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Advisory Board

2019-2020 ECE Industrial Advisory Board
2019-2020 ECE Industrial Advisory Board

The ECE Department’s Advisory Board is a collection of highly-accomplished and respected individuals that provide strategic advice and personal support to the Department Head and faculty on existing and proposed educational, service, and research activities.

The objective of the board is to assist the Department in achieving its vision of being recognized as the national model for combining cutting-edge research, revolutionary educational approaches, and external partnerships in the advancement of electrical and computer engineering.

CURRENT ADVISORY BOARD

Sam Yakulis

Sam Yakulis (Chair)

President
Yakulis Labs

30 years of professional engineering, defense, and leadership experience. Skilled in Strategic Leadership, Program Execution, Engineering and Program Management, System Integration, and full life cycle Software and Hardware Engineering Development across many different platforms and applications. 


Duane Blackburn

Duane Blackburn 

Science & Technology Policy Analyst/Strategist
The MITRE Corporation

More than 20 years of experience leading interagency and public-private teams in the development of federal policies and strategies that are objective, nonpartisan, data-driven, actionable, and measurable.


Michael Pochet

Dave Bostedo

Space Systems Engineering Director
BAE Systems

25 years of experience in all facets of Space Electronics development, currently responsible for staffing and executing programs across the Space Systems portfolio. David currently oversees a group of 180+ engineers, across three sites in Virginia and New Hampshire. David has worked for the company since 1998, holding a variety of engineering positions, with a focus in electronics and micro-electronics development. His primary technical expertise in ASIC and FPGA development, and he has worked on board, box, software, and system development as well. David has a B.S. in Computer Engineering and an M.S. in Computer Engineering, both from Virginia Tech, with concentrations in micro-electronics, and communications.

Michael Pochet

Anil Chinthakindi

Director, FE  Automotive Quality
Micron Technology

Over 20 years of experience in semiconductor manufacturing, product development and leadership experience. Currently responsible for automotive quality of global front end manufacturing sites at Micron technology. Sponsor of Asia American Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group at Micron Manassas, VA. Parent volunteer at local boy scout troop.


Thomas Drayer

Thomas Drayer

Technical Director, Processing and Analytic Capabilities
U.S. Department of Defense

A long history of scaling innovative ideas and projects to enterprise-wide capabilites with enduring results. Most recently he served as the Technical Director for the NSA organization that is responsible for all of its back-end mission data processing, compliance, dataflow, decryption, analytics, storage, and analyst toolsets. 


Curtis Einnsman

Curtis Einnsmann

Software Development Engineer II
Amazon

With six years of experience at Amazon Web Services, Curtis leads a software engineering team focused on increasing velocity for AWS revenue operations at a global scale.


Michael Pochet

Pedro Espina

Director of Collection Research
Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA)

Dr. Pedro Espina joined IARPA in September 2020 as the Office Director for the Office of Collection. Prior to joining IARPA, he led the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s geophysics research efforts and supported the National Reconnaissance Office’s basic research portfolio. From 2015-2016, Dr. Espina served as the National Institute of Science and Technology’s (NIST) international science and standards advisor. From 2013-2015, he supported the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the senior science and technology advisor and was the executive director of the White House National Science and Technology Council from 2010-2013. From 2005-2010, Dr. Espina served at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris and served as a flow measurement scientist for the Department of Commerce from 1987-2005. Dr. Espina was also part of NIST’s response to the Deepwater Horizon incident, where he served on the team that calculated the size of the oil spill. His efforts earned him accolades, including the Department of Commerce’s silver medal, which is granted by the secretary of commerce for exceptional contributions that have a direct and lasting impact. Dr. Espina earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Maryland.


Jeremy Ferrell

Jeremy Ferrell

Director of Engineering
VPT

20 years of experience in high reliability and space power electronics industry.  Currently leading a team specializing in designing next generation power supplies for future space exploration, military and commercial aviation applications.


Michael Garris

Michael Garris

Senior Principal Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems Technical Advisor
MITRE

Computer scientist, retired from 34 years of federal service at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and is starting a new position as Senior Principal Technical Advisor to MITRE’s Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy Innovation Center. He was honored to serve from 2019-2021 as the Chief Technical Advisor to the congressionally chartered National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence delivering their final report to the President and to Congress on March 1, 2021. His interests are in technology and policy around areas of artificial intelligence, image processing, pattern recognition, and biometrics.


Monther Hammoudeh

Monther Hammoudeh

Vice President - Transport Engineering and Operations
Windstream

A technical leader with 21 years of experience in planning, engineering and deploying Long Haul, Metro and Access Communications Networks.  A charismatic leader with strong people skills and the ability to direct cross functional groups toward successful results.


Benjamin Harvey

Benjamin Harvey

Director of Data Science
Maxar Technologies

Holds a position at Maxar as their Director of Data Science.  Dr. Harvey is also a Faculty Researcher at The Johns Hopkins University in the Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Biostatistics Department. 


Jamie Helmer

Jamie Helmer

Manager
Norfolk Southern

A leader with 25+ years of transportation operations with expertise of data-driven process improvements and sustaining results through developing people, strategy, and vision.


Luke Lester

Luke Lester

Roanoke Electric Steel Professor and Department Head
Bradley Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Experienced Head of Electrical Engineering with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Strong engineering professional skilled in Nanomaterials, Laser Physics, Nanofabrication. 


Stephanie Palermo

Stephanie Palermo

Vice President, Head of Executive Compensation and Talent Management
Capital One

Banking executive with > 25 years using data science and quantitative analytics to develop and implement team vision and strategy. Fungible leader with a passion and strength in communicating and influencing game-changing business results.


