AIRC Adds First Director of Acquisition Analytics

Dr. Cynthia Cook

Dr. Cynthia Cook is director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Her research interests include defense acquisition policy and organization, the defense industrial base, international defense cooperation, new technology development, and weapon systems production and sustainment. Dr. Cook joined CSIS from the RAND Corporation, where she led and worked on a variety of projects for sponsors across the U.S. Department of Defense, along with the Australian Department of Defense and the UK Ministry of Defense. Her management jobs included terms as the associate director of Project AIR FORCE and as the director of the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center in the National Security Research Division.

Dr. Cook is also a Professor at the RAND Pardee Graduate School and serves on the Editorial Board of the Defense Acquisition Research Journal. Previously, she was a research specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working on the Lean Aerospace Initiative.

Before her graduate studies, Dr. Cook worked in New York as an investment banker, specializing in high-yield finance. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University and a B.S. in management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. James Hasik

James Hasik is a Non-resident Senior Fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

He is a political economist who has been studying global security challenges and the economic enterprises that provide the tools to address them since September 2001.

James is the author of Securing the MRAP: Lessons in Marketing and Military Procurement (Texas A&M University Press, 2021), and Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First Century Defense Industry (University of Chicago Press, 2008). He is also the co-author of Precision Revolution: GPS and the Future of Aerial Warfighting (Naval Institute Press, 2002), and has authored a further five book chapters. His research has been published in RUSI Journal, Defense and Security Analysis, Joint Force Quarterly, Small Wars and Insurgencies, Contemporary Security Policy, Defense Acquisition Research Journal, and Proceedings of the US Naval Institute.

James Hasik earned his BA in history and physics at Duke University, his MBA in business economics at the University of Chicago, and his PhD in public policy at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Nancy Kreidler

Ms. Nancy Kreidler is a Fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center. She is a subject matter expert in cybersecurity, risk management, and leadership development.

Ms. Kreidler retired from the Senior Executive Service (SES) in June 2022 as the Army Director of Cybersecurity, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6. She also served as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) under the Army Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6. In these positions, she served as a principal advisor to Army senior leaders. She was responsible for the development of strategy and policy for the Army’s cybersecurity and risk management program.

Prior to this position, Ms. Kreidler worked in the Army Program Executive Office, Command, Control, Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Cybersecurity Program Manager. In these roles, she was responsible for critical information technology capabilities and the cyber security posture for a portfolio of $2.4B across 24 key acquisition programs representing over 100 tactical and enterprise systems and networks. Earlier in her career, she was a Department of Defense contractor and software engineer. Following her retirement, Ms. Kreidler served as a cybersecurity advisor in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services.

Ms. Kreidler is currently a member of the Army Science Board providing independent advice and recommendations on matters that the Secretary of the Army deems important. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Software Engineering from Monmouth University. She holds a GIAC Security Leadership Certification (GSLC). She also has an Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University, is an ICF-PCC Certified coach, and is a Certified Gallup Strengthsfinder coach.

Ms. Tory Cuff

Victoria Cuff is the Senior Program Director for the DCTC Pilot Program. She is an AIRC research fellow supporting the Office of the Secretary of Defense with research associated with the PPBE Commission, workforce initiatives, and overall improvement of the Department’s acquisition management policies and practices. Before her role with AIRC, Ms. Cuff was the Chief Growth Officer at Sagely, a learning and development start-up that works with individuals, teams, and organizations to create hyper-individualized learning journeys to upskill and reskill to match the changing technological landscape. Prior to joining Sagely, she was the Senior Advisor for Agile Acquisition to the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, where she led the Single Appropriation Pilot for Software and Digital Technology, i.e., the Budget Activity (BA) [BA-8] Pilot. Additionally, she started and taught the Digital DNA course that provided acquisition professionals with the digital skills they need for the modern age.

Before her role at A&S, Ms. Cuff played a leading role in building the U.S. Air Force’s Kessel Run software factory as its Agile Acquisition lead. There she pioneered innovative ways to approach acquisition policy to enable the continuous delivery of software to classified networks in the Air Force. Ms. Cuff has a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science and financial mathematics, a minor in business administration, and a master’s degree in applied mathematics from Clemson.

Thomas A. McDermott Jr.

Tom McDermott is a leader, educator, and innovator in multiple technology fields. He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, as well as a consultant specializing in strategic planning for uncertain environments. He studies systems engineering, systems thinking, organizational dynamics, and the nature of complex human socio-technical systems. He teaches system architecture concepts, systems thinking and decision making, and the composite skills required at the intersection of leadership and engineering. He has over 30 years of background and experience in technical and management disciplines, including over 15 years at the Georgia Institute of Technology and 18 years with Lockheed Martin.

Ms. Kara M. Pepe

Kara M. Pepe is Director of Operations for the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) a University Affiliated Research Center for the Department of Defense at Stevens Institute of Technology. Prior to joining SERC, Kara was the Director of Industry and Government Relations at the Center for Complex Systems and Enterprises, working with the various government, private sector, and non-profit organizations that engaged and funded research initiatives for the center. She received her M.E. in Systems Engineering and B.E. in Engineering Management from Stevens and is currently pursuing a PhD. Her research focuses on digital engineering in general with an emphasis on workforce development. Kara is a member of INCOSE, NDIA, SWE, and ASEM.

Dr. William B. Rouse

William B. Rouse recently retired as a Research Professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. He has served as a Senior Fellow in the office of the Senior Vice President for Research at Georgetown, Chair of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Principal at Curis Meditor, a firm focused on the health of people, processes, organizations, and society. His research focuses on mathematical and computational modeling for policy design and analysis in complex public-private systems, with particular emphasis on healthcare, education, and transportation. His books include Computing Possible Futures, Universities as Complex Enterprises, Modeling and Visualization of Complex Systems and Enterprises, and Understanding and Managing the Complexity of Healthcare. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and fellow of IEEE, INCOSE, INFORMS, and HFES. Rouse received his B.S. from the University of Rhode Island, and his S.M. and Ph.D. from MIT.

Dr. Philip S. Antón

Philip S. Antón is the Chief Scientist of the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) at the Stevens Institute of Technology. As a Pentagon interface in the between the AIRC and the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition ecosystem, he assesses the practical needs of the DoD, helps to envision and develop innovative acquisition research in the AIRC, and ensures the transition and application of AIRC results in DoD acquisition policies, guidance, practices, reports, and workforce development. Prior to this, Dr. Antón was a Senior Information Scientist at the RAND Corporation for 23 years, where he conducted research on acquisition and sustainment policy, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, technology foresight, process performance measurement and efficiency, aeronautics test infrastructure, and military modeling and simulation.

From 2011 to 2016, Dr. Antón served two Pentagon tours as the Deputy Director for Acquisition Policy Analysis, reporting directly to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. Dr. Antón led his center in conducting strategic initiatives to measure and improve the performance of the Department of Defense’s policies, workforce, and institutions, crafting affordability policy, and bringing new analytic insights into the performance of acquisition and sustainment policies, processes, and tradecraft.

For these contributions Dr. Antón received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 2017. From 2004 to 2011, Dr. Antón was the Director of the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center in RAND’s National Security Research Division. From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Antón managed and conducted artificial intelligence research at the MITRE Corporation. Before graduate school, he worked at Hughes Aircraft and held intern positions at TRW, Rockwell, Aerojet ElectroSystems, and Scott Environmental Technology. Dr. Antón earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in information and computer science from the University of California at Irvine, specializing in computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence. He holds a B.S. in engineering from UCLA, specializing in computer engineering.

