Dr. Starnes E. Walker, chief technology officer and technical director for the Fleet Cyber Command and the 10th Fleet of the U.S. Navy, will speak at Missouri University of Science and Technology as part of the university’s Distinguished Research Seminar Series next week. He will present “Navigating Cyberspace Operations: Challenges and Opportunities in a Global Domain” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in Room 103 Engineering Management Building on Missouri S&T’s campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Walker will discuss historical collaborations of scientists and engineers in World War II and how these partnerships are needed now to address cyberspace operational challenges to national security. He says that universities and colleges play a pivotal role in research advances and education to meet the growing demand for capabilities and talent needed to meet these challenges.

Walker’s former positions include chief engineering and technical director for the University of Hawaii and director of research in the Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He has been widely published in the fields of physics, chemistry and optics, with numerous patents issued. He received an R&D 100 Award in 1980 and served on the Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board, Air Force Studies Board, National Academy of Sciences Committees and Institute of Chemical Waste Management Steering Committee. He holds bachelor, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of California and an honorary degree in nuclear engineering from Missouri S&T.