Dr. Fred Kennedy
Dr. Fred Kennedy helps fundamentally transform how we build, deploy, and operate space systems. Kennedy took the position of director of the Tactical Technology Office (TTO) in September 2017, after joining DARPA in January 2017 as TTO deputy director. Prior to coming to the Agency, he served as the senior policy advisor for national security space and aviation in the National Security and International Affairs Division of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In this role, Dr. Kennedy advised the President of the United States on matters related to space and aviation policy; co-chaired an interagency working group for Detecting and Mitigating the Impact of Earth-Bound Near earth objects (DAMIEN); and led the “Harnessing the Small Satellite Revolution” initiative focusing his efforts on the national security space community.
Dr. Kennedy served 23 years in the United States Air Force, where he retired as a colonel. During his tenure, he served as a Senior Materiel Leader in both the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s Remote Sensing Directorate and the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center’s Battle Management Directorate. Prior to that, he was the lead for Space Requirements with the Joint Staff/J-8 in the Capabilities and Acquisition Division at the Pentagon and a chief for Spacecraft Payload Development and Test and Satellite Systems and Acquisition at the National Reconnaissance Office. Dr. Kennedy holds a Doctor of Philosophy in electronics and physical sciences from the University of Surrey; a Master of Arts in organizational management from George Washington University; a Master of Arts in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College; and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science, both in aeronautics and astronautics, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Iris Bombelyn
Iris Bombelyn is a retired Aerospace Engineer and Executive with a BS Engineering from WSU, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan Fellows program in Innovation and Global Leadership. Bombelyn retired after 33 years working in space launch vehicles and spacecraft. As an executive at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, she was a committed supporter of Diversity and Inclusion, and a mentor and coach to employees through-out the company. She has been recognized multiple times by STEM and industry organizations for her leadership. Bombelyn started her career as an instrumentation engineer working at Vandenberg AFB, CA on the Titan rocket launch team. There, she learned the value of teamwork, practice, and timely decision-making. She certified as lead Instrumentation Engineer and later, Payload Operations Launch Conductor, in her 14 year stint there. In her mid-career, Bombelyn took on several temporary assignments, traveling to Cape Canaveral, FL to augment the launch team there, as well as San Diego, CA to work on the Atlas production line. She learned Unix as part of the first ever Graphical User Interface for the Titan launcher, as well as pneumatic and hydraulics as part of the test and Tank Pressurization team on Atlas.
Bombelyn joined International Launch Services, a joint Russian-American venture to market and integrate Russian launches for commercial satellites. During her time with ILS, she learned Russian and jiu-jitsu. She says that it is difficult, but worthwhile to tell a joke in a foreign language. She traveled extensively to Russia, Kazakhstan, and Europe, first as a Launch Operations Manager, and later as a Program Director. Bombelyn transitioned to satellite program management when she went to work for Orbital Sciences Corporation, a smaller space company at the time. She was impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge of the Orbital team. As a Program Director, she able to develop the programmatics from contract signing to first engineering review. Bombelyn’s sabbatical at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was a year of personal and professional growth, providing her an invaluable network of friends and colleagues across the globe and across professions that she still maintains. The world-class faculty at MIT provided thought-provoking business, entrepreneurial, and ethical exercises to stretch the cohort. Bombelyn most recently has held executive roles with Lockheed Martin Space Systems company, starting as Director of Test Systems, transitioning to VP, Manufacturing, and leading two teams in the company’s Military Space line of business for military satellite communications.
Chris Humphreys
Before founding The Anfield Group in 2006, Chris managed Critical Infrastructure Protection programs for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense’s Counterintelligence Field Activity. As the former CIP Compliance Manager for the Texas RE and a NERC-certified Lead Auditor for both 706 and 693 NERC Reliability Standards, he has played an integral role at the national, regional, and registered entity level for the development and implementation of the NERC Cybersecurity Standards. Chris also served as the founding chairman for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Compliance Working Group (CCWG) which consists of the CIP Compliance Managers and CIP Subject Matter Experts from all eight regions. He has led and/or participated in more than 50 NERC audits. Chris is a certified Computer Information Systems Security Professional; Program Management Professional; and a former U.S. Army Signals Intelligence Officer.