Dr. Dinesh Verma

Dinesh Verma is the Executive Director of the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), the first University Affiliated Research Center established by the DoD for Systems Engineering Research. He is also a Professor in Systems Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology as well as the Scientific Advisor to the Director of the Embedded Systems Institute in Eindhoven, Holland. Prior to this role, he served as the Dean of the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens institute of Technology (2007 -2017), as well as the Technical Director at Lockheed Martin Undersea Systems, in Manassas, Virginia, in the area of adapted systems and supportability engineering processes, methods and tools for complex system development and integration.

Mr. David A. Drabkin

David Drabkin’s background includes work in the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) of the United States Senate. Drabkin presented numerous times at professional conferences (at both national and international venues) on the government acquisition system and process at Federal, State and Local levels.

His prior responsibilities included serving as Chairman of the Advisory Panel on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Regulations (Section 809 Panel), Senior Procurement Executive of the General Services Administration, member of the Acquisition Advisory Panel (SARA Panel), Deputy Program Manager Pentagon Renovation Program, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary (Acquisition Reform) (Acquisition Process and Policies) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Program Manager, Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) Implementation Program, providing legal advice and counsel to government contracting professionals, supervising the provision of legal advice, litigating protests and other legal matters pertaining to contracts, serving as a contracting officer, and as the Head of Contracting Activity supervising contracting officers.

Additionally, David wrote procurement legislation and regulations and supervised others who did the same. He interfaced with industry on a regular basis while in government, and while with industry teams, he interfaced with Legislative and Executive branch personnel in writing proposed legislation (as part of the Acquisition Reform Working Group (ARWG)) and comments on regulations (as part of the Council of Defense and Space Industries Associations (CODSIA)).

Mr. Christopher Yukins

Christopher R. Yukins has many years of experience in public procurement law. He was for several years a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, where he handled trials and appeals involving bid protests and contract claims against the U.S. government.

He teaches on government contract formations and performance issues, bid protests, Contract Disputes Act litigation, and comparative issues in public procurement, and focuses especially on emerging public policy questions in U.S. procurement.

He is an active member of the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association, serves on the steering committee to the International Procurement Committee of the ABA International Law Section, and previously served as the president of the Tysons Corner Chapter of the National Contract Management Association.

He is a faculty advisor to the Public Contract Law Journal, and has contributed pieces on procurement reform, international procurement, electronic commerce and information technology to a broad range of journals, including Washington Technology, Government Contractor, Legal Times, and Federal Computer Week. He has published on procurement reform in scholarly journals, including the Public Contract Law Journal, Georgetown Journal of International Law, and Public Procurement Law Review (United Kingdom).

Together with his colleagues in the Government Procurement Law Program, he runs a popular online colloquium series on procurement reform at The George Washington University Law School. In private practice, Professor Yukins has been an associate, partner, and of counsel at leading national firms; he is currently of counsel to the firm of Arnold & Porter LLP. He is an advisor to the U.S. delegation to the working group on reform of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Procurement Law, and he teaches and speaks often on issues of comparative and international procurement law.

Dr. Laura Freeman

Dr. Laura Freeman is a Research Associate Professor of Statistics and the Director of the Intelligent Systems Lab at the Virginia Tech Hume Center. Her research leverages experimental methods for conducting research that brings together cyber-physical systems, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to address critical challenges in national security. She is also a hub faculty member in the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and leads research in AI Assurance. She develops new methods for test and evaluation focusing on emerging system technology. She is also the Assistant Dean for Research for the College of Science, in that capacity she works to shape research directions and collaborations in across the College of Science.

Previously, Dr. Freeman was the Assistant Director of the Operational Evaluation Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. In that position, she established and developed an interdisciplinary analytical team of statisticians, psychologists, and engineers to advance scientific approaches to DoD test and evaluation. During 2018, Dr. Freeman served as that acting Senior Technical Advisor for Director Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). As the Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Freeman provided leadership, advice, and counsel to all personnel on technical aspects of testing military systems. She reviewed test strategies, plans, and reports from all systems on DOT&E oversight.

Dr. Freeman has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, a M.S. in Statistics and a Ph.D. in Statistics, all from Virginia Tech. Her Ph.D. research was on design and analysis of experiments for reliability data.

Mr. Matt MacGregor

Mr. Matt MacGregor is currently a Principal Acquisition SME at MITRE’s Center for Acquisition and Management Sciences. He spent 21 years as a military and civil service program manager, including as the F-35 Deputy Program Manager. His last five years in government before joining MITRE were at the Pentagon where he served as a Division Chief in multiple headquarters acquisition roles.

Mr. John Willison

Mr. John Willison is a Fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center as well as founder and President of J Willison Consulting, LLC. He is a subject matter expert in strategic planning, science & technology, innovation and reform, and talent management.

Mr. Willison retired in June 2022 after 36 years of service as an Army civilian, the last 11 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). In his last position he served as the Deputy to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC), Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). Prior, he served in a wide range of leadership and technical positions throughout his career with the Army in organizations that spanned research and development, acquisition, and sustainment.

Mr. Willison holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College and studied Software Engineering at Monmouth University. He completed the Senior Executive Fellows program at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and executive education at UVA Darden School of Business and UNC Kenan-Flager Business School. He also completed the Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well Being Program at George Mason University and is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified executive coach.

Mr. Willison is a recipient of the 2021 Presidential Rank Award, the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Medal, the U.S. Army Infantry Association’s Order of St. Maurice, the Army’s Wilbur B. Payne Award for Excellence in Analysis, the Federal 100 Award, and the Federal Technology Leadership Award.

Ms. Karen D. Thornton

Karen DaPonte Thornton is a member of the adjunct faculty of The George Washington University Law School, where she teaches analytical reasoning and writing to students in the Master of Studies in Law in Government Procurement program, and a Director on the Procurement Round Table, where she serves on the Acquisition Workforce committee. She previously served as Counsel on the staff of the Committee on Armed Services for the U.S. House of Representatives, where she was responsible for legislation and oversight related to acquisition policy and successfully negotiated hundreds of provisions in the annual National Defense Authorization Act. Before returning to public service, Ms. Thornton was director of the Government Procurement Law Program at GW Law, where she launched the Master of Studies in Law in Government Procurement degree for non-attorneys and the Government Procurement Law Concentration for JD students. Prior to her appointment as director, Ms. Thornton was a member of the GW Law legal research and writing faculty and taught first-year and upper-level courses. She began her legal career as an Army JAG officer and procurement attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel at Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has also served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from Providence College, where she was a 3-year ROTC scholarship recipient and Distinguished Military Graduate, her J.D. from The Georgetown University Law Center, and her LL.M. in Government Procurement Law from GW Law.

Dr. Douglas J. Buettner

Dr. Douglas J. Buettner is the Deputy Chief Scientist of the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC)—a multi-university applied research center led by the Stevens Institute of Technology. Doug has over 30 years of industry experience in the engineering of aerospace and software-intensive systems for the Department of Defense (DOD) and NASA. He joined AIRC after a 20-year career with The Aerospace Corporation. At Aerospace, he was the flight software systems director in their Space-Based Surveillance Division, forming a new department that oversaw the software acquisition for multiple spacecraft payloads, the space vehicle bus, and ground-test simulators in support of a Space Systems Command (SMC) ACAT I program. His recent experience includes software cost and schedule analysis with software and systems engineering advising to the ACAT I Sentinel Program Office.

