June 17, 2025 (Cape Cod, MA) – The Cape Cod Technology Council will welcome Emmy award winning journalist, filmmaker, executive producer, writer, and host Miles O’Brien to its Annual Dinner on Tuesday, June 24th, 5-8 pm, at Alberto’s Ristorante in Hyannis.
Tickets for the dinner, which are $75 for Tech Council members and $85 for nonmembers, are available at https://cctechcouncil.org/.
O’Brien will use themes from his new groundbreaking PBS series, Resolve to Solve, as inspiration for his keynote speech. The show highlights individuals from throughout the world who “are offering actual solutions to big world problems,” he said. “If there’s a common thread with all of the individuals we’re profiling is they are undaunted by a big challenge. I am in total awe of people like that who will drill down and pursue these goals even when they face all kinds of pushback and obstacles and people telling them it can’t be done.”
“We are so excited to have Miles join us at our Annual Dinner and share insights into what he has learned over the course of his career, covering stories about the important role that science and technology play in our lives, our communities, and our world,” said Tech Council Executive Director Michael White. “One of his greatest characteristics is his curiosity. Miles’ desire to learn more about the people in our society who are doing incredibly important work in the field of technology can serve as a lesson and an inspiration to all of us.”
For over 40 years, O’Brien has worked as a journalist, having spent 17 years with CNN where he focused on science, the environment, aviation, and aerospace. He had arranged an unprecedented agreement with NASA to cover a space shuttle mission firsthand which was pulled following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003, an incident he covered over the course of a 16-hour marathon of live coverage.
Since 2010, he has been a science correspondent for PBS Newshour.
Over the past 12 years, he has served as a producer, writer, and director of several NOVA films for WGBH, including Mind of a Rampage Killer (2013), Manhunt Boston Bombers (2013), Why Planes Vanish (2014), Fifteen Years of Terror (2016), and The Great Electric Airplane Race (2021).
He has also produced, written, and directed FRONTLINE’s Coronavirus Pandemic (2020) and written and corresponded on FRONTLINE’s Flying Cheap (2010), Flying Cheaper (2011), Nuclear Aftershocks (2012), and Dollars and Dentists (2012).
Over the course of his career, he has garnered six Emmys, a Peabody, and a DuPont.
This spring, he launched his latest project, Resolve to Solve, traveling as near as New Bedford and as far as Australia to profile individuals tackling some of the world’s most pressing problems. In New Bedford, he interviewed Mayor Jon Mitchell, a strong proponent of offshore wind. In Australia, he looked at how seaweed is being fed to cattle, the largest emitter of methane gas, to reduce their impact on the environment.
The series is set to air in September even in the face of potential cuts to PBS at the federal level. “I feel like I’m the last guy standing in some respects. I feel obligated to continue doing what I am doing. There are other people doing science reporting, but I’m part of a diminishing cadre as time goes on,” he said. “What we do is important to a healthy democracy despite the political rhetoric in the current moment.”
These days, it may be easy for O’Brien, who moved to West Falmouth with his wife Sandra in June 2022, to get discouraged. “I’m at the nexus of journalism which is in the dumper, PBS which is in the dumps, science enterprise which is in the dumps, and climate change which is not getting the attention it deserves,” he said. “Wherever I look, I see nothing but bad news, but then I meet these people, who in spite of it all, are still pushing forward. If they keep doing what they are doing, then it’s my obligation that the world knows what they are doing and that the world knows the value of their work.”
Sharing these stories, he said, is important which is why he expressed excitement to be speaking at the Tech Council next week. “I want to contribute to the community I live in whenever I can. Connecting with individuals who are thinking about the future of not just our planet, but my backyard is always good,” he said. “All in all, we’ve been thrilled being here and love it. It is kind of the perfect world to be in.”
About Cape Cod Technology Council
Founded in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, the Cape Cod Technology Council, Inc. is a membership-based, events-oriented nonprofit that promotes technology and its understandings on Cape Cod, the Islands, and in Southeastern Massachusetts. The Council’s work includes supporting the direction of development of the technology infrastructure in the region to advance the growth, effectiveness, and competitiveness of member organizations; assist in the technology education for the advancement of its members as well as future generations through a variety of programs; and provide unique, meaningful, and topical presentations, discussions, forums, and events focused on technology. To learn more about the Technology Council, visit www.cctechcouncil.org.