter met in November to receive a briefing from Craig Buehler, the director of private-sector engagement for the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), San Francisco. Buehler informed the chapter how the NCRIC came about shortly after the tragic events of 9/11. It has 70 personnel who staff the intelligence cycle efforts of collection, analysis and dissemination. He discussed the center's mission in detail, pointing out that the NCRIC is only one of many throughout the U.S. and receives suspicious activity reports (SARs) from various police departments, fire departments, emergency agencies funded by the Department of Homeland Security and the general public. This information then, is entered into a fusion center, which feeds other fusion centers throughout the country. All of this mission effort is helping to keep America safe.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/10/2015
In November, the chapter invited Lt. Gen. John R. (Bob) Wood, USA (Ret.), and four of the Northern California region chapters to a meeting in Palo Alto, California, to explain a recent initiative called Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx). The initiative was enacted in August by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and will be located in Mountain View, California. Because the DIUx initiative has far-reaching objectives potentially affecting all four Northern California chapters, several of the chapter officers were invited to attend. After the meeting, the representatives were able to meet privately with Gen. Wood, providing an excellent chance for the general to get to know the chapter officers and share his ideas about the future.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/13/2015
In May, the chapter held a quarterly meeting at the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum in the San Francisco area. The museum still has many pictures and memorabilia of the original helium-filled airship USS Macon. The USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the U.S. Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier" designed to carry five biplane parasite aircraft for scouting. Later, this Navy base was once a P-3 Orion base, which was taken over by NASA's Ames Research Center, when the Navy ceased its operations in the mid 90's. At the meeting, the chapter recognized a member and active participant for his dedication and service. Lt. Col. Douglas Lomsdalen, USAF, came to the Silicon Valley to assume command of the Air Force San Jose State ROTC, Detachment 045, from his previous affiliation with the Kaiserslautern Chapter, Central European Region, more than two years ago. Col. Lomsdalen quickly assisted the chapter in its inauguration and management ... READ MORE
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/13/2015
The chapter hosted Lt. Col. Enrique Oti, USAF, fellow at Stanford University, as the guest speaker for its May meeting. Col. Oti spoke to the audience about Chinese threats to the Internet. The talk focused on four high-level topics: cyberattacks, competing with the Chinese, the Chinese plan and how to stop it. Col. Oti described the various types of cyberattacks, such as reconnaissance, economic espionage, theft, disruption, disinformation and strategic Attack, to name a few. For each category of attack, he provided numerous examples for the audience. He also compared and contrasted how the United States and China view the Internet. The U.S. sees the Internet as a tool to promote domestic and international development, facilitate equality and bring human rights violations to the forefront. The U.S. recognizes that the Internet poses potential risks. On the other hand, China considers it an existential threat from both domestic and international actors but recognizes it is critical ... READ MORE
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/08/2013
During the Air Force ROTC Detachment 045 annual awards ceremony in May, Robert Landgraf, regional vice president, presented Cadet Andrew Griffitts the AFCEA ROTC Honor Award. Cadet Griffitts is a rising senior at San Jose State University studying electrical engineering.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/13/2015
The chapter recognized Cadet Patrick Shanahan from the Bronco Battalion Army ROTC program at Santa Clara University, California, in May. Shanahan, who is majoring in communications, received the AFCEA ROTC Honor Award. Shanahan was recently selected to be the Bronco Battalion commander for winter and wants to go active duty when he commissions, possibly in infantry.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/13/2015
The chapter's May quarterly meeting at the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum featured Lt. Col. Enrique Oti, USAF, a national security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institution. Col. Oti presented "Chinese Threats to the Internet: It's Not Just Hacking." In addition, the Northern California regional vice president held a meeting of the region's chapter presidents and the regional Young AFCEANs. This was the first such meeting held since the 2010 Military Communications Conference in San Jose, California.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 02/10/2015
Reema Prasad was one of the recipients of the Young AFCEAN of the Year Award presented at a reception during the AFCEA West conference in San Diego in February. Prasad is a member of the chapter and will now be part of the Regional Young AFCEAN Advisory Committee.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 02/04/2015