Dr. Buettner is also an adjunct professor in the University of Utah’s Mechanical Engineering Department, teaching space mission engineering. In the past, he also taught software-intensive space systems engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering as well as space systems engineering at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Dr. Buettner spent time in the Pentagon working in the Acquisition Policy Analysis Center (APAC), performing analytical studies directly for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Technology and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)).

Dr. Buettner’s doctoral research at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering examined issues with DOD software-acquisition strategies, providing insights into approaches for optimizing the cost and schedule for software-intensive system acquisitions. This research is documented in <em>Acquisition Games and Software Defects: Dynamics of the Software Developer’s Dilemma</em>.

Dr. Buettner was a consultant for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), building JPL’s initial aerogel fabrication facility. His hardware automation, flight integration, and terminal ballistics investigations supported planning and concept verification, ultimately leading to the selection of STARDUST as NASA’s fourth Discovery mission. Later, he was the principal investigator supporting STARDUST’s aerogel fabrication team. The laboratory also produced aerogel for the Mars Sojourner rover insulation, numerous space shuttle flights, and the Mir space station to capture micrometeoroids and characterize space orbital debris.

Dr. Buettner has B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics, with a minor in atmospheric science from Oregon State University, and his Ph.D. from USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering is in astronautical engineering.

Mr. Matthew Rose

Matthew is Adobe’s Public Sector Business Development and Strategy Director. He focuses on federal needs and bringing technologies to the public sector market. Before joining Adobe, Matthew served in Government for multiple decades, most recently as the DOD’s Chief Design Officer, GSA’s Director for Cloud and Infrastructure, and Special Advisor on Technology Protection for the Secretary of Defense. He is a founder in several companies, sits on the Stimson Center and Atlantic Council, and still serves in the Army Reserve. Matthew has several graduate degrees and has published extensively on Defense topics. He resides in Warrenton Virginia with his wife and 3 children.

Mr. Christopher C. O’Donnell

Mr. Chris O’Donnell currently serves at the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (PDASD(A)). In this position, he advises the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (ASD(A)) on matters relating to the Department of Defense Acquisition System while advancing innovative, data-driven approaches across the acquisition enterprise. Mr. O’Donnell performed the duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition from June 2021 to February 2022.

Mr. O’Donnell was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in August 2015. He has been involved in all phases of Department of Defense acquisition, sustainment, research, and engineering since joining the defense acquisition workforce in 1984. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Platform and Weapon Portfolio Management (PWPM), he is also responsible for managing and analyzing major platform and weapons capability portfolios across the Department. He served as the Executive Director of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) until March 2019. He was the Staff Specialist for the Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise prior to coming to the JRAC. He started in the Pentagon as a Staff Specialist in the JRAC providing rapid responses to warfighter needs and assisting in providing equipment to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. He has a Mechanical Engineering BS from Clarkson University.

Prior to coming to the Pentagon, he was the Head of the Acquisition and Technology Department, at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division. He led a group of scientists, engineers and technicians that develop, test, acquire and maintain equipment for the over 5,000 Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technicians. He has received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medals for Exceptional and Meritorious Civilian Service, two Navy Superior Civilian Service Awards, a David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award, a Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence and a Naval Sea Systems Command Collaboration Award. He is married to Amy, the Deputy Technical Director at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head. Their three children are Alan, a Virginia Tech Electrical Engineer; Calaa, a University of Washington Architect; and Caitie, a Clemson Electrical Engineer.

Ms. Karen Thornton

Karen Thornton is Counsel on the staff of the Committee on Armed Services for the U.S. House of Representatives, where she is responsible for the acquisition portfolio. Previously, she was director of the Government Procurement Law Program at the GW Law, where she launched the Master of Studies in Law in Government Procurement program and this course, among other initiatives. Before her appointment as director, Ms. Thornton was a member of the GW Law legal research and writing faculty and taught the process of analytical reasoning and legal writing to students in first-year and advanced courses. She began her legal career as an Army JAG officer in the Office of the Chief Counsel at the US Army Corps of Engineers, and has also served in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Dr. Steven H. Walker

Dr. Steven H. Walker is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, where he is responsible for the company technology strategy, global research, mission development, and emerging operations technologies. He assumed the role in January 2020, and under his direction the organization is shaping the next era of operational capability and innovation for Lockheed Martin. As the primary liaison to the US and international science and technology community, he manages strategic partnerships with government, industry, and academia to ensure the maturation and deployment of cutting-edge technologies.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Dr. Walker was the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he was responsible for driving development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Throughout his 30+ years in government, he also served in a variety of increasingly responsible positions as DARPA’s Deputy Director and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering. In the later role he was responsible for developing the technology investment strategy for the Air Force’s annual $2 billion science and technology program and for providing functional management of more than 14,000 military and civilian scientists and engineers.

Dr. Walker is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He received the AIAA Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Management in 2014. He has also been awarded the Presidential Rank Award, the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service medal, and the DoD Exceptional, Meritorious, and Distinguished Civilian Service medals. In February 2020, Dr. Walker was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. and B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton.

Mr. Ron Keesing

Ron Keesing is the Senior Vice President for Technology Integration at Leidos, where he is responsible for the development and delivery of advanced technology aligned with Enterprise strategy in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), cybersecurity, software, and digital modernization.

Ron has been conducting and directing research and development and technology transition for over 25 years. He has done pioneering work on research programs addressing many of the nation’s toughest problems, from forecasting complex events like cyber threats and political instability from sparse data to discovering new potential cancer treatments by extracting and aligning knowledge embedded within massive datasets and research publications to creating the first generation of autonomous systems for spacecraft command and control. He has led the successful transition of many research technologies into operational programs within DoD and Intelligence Community. He is a Leidos Technical Fellow and author of papers and patents in diverse subfields of computer science and artificial intelligence. He serves in an advisory capacity for external organizations including the Center for New American Security, where he is a member of the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security. His current research is focused on methods to improve resilience, security, assurance, and user trust in AI and ML.

Ron holds a B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) R. Scott Stapp

Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard S. Stapp is vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) for Northrop Grumman. In his role as CTO, Stapp works with the executive leadership team to further the company’s technology strategy and ensures that Northrop Grumman leverages current technology and identifies new solutions to create new business opportunities and strengthen its position on existing programs. In this role, he also drives the development of the company’s technical talent.

Stapp has been with Northrop Grumman for more than six years. Most recently, Stapp served in the Space Sector as the vice president for resiliency and rapid prototyping, leading the development of new prototype systems and resiliency programs across critical space missions. Prior to that, Stapp was vice president of applied research & technology development for Aeronautics Systems.

Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Stapp was director, special programs, for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. His core responsibilities included the governance, acquisition and oversight of Department of Defense (DoD) Special Access Programs (SAP). Additionally, he served as the principal staff assistant to the undersecretary of defense, acquisition, technology and logistics and was the primary DoD liaison to agencies of the executive branch and Congress regarding all SAP matters.