Rick Hefner
Dr. Rick Hefner serves as the Program Director for the Caltech Center for Technology and Management Education. Caltech CTME provides training solutions to industry professionals in the areas of project management, systems engineering, technology, operations, innovation, and executive leadership. In his 40 year career in high-tech industries, Dr. Hefner has focused on the effects of corporate culture and personal leadership on innovation and technical achievement. He has over 100 publications and presentations, and has served in industrial, academic, and government positions.
Skip Rizzo
Psychologist Skip Rizzo conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of virtual reality (VR) systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment rehabilitation and resilience. This work spans the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. Rizzo, whose work using virtual reality-based exposure therapy to treat PTSD received the American Psychological Association’s 2010 Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Treatment of Trauma, is the associate director for medical virtual reality at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. He also holds research professor appointments with the USC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Rizzo is working with a team that is creating artificially intelligent virtual patients that clinicians can use to practice skills required for challenging clinical interviews and diagnostic assessments. His cognitive work has addressed the use of VR applications to test and train attention, memory, visuospatial abilities and executive function. In the motor domain, he has developed VR game systems to address physical rehabilitation post stroke and traumatic brain injury and for prosthetic use training. He is currently designing VR scenarios to address social and vocational interaction in persons with autistic spectrum disorder. Rizzo is currently examining the use of VR applications for training emotional coping skills with the aim of preparing service members for the stresses of combat. He is senior editor of the MIT Press journal, Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. He also sits on a number of editorial boards for journals in the areas of cognition and computer technology (Cognitive Technology; Journal of Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds; Media Psychology) and is the creator of the Virtual Reality Mental Health Email Listserve (VRPSYCH).
Kathy Murphy
Kathryn Murphy has been the Principal of Kathryn Murphy & Associates, a business leadership and strategy consulting firm, since 2010. She is a Mentor with Merryck & Co, focusing on accelerating leadership development of C-suite executives. Kathy’s 30 year career with Corning Incorporated included positions in manufacturing engineering, VP of Corporate Procurement and Transportation, and President & CEO of Corning Gilbert, a wholly owned telecommunications subsidiary. She earned engineering bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She has served on numerous non-profit boards including the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Phoenix Boys Choir, Junior Achievement of the Southern Tier, and RPI Engineering School Advisory Board. She is married and has two sons.
Michael Andrews
Mr. Andrews is Managing Partner of Andrews & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in new product R&D, business and management development, Emergency Planning, Business Mitigation, Response and Resumption Planning and Operational Readiness programs for business, schools and government entities. Mr. Andrews is a Senior Member of IEEE and is currently serving IEEE members as the Region 6 Past Director. Mr. Andrews’ commitment to the community includes STEM and CTE programs including the Future City Competition and the Smart Education Foundation, host to the SMART Competition. He is also very active with the Salvation Army, Arizona LeaderForce and the Williams Institute for Ethics and Management. He was awarded an IEEE Millennium Medal for outstanding achievements and contributions to IEEE and the IEEE-USA Robert S. Walleigh Award for Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award.
Mathew Allred
Mathew helps his clients achieve their dreams for today, tomorrow, and well into the future — using the exclusive Confident Retirement® approach. By breaking financial goals down into doable steps, Mathew helps people take the uncertainty out of planning their financial futures. Mathew is also a recipient of a Certificate in Financial Planning from Boston University and enjoy furthering his education in the financial industry. He is actively involved in charitable organizations such as Three Square, Children’s Heart Foundation and Wounded Warriors and believes strongly in giving back to the community!
Carolyn Andrews
Carolyn Andrews is the owner of Inspired Leaders Now, a certified business and executive coach, international speaker and author. Her business experience ranges from Fortune 100 companies to organizations with less than 50 staff members. She is recognized as an outstanding business strategist and leader. As a leadership expert and executive coach, Carolyn is instrumental in implementing strategies and building relationships that positively impact growth, increase effectiveness, improve operational efficiency and help owners and executives realize their dreams! She is an experienced senior executive leader with over 15 years of experience in small business management including starting new businesses and coaching existing businesses.
Keith Moore
Keith Moore currently works for the US Army Information Systems Engineering Command as a senior engineer at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Keith’s career has taken him all over the world to establish and maintain computer and communications systems. Keith holds a bachelor degree in electrical engineering and a master in business administration and management information systems. Keith maintains professional engineer status as granted by the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration. Keith has served in a number of volunteer and other organizations to work with others for the good of all stakeholders. These experiences have involved organizations including federal and state governments, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, IEEE, local and indigenous churches. Keith has served as a big brother, engineer, missionary, science fair judge, Future City Competition mentor, gymnastics coach, and firefighter/EMT. Keith has championed the IEEE Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC) Student Design Challenge competition. Currently, Keith is the Direction Elect of IEEE Region 6 and will become direction in Jan 2019.
