Speakers

Mayor Mark Dion is a native of Lewiston, ME. He later earned a B.A. in criminology at the University of Southern Maine, an M.A. in human services administration from Antioch University New England, and a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law. He has also completed the Senior Executive Program for State and Local Government at the JFK School and the Mayoral Orientation Program at the Bloomberg Institute for Cities.

A Democrat, Dion was elected for three terms as Sheriff for Cumberland County, Maine, in 1998. In 2010, he successfully sought a seat in the Maine House of Representatives. He was later named Chair of both the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as well as the Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology. In 2016, he was elected to the Maine Senate, where he served one term.

Dion was first elected to the Portland City Council in 2020 and won the election for Mayor on November 7th, 2023.

First elected in 1996, Senator Collins has earned a national reputation as an effective legislator who works across party lines to seek consensus on our nation’s most important issues. She was reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020. In 2020, she made history by becoming the first-ever Republican woman in the nation to win a fifth term. She is also the first popularly elected U.S. Senator from Maine to be elected to a fifth term. She is the seventh-most senior member of the Senate and the most senior Republican woman. She is the first Republican woman to Chair the Appropriations Committee.

As the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Susan Collins employs her influence, seniority, and experience to benefit the people of Maine and America. The committee has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending for the federal government. Senator Collins first joined the Appropriations Committee in 2009. In the 118th Congress, she served as Vice Chair of the full Committee and Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriation Subcommittee.

In addition to her role on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins is a member of the Intelligence Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. She was formerly the Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the Aging Committee.

Throughout her Senate service, Maine’s senior U.S. Senator has worked with members of both parties to advance landmark legislation to improve the lives of all Americans. Early in her tenure, Senator Collins led the fight with Senator Dick Durbin to repeal a $50 billion tax break for the tobacco industry. In 2004, she and Senator Joe Lieberman co-authored a law that overhauled the nation’s intelligence community, improving its effectiveness while protecting civil liberties. She was the lead Republican in the successful effort to repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in December 2010. Her leadership was instrumental in ending the 16-day government shutdown in October 2013 as well as the shutdown in February 2018. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Senator Collins co-authored the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was a lifeline to millions of small businesses across the country and saved tens of millions of jobs. Her more than two decades of work to repeal unfair provisions of the Social Security Act culminated in January 2025 when the Social Security Fairness Act she co-authored was signed into law, restoring earned Social Security benefits for millions of Americans.

Since entering the Senate, Senator Collins has remained dedicated to strengthening American health care and biomedical research. In 1997, she founded the Senate Diabetes Caucus and led the effort in Congress to more than triple federal funding for diabetes research. As the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, she has worked to increase funding for Alzheimer’s research and to strengthen support for family caregivers. She has championed legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs and launched the Senate’s first bipartisan investigation into the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to egregious insulin price increases. In the 118th Congress, 1,868 standalone health care bills were introduced in both chambers of Congress. Of these, only 15 were signed into law, and five of those bills were introduced or coauthored by Senator Collins.

Senator Collins received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for her work to support veterans. In 2023, she received the Naval Heritage Award—the Navy’s highest public service award—from the Secretary of the Navy for her tireless advocacy of shipbuilding programs. In 2024, she was selected by the British Broadcasting Corporation for its annual list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. In January 2025, Senator Collins was awarded the Army Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest public service recognition awarded by the U.S. Army, in recognition of her support for the Army through her leadership on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

She has repeatedly been ranked as the most bipartisan member of the U.S. Senate by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University. Known for her Maine work ethic, Senator Collins is the first Senator in history to have cast 9,000 votes without ever having missed a vote throughout her entire Senate service.

Senator Collins was born on December 7, 1952, and raised in Caribou, Maine, where her family runs a sixth-generation lumber business founded by her ancestors in 1844. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Lawrence University, she is married to Thomas A. Daffron and resides in Bangor, Maine, with their dog, Pepper.

