The Apex Systems Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Apex CIE) is expanding its Washington, D.C., metro area presence by launching the Virginia Tech Enterprise Forum, a quarterly gathering and networking opportunity for students, alumni, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

The first forum, which will focus on “The Evolution and Expansion of Cybersecurity,” will be held Wednesday at the Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center at 900 N. Glebe Road, Arlington. The networking reception will begin at 5 p.m. The cybersecurity program is slated from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. To register, click here.

Virginia Tech alumnus John Malone, a semi-retired business leader and a mentor of more than a dozen CEOs in the D.C.-area, is co-organizer of the forum. The idea for the forum came from events Malone, who received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1983, regularly attended as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech and a graduate student at Harvard Business School.

“We put together a program that will fill a void in the entrepreneurial market,” said Malone, co-chairman of the outreach committee of the center's advisory board.

The program begins with a 45-minute investor panel entitled “Cyber — What’s Next?” and features representatives from Allied Minds, Core Capital, In-Q-Tel, and NEA. The session will be followed by “How to Navigate the Cyber Labyrinth?”, which is an operational panel comprising technology professionals from Capital One, Space Rogue, Tenable Networks, and Threat Quotient.

“This will provide executives with insight into what they should be focused on as they try to protect their companies from cyber attacks,” said alumnus John Kinzer (accounting ’90), co-chairman of the center's advisory board outreach committee and co-organizer of the forum.

The forum will end with a brief discussion on cyber research by Charles Clancy, director of Virginia Tech’s Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology.

The forum seeks to connect innovators and entrepreneurs with management expertise, joint venture partners, business services, capital, and other critical resources.

“Our goal is to create a bridge that connects Virginia Tech students, faculty, alumni, and our industry partners to promote the community of entrepreneurs and innovators we are building,” said Derick Maggard, executive director of the center.

Topics for future forums may include internet of things and wearable technologies, autonomous systems, big data, additive manufacturing, and health/life sciences.

 For more information, visit the Apex Systems Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship website.

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