David Monroe

Biography:

David Monroe began his career at age 16 while attending high school, working on multiple electrical engineering projects for municipal,   university and aerospace customers. At age 27, Mr. Monroe became Vice-President of R&D at Datapoint Corporation. Datapoint grew to become a 13,000 employee Fortune 500 company. During his tenure at Datapoint he was involved in development of many of the core innovations that would lead to the evolution of the personal computer and computer networks as we know them today. In 1983, he became a serial entrepreneur and was founder and/or president of multiple companies in the electronics, communication, and security space, including Image Data Corporation, PhotoTelesis Corporation, The Telesis Group, and e-Watch Corporation.

Through his career, the innovations Mr. Monroe advanced include the microcomputer processor (the 8080), early personal computers, wireless networks (Arcnet), teleradiology and digital imaging. Mr. Monroe holds 54 issued patents related to these and other technologies.

A lifelong technology advocate, Mr. Monroe has spent decades collecting museum-quality artifacts in the electronics, computers, communications, and cyber security space. Artifacts such a World War II Enigma coding machine, Edison experimental light bulbs, original Edison dynamos (multi-ton electricity generation units), and Datapoint and other computer artifacts are the foundation of SAMSAT’s exhibits. He founded SAMSAT to celebrate innovation in San Antonio and to inspire children and adults. SAMSAT is now partnered with Port San Antonio, a vast 1,900-acre city-owned and city-operated technology and innovation campus. Port San Antonio is home to major aerospace, cybersecurity, robotics, and applied technology operations that employ thousands of engineers and technicians. Mr. Monroe is building SAMSAT and the FoxWorks high-end maker space on the Port San Antonio campus. 

For his work, Mr. Monroe was recognized with the San Antonio Technology Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and he received the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director’s Community Leadership Award in 2017. He continues to lead SAMSAT as Board Chair and serves in numerous capacities in the San Antonio community.

Walt Downing

Biography:

Walt is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®) in San Antonio, Texas. He joined SwRI in 1979 as an engineer in the field of automated testing. He established and led the SwRI Aerospace and Training Systems Division before moving into executive management in 1998. He serves on the SwRI Board of Directors.

Walt Downing is a Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is chair of the IEEE Lone Star Section and the government relations coordinator for IEEE Region 5. In 2024, Walt received the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Leadership Award.

Walt was president of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) in 2020-21 and is currently secretary of the society. Walt is the past president of the IEEE Systems Council and is a member of the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) Societies and Councils Review Committee and the TAB Conflict Resolution Committee.

He was technical program chair for the IEEE AUTOTESTCON conferences that were held in San Antonio in 1986, 1990, and 1993 conferences, and general chair in 1999 conference. He currently chairs the AUTOTESTCON Board of Directors as a representative of AESS.

Walt is active in engineering educational activities. He is a member of the University of Texas at San Antonio advisory councils for the College of Engineering and Integrated Design, the College of Business, and to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise.  He was inducted into the Gamma Omicron Chapter of IEEE Eta Kappa Nu as an undergraduate
engineering student at SMU. He is also an ABET program evaluator.

Walt is a native of San Antonio. He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BSEE and the University of Texas at San Antonio with an MBA. He has executive certificates in management and leadership from the University of Texas at Austin and MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Texas and Florida.