Previously, Stapp served as chairman of the Tri-Service Committee, overseeing the national disclosure policy and transfer/export of technologies crucial to the international community. He established and administered governance of the DoD’s SAP information technology policy, strategy, requirements and execution in coordination with the DoD’s chief information officer.

Stapp holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico. He also holds a master’s degree in national resource management from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and completed the Advanced Program Managers Course at Defense Acquisition University.

Distinguished honors he received during his esteemed Air Force career include the CIA’s Agency Seal Medal, the Director of National Intelligence Award for Collaboration Leadership; the National Reconnaissance Office’s Silver Medal for Superior Service; and the Air Force Weapons Laboratory’s Outstanding Technical Achiever of the Year Award. Stapp is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and began his Air Force career in research and development and flight test engineering.

Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.

HON. Dr. Paul Kaminski

Paul G. Kaminski is Chairman and CEO of Technovation, Inc., a small consulting company dedicated to fostering innovation, and to the development of business and investment strategies related to the application of advanced technology in the aerospace and defense sectors.

Dr. Kaminski served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology from October 3, 1994 to May 16, 1997. He was responsible for all Department of Defense (DOD) research, development, and acquisition programs. He also had responsibility for DOD logistics, environmental security, international programs, the defense industrial base, and military construction. The annual budget for these entities exceeded $100 billion.

Dr. Kaminski has had a continuing career involving large program management, and the development and application of advanced technology in both the private and public sectors. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Technology Strategies and Alliances, a technology – oriented investment banking and consulting firm. He has served as a consultant and advisor to a wide variety of government agencies and as chairman, director or trustee of several defense and technology oriented companies.

His previous government experience includes a 20-year career as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. During 1981-1984, he served as Director for Low Observables Technology, with responsibility for overseeing the development, production and fielding of major “stealth” systems (e.g., F-117, B-2). He also led the initial development of a National Reconnaissance Office space system and related sensor technology. Early in his career, he was responsible for test and evaluation of inertial guidance components for the Minuteman missile and terminal guidance systems for our first precision guided munitions.

Dr. Kaminski has served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the FBI Director’s Advisory Board, the Director of National Intelligence Senior Advisory Group, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Technical Advisory Board, and the National Academies Air Force Studies Board. He currently serves on the Defense Science Board (which he has chaired twice). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. He has chaired the board of the RAND Corporation, served as a Director of General Dynamics, and currently chairs the boards of Exostar, HRL (formerly the Hughes Research Labs), and Seagate Government Solutions, councils as well as our Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) Advisory Board. He is also a Director of MITRE, CoVant Technologies, LGS Innovations, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, and the USAF Academy Endowment. He serves as an advisor to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and has authored publications dealing with inertial and terminal guidance system performance, simulation techniques, Kalman filtering and numerical techniques applied to estimation problems.

Dr. Kaminski has received the following awards: The National Medal of Technology, Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service (the highest award for a civilian given by The Secretary of Defense – 5 awards), Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Director of Central Intelligence Director’s Award, Defense Intelligence Agency Director’s Award, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Force Academy 2002 Distinguished Graduate Award, the Ronald Reagan Award for Missile Defense, the Perry Award for precision strike, the Reed award for Aeronautics, The IEEE Simon Ramo award for Systems Engineering, the IISS Possony Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Strategic Progress through Science and Technology, the Marine Scholarship Leatherneck Award, the AOC Gold Medal, the Netherlands Medal of Merit in Gold, the French Republic Legion d’Honneur, the SPIE Lifetime Achievement award, and the Air Force Systems Command Scientific Achievement Award. He has been recognized as a Pioneer of National Reconnaissance and a Pioneer of Stealth.

Dr. Kaminski was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science from the Air Force Academy, Master of Science degrees in both Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. He and his wife, Julie, have two children, and six grandchildren.

COL (Ret.) W. Mark Valentine

Mark Valentine is the Head of Federal for Scale AI where he focuses on delivering advanced AI technologies to customers across the US Federal Government.

Prior to joining Scale in 2021 he led Microsoft’s National Security Team and concentrated on delivering advanced technologies from cloud computing to mixed reality to warfighters and analysts across the US Military and Intelligence Community. Prior to his time in industry he served in the US Air Force for over 25-years as a fighter pilot, commander, and staff officer at Headquarters US Air Force and the Joint Staff.

Mr. Valentine holds a Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master of Arts in International Security Policy from Georgetown University. Additionally, he attended the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business as a Secretary of Defense Fellow. He is also a graduate of the US Air Force Weapons School, NATO Tactical Leadership Program, the National Emergency Management Executive Academy (joint program of the Emergency Management Institute and Harvard University) and the Foreign Service Institute’s National Security Executive Leadership Seminar.

He lives near Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and two children where he is active in AFCEA, the American Legion Boys State program and several non-profit boards.

CAPT William M. Shepherd

Captain Shepherd is a retired Navy SEAL and NASA Astronaut. He served as a platoon commander and operations officer in SEAL Teams on both coasts. Capt. Shepherd was selected as one of 17 new NASA astronauts in 1984. He completed three space flights as a mission specialist flying on shuttles Atlantis, Discovery, and Columbia. In 1993 Capt. Shepherd was assigned as the Program Manager for the International Space Station and then in 2000 served as the commander of Expedition-1 onboard the new station. He retired from active duty with the Navy and was USSOCOM’s Science Advisor from 2008 to 2011, where he managed the Special Operations Forces’ science and technology portfolio. Capt. Shepherd was designated an Honorary Naval Aviator by the Chief of Naval Air Warfare; his awards include the National Intelligence Medal, the Komarov Diploma, the Gagarin Gold Medal, the Robert H. Goddard Trophy, and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Dr. Dennis K. McBride

Dr. Dennis K. McBride is Director, Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (A&S), Acquisition Enablers. Dennis has more than 40 years of experience at the intersection of science, technology, and public administration, including multiple levels of leadership in national security policy.

Dr. McBride served in uniform as a Naval Aerospace Experimental Psychologist at six nationally prominent high tech RDT&E laboratories and multiple headquarters – including as Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), tri-Service lead for Operational Medicine S&T at the Naval Medical Research & Development Command, Program Officer for Modeling and Simulation, Office of Naval Research, and extensive Additional Duties (ADDU) for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (C4I) and for the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Technology. 

During his 20 years on active duty, Dennis was recognized for and performed several career-spanning collateral assignments, including DoD lead for Modeling & Simulation technology, and as expert in ergonomics, personnel testing, and incorporation of women into Naval Aviation. McBride retired as Navy Captain (O-6) in 1999 with 20 years of service. His decorations include among others, the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit – awarded for his leadership in developing and transitioning paradigm-changing technology to implementation.  Three of his subsequently commercialized technologies now account for over $30B per year in revenue globally. 

Throughout his Navy career, Dr. McBride taught at local universities, including Penn State, the University of West Florida, and Saint Mary’s College. Dennis was elected in 2000 by faculty as full professor, with joint appointments, in colleges of engineering and of arts & sciences at the University of Central Florida, where he taught graduate engineering and honors psych classes, and served for three years as Executive Director, Institute for Simulation and Training.

For ten years, Dr. McBride was president of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, providing non-partisan technical advice to Congress, the White House, and the judiciary on issues and priorities of national concern at the confluence of science, technology and public policy. He co-authored for example a decisive, amicus curiae, as invited by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. Dennis served a one-year term as Director (Senior Executive) of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the National Defense University, and three years as Assistant Vice President for Research and Co-Director of the C4I Center in the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason University. 

