LibertyCon 38: Full Schedule

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10:00am EDT

Sunday June 28, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

This year's topic: "Building Brains." Doctors Robert Hampson and Brent Roeder will discuss some of their more exciting moments in emerging brain science.

Guests

Brent Roeder

Author, STEM

Brent Roeder, PhD, is a neuroscience researcher that is exploring how to restore damaged memory function. A lifelong geek, he enjoys writing sci-fi and fantasy to relax from work. Very occasionally, he even remembers to finish a story

Robert E. Hampson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a scientist and author whose passion for both neuroscience and storytelling drives his hard science fiction writing. With a Ph.D. in Physiology & Pharmacology, Dr. Hampson has spent over four decades researching how the brain encodes memory and developing... Read More →

Sunday June 28, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

11:00am EDT

Omnipresent Surveillance at Scale - What's New for 2026

Sunday June 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event)

Omnipresent Surveillance at Scale – What’s new for 2026? Recent examples include fitness trackers on warships, flight and ship tracking, citizen/netizen intelligence networks. Is Hiding Possible Anymore, and can visual, electronics, and logistical signatures truly be hidden? Have any SF entries reflected this? How would realistic Mil SF change? Panelists and audience reflect on the last 12 months of developments, and try to predict what’s next?

Moderators

Mike Massa

Author, Past GoH

Mike Massa has lived an adventurous life, including stints as a sailor, a banker, and a tech-head. He's lived outside the US for several years, beyond the usual military deployments. Mike writes novels and shorts in MilSF, SF, Fantasy, Horror, and non-fiction.

A lover of Liberty Con, he has been attending since 2007. Mike is married with three sons, and a growing cohort of grandsons, who check daily to see if today is the day they can pull down the old lion. Not yet... Read More →

Guests

Nathan Toronto

Author

Nathan W. Toronto has taught strategy and planning to military officers for twenty years and is the author of How Militaries Learn and the Saga of the Emerald Moon. He publishes Bullet Points, a military science fiction magazine. Find him at nathantoronto.com or on Blue Sky (@bul... Read More →

LL Richman

Author

L.L. Richman has a diverse career background, having spent more than a decade working in radiation physics, and twice that as a director of film and video. Richman is also a pilot and has close ties to the special forces community.

Richman's series feature the pulse-pounding act... Read More →

Aaron Haskins

Author

A.C. Haskins is an economist, data geek, and combat veteran, and occasionally he writes stuff related to his many interests, including (but not limited to) ancient and medieval history, mythology, martial arts, guns, and theoretical economics. He lives in Michigan with his lovely... Read More →

Andy Presby

STEM

Andy Presby is a NASA engineer and retired US Navy submarine officer. He consults on future technology for Joelle Presby and other science fiction authors. He has degrees in spacecraft systems engineering and astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Gregory Radabaugh

Author

Greg Radabaugh, an author published by Raconteur Press and others, retired from the US Department of Defense after a 44-year career. He now works as a consultant for various commercial and government entities. Prior to his retirement, he was a member of the Department of Defense Senior... Read More →

Sunday June 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

12:00pm EDT

Low(er) Cost Space and it's Impact on War

Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event)

Low(er) Cost Space and it's Impact on War. SST = $54k/kg, Falcon 9 Heavy =$1400/kg, Starship single use = $450/kg. More payloads, cheaper replacements, practical space warfare? Who has the advantage? Stewart Cobb moderates.

Moderators

Stewart Cobb

STEM

Stewart Cobb designs satellite navigation systems for a living and reads SF&F for inspiration. He earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and holds more than a dozen patents. He's been an Air Force officer and a flight controller for the Space Shuttle, but hasn't yet reached orbit... Read More →

Guests

Rick Partlow

Author

Rick Partlow is an Army veteran with a degree in History from Florida Southern College. He is the author of 51 military SF and space opera novels, including the Dragon Award finalist Direct Fire.

Daniel M. Hoyt

Author, STEM, Past Special GoH

Daniel M. Hoyt is a systems architect for trajectory physics software, when not writing or wrangling royalty calculations. Dan has appeared in premier magazines like Analog and several anthologies, notably the recent Paladins of Valor and Bonds of Valor, with connected stories in... Read More →

Karl Gallagher

Author, STEM

Karl K. Gallagher is a systems engineer, currently performing data analysis for a major aerospace company. In the past he calculated trajectories for a commercial launch rocket start-up, operated satellites as a US Air Force officer, and selected orbits for government and commercial... Read More →

Charles Prael

STEM

Charles Prael is a long-time fan and west coast SMOF of dubious repute, with a resume that looks like a scarf by its length. At the moment I'm launching a hedge fund that will fund several different space/satellite projects, and may wind up paying for a lunar mining base - among other... Read More →

Stephen Fleming

STEM, Boostphase

At various times, Stephen Fleming has been paid to be an optical physicist, laser fabricator, software developer, field engineer, product manager, corporate trainer, marketing executive, salesman, general manager, entrepreneur, author, venture capitalist, board member, investment... Read More →

Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 5 (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

2:00pm EDT

Three and a Half Years On: Ukraine/Russian War Lessons Learned

Sunday June 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT

CC - Ballroom E (Main Event)

Three and a Half Years On: Has Mil/SF helped up with the UKR/RU War and the Newest Lessons Learned?” We return to this topic because unmanned systems still dominating isn’t new, yet something else (tactics, AI) may be. Software based efficiencies in munitions assignment has come true since last year. What else is new?

Moderators

Rick Partlow

Author

Rick Partlow is an Army veteran with a degree in History from Florida Southern College. He is the author of 51 military SF and space opera novels, including the Dragon Award finalist Direct Fire.

Guests

Nathan Toronto

Author

Ken Roy

STEM

Kenneth Roy is a retired, professional engineer who is currently living in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a long-time hobby he has been working with the idea of terraforming. He invented the “Shell Worlds” concept as a way to terraform planets well outside a star’s Goldilocks’ zone... Read More →

Jeff Greason

Author, STEM

I grew up with middle class parents in rural Oregon, with some of my earliest memories being Star Trek, the Apollo 17 launch, and reading classic science fiction. As far as I know, I've always been interested in science and technology. I thought that by the time I was an adult, there... Read More →

Aaron Haskins

Author

Charles Prael

STEM

Sunday June 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
CC - Ballroom E (Main Event) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Panel

10:00am EDT

11:00am EDT

12:00pm EDT

2:00pm EDT

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