Raymond Sharp

Raymond Sharp

Director of Programs
Northrop Grumman

Strategic, Innovative, Systems-Thinking Executive with 17+ years of defense and engineering experience. Passionate and skilled at Strategic Thinking, Design Thinking, RF/Digital Systems, Hardware/Software engineering development lifecycles. Product delivery and development experience in Space, Air & ground based systems. Experienced in both domestic DOD, Commercial and international business capture and execution.


Christine Whiteside

Lawrence Hornak

Associate Vice President for Research, Integrative Team Initiatives
   Office of Research, University of Georgia
Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar
   School of Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of Georgia

Larry Hornak is Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and serves as the Associate Vice President for Research, Integrative Team Initiatives at the University of Georgia (UGA). Hornak received his B.S. in Physics from Binghamton University (SUNY) in 1982 after which he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, in Holmdel, NJ where he completed his M.E. at Stevens Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Rutgers University in 1991.  Hornak was a founding partner in NexID Biometrics, a start-up company spun out of CITeR and acquired in 2017, and founding co-director for the state’s Nanoscience Initiative.  In his current Associate Vice President for Research position begun in 2020, Hornak supports faculty building interdisciplinary, integrative research teams, including co-directing the new UGA Research Institute to help grow mission agency partnerships.  Hornak has over 150 refereed publications spanning integrated electronic and photonic sensors and devices, and biometric sensors and systems.  He is a senior member of the IEEE and member of the SPIE, OSA and ASEE as well as Sigma Pi Sigma, Sigma Xi, and Eta Kappa Nu.

Christine Whiteside

Christine Whiteside

Microprocessor Yield Engineering & Characterization
IBM

Four years experience in the semiconductor industry as a yield and characterization development engineer working on data analysis, modeling, and forecasting. Currently supports products ranging from ASICs to large IBM mainframe server microprocessors. 


Adedoyin "Doyin" Adewodu

Adedoyin "Doyin" Adewodu

Founder/Principal
Infrastructure Solutions International (INFRASI)

Experienced technology professional with over 15+ years delivering technical solutions in the most complex environments. Expertise in enterprise mobility, technology strategy and security architecture.

RJ Balanga

R.J. Balanga

Government Employee

Highly experienced and accomplished Engineering Team Lead and Organizational Strategist, who possesses dynamic, proactive, and results-oriented attributes.

Michael Bear

Michael Bear

Technical Director I – Systems Engineering (Space Systems)
BAE Systems

Systems Engineering lead on multiple space programs and emerging technologies, with experience in trusted and assured electronics and electronic systems.

Andrew Consiglio

Andrew Consiglio

Fellow, Advanced Measurements
Pratt & Whitney

More than 35 years of experience in applied research and product development in Biomedical Instrumentation, Telecommunication equipment design, and Aerospace Test and Measurements. In 2017 he was appointed to the position of Engineering Technical Fellow for Advanced Measurements where he focuses on the development of advanced measurement systems and methods.

Charles Dublin

Charles Dublin

Vice President Of Product Management
Acquia

Results oriented and versatile technology executive with 20+ years of experience in the US, Europe, and Asia. Developed strong organizations in Professional Services, Engineering, Operations, Data Science, and Product Development, with outstanding execution against objectives in each area.

Janet Farmer

Janet Farmer

Consulting Engineer, PE
Dominion Energy Virginia
Lynne Hamilton-Jones

Lynne Hamilton-Jones

Senior Program Manager
Criterion Systems, Inc.

A corporate executive in the defense industry performing roles in program management, corporate operations, cybersecurity management, and business development. Lynne served as Chair, Virginia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Industrial Advisory Board 2018-2020 and Vice Chair, 2016-2018. She has a BSEE from Virginia Tech and MSEE from Northeastern University. Prior to entering the corporate world, Lynne retired as a Colonel after serving 25 years in the USAF.

Brian Huber

Brian Huber

Engineering Manager
MICRON Technology

20 years experience in thin films and process integration as an engineer and manager. 

Paige Kassalen

Paige Kassalen

Analytics Solutions Associate
JP Morgan Chase

With a degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech (2015) and a Master of Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University (2020). Kassalen was an electrical engineer on the ground crew for Solar Impulse 2, the first solar-powered airplane to circumnavigate the globe. After Solar Impulse, Kassalen helped, material science company, Covestro develop its strategy for materials for autonomous, electric and shared vehicles, and now uses her problem solving skills on teams at JPMorgan Chase to develop big data strategies and implement innovative technologies.

Ivan Lai

Ting-Pui (Ivan) Lai

Consulting Engineer
Ciena Corporation

19+ years of extensive experience in R&D, support operation, and customer relationship. A proven record in creating organization efficiency, improving product quality for customer, and driving growth in revenue.

Jeff McWhirt

Jeff McWhirt

Senior Manager - Reliability
Digital Realty

A seasoned critical infrastructure  manager (and former electric utility engineer) with strengths in reliability, root-cause analysis, energy management, project management, critical space build-out, and commissioning. 

Michael Pochet

Lt. Col. Michael Pochet

Chief, Microelectronics & Embedded Systems Assurance - (MESA) Branch, Air Force Research Laboratory
United States Air Force

Electrical Engineer with over 19 years of experience as an Air Force Developmental Engineering Officer, where he has held various levels of engineering and program management positions. Currently, Lt Col Pochet serves as the Chief of the Microelectronics & Embedded Systems Assurance Branch within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Sensors Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Mike completed his BS in EE at Virginia Tech in 2001, and was a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.