From 2003 until 2013, Dr. McBride developed and taught courses after hours as adjunct professor at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy (six distinct courses, including Defense, Technological Superiority & Foreign Policy, Policy Implementation, and Program Evaluation), supervised more than 50 advanced degree completions for the Army Joint Staff Internship Program, and co-created the M.S. in Science Policy and Advocacy program in public policy in the Medical School (developing and instructing six courses), graduating more than 40 Master’s students. Dr. McBride has served on multiple doctoral committees, and is a member of the Graduate Faculty at George Mason University.

Dr. McBride served for five years as Vice President for Strategy and Innovation at Source America, a $3B/year, congressionally-designated central nonprofit agency, developing jobs for people with disabilities, nationally, under the Ability One statute. He has also served as Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Scientist for NeuroRx Pharmaceutical, a for-profit corporation focused on pre- and post-market development of suicidal depression medications. Dennis also volunteers as president of the Institute for Regulatory Science, a non-profit organization in Alexandria, Virginia. He co-led and served on founding Boards for establishment of formal certifications in Modeling and Simulation (National Training Systems Association) and in Professional Ergonomics (Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics).

In 2021 Dennis was appointed as Research Professor, Hume Center for National Security and Technology (component of the Virginia Tech National Security Institute), and as Professor of Practice, School of Policy and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, where he has collaborated across academic departments, and taught graduate course work in Homeland Security.

Dr. McBride has consulted widely for high tech R&D companies, ranging from start-ups, to legacy Defense and Intelligence R&D firms. He has been invited and continues to speak at conferences around the globe, receiving several prestigious awards such as the Australian L.P. Coombs Medal.

Professor McBride’s editorial responsibilities have included serving as Editor-in-Chief for Review of Policy Research (Policy Studies Organization/American Political Science Association), co-Editor-in-Chief for the journal, Technology, and Editorial Board (currently) for the Journal of Regulatory Science. Dennis has authored/co-authored more than 150 scientific/technical articles, and edited/authored three books.

McBride’s formal academic training includes undergraduate major in chemistry, the B.S., M.S. (quantitative/differential IO psychology), and Ph.D. (mathematical learning theory), the University of Georgia), post-doctoral MPA/M.S.P.A. in public administration, and M.S. in Systems Management (Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California). Post-doctoral studies also include formal enrollment/completions at the Institute of Management, London School of Economics; graduating fourth in class, Flight Test Engineering program, University of Tennessee Space Institute/Naval Test Pilot School; Harvard Business School Program in Disruptive Strategy; and very recent completion of the Advanced Biostatistics Program at the Institute for Statistics Education in Arlington, Virginia. 

Mr. David Spirk

Dave is a Senior Counselor at Palantir. He also works with an exclusive portfolio of companies and not for profits in advisory and board member capacities that are focused on the national security sector.

In his last federal position, he served as the Department of Defense’s (DOD) first-Chief Data Officer (CDO). In this role he stood up DoD’s Chief Data Office and instilled a strong focus on warfighter needs, data governance, and a data ready workforce to inspire a data-driven culture across the department. He developed the DoD’s first Data Strategy, Data Decrees, and Joint All Domain Command and Control Data Implementation Plan. Dave crafted and oversaw the establishment of Chief Data Offices across the department and built a vibrant and diverse data community of interest.

Immediately prior, Dave was the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) first-CDO. In this role as a direct report to the USSOCOM Commander, he was responsible for the creation of a data driven decision making culture while leading the integration of data-driven technologies across all US Special Operations Forces (SOF).

Dave served as the Associate Director for Technology Investment at the Secretary of the Air Force’s Concept Development and Management Office. His primary task was to stand up and lead the DOD’s first training quality data production refinery for the Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team (aka, Project Maven).

Dave was previously the Deputy Director of Intelligence at USSOCOM and the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). At USSOCOM’s his primary portfolio was on building partner nation and Interagency support for Operation Gallant Phoenix, which was the SOF effort to stem foreign terrorist fighter flows to Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. At USCENTCOM, Dave led the USCENTCOM Intelligence Directorate’s Divisions for Operations, Plans, Intelligence Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, and Foreign Disclosure/Special Security Office. While at CENTCOM he served in Afghanistan for a year as the Senior Intelligence Advisor to the Commander of the International Security and Assistance Force.

At the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Dave was the Deputy Associate Director of National Intelligence for Afghanistan and Pakistan (ADNI Af/Pak). In this role, he was responsible for ensuring strategic alignment of the Intelligence Community’s (IC) Af/Pak and counter-terrorism missions. Dave regularly represented the senior-IC position on Af/Pak matters at the White House and with congressional leaders.

Dave is a former-Marine who served across echelons at various east coast United States Marine Corps (USMC) elements setting the stage for numerous deployments throughout the Balkans, Africa, South America, and South Asia.

Dr. Arun Seraphin

Dr. Arun A. Seraphin is the Deputy Director of the Emerging Technologies Institute at the National Defense Industrial Association. In this role, he helps lead a nonpartisan institute focused on technologies that are critical to the future of national defense, and provides research and analyses to inform the development and integration of emerging technologies and policies to support defense missions.

Between 2021 and 2014, Dr. Seraphin was a Professional Staff Member on the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. His areas of responsibility included acquisition policy, funding and policies for the Department of Defense’s science and technology programs and information technology systems, technology transition issues, defense laboratories and test ranges, Small Business Innovation Research program, manufacturing programs, test and evaluation programs, and Pentagon management issues. As such he assisted Senators in their oversight of DOD policies and programs, including in the authorization of budgets, civilian nominations, legislative initiatives, and hearings, and worked on policies and funding issues related to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, additive manufacturing, cloud computing, and robotics, among other areas. He also worked on policies to expand Pentagon partnerships with Silicon Valley technology companies, small businesses, and universities. He rejoined the committee staff in 2014, after previously serving there between 2001 and 2010.

From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Seraphin served as the Principal Assistant Director for National Security and International Affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). During this time, he both led (in an Acting capacity) and served as the deputy director of the OSTP National Security and International Affairs division. He was on detail to OSTP from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he was the Special Assistant for Policy Initiatives to the Director of DARPA.

Dr. Seraphin has worked on the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science’s Subcommittee on Research as a professional staff member. He has also worked in the Science and Technology Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses, where his research included work on defense technology transition, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), export controls, technology forecasting, and international research cooperation.

Dr. Seraphin earned a Ph.D. in Electronic Materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he performed research on silicon nanotechnology. His research focused on the development of novel silicon nanostructures and tailoring their optical properties. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in Political Science with a concentration in American Government and Engineering Science with a concentration in Materials Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr. Seraphin is the son of Indian immigrants, and was born and raised on Long Island, NY. He currently resides in Virginia with his wife and five school-aged children.

Dr. Brian Sauser

Dr. Brian Sauser is a Professor at the University of North Texas (UNT) in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business and UNT New College. He currently serves as the Program Coordinator of the Logistics Systems PhD Program and Degree Architect of the BS in Industrial Distribution. He is the founder and former Director of the Complex Logistics Systems Laboratory, and served as the Director of the Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research from 2016-2019. Before joining UNT, he held positions as an Assistant Professor with the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology where is he was Director of the Systems Development and Maturity Laboratory; Project Specialist with ASRC Aerospace at NASA Kennedy Space Center; Program Administrator with the New Jersey – NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; and Laboratory Director with G.B. Tech Engineering at NASA Johnson Space Center.

