Panel Sessions

The PHM Society provides an opportunity to hear and interact with recognized industry leaders in relevant areas for our PHM work. These 90-minute panel sessions will consist of presentations and open discussion by 4-6 panelists directly engaging with the conference audience on the different topics listed below.

These sessions add an enriching dimension to the conference experience and a welcome networking alternative to traditional paper presentations, which dominate some conferences. We believe balancing the conference time in this fashion provides participants with a much more engaging experience and an increased opportunity to gain unique knowledge.


Panel Committee Chairs:

  • Ravi Rajamani, drR2 Consulting
  • Sarah Lukens, LMI
  • Liang Tang, GE Research

Panel Session Topics and Schedule:

No.Panel NameDateTime
1Communicating PHM Model Performance to CustomersMonday, Oct. 3011:00 am – 12:30 pm
2Predictive Maintenance in AviationMonday, Oct. 301:45 pm – 3:15 pm
3Are Standards Beneficial for AI in PHMMonday, Oct. 303:30 pm – 5:00 pm
4Generative AI and ML for PHMTuesday, Oct. 3111:00 am – 12:30 pm
5Electronics PHM Standards Development Working Groups and Collaboration Between IEEE and SAETuesday, Oct. 311:45 pm – 3:15 pm
6PHM Successes and Lessons LearnedTuesday, Oct. 313:30 pm – 5:00 pm
7Autonomous Systems and PHMWednesday, Nov. 111:00 am – 12:30 pm
8Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO)/Hangar of the futureWednesday, Nov. 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm
9Moving Towards Cybersecurity and PHM SynchronicityWednesday, Nov. 13:45 pm – 5:15 pm
10Education and Professional Development in PHMThursday, Nov. 211:00 am – 12:30 pm
11Nuclear Power Health MonitoringThursday, Nov. 21:45 pm – 3:15 pm
12Space ApplicationsThursday, Nov. 23:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Panel Details

Panel 1: Communicating PHM Model Performance to Customers
Chair: Sarah Lukens
Formal approaches for reporting model performance can be challenged when applied to PHM models for a variety of reasons.  Application specific factors such as characteristics of PHM data (e.g., class imbalance) combined with the highly technical nature of models may lead to performance reports which can be difficult to explain to the end user.  Further, the relationship between key decision-making factors such as economic considerations, deployment requirements, etc. may not be directly spelled out when reporting model performance.This panel will continue a discussion from the tutorial at the 2022 PHM Society conference: “Evaluating Machine Learning Models for PHM: We’re doing it wrong!”  Formal textbook model performance, common customer requirements and practical challenges such as data characteristics will be discussed.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 2: Predictive Maintenance in Aviation
Chair: Chris Teubert
The DoE estimated that a well-designed PdM program can reduce maintenance costs by 30% Maintenance costs currently account for around 13% of total airline operation costs. The US Congress identified that “If performed effectively, predictive maintenance can reduce… system downtime, ensure adequate supply of needed parts, and decrease costs.” Army and Navy officials have identified predictive maintenance technologies as possibly preventing accidents on aircraft such as the AH-64 Apache and the F/A-18 Super Hornet and in trucking, preventative maintenance has reduced breakdowns by 20\% and maintenance costs by $2-12.5k per truck per year. NASA is working on a whitepaper on the challenges preventing the full adoption of PdM in aviation and is considering starting a body of work around this.
List of Panelists:
•      Darren Macer (Senior Predictive Maintenance and Health Management Technical Fellow, Boeing)
•      Justin Sindewald (Predictive Maintenance Team Lead, United Airlines)
•      Rhonda Walthall (Fellow, PHM, Collins Aerospace)
Panel 3: Are Standards Beneficial for AI in PHM
Chair: Greg Vogl, Jeff Bird
Did you know that there are over 300 standards for artificial intelligence (AI) that are being developed or have been published? The intended domains include healthcare, energy, finance, manufacturing, and transportation, while the applications include computer vision and autonomous systems among others. This panel will provide information for audience members interested in learning about these standards that could be applicable to their goals, with perspectives and experiences by domain experts about standardizing AI. The panel will conclude with a facilitated discussion with the audience to explore the challenges, synergies, and opportunities of standards for AI and ideas for leadership by the PHM Society community.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 4: Generative AI and ML for PHM
Chair: Asma Ali, Sarah Lukens
The emergence of ChatGPT has sparked interest in its potential impact on Prognostics and Health Management (PHM). This panel aims to explore the implications of ChatGPT for PHM, including the associated risks, how industrial companies are adopting it, and the benefits they’re experiencing. As ChatGPT gains popularity in industrial settings, understanding how it fits into PHM workflows becomes crucial, particularly concerning its capacity to optimize predictive maintenance paradigms and amplify operational efficiencies. While reports suggest productivity improvements across various industries, the exact extent and mechanisms of these enhancements remain unclear. This panel will bring together PHM stakeholders from academia and industry, and discuss topics related to integration of ChatGPT into PHM.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 5: Electronics PHM Standards Development Working Groups and Collaboration Between IEEE and SAE
Chair: Lou Gullo, Luis Hernandez
This panel will focus on Electronics PHM Standards Development and various other topics highlighted below. This panel will also provide insight into the motivation and collaboration between both the IEEE and SAE standards working groups.

