Thought Leader Series

June 30 6 P.M. CT

On the verge of a new era of space travel, how will astronauts navigate the mental and physical challenges of deep space exploration?

Scientists and engineers are using holoportation technology that could mitigate some challenges of long-term space travel. This technology provides clinical and practical applications, from telemedicine to behavioral support (mental health) and serves as a communication tool.

Learn how holoportation technology, an innovative 3D version of telemedicine is supporting astronauts on the International Space Station and how it’s being used on Earth in our June Thought Leader Series “Virtual 3D Technology Helping to Advance Exploration,” presented by UTMB.

About the panel

Panelists from this discussion include Fernando De La Peña Llaca, M.B.A, M.I.S, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aexa Aerospace, LLC; Josef F Schmid III, M.D., M.P.H, NASA Flight Surgeon, Lead Medical Orion Medical Operations; and Dafydd (Dave) Williams, B.Sc. M.Sc. M.D. C.M., President and Chief Executive Officer of Leap Biosystems Inc.

Fernando De La Peña Llaca, M.B.A., M.I.S, Ph.D.

Dr. De La Peña Llaca serves as Aexa’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with 25 years of successful leadership in technology and engineering companies. He resides on the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership Board of Directors (BAHEP), and chairs the Communications Committee of the Johnson Space Center National Management Association. He is also the aerospace liaison of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Chief of the Infragard Defense Industrial Base SIG. The Defense Industrial Base Sector is the worldwide industrial complex that enables research and development, as well as design, production, delivery, and maintenance of military weapons systems, subsystems, and components or parts, to meet U.S. military requirements.

Dr. De La Peña Llaca’s lifelong passion for space exploration combined with Aexa’s leading-edge expertise, plays a key role in his support for NASA. As an undergraduate engineering student, he completed and patented a spacecraft engine propelled by anti-matter and received additional patents. Dr. De La Peña Llaca received a Discovery Channel Prize in 2010 for his work developing the Mexican Space Agency. He is the former President of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Space City Houston chapter at NASA Johnson Space Center. He was re-elected this year as Chairman of the Johnson Space Center Small Business Council.

Josef F Schmid III, M.D., M.P.H

Dr. Schmid, active NASA Flight Surgeon, Major General (ret.) USAF. Lead, Orion Medical Operations Artemis Missions, which will return humans to the Moon. His patients are current astronauts and their family members, T-38 and X-15 pilots, Shuttle, Space Station and Apollo astronauts, who have walked on the Moon. Dr. Schmid is an aquanaut and veteran of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 12. In October 2021, Dr. Schmid became the first human to be “Holoported” off the planet and into the International Space Station (ISS).

Dr. Schmid is the Chair of Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, a current member and previous Executive Secretary of the Johnson Space Center Aerospace Medicine Board. He is the physician board member of the Stafford NASA Advisory Committee. He is the former Deputy of the JSC Flight Medicine Clinic and the current Medical Operations Representative to the Exploration Medical Capability Project. He also served as the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Aerospace Medicine Residency Co-Director for 13 years.

Dafydd (Dave) Williams, B.Sc. M.Sc. M.D. C.M.

Dr. Williams is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Leap Biosystems Inc. The renowned physician, astronaut, aquanaut, author, and innovator, brings his unique skills to lead Leap Biosystems Inc. to provide innovations for healthcare, everywhere. At Leap Biosystems Inc., Williams and his team are passionate about space exploration, medicine, and humanity.

Dr. Williams earned his medical degree from McGill University and was the Director of the Department of Emergency Services at Sunnybrook when he became a Canadian astronaut. Between his two spaceflights he was the Director of the Space and Life Sciences Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center and Deputy Associate Administrator for Crew Health and Safety at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. He retired from the Canadian Space Agency in 2008 and spent three years at McMaster University as the Director of the McMaster Centre for Medical Robotics before becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Canada. Williams retired as CEO of Southlake in 2017 to pursue opportunities to consult in the aerospace and medical sectors as well as to speak on behalf of the National Speakers Bureau to share his experiences.