The chapter was proud to have Dr. Horacio Chavez, a NASA Ames project manager at Moffett Field, as its guest speaker in February. Hosted on Moffett Field in the NASA Ames Visitor Center, Chavez told the audience about his organization's storied history spanning 75 years. This presentation was somewhat bittersweet for Chavez, as it was the last formal presentation in the visitor center before it closes its doors on March 31. NASA Ames is considered the “friendly front door to Silicon Valley” and always seeking/using the innovation spawned in the Bay Area by the tech firms. Chavez mentioned NASA also is strongly aligned with the outstanding universities in the Bay Area. He talked briefly about each of the six corporate aspects of NASA Ames: aeronautics, design and testing; human space exploration; robotics exploration; innovative partnerships; spin-in/tech fusion; and spin-off/tech transfer. While it may appear NASA and space exploration is slowing down recently due to the termination ... READ MORE
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 12/04/2014
In December, the chapter awarded two scholarships to deserving cadets enrolled in the Air Force ROTC (AFROTC) program at San Jose State University. The scholarships, presented to Henry Salazar and Steven Wong, totaled $1,000 for use toward tuition, books or other college expenses. Bob Moorhead, chapter president, and Bob Landgraf, former regional vice president, presented the awards during the AFROTC Detachment 045 Fall Dining-Out. The Fall Dining-Out is the cadet wing's formal event of the school year where more than 175 cadets, alumni, community partners, friends and family celebrate the achievements of the semester. The guest speaker, Col. Matthew Lupone, USAF, commander, Defense Contract Management Agency, Sunnyvale, California, spoke to the cadet wing about leadership characteristics necessary to be effective on active duty.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/05/2014
In November, the chapter teamed up with the 63rd Regional Support Command in Mountain View, California, to host a panel discussion on the topic of privacy and operational security concerns surrounding the use of social media. Col. Glenn Kesselman, USA (Ret.), of Hub City Media Inc. opened the meeting with a World War II-era graphic stating, "A careless word—a needless sinking," and went on to explain why we may be sharing too much information and completely unaware of how accessible our data is to the public. Kesselman provided an overview of the different types of social media sites: for example, media sharing, microblogging, social news and social networking. He completed his presentation by focusing on the most pervasive social media sites—Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter—and how general users need to understand the privacy settings of each site and determine what level of information they are comfortable with being available publically. The panel discussion also included Col. Char ... READ MORE
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 08/06/2014
In August, Chapter President Bob Moorhead presents Chapter Secretary/Treasurer Jeanette Bernardo with a certificate of appreciation for more than 10 years of dedicated involvement and loyal support to the chapter.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 08/06/2014
Jonathan Bennun, Cisco security product manager, and Reema Prasad, Cisco solutions architect, were presented with a certificate of appreciation for their informative details presented during their presentation, "The Broken Side of Internet Security,” in August.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 08/06/2014
In August, Cisco Systems Incorporated opened its doors to host the chapter's quarterly luncheon. The meeting focused on the vulnerabilities and perils of Internet security. The speakers, Jonathan Bennun, Cisco security product manager, and Reema Prasad, Cisco solutions architect, provided concrete examples of flaws in Internet security and insights into how hackers leverage those flaws. Bennun started off by saying, "It is challenging for the common user to understand Internet security beyond just passwords, but it is important to face that challenge in order to understand concrete risks and ways of mitigation." The group then delved into discussing whose job it is to improve national and personal security. Prasad stated, "There must be a collaborative effort between the government and civilian sectors to take on cybersecurity through continuous monitoring and analyzing collected data." The chapter's November meeting will look at social media and personal privacy.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/07/2014
On May 7, chapter member Bob Landgraf presented the Honor Certificate Award and Ribbon to Cadet Robert Powell at San Jose State University during the Air Force ROTC Detachment 045 Awards Ceremony. Cadet Powell is an engineering student at Santa Clara University and just completed his third year in the Air Force ROTC program. The award recognizes achievements in leadership and academics.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/07/2014
