LibertyCon 38: Full Schedule

4:00pm EDT

Saturday June 27, 2026 4:00pm - 4:15pm EDT

Past Master of Ceremonies Mike Massa moderates this roundtable on the Technological Future of War and how the steady march of technology makes combat across all spheres more lethal.

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

Chris DiNote

Author

Chris “MOGS” DiNote retired from the United States Air Force as a full colonel with 25 years, 7 months, and 29 days of service, but who's counting? He deployed for Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Noble Eagle, served in South Korea and Germany. Chris is a graduate... Read More →

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.

Charles E. Gannon

Author, Past LGoH

Dr. Charles E. Gannon is best known for the Caine Riordan series of hard sf novels, which include multiple best-sellers, 4 finalists for the Nebula, 2 for the Dragon, and a Compton Crook winner. His epic fantasy series, The Vortex of Worlds, has also been an awards finalist and a... Read More →

Gerald Hall

Author

Gerald Hall has had an extraordinarily diverse background. A lifelong science fiction fan, Gerald is a graduate of the N.C. State University's School of Engineering. After graduation, he served in uniform as part of the Intelligence Community for more than thirty years, deploying... Read More →

Gray Rinehart

Author, Performer, Past GoH

Graham W. "Gray" Rinehart Rinehart is a writer, an editor, a singer/songwriter, and a retired Air Force officer. He is the only person to have commanded a USAF satellite tracking station, written speeches for Presidential appointees, devised a poetic form, and had music on The Dr... Read More →

Saturday June 27, 2026 4:00pm - 4:15pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 3 (Workshop Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Round Table

5:00pm EDT

Interstellar Research Group (IRG) (Formerly TVIW) Update Panel

Saturday June 27, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT

CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track)

The IRG Update Panel will cover the recent activities of the Interstellar Research Group along with our vision for the future of space exploration both within our solar system and eventually to planets orbiting other stars. Stephen Euin Cobb moderator.

Guests

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 →

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 →

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Les Johnson is a physicist, author, CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting, and former Chief Technologist at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. While at NASA, Les was developing the next generation of space technologies, from advanced space propulsion and power to human... Read More →

Justin C. Feng

STEM

Justin C. Feng is a postdoctoral physicist specializing in general relativity (GR) and gravitation, currently at CEICO at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czechia. He obtained his Ph.D. from UT Austin in 2017, and has held postdoctoral positions... Read More →

Doug Loss

STEM

Doug Loss is retired, but was an IT security analyst from Maryville, TN. He has been an SF reader since childhood (more than 55 years) and a war gamer for over 50 years. He's an avid blues music fan and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Interstellar Research Group... Read More →

Martha Knowles

Professional Panelist

Now retired, Martha Knowles was a professional librarian and records management specialist. She was the TVIW Treasurer from 2014-2020, and administrator and Registrar for the first four TVIW symposia. Since TVIW became the Interstellar Research Group, she has continued to be involved... 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 →

Saturday June 27, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
CC - Meeting Room 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37403

STEM, Round Table

10:00pm EDT

Mad Scientist Guest of Honor Edition Roundtable

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00pm - Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00am EDT

M - Plaza Ballroom A/B

Roundtable discussion of various and timely science topics moderated by Les Johnson. This is a remarkable panel dating back to the earliest LibertyCons. Everyone gets a say but no one gets to say too much. This year the participants will be the current STEM GOH and 4 Past Science Guests of Honor.

Moderators

Les Johnson

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Guests

Dr. Ben Davis

STEM, Past SGoH

Ben Davis has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and an M.S. in Nuclear Astrophysics from the University of Notre Dame. He taught at the college level for several years on a number of technical subjects ranging from computer programming and math to, of course, astronomy and physics. In the... Read More →

Stephanie Osborn

Author, STEM, Past SGoH

Few can claim the varied background of award-winning author Stephanie Osborn, the Interstellar Woman of Mystery. Veteran of more than 20 years in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs, she worked on numerous space shuttle flights and the International... Read More →

Becky McCauley Rench

LibertyCon 38 STEM Guest of Honor, STEM

Rebecca (Becky) McCauley Rench is the Astrobiology Program Scientist in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. She leads the Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR)), which supports large, interdisciplinary astrobiology research teams, and the Planetary... Read More →

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 →

Saturday June 27, 2026 10:00pm - Sunday June 28, 2026 12:00am EDT
M - Plaza Ballroom A/B Chattanooga Marriott Downtown 2 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA

STEM, Round Table

4:00pm EDT

5:00pm EDT

10:00pm EDT

Get help with the event