Dr. Sauser’s research interest is in the engineering, management, and governance of complex systems. He teaches or has taught courses in Advanced Logistics Management, Project Management of Complex Systems, Designing and Managing the Development Enterprise, Logistics and Business Analytics, Theory of Logistics Systems, Systems Thinking, and Systems Engineering and Management. He is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Faculty Fellow, UNT Faculty Leadership Fellow (2018-2019), Professional Development Institute Business Fellow (2015-16), IEEE Senior Member, Associate Editor of the IEEE Systems Journal, Editorial Board for Systems, Associate Editor of the IEEE Systems Journal, past Editor-in-Chief of the Systems Research Forum, and past Associate Editor of the Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge.

Hon. Claire M. Grady

Hon. Claire M. Grady is the Vice President Defense Strategy of ManTech International Corporation which delivers differentiated solutions at speed to meet the sophisticated needs of its diverse customer base. She has nearly 30 years of Federal Government service advancing national security in senior executive positions, including the Senate confirmed Under Secretary for Management and the acting Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, the Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) at the Department of Defense, and the Deputy Assistant Commandant for Acquisition at the United States Coast Guard

Ms. Grady holds master’s degrees in national security strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now the Eisenhower School) and in business administration from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Trinity University.

RADM (Ret.) Allie Coetzee Leslie

The Honorable Althea (“Allie”) Coetzee Leslie graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985 and retired from the Navy in 2017 as a 2-Star Rear Admiral. She received her MBA (Law) from National University, where she was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award (Criminal Law). Allie transitioned into the Navy Reserve and the private sector in 1993. In her civilian capacity, she has worked in the public sectors, including municipal, state, and federal government agencies; and the Department of Defense. In the private sector, Allie worked in retail distribution, contracting, and medical device manufacturing; and, from 2005 to 2010, was a small business owner. In 2011, Allie was recalled to active duty for the last time. From 2011 until her 2017 retirement she served in a variety of acquisition leadership positions at the Pentagon including Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Expeditionary Programs and Logistics Management); Executive Director, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Acquisition & Procurement); Acting Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy; Commander, U.S. Central Command Theater Support Contracting Command; and Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L). As Chief of Staff, Allie facilitated the Under Secretary’s leadership of AT&L across the offices of five Assistant Secretaries of Defense, eleven directorates, and several defense agencies. After serving in uniform for over 36 years, Allie was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2017 and served as Deputy Administrator in the U.S. Small Business Administration until 2018. In this capacity, she championed the causes of entrepreneurs and small business owners to optimize the SBA’s resources to start and grow small businesses. Leveraging a lifetime of diverse personal and professional experiences, in 2018, Allie started a consulting firm to deliver strategic solutions with the highest levels of integrity, accountability, and competence. In addition to her consulting activities, in 2021 Allie joined Health Supply US, a minority owned small business dedicated to reshoring U.S. manufacturing in critical supply chains, as Chief Operating Officer / Chief Contracting Officer.

VADM (Ret.) Joseph W. Dyer

Vice Admiral (Retired) Joseph W. Dyer is currently a consultant in the tech, aerospace and defense markets. He operates at the intersection of technology, finance, and risk mitigation. From 2003 through late 2012, he was an executive at iRobot Corporation serving consecutively as the President of the Government and Industrial Division, Chief Operating Officer, and as Chief Strategy Officer.

He served as Commander of the Naval Air Systems Command from June 2000 until his military retirement in July 2003. He previously was assigned as Commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River in July 1997 and a month later assumed additional responsibilities as the Assistant Commander for Research and Engineering of the Naval Air Systems Command. From January 1994 to April 1997, Admiral Dyer served as F/A-18 Program Manager, leading engineering and manufacturing development efforts on the new F/A-18E/F, continued production and fleet support of the F/A-18C/D, and all F/A-18 foreign military sales. Under his management, the F/A-18 program won the Department of Defense Acquisition Excellence Award and the Order of Daedalian. Earlier in his career, he served as the Navy’s Chief Test Pilot.

Vice Admiral Dyer is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.S. in chemical engineering and the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California with a degree in financial management. He is an elected Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He was awarded the James H. Doolittle award in recognition of outstanding engineering achievement in aerospace.

LTG (Ret.) Edward Cardon

Lieutenant General (Retired) Ed Cardon’s service to our Nation spans over 36 years where he honed his profession both domestically and internationally including work in Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, and the Republic of Korea. General Cardon has extensive experience establishing, leading, and transforming 14 very different organizations with diverse mission sets such as operations, education, cyber, and innovation. He both transformed and scaled Army Cyber Command into a world-class cyber force, while simultaneously standing up new cyber organizations to meet the demands of this contested domain. His last assignment was as the Director of Business Transformation for the Army, and he led the task force that helped create Army Futures Command responsible for modernizing the Army. Since retirement, General Cardon created a wide portfolio focused on helping individuals and teams solve hard problems.

Dr. Ian Taylor

Ian Taylor is a research fellow at the AIRC at Stevens institute and the CTO of SIMBA Chain. He is also a research professor, currently on leave, at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the University of Notre Dame. Taylor obtained a degree in computing science, a Ph.D. studying neural networks applied to musical pitch, and designed and implemented the data acquisition system and Triana workflow system for the GEO600 gravitational wave project. He now specializes in blockchain, open data access, web dashboards/APIs and workflows. He has published over 180 papers (h-index 43) with more than 9000 citations, three books, and has won the Naval Research Lab best paper award in 2010, 2011 and 2015. Taylor also acts as general chair for the WORKS workshop on workflows at the annual Supercomputing Conference and, in 2018, he was on ICO Alert’s list of “Top 40 Blockchain Influencers.”

Mr. Gordon M. Kranz

Mr. Kranz as an AIRC research fellow is supporting the Office of the Secretary of Defense with research associated with improvement of the Department’s acquisition management policies and practices.

Mr. Kranz is the President of the College of Performance Management a non-profit organization serving performance management professionals. Mr. Kranz is President of Enlightened IPM, a consulting firm providing Government agencies and contractors advice and guidance on performing disciplined integrated program management, with focus on implementing Agile methods on programs with and earned value requirement.

Prior to his retirement, Mr. Gordon M. Kranz was a Senior Executive in the Department of Defense and served as Deputy Director PARCA for Earned Value Management, the Executive Director, Engineering and Analysis, for the Defense Contract Management Agency, and the Director of Systems and Software Engineering for OSD/AT&L. Mr. Kranz has more than 35 years of technical and program management defense acquisition experience managing complex weapon systems including 10 years as an acquisition program manager for the U.S. Air Force and 18 years in private industry as a senior technical lead and program manager, and 7 years as an SES in the Pentagon within AT&L where he provided leadership and guidance on all MDAP programs for the DoD.

Mr. Kranz received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from North Dakota State University and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He is a certified Program Management Professional, a Professional Scrum Master I (PSM1) and DAWIA Engineering level 3 certified.