Ramesh Ramadoss
Ramesh Ramadoss received his BE degree from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, India in May 1998 and his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2003. From Jun. 2003 to Dec. 2007, he was employed as an Assistant Professor at Auburn University, Auburn, AL. Between Jan. 2008 and Mar. 2012, he was employed as a Manager/Director in Silicon Valley companies. Currently, he is the President & CEO of BitCasas Inc., a blockchain startup in Silicon Valley. He is a Co-editor of the book “MEMS Packaging,” WSPC, 2018 (Amazon: https://goo.gl/zFzRJ4). He is the author or co-author of 4 book chapters and 55 research papers (Google Scholar Citations: 795, h-index: 17, https://goo.gl/LWBgVt). He has delivered talks at over 40 international conferences. He has conducted projects for DARPA, NASA, US Army, US Air Force, Sandia National Labs, and Motorola Labs. He is a Co-chair of the IEEE Blockchain Initiative (https://blockchain.ieee.org/about). He is also the Chair of the IEEE P2418.1 Blockchain Standards Working Group (http://sites.ieee.org/sagroups-2418/). In 2013, he was elevated to the grade of IEEE Senior Member. In 2014, he founded the IEEE San Francisco Bay Area MEMS & Sensors Chapter. In 2017, he served as the Chair of the IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section that is one of the world’s largest sections with 12,000 members located in Silicon Valley. He is the founder of the IEEE Silicon Valley Blockchain Group. Also, he is a Real Estate Investor with over 10 years of experience.
Terence Yeoh
Dr. Terence Yeoh is an assistant principal director at The Aerospace Corporation, overseeing the technical and programmatic details of a systems of systems program. Prior to this, he served in the company’s research and development arm as the R&D Portfolio Manager, giving him broad insight into Aerospace’s innovation portfolio. Yeoh has been active in developing human-centric technology and capability development for national security space hard problems. As the R&D Portfolio manager he oversaw the day-to-day operations of a multimillion dollar R&D portfolio comprised of over 200 principal investigators, and though he is comfortable with enterprise-wide organizations, he is passionate in developing volunteer-driven cooperatives within organizations. He cofounded the TECTalk Intern Program in 2014, which currently develops nearly 300 Aerospace interns every summer, and was recognized as a 2018 top 100 intern programs in the US by WayUp. Yeoh is the cofounder of SeedTECH, started in 2016, which is an Aerospace community of interest comprising more than 200 Aerospace employees developing technology for the greater good on a volunteer basis, and most recently in 2018 the founder of Compact Mentoring – a framework that enables a mentor to develop between 20-30 mentees per year. Yeoh is also the team lead for SeedTECH AI, an Aerospace team currently participating in the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE focused on applying artificial intelligence systems to dream new alternatives to today’s problems. Yeoh currently holds seven patents in areas that include infrared microscopy, 3D surface reconstruction, and compressive sensing, and also has three patent pending applications in Artificial Intelligence.
In his free time, he shares his passion for human development through his “Yeoh on the GO” YouTube series, which provides practical methods for increasing productivity:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/yeoh-go-introduction-terence-yeoh/
Peter Pyun
Dr. Pyun is currently a Principal Solution Architect at Nvidia’s Silicon Valley office. He leads and works with Nvidia’s global offices and customers. On January 2017, he was a principal investigator for Audi BB8 project. Live-demonstration of Audi Q7 autonomous driving was shown on the demo road-sets at CES, Las Vegas Convention Center. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang included it on his 2017 CES keynote speech. For the last twenty years in industry and academia, he has broad experience on deep learning/machine learning, computer vision, and 3D display processing technology, applied to mobile, consumer electronics, IoT, and automotive applications. He has 31 US patents and 28 peer-reviewed international publications with +30 invited speeches. He is a senior member of IEEE. He received PhD degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in Machine Learning and Computer Vision. His doctoral research work achieved state-of-the-art performance on semantic image retrieval and image segmentation based on model-based machine learning.
