Opening Keynote

Wednesday - May 6th  

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM ET

Academic Research in a Space and Defense  Mecca

The genesis of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) becoming a research-intensive university dates to June 20th, 1961, when Werner von Braun, the first Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, delivered his historic speech to the Alabama legislators, which led to the creation of UAH's Research Institute. The primary mission of the institute was to provide basic research services for problems encountered at the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army Ordnance Missile Command at the Redstone Arsenal. As the Redstone Arsenal has grown, UAH has adapted its research administration, facilities, and infrastructure to enable collaborative research aligned with Space and Defense. From Directed Energy to Hypersonic propulsion, academic institutions can and will play a critical role in Space and Defense research that is rapidly moving from fundamental research to export-controlled and CUI (controlled unclassified information). The talk will provide a VP for Research's perspective on how researchers can navigate space and defense research in an academic setting.

Robert G. Lindquist, Ph.D.

Vice President for Research and Economic Development
The University of Alabama in Huntsville

Robert G. Lindquist, Ph.D., has served as the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) since May 2018. In this role, Dr. Lindquist oversees all aspects of research development, con-tract and grant accounting, research compliance and ethics, and commercialization in order to support UAH’s mission to continue being an internationally recognized, comprehensive research-intensive university.

During his time at UAH, the university has seen record growth in research expendi-tures. As the anchor tenant in Cummings Research Park and with close proximity to Redstone Arsenal, UAH and the Office for Research and Economic Development continue to successfully partner with industry and federal agencies, growing our research expenditures while contributing to the academic mission of the university, economic growth in our community, and the advancement of discoveries and prog-ress across the U.S. and around the world. 


While serving at UAH, Dr. Lindquist has held a variety of administrative positions, including Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Vice President for Contracts and Grants, Director of the Center for Applied Optics and Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also serves as a professor and active researcher, having secured millions in research funding as the principal investigator for NSF, NASA, the Army and industry during his tenure. 


Prior to coming to UAH in 2003, Dr. Lindquist worked at Corning’s Sullivan Park Research and Development Center, where he was a Senior Research Scientist and the Liquid Crystal Technology Manager. At Corning, he invented, developed and built liquid crystal components that enabled the product launch of Corning’s PurePath Wavelength Selective Switch and Dynamic Spectral Equalizer. Dr. Lindquist was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 1992. 


Dr. Lindquist has over 140 publications to his credit and holds 15 patents.