2023 Defense Conference Speakers

	The Honorable Frank Calvelli Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration. He is responsible for all architecture and integration with respect to acquisition of space systems and programs in the armed forces, chairing the Space Acquisition Council, and overseeing and directing the space acquisition centers in the Department of the Air Force. He also serves as the DAF Service Acquisition Executive for Space Systems and Programs. Mr. Calvelli has more than 34 years of experience in national security space acquisitions, operations, and leadership in the National Reconnaissance Office and the Central Intelligence Agency. He has held a variety of senior positions including satellite and ground system acquisitions, systems engineering, and mission operations.
	Kari Bingen Director, Aerospace Security Project and Senior Fellow, International Security Program Kari A. Bingen is the director of the Aerospace Security Project and a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She joined CSIS from HawkEye 360, an innovative space technology company creating a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, where she was the chief strategy officer. Prior to the private sector, Kari served as the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, overseeing the defense intelligence and security enterprises, comprising more than 120,000 personnel and an annual budget of over $54 billion. Before that, Kari served as the policy director on the House Armed Services Committee and staff lead for its Strategic Forces Subcommittee, advising members of Congress on defense policy, program, and budget matters. Prior to entering government, Kari specialized in national security space issues, working with U.S. defense and intelligence community clients, first as a space systems analyst at SRA International’s Adroit C4ISR Center, and then as a senior space policy analyst at the Aerospace Corporation.
	Dr. Anthony Calomino Space Nuclear Technology Portfolio Manager, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate Dr. Anthony M. Calomino is the program manager for NASA’s space nuclear fission technology product development. His expertise is in high temperature materials and structures and has worked with NASA on multiple high temperature materials and structures efforts, including the nuclear technology area for the past 8 years. Anthony works in the Space Technology Mission Directorate and leads its fission technology development efforts.
	Joe Cole Vice President, Aerospace & Government, Synopsys
	Dr. Jack Groppo Professor; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Mining Engineering Department, University of Kentucky Since coming to the Center for Applied Energy Research in the mid-80s, Mr. Groppo has focused on utilizing byproducts from industrial processes. It’s like recycling but recycling is using things over and over again, whereas what we’re trying to do is take a waste stream with no value, see if we can separate it into its usable components and ultimately create something of value out of something that was just waste. Groppo’s mineral processing work began with fine coal that had not been recovered because the technology didn’t exist. Today, processing fine coal is common practice. Recently, Groppo has studied ways to apply byproduct utilization processes to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Rather than capturing CO 2 in order to sequester it, Groppo’s projects involve using microalgae to capture the CO 2 and then produce biofuels and bioplastics from the recovered algae.
	Will Johnson Senior Vice President, Operations Manager, Logistics & Mission Support, Leidos Will Johnson has more than 30 years of progressively responsible experience directing as many as 2,100 employees in business units with revenues in excess of $700 million. The Logistics and Mission Support Operation within Leidos Defense Group concentrates on providing technical solutions to warfighters in the federal logistics sector. Prior to becoming a Leidos Operations Manager, Will was President and co-founder of Thom-John Strategies, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business providing Information Technology services to the Department of Veteran Affairs. He has successfully led companies through start-ups, turnarounds and growth modes.
	Dr. Nicholas Martin Director, Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) Dr. Nicholas T. Martin is the Director of the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA). In this capacity he provides engineering expertise to solve Department of Defense (DoD) specific microelectronics issues facing the Warfighter, provides direct support to system program managers in the services, interfaces with special forces and intel community leadership to understand mission needs and to provide innovative and timely solutions, oversees and manages the DoD’s only organic semiconductor manufacturing laboratory, maintains a highly skilled civilian workforce, provides management direction and control over the Trusted Access Program Office (TAPO) that facilitates United States Government access to trusted state-of the-art (SOTA) and state-of-the-practice (SOTP) microelectronics design and manufacturing capabilities, and carries out Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) responsibilities. He assumed his current position in August 2021.
	William McHenry Senior Advisor to the Director, DIU Mac serves as the Director DIU’s Senior Advisor. He brings a combination of military and government service to his role with over 30 years of executive experience in strategy development, partner engagement, and operational execution. Mac is responsible to the Director DIU for leading Engagement with the Intelligence Community, non-uniformed USG Agencies and Activities, Commercial Partners in the mid-Atlantic region and provides expertise in International Relations assisting with development of DIU’s International Portfolio. Prior to his current role at DIU, Mac served as the DIU Director of Engagement responsible for building DIU relationships across the US government. Before joining DIU, Mac served as a CIA Operations Officer, State Department Foreign Service Officer and as a Special Project Officer for the Department of the Army with overseas assignments spanning multiple geographic areas.
	Michael Owens Executive Director, Project Management Division, RPS \| Australia, Asia, Pacific Michael Owens is RPS’s Defence Sector Leader for Australia Asia Pacific (AAP) and key panel representative. He has oversight across all Defence projects in AAP and is sought after for his expert advice. For over 20 years, he has delivered more than 100 estate and facilities projects around the world, predominantly in the AAP region, totaling more than $10B. He has spearheaded facilities programs in Special Operations, Maritime, Land, Air and Cyber Security. Michael leads RPS’s 500-person project and program management consultancy team, and as a former business owner, he brings an entrepreneurial mindset to get results. Currently, Michael has stepped into the role of Maritime Domain Program Director for Defence. As part of this position, he oversees the Navy Capability Infrastructure subprogram and the AUKUS submarine program, a critical and nationally significant program. This involves managing facilities needs to support the Royal Australian Navy and the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Rotation Force in Western Australia.
	Christopher Rose Counsellor Defence Acquisition Policy and Trade British Defence Staff, British Embassy Mr. Christopher (Chris) Rose is currently in post in the British Embassy in Washington as the defence acquisition and defence trade policy lead for the UK. Chris is the senior acquisition official for the Ministry of Defence in the USA and is responsible for the significant UK Foreign Military Sales portfolio, currently some $17.5bn of commitments for US equipment and services on a Government-to-Government basis. Chris is also responsible for bilateral defence trade policy issues with the US and is one of the leads for export control reform and other barriers to collaboration initiatives. Chris is one of the leads for UK/US cooperation on weapons supply to Ukraine.
	Dr. Dev Shenoy Principal Director for Microelectronics, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Dr. Dev Shenoy joined the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, OUSD(R&E), as the Principal Director for Microelectronics in July 2021. In this role, Dr. Shenoy is responsible for leading the Department of Defense’s research and engineering efforts in Microelectronics. Prior to joining OUSD(R&E), Dr. Shenoy served as the Director of Microelectronics Innovation and as Director of Advanced Technologies at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute. Prior to joining USC/ISI, Dr. Shenoy served as Chief Engineer in the Advanced Manufacturing Office at the Department of Energy (DOE) HQ. In that role, he co-authored DOE’s 2015 QTR (Quadrennial Technology Review) that served as a blueprint for DOE’s energy technology investments. Among other initiatives, Dr. Shenoy proposed and led a “Big Idea” for U.S. national security and economic competitiveness within the Office of EERE (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) on “Beyond Moore Computing” with participation from eight DOE National Labs.

Neil Albert
President and CEO, NFA Consulting
Albert provides advice and support to the US government and industry service partners. With over 40 years of experience he has worked, managed and led multiple government related industry service support organizations in the areas of strategic planning, program management, cost/schedule/technical analysis, project performance measurement, acquisition management, and risk assessment. Read more.

#PSCdefense23