The panel will include the following topics:

  • Discussion on the existing SAE HM-1/HM-1R IVHM standards and collaboration between IVHM, E-32, AE-5, AE-5A, AE-7D, and S-18 standards development.
  • Discussion on the development of a new IEEE PHM standard, IEEE P1856.1: Recommended Practice for Development and Implementation of Prognostic and Health Management (PHM) Systems In Accordance with IEEE-1856
  • Building technology capability for AI/ML for RAMS/PHM leveraging the work of IEEE 1856 and the PHM-related standards from SAE
  • Plans for industry to develop a tool that meets the standard framework in IEEE 1856
  • Discuss how this new era of electrification in the mobility sector has created the need to develop PHM technologies for power electronic devices, energy storage systems, and power transmission and usage.
  • Exploring the Use of PHM for Software System Security and Resilience
  • With the confluence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Big Data Analytics, smart sensors supplemented by Internet of Things (IOT) technologies, 5G and beyond networks for secure and reliable enterprise solutions, software systems with ever increasing complexity, and the constantly growing cyber threat environment, there is a need for a secure and resilience framework involving Dev/Ops with PHM to ensure continuous, uninterrupted, and reliable system operations. In this panel we plan to explore the concepts of predictive analytics, reliability, maintainability, availability, resilience, security, and system safety using a holistic PHM end to end architecture with machine learning and data management operations (DataOps) and the value of creating standards that provide a roadmap for future direction.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 6: A Fireside Chat: PHM Successes and Lessons Learned
Chair: Andy Hess, Derek Devries
A Fireside Chat – Experience and Lessons Learned over the Multiple Eras of PHM Development and Implementation

This panel is made up of several “seasoned” experts who have been developing and implementing PHM related capabilities and technologies for a great number of years. This panel will use their experiences and stories to explore the issues, barriers, and lessons learned that have evolved across the many eras of PHM related activities including: requirements generation, capability benefits, ROI, justifications; development; validation & verification; policies; expanding applications; integration: implementation; operations, sustainment; enterprise-wide perspectives
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 7: Autonomous Systems and PHM
Chair: Karl Reichard
Autonomous and unmanned systems are becoming more common in a range of civilian and defense applications. Examples include self-driving cars, mobile robots, military vehicles, and commercial transportation. Many unmanned systems are based on human-operated platforms augmented with drive-by-wire (B) and autonomy (A) kits. For operators of fleets of autonomous vehicles, the requirements and benefits of PHM are similar to those for their human-operated equivalents. However, from a sustainment standpoint, there may be additional requirements and benefits for PHM that differ from human-operated platforms. In addition, autonomous platforms have additional sensors, actuators, and software systems. This panel will explore how requirements for PHM and the implementation of PHM differ from human-operated and autonomous platforms.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 8: Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) / Hangar of the Future
Chair: Dave Larsen
The maintenance processes of the future will be radically different from what we see today, be it for vehicles flying in the air, operating on the ground, or sailing on the waters. It will have much more automation with robots assisting human inspectors, AI and ML algorithms interpreting damage and assessing corrective actions, augmented reality technology helping maintenance personnel, instantaneous electronic access to manuals, maintenance instructions, “google-map” like repair directions, etc. The US DoD has been a pioneer in this area on many of these methodologies, but many companies in the mobility industry are also jumping on board. This panel will describe the technologies that have already been deployed and those that are currently being researched and developed around the world.
List of Panelists:
•       Partha Adhikari (Boeing Designated Expert – IVHM, Lead Data Scientist, Boeing Research & Technology – India)
Panel 9: Moving Towards Cybersecurity and PHM Synchronicity
Chair: Carlton Harris, Sr. VP & Chief Growth Officer EE Computing
This panel will discuss perspectives on PHM and cybersecurity relate to and depend on each other. (more details coming soon)
List of Panelists:
– General Dave Bryan, Chairman of the E3S Board
Panel 10: Education and Professional Development in PHM
Chair: Jeff Bird, Nancy Madge
The PHM Society is dedicated to promoting the development, growth, and recognition of PHM as an engineering discipline and to supporting PHM education by developing standard teaching curricula in the field. The society has developed and regularly offered two courses to the community: PHM Fundamentals and Case Studies, and Analytics for PHM. It has proposed an EPD (“one-stop resource”) portal, PHM taxonomy, and PHM Professional Development Guidelines. This panel session with the full engagement of the audience aims to: summarize existing PHM educational resources; identify education and professional development needs; and prioritize new niche opportunities for society with diversity and inclusion. From this new knowledge and insights, the PHM Society will augment the EPD portal on its website with EPD resources, a prioritized list of new initiatives, and possibly create an enhanced discussion and debate area dedicated to related topics.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!
Panel 11: Nuclear Power Health Monitoring
Chair: Vivek Agarwal, Abhinav Saxena
Details coming soon!
List of Panelists:
•      Executive from Constellation Inc. (formerly Exelon)
Panel 12: Space Applications
Chair: Derek Devries, Andy Hess
The planned use of manned and long term crewed space platforms, as well as quick to launch and reusable space vehicles, is increasing on a very accelerating rate. After the legacy NASA developed Space Shuttle and LEO ISS; among many things, there are near term NASA plans for: a lunar Gateway station, a permanent lunar base, asteroid present, and Mars bases. Vehicles and platforms to accomplish these far reaching goals will include: crewed space and surface based stations and habitats; various types of launch, long range transportation, and orbit to surface vehicles; and all kinds of support subsystems and technologies. Besides NASA, DoD, and other government directed organizations; commercial based entities are aggressively developing systems to achieve these same and additional space related goals. These commercial focused applications include space tourist to space and LEO, space based hotels, and lunar and deep space resource mining. This panel will focus on issues and challenges associated with these applications; and how PHM capabilities can be applied to reduce risks, increase efficiencies, and ensure resilient sustainment of these vehicles, platforms, habitats, and systems.
List of Panelists:
• Details coming soon!