The chapter hosted a panel discussion on the topic of big data to educate and inform its members during its May luncheon at the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum. The five-person panel with a moderator discussed how big data impacts their respective fields: academia, law, research and development, and scientific research. The moderator and panel members were: Dr. Deven Kalra, vice president of engineering at AtHoc (moderator); Dr. Hsuanwei Michelle Chen, assistant professor, San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science; Satya Narayan, attorney with Royse Law; Charles Burgoyne, vice president of research and development at Mach 1 Development; and Dr. M. Windy McNerney, neuroscientist at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. In the panel's opening remarks to the chapter, they pointed out that big data surrounds everything and companies are wrestling with a host of new issues new due to big data. Problem areas include: volume, analysis, storage of the data co ... READ MORE
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 02/07/2014
The chapter held a luncheon in February at the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum. The guest speaker was 2nd Lt. Roderick Bersamina, ANG, public affairs officer, 129th Rescue Wing (California Air National Guard). Lt. Bersamina is from the local area, graduated from San Jose State University and received his commission through the Air Force ROTC program. Lt. Bersamina shared with an audience of 71 people the 129th's mission, a video and the unit's history spanning from 1975 to present. The Rescue Wing has 1,003 saves under its belt, achieved during peacetime and wartime operations; the wing has actively supported operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom since 2003. In attendance at this meeting were military and industry personnel from all over the region. The chapter is actively rebuilding its program in order to make it relevant and viable to the armed forces and industries currently residing in the Bay area.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 12/06/2013
In December, the chapter awarded three scholarships to deserving cadets enrolled in the Air Force ROTC (AFROTC) program at San Jose State University. The scholarships, presented to cadets Harman Purewal, Frank Rosette and Calvin Craig, totaled $2,000 for use towards tuition, books or other college expenses. Bob Moorhead, chapter president, and Bob Landgraf presented the awards during the AFROTC Detachment 045 Fall Dining-Out. The Fall Dining-Out is the Cadet Wing's formal event of the school year where more than 175 cadets, friends and family celebrate their achievements of the semester. The guest speaker, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, spoke to the cadets about leadership and the characteristics they should possess to be effective on active duty. The chapter congratulates all of the scholarship recipients for their commitments to excellence.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/13/2013
Bob Moorhead, chapter president, hosted 10 enthusiastic members and loyal friends of the chapter in November to lead the efforts in bringing the chapter back to a more active status. This was a working lunch at a local restaurant in Silicon Valley known as Pezzelas Villa Napoli. The objective of this meeting was to bring together a select group of industry and government personnel to determine a way forward that will serve the current and new members of the chapter. Through this initiative, it was determined that the chapter will provide a quarterly agenda of meeting topics on its website that will provide all members with a future calendar of events. There was a discussion on vertical market areas that would be of interest to members and be a draw for new membership in the chapter. The planning team determined the following topics would be important to current chapter members and encourage new memberships: cyber initiatives, robotic solutions, emerging technology and social media. ... READ MORE
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 05/22/2012
In March, Rich Davies passed away Davies, born on August 14, 1947 in Orange, New Jersey, to Harold and Elizabeth Davies, was a long-standing supporter of AFCEA and was affiliated with the chapter for more than 15 years. In the last nine years, he served as the chapter vice president for outreach. He also held the position of chapter Web master and continually provided vital chapter information as well as general Silicon Valley technology information to chapter members on the site. As an active member of the local aerospace community, Davies kept the chapter apprised of area activities regarding companies such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Boeing. From 2006 to 2007, Davies was a pivotal driver for the chapter's first Counter Intelligence Conference. It was his idea to bring members of government and industry together to learn more about counterintelligence activities, which take place regularly in the area. Davies was always engaged with the cha ... READ MORE |
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 11/03/2010
Four chapters from the northern California region came together in November to support Lockheed Martin as volunteers for MILCOM 2010, which was held in Silicon Valley. More than 85 AFCEA volunteers took part in this event along with 25 volunteers provided by San Jose State University. The chapter continues to provide educational funds directly to San Jose State University's ROTC program and its students.
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SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER - 10/24/2007
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