Dr. Melissa Flagg

Melissa Flagg is the founder of Flagg Consulting LLC, as well as a fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center at Stevens Institute of Technology, a visiting fellow at the Perry World House at UPenn, and a senior advisor to the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center. Prior to this, she was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University. Previously she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, responsible for policy and oversight of Defense Department science and technology programs. She has worked at the State Department, the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Army Research Laboratory. She holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a B.S. in Pharmacy.

Dr. Michael McGrath

Michael McGrath is a DARPA alumnus with broad government and industry experience, including: VP for Systems and Operations Analysis at Analytic Services Inc. (ANSER); chairman of the board of Advanced Technology International; Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for RDT&E; VP for Government Business at the Sarnoff Corporation (former RCA corporate lab); Assistant Deputy Undersecretary for Dual Use and Commercial Programs in OSD; Program Manager at DARPA, where he managed a portfolio of manufacturing technology programs; and OSD Director of the DoD Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support program. His early government career included positions in Logistics Management at Naval Air Systems Command and in Acquisition Management in OSD. He has served on multiple Defense Science Board and National Academies studies, and is an active member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), chair of the National Academies Defense Materials, Manufacturing and Infrastructure committee, member of the Board on Army Science and Technology, and a participant on several university and not-for-profit advisory boards. His research interests are in manufacturing, cybersecurity, and data science. Dr. McGrath holds a BS in Space Science and Applied Physics and an MS in Aerospace Engineering from Catholic University, and a doctorate in Operations Research from George Washington University.

Dr. Trevor Brown

Trevor Brown conducts research and teaches on public management and leadership, governance, government contracting, public private partnerships, and democracy and democratic transitions.

Professor Brown received his Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Political Science, Indiana University and a B.A. in Public Policy from Stanford University.

He currently serves as the Dean of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University where he has been a faculty member since 2001. He also serves as the Executive Director of the State of Ohio Leadership Institute, a training resource for state and local elected officials in Ohio.

Mr. Jeff Wilcox

Jeffrey (Jeff) Wilcox is Vice President for Digital Transformation at Lockheed Martin. He oversees the Digital Transformation Office (DTO) and is responsible for the design, development, and implementation of Lockheed Martin’s operations strategy. This office is chartered with leveraging emerging digital technologies to transform systems design, production, and sustainment and ensuring the workforce and systems are in place to enable successful transformation.

Previously, Mr. Wilcox served as Vice President for Engineering and Program Operations for Lockheed Martin. In this capacity, he was responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of the engineering, program management, production operations and sustainment functions across the enterprise

Prior to that role, Mr. Wilcox served as Vice President for Corporate Engineering where he was responsible for the engineering enterprise, ensuring that the right people, processes, tools, and technologies were in place to successfully deliver innovative engineering solutions to customers’ most complex challenges. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Wilcox served for 17 years with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Mr. Wilcox earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and his Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University. He holds an honorary doctorate of engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.

He is chairman of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Advisory Board and serves on the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Board as well as on multiple industry and university advisory boards. Mr. Wilcox is an adjunct professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Dr. Ruth David

Ruth A. David became Foreign Secretary for the National Academy of Engineering in 2015 after retiring from Analytic Services Inc., where she had served as President and Chief Executive Officer since 1998. From 1995 to 1998, Dr. David was Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She previously served in several leadership positions at the Sandia National Laboratories where she began her professional career in 1975. Dr. David received a B.S. degree from Wichita State University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, all in electrical engineering.

Dr. David is a member of the National Science Board and the Defense Science Board, and is Secretary/Treasurer for the international Council of the Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS). She serves on advisory boards for the Systems Engineering Research Center, a DoD UARC led by Stevens Institute of Technology, and the College of Engineering at Wichita State University as well as the Research External Advisory Committee for the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is a member of the corporation for the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. Dr. David was elected to the NAE in 2002; in 2008 she was designated a lifetime National Associate of the National Research Council. She has served on many NAE and NRC committees, including serving as chair of the NRC Board on Global Science and Technology.

Mr. Irv Blickstein

Irv Blickstein is a senior engineer at the RAND Corporation. He has 50 years of experience in the field of defense analysis and management with a specialty in planning, programming, and budgeting as well as acquisition. For the past 13 years, Blickstein has managed the research of activities of a series of projects in support of the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Undersecretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology & Logistics. The projects have covered a wide variety of topics, including directed energy, unmanned vehicles, reviews of foreign acquisition programs, sea basing, naval shipyards, operating and support costs in the DoD, evaluation of Navy Enterprises and the cost analyses of both ships and aircraft. He has studied the cost of statutory and regulatory constraints in the DoD and currently comanages a large project with the Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analysis branch of USD AT&L. He has served on two studies that developed or improved the analytic functions for the leadership of the Navy and the Director of National Intelligence. Blickstein serves on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. He served 31 years in the Department of Defense before joining RAND, 18 as a senior executive, and was awarded four Presidential Rank awards. He received the Department of the Navy’s Meritorious Public Service Award in 2011 for his service on the CNO’s Executive Panel. He holds an M.S. in engineering management from The George Washington University.

Dr. Stoney Trent

Stoney Trent is a Cognitive Engineer and Military Intelligence and Cyber Warfare veteran. Stoney is a research professor and principal advisor for research and innovation at Virginia Tech. He is also the Founder and President of The Bulls Run Group, a human-machine systems company that plans, develops, and integrates technologies to create high performance organizations. He designed and secured over $350M to stand up the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) for the Department of Defense. As the Chief of Missions in the JAIC, Stoney established product lines to deliver human-centered AI to improve warfighting and business functions in the world’s largest bureaucracy. Previously, he established and directed U.S. Cyber Command’s $50M applied research lab, which develops and assesses products for the Cyber Mission Force. Stoney has served as a Strategic Policy Research Fellow with the RAND Arroyo Center, and is a former Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Science and Leadership at the United States Military Academy. He has served in combat and stability operations in Iraq, Kosovo, Germany, and Korea. Stoney is a graduate of the Army War College and former Cyber Fellow at the National Security Agency.

Dr. Jim Moreland

Dr. Jim Moreland retired from the Government and Senior Executive Service on 28 March 2020, and is now Deputy Vice President, Strategy and Transformation as well as Executive Director, Transformational Strategy for Raytheon Technologies in Missiles and Defense. He retired as the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD (A&S)) Executive Director, Mission Engineering and Integration (MEI) with 31 years of service. He has tremendous experience in leading advanced scientific research and engineering design, development, and integration for national security defense systems. Dr. Moreland is a recognized expert both domestically and internationally in MEI, and serves as a Senior Executive Science Advisor to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy providing advice on scientific, engineering, and technological matters.

Dr. Moreland earned a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University; M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces; M.S. in Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech; and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He is Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III certified in Systems Planning, Research, Development, and Engineering (SPRDE) and Program Management (PM) career fields. Dr. Moreland is a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. Moreland has received significant honors for his leadership in engineering, to include the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award and Career Service Award, Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award and Navy Superior Civilian Service Award – two highest-ranking Navy civilian awards. In addition, he has received numerous other prestigious engineering awards for outstanding technical accomplishments and extraordinary leadership. He is also recognized as a published scholar, having received multiple best technical paper awards from the American Society of Naval Engineers and INCOSE. Dr. Moreland advances theory, methods, practice, and provides curriculum innovation through research and education as a Doctoral Research Advisor, Adjunct Professor, and Guest Lecturer for multiple universities.