Trevor Hehn is the founder of Hehn Law, a Maine-based legal practice focused on emerging and dual-use technologies across space, defense, AI, and new nuclear sectors. His work bridges high-stakes innovation with regulatory frameworks that ensure responsible, secure tech development.

A former U.S. Army infantry and JAG officer, Trevor brings firsthand operational and legal experience to his client work. He has also co-founded a space edge compute startup, deepening his understanding of the entrepreneurial journey in high-consequence sectors.

Trevor advises companies on export control, investment screening (CFIUS), government contracting, and compliance in frontier tech domains. He also supports company formation legal needs, including formation, governance, compliance, and legal risk assessment.

He has been featured as a speaker at the Journal of Law and Technology’s Symposium on Space Law at Catholic Law (2025), NETS 2025, Southern Maine AI and Digital Science (SMAIDS) Conference (2024), Maine Space Conference (2023, 2024), and SpaceCom 2023. Trevor will also speak on several topics at the upcoming III Seminar Series on International Space Law in Context at Leicester Space Park in the UK (May 2025).

Trevor brings a strategic, ethical, and practical legal lens as he helps his clients boldly build the future.

Angela Gillespie is Chief Operating Officer at Howell Laboratories, Inc. (HLI), ODAT Machine, and GDL Powder Coating.  She has been with HLI for 22 years. She began her career at HLI in the drafting and design department, later transitioning to International Sales and Marketing for ten years within the Shively Broadcast division of HLI, and eventually returned to government contracts.

Angela earned her Undergraduate and Master's degrees in Leadership and Organizational Studies from the University of Southern Maine.  She is a current mentor for the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute and is on the Board of Directors for HLI, AWIBC (Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition), and Howell CleanTech.

HLI engineers, manufactures, assembles, and tests fluid processing equipment for the US Navy. It has been in business for over 60 years. HLI has recently acquired two divisions: GDL Powder Coatings, which specializes in MIL-spec coatings, and ODAT Machine, a Level 1, SUBSAFE-certified supplier of critical parts to the submarine fleet.  HLI is a 100% Employee-Owned Company.

John Yaglenski is a serial entrepreneur, story teller, futurist, visionary and dreamer.

He leads IEEE-USA’s Washington, DC Communications department and is responsible for guiding the strategy for all public relations, website and social media messaging to consistently articulate IEEE-USA’s mission, vision and brand.

Prior to joining IEEE, John worked as General Manager of Web Development for Erol’s Internet, which at the time was the 4^th largest Internet Service Provider in the country behind AOL, Earthlink and MindSpring serving more than 350,000 customers.  While there, he founded INTERCOT.com — one of the Internet’s oldest (27+ years) and largest Walt Disney World vacation planning websites.

John also previously served as Operations Director for one of the largest Century 21 offices in the world, and spent more than 10 years in Broadcasting as an Air Talent and Program Director roaming town to town — up and down the dial for radio stations in: Washington, DC; Manassas, VA; Martinsburg, WV; Frederick, MD; Hagerstown, MD, Lima, OH and Dayton, OH.

John is a 1989 graduate of the University of Dayton (BA Communications), an avid photographer/videographer, podcaster, graphic designer & gadget nut who has been married for 34 years to his beautiful wife Stacey and Dad to his amazing sons — Michael and Andrew.

Tom Law is the Founder and CEO of Maine startup Oak AI, an applied ethics startup company building next-generation AI to simplify the internet and give individuals agency online.

Tom earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Instrumentation from Syracuse University and has served in many leadership roles at both startups and large companies for over a decade.

Tom's teams have worked on some of the hardest problems of our times — 6G wireless, green energy, cyber-physical systems, autonomous robotics, and AI systems, among others.

Tom believes deeply not just in advancing technology, but doing it safely, sustainably, and with a focus that our systems are really about the people that use them; the everyday tools we use should bring joy, improve lives, and make the world a little bit better every day.

