People Category: AIAA DEFENSE Forum 2024

Tucker Barrett (he/him) is the Multi-Domain Combat Systems Special Projects Integration Technical Lead, supporting the Integrated Warfare Systems & Sensors Line of Business, in the Rotary & Mission Systems business area for Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading special project technical efforts with an emphasis on rapid, strategic, and disruptive capabilities for multiple Department of Defense stakeholder organizations within the Multi-Domain Combat System market segment. His current assignment emphasizes novel sensor, weapon, and launcher integration for the US Navy, US Army, and other Department of Defense stakeholders.

Throughout his career, Tucker has led several critical initiatives for Lockheed Martin
Corporation, including Navy Expeditionary Weapon Systems and Aegis Speed to Capability
(ASToC) rapid capability development programs, and executed Aegis Baseline 9 and Capability Package leadership roles of increasing responsibility.

Tucker graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Science in 2006. He has started a Master of Engineering (M. Eng) Degree in Systems Engineering from the Cornell University Graduate School

Jeff Ryder is the VP Growth & Strategy at General Motors Defense.  He is responsible for developing and implementing the vision, strategy and plan to grow GM Defense in global defense and government markets.  Jeff has had a diversified background across aerospace, defense and technology as VP Mobile Robotics at Oceaneering, Chief Strategy Officer of Exelis, and Director Strategic Planning at BAE Systems.  He founded the innovation and strategy advisory firm Glacier Point, and was a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and CSP Associates.  Jeff served with the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan, 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

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Peart, born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, entered the Army on July 13, 1995 at Fort Leonardwood, MO.  He then graduated in January of 1996 from Advanced Individual Training as a 14J, Early warning Systems Operator.  With his first duty station being with 1^st Battalion, 44^th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 4^th Infantry Division, FT Hood, TX .  In February of 2005, CW4 Peart graduated Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCCS) and in July completed Warrant Officer Basic Course (WOBC) as 140A, Air and Missile Defense System Integrator, both as Honor graduate.  With his first duty station as a Warrant Officer being 1^st Brigade Combat Team, 4^th Infantry Division, Ft Hood, TX.  He served in a variety of Army and Joint/Combined command and staff positions while stationed in FT Hood, Japan, Ft Bliss, and Shaw Airforce Base. His assignments lead to operational support to Operation Southern Watch, Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom.  With the most recent being with III Corps in support of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve serving the CJ-36 Protection Air and Missile Defense System Integrator involving the integration and training of various small C-UAS capabilities.  He is currently serving in the Headquarters Department of the Army G-3/5/7 Joint C-UAS Office (JCO), Requirements and Capabilities division.

CW5 Peart holds an Associate’s degree in General Studies from Central Texas College and Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from Park University.  His professional education being most recently a graduate of Warrant Officer Intermediate Level Education (WOILE) and Joint Interface Control Officer (JICO) School.

His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (3 OLC), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal (4 Stars), Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (1 Star), Korean Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and Army Basic Space Badge.

Khoi T. Nguyen, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Command Acquisition Executive and Director for the Cyber Acquisition and Technology Directorate (J9) for U.S. Cyber Command, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Mr. Nguyen is responsible for establishing command acquisition and procurement policy and guidance, managing cyber programs, and providing functional support in the areas of systems engineering, management, configuration, logistics, financial management, procurement, contracting, and testing and evaluation