David Ross

Bio: Chief Scientist, cofounder, and director of Alitheon: Ross is a mathematician with a long history of scientific and technological innovation and discovery. As a mathematician for Jet Propulsion Lab's Advanced Project Group he invented the “Prime Rib Curves" for mission design that enable NASA to calculate optimal orbital transfers between any two solar system bodies. For this work the asteroid 6435 DAVEROSS was named after him. While at JPL, Ross designed orbits for multiple NASA missions, including Galileo, Saturn Orbiter/Titan Probe, Solar Polar, and numerous comet and asteroid intercept missions that flew over the subsequent thirty years. In addition, Ross designed a new kind of orbit for optimal capture of interplanetary spacecraft called the double lunar flyby.

Ross holds 23 patents in pattern recognition, routing, identification, and authentication.

Abstract: An “arms race” has developed between the global network of counterfeiters, often aided by their governments on one side and legitimate manufacturers on the other. This arms race is being won by the counterfeiters who have voraciously targeted electronic component manufacturers and their associated supply chains. This presentation will discuss recent technological advancements that completely sidesteps this arms race not by detecting counterfeits but by detecting original, authorized objects. This technology uses only the object’s inherent properties to create a unique, digital ID of the object at any desired level of detail. The technology creates new opportunities for hardening track and trace systems, establishing confident object authentication, enhancing audit trails, and pinpointing where counterfeit goods enter manufacturing, distribution, or sales networks. We will discuss the effectiveness of this new technology for tracing ICs, the boards they are inserted into, and the components and the systems they compose manufacture to sale.