In addition to startup life and parenting, Tom serves as a board member for the Foundation for Portland Public Schools, is a founding member of the Maine AI Consortium, has served as a chairperson for the National Society of Black Engineers Aerospace Special.

Interest Group, and is the current President of the Talbot Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization, among other nonprofit and volunteer work.

As Community Outreach Office Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Northern New England Community Outreach Office, Mr. Modricker carries out the strategic direction of the USPTO’s Office of Public Engagement and ensures the initiatives and programs are tailored to the area’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Modricker served as Regional Sector Outreach Coordinator for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), overseeing CISA’s Partnership Engagement and Exercise Team across New England. In this role, he was responsible for strengthening CISA’s relationships at the local level with partners in law enforcement, government, community groups, academia, and the private sector.

Before joining CISA in 2015, Mr. Modricker served in various national security roles within the federal and military services. As the National Spokesman for the Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in Washington, D.C., he led a collaborative communications team consisting of officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and others to advance messaging on initiatives, enforcement actions, and other key information relative to the U.S. government’s response to IP theft.

Mr. Modricker also previously served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter crew chief in direct service of the White House during the Sept. 11 attack, before taking a commissioning with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves. Additionally, Mr. Modricker was an adjunct professor at Northeastern University where he taught courses on crisis communications and homeland security.

Mr. Modricker earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Business Economics from London Metropolitan University and a Masters in Geopolitics and Territorial Security from King’s College London.

Maura K. Moran, an attorney with Cambridge Technology Law, Cambridge, MA, advises on Intellectual Property (IP), technology transfer, licensing, and strategic alliances. Maura has worked with global enterprises, small businesses, start-ups, and universities in a variety of technologies from computer-implemented electro-magnetic systems (including software, robotics and AI-related technologies) to sporting goods.

Maura has counseled clients in developing and bringing new technology to market. She has developed IP strategies and policies, prepared and brought to issuance US and international patent portfolios, and has participated in IP and contracts litigation. She is registered to practice law in MA and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Maura is a past IEEE-USA Vice President for Government Relations, a past chair of IEEE-USA’s IP Policy Committee (IPC), a past member of IEEE’s Global Public Policy Committee, and a current active member of the IPC and IEEE-USA’s AI Policy Committee. Maura has participated in writing IEEE and IEEE-USA position statements, comments to the USPTO (most recently in response to Requests for Comments related to AI inventions), letters to Congressional Committees on pending legislation, and amicus curiae briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court, where she has served as Counsel of Record for several of the briefs.

Maura is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and the University of Dayton (B.S. Mathematics), and has completed BSEE and MSEE coursework at Northeastern University.

Maura is a frequent speaker on topics related to IP and technology law. She is a member of the Women’s Bar Association of MA and has volunteered with the Venture Café, which supports the global innovation community through programs, mentoring, and networking.

Miriam Wilcox is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the medical device industry. Her expertise spans regulatory affairs, quality engineering, and project management. She has spent a significant portion of her career working on implants, and device remediation to new and updated regulations.  Currently, her focus is on software medical devices, a rapidly evolving area of industry especially with the rise in scrutiny on AI derived devices. Miriam is known for her focus on collaboration with regulators and cross-functional teams.

Tom LaNigra is the Chief Technology Officer at Lanco Integrated, based in Westbrook, Maine. Over the past 32 years, he has played a key role in shaping Lanco’s technology strategy and delivering engineered solutions that help customers succeed in highly competitive markets.

A graduate of the University of Maine with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Tom brings deep technical expertise and practical leadership to the design and implementation of complex automation systems. Throughout his career, Tom has remained focused on integrating technologies that solve real-world challenges and drive measurable outcomes for customers.

In addition to his role at Lanco, Tom serves on the Engineering Advisory Board for the University of Southern Maine, helping to bridge the gap between academic programs and industry needs.