Lorenzo Lo Monte
Dr. Lo Monte has wide-ranging experience in applied Radar, RF, DSP, EW system design and prototyping, from small companies, consulting, academia, research institutions, to large defense contractors and government agencies worldwide. He serves as Chief Scientist at Telephonics, a top-100 defense corporation specializing in ISR, with the role of translating research innovations into commercial products. Prior to that, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Dayton, and the Executive Director of the Mumma Radar Laboratory. Dr. Lo Monte has published over 70 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and two book chapters.
Throughout his career, he gained experience in HF-to-W Band radar systems prototyping, including monopulse, radar transmitters, early-warning radars, multistatic and MIMO radar, ISAR and tomography, GPR, passive HF/VHF/UHF systems, IED/EFP detection, ballistic missile defense radar, resonance exploitation, RF/IR integration, DRFM, EA/EP/ES, AMTI/GMTI/MMTI, clutter modeling and study, antenna/microwave design and measurements, instrumentation control, computational electromagnetics, inverse scattering, DSP, electrical/mechanical CAD design.
Dr. Lo Monte is very active in the IEEE community, serving in the AESS Board of Governor as a VP for Education, as the representative to the Sensors Council and the Young Professionals. Dr. Lo Monte is also the Topical Editor of the IEEE Sensors Journal for “Radiation Sensors,” and serves as a technical reviewer for 11 IEEE journals. Dr. Lo Monte is also an AESS Distinguished Lecturer and AESS Short Course Instructor: he taught many short courses in radar and RF worldwide, with a focus to underserved areas. He serves as Region 1 representative for Young Professionals. Dr. Lo Monte also served as a technical panel member, steering committee member, judge, tutorial instructor, special session organizer, and session chair in many international IEEE conferences.
Dr. Sidharth Misra
Dr. Sidharth Misra received the B.E degree in electronics and communication engineering from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, in 2004 and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2006. He received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2011. He is currently at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. He joined JPL in 2011 as a member of the Microwave Systems Technology group.
Over the years Dr. Misra has held several roles with the Danish National Space Center, Technical University of Denmark, Space Applications Center, Indian Space Research Organization, as well as the Space Physics Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Dr. Misra has worked on several space-borne and air-borne remote sensing missions. He is currently a science team member on the Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, and calibration team for the Jupiter observing Juno microwave radiometer. He is also the JPL lead for the CubeRRT mission, and instrument manager for the PALS airborne system. His research interests include radio frequency interference algorithm development and mitigation, microwave radiometer system development and calibration.
He is the current editor-in-chief of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) e-Newsletter. He is the former chair of the Frequency Allocation in Remote Sensing Technical Committee for IEEE GRSS. Currently, he is an Associate Editor for the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. Additionally, Dr. Misra has been involved on the organizing committees of several remote sensing related conferences. Dr. Misra received a JPL Early Career Award in 2016 and a NASA Early Career Public Achievement Award in 2017. Dr. Misra has also received five NASA Group Achievement Awards. Dr. Misra is the recipient of the IGARSS 2006 Symposium Prize Paper Award, the 2009 IEEE-GRSS Mikio Takagi award and 2012 IEEE TGRS best reviewer award.
Terry McNabb
As a Senior Trainer with Management Recruiters International, Terry McNabb provides consulting and methodology to roughly 400 offices spanning 4 continents, MRINetwork. He is a subject matter expert for the Network on the topics of trends, selling, partnering, negotiating and driving performance. Terry has been an account executive, a consultant and a senior trainer with Management Recruiters International for 34 years. As a recruiter he ranked in the top ten out of 4,000 globally, and helped over 1,000 people transition into new and exciting roles. A good search consultant is an aggregator of industry insight and Terry aggregates the aggregators.
Justin Kugler
Justin Kugler leads business development for advanced projects at Made In Space, Inc. across the space-enabled products, exploration manufacturing, and on-orbit robotic manufacturing sectors. He has more than 15 years of industry experience and engineering degrees from Texas A&M and Rice University. Mr. Kugler previously developed the value proposition and numerous concepts for industrial R&D projects at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). He also managed ISS National Lab pathfinder projects for the NASA ISS Payloads Office, developed crew training models for the Constellation Program, and served as an intelligence analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. While earning his certificate from the University of Houston’s Strategic Foresight program, Justin won the 2015 individual graduate student achievement award from the Association of Professional Futurists for his forecast of the future of industrial activity in space.