Mr. Robert Cover

Mr. Robert Cover has over 40 years of experience working in acquisition law. While working for the Section 809 Panel (Jan 2017-July 2019), Mr. Cover conceived and drafted a legislative proposal to reorganize defense acquisition statutes into an expansive new structure in title 10, United States Code. A significant portion of that reorganization structure was included in the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, enacted January 1, 2021.

At the Department of Defense Office of Legislative Counsel (2009-2016), Mr. Cover’s work focused on analyzing and drafting legislative proposals submitted by DoD components for coordination and submission to Congress, including proposals submitted by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.

While at the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the House of Representatives (HOLC) (1975-2006), Mr. Cover was the lead legislative drafter supporting the House Committee on Armed Services, participating in the drafting of each defense authorization Act from fiscal year 1977 through fiscal year 2007, including having the lead role each year in preparing the text of the conference agreement. Mr. Cover was also the drafter of the Military Construction Codification Act in 1982, the Armed Services portions of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) in 1984, the Goldwater -Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, and the Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act (ROPMA) in 1994, which included a complete reorganization of the laws relating to the reserve components.

Mr. Cover is a member of the Virginia State Bar. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1975 and his B.S. from Penn State University in 1972. Mr. Cover also received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service in 2006.

COL (Ret.) Andrew Carter

Andrew is a Strategy and Business Development Lead for a defense focused technology start-up. He retired from the US Army in December 2020 after completing a nearly 26-year career.

He served as an instructor / course developer for the Army’s Acquisition Center of Excellence developing and teaching Defense Acquisition University accredited courses in both Program Management and Contracting. He also completed the Advanced Civil Schooling Program (University of California at Los Angeles, MBA) and the Army’s Training with Industry Fellowship Program (with AIRBUS Defense and Space). He attained the highest Department of Defense level of certification in both Program Management and Contracting.

Ms. Stephanie Halcrow

Stephanie Halcrow is a Senior Fellow for Defense Industrial Base Health and Resiliency at the National Defense Industrial Association. She recently served as a Professional Staff Member on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) where she led efforts to develop, position, and implement the HASC Ranking Member’s reform strategies into tangible legislative solutions, garner bipartisan and bicameral support as well as solicit industry and federal government input. In this role, she exercised keen vision in aligning priorities and resources to champion policies to reform the Department of Defense acquisition, industrial base, and financial audit activities. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy in computer science and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Hon. John J. Young Jr.

John Young has almost 20 years of senior-level legislative and executive branch experience working defense research, technology development, and procurement programs, as well as more than 10 years consulting with small and medium businesses in the aerospace and defense industries. John’s education and experience as an aerospace engineer as well as his service on Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon provide a unique set of background and skills for assisting clients.

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Wendy Masiello

Wendy Masiello is an independent consultant having retired from the United States Air Force as a Lieutenant General. She is president of Wendy Mas Consulting, LLC and serves as an independent director for KBR Inc. (KBR, Audit and Health, Safety, Security and Environment committees), EURPAC Service, Inc. (an ESOP; Compensation and IT committees), and StandardAero (owned by The Carlyle Group). She is also a Director on the Procurement Round Table and National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Board, a Senior Advisor on GM Defense LLC’s Council, Public Spend Forum’s Council, Vice-Chair of Rawls Advisory Council for Texas Tech University’s College of Business, and serves on the Air Force Studies Board under the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Mr. Tim Richardson

Timothy A. Richardson. Mr. Richardson is a Technology Industry veteran. He currently serves as a Venture Partner at Vertical Venture Partners and Paladin Capital Partners as well as serving as an advisor to aiim Partners and Regeneration VC. Mr. Richardson also serves as a Strategic Advisor to the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Mr. Richardson has served as a consultant to a number of organizations and in April of 2015 Traction LLC was established to manage his consulting relationships. He has served as a Director at IXYS Corp (Nasdaq: IXYS) since June 2007. He has served as Director of the Jupiter Research Foundation since May 2003 and is currently the Treasurer.

Mr. Richardson’s served as a Technology Advisor to the Speaker of the House of the United States and to the Chief Emerging Technology Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence. He continues as a Board Member to the Berkley School of Engineer as well as being a Council Member at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute. Mr. Richardson continues to sit on the board of several start up companies and is an advisor to many more. He has been and continues to be a featured speaker at numerous events.

Mr. Jeff Ryder

As the Vice President for Growth & Strategy at GM Defense, Jeff is responsible for developing and implementing the vision and plan to grow GM capabilities, products and technologies into global military and government markets. His responsibilities include strategic planning, M&A, industry partnerships and operating model development. Jeff’s background is primarily in aerospace & defense strategy and business development where he was VP Mobile Robotics at Oceaneering, Chief Strategy Officer at Exelis, and an executive in multiple roles at BAE Systems. He founded and ran the innovation and consulting firm, Glacier Point, and was a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and CSP Associates. Through these roles he has worked across the government and commercial supply chain from submarines to satellites for industry, financial and government clients. Jeff served two years with the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan. He has a BA from Skidmore College, a MALD from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a MBA from Georgetown University. He lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two children.

Mr. Christopher Zember

Christopher Zember has a strong reputation across the national security community as an innovative and decisive leader, having served in both government and corporate executive positions. He is frequently called upon by the White House, Pentagon, NATO and other international partners for his insight and advice. Christopher is currently a senior fellow with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), where his research is focused on structuring research and technology programs that capitalize on the diverse capabilities of the U.S. academic and industrial ecosystem.

Mr. Kevin Gates

Since December 2017, Kevin Gates has been serving as the Vice President for Advanced Concepts at Strategic Analysis, Inc, a professional technology services and consulting company. In that role, he is responsible for managing a corporate division with contracts across the Navy, Defense Health Agency and Office the Secretary of Defense. In this role, he has day-to-day responsibility for managing contracts and workforce across the division, as well as articulating and pursuing a strategy for maintaining high standards of customer service, and growth into new technology sectors and customer sets.

Mr. Blaise Durante

Blaise J. Durante is a proven leader as the current Director of Blaise J. Durante and Associates’ strategy consulting firm, as a former decorated member of the Senior Executive Service executing the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Integration, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C until 2012, and as an active duty officer for the Air Force until his retirement in 1992.

For the Air Force, Mr. Durante managed the acquisition staff organization charged with planning, managed and analyzed the Air Force’s research and development, and acquisition investment budget. Mr. Durante oversaw the integration of research, development and acquisition budget formulation and execution, and directed streamlined management team activities, including Air Force acquisition reform and reduction in total ownership cost efforts. He directed the development of weapon system acquisition policy including program direction.

Mr. Durante also served as the Chief Financial Officer for the modernization accounts. As Director for Air Force Contracted Advisory and Assistance Services, Mr. Durante directed and was accountable for the Air Force’s CAAS programs. He was responsible for acquisition professional development, including directing, coordinating and reviewing actions mandated by the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act and Department of Defense directives. Mr. Durante also managed acquisition reporting systems and the Air Force’s international RD&A programs. He was a member of the Air Force Board, Air Force Budget Review Group, Defense Acquisition History Team and Headquarters Resource Allocation Process Integrated Process Team. He served as Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and the Program Executive Officer Organization, and was responsible for operations support for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.

Mr. Durante is now a strategy consultant and director of Blaise J. Durante and Associates.

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FEBRUARY 11, 2025

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