SCV/OEB SSIT Chapter Meeting: From Hangar Deck to AI Lab: How the USS Hornet Built Its Own Private LLM
July 14 6PM-7:30PM From Hangar Deck to AI Lab: How the USS Hornet Built Its Own Private LLM
IEEE SCV-OEB SSIT Chapter Meeting
From Hangar Deck to AI Lab: How the USS Hornet Built Its Own Private LLM
Join us for a Member Technical Meeting on how the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum built a private large language model using Google’s NotebookLM and 165 curated content sources.
Speakers Mark Rowell, CIO of the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum, and Chuck Myers, Docent and Board Member, will discuss the project’s design, content curation, testing, real-world use cases, and implications for museums, education, and historical preservation.
The program will include live demos, a deep dive into Apollo 11 and 12 mission content, and fresh material being loaded in real time. IEEE members and guests are welcome at 6PM Tuesday night at both the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda and Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale.
Date and Time
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- USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum
- Alameda, California
- United States
- Building: Pier 3
- Starts 16 April 2026 07:00 AM UTC
- Ends 14 July 2026 09:00 PM UTC
- Admission fee (optional) ?
Speakers
Mark Rowell
CIO, USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum
Mark led the design and development of the Hornet's private LLM from concept through deployment. He will walk through the full technical and curatorial story.
Chuck Myers
Docent & Board Member, USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum
A longtime Hornet docent and board member, Chuck brings the operational perspective — how the model is actually used on the floor and what it means for the museum's mission.
Agenda
• The full ideation and design story — why a private LLM, why NotebookLM, and what alternatives were considered
• How 165 content sources were selected, loaded, and curated — and what that process actually looks like in practice
• Testing and validation: how the team stress-tested the model and refined its responses
• Real use cases: how docents, educators, and visitors are already using the system
• Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 content deep dive — inside historical detail you won't find in a Google search
• Live: new space program content being loaded into the model during the session
• Open Q&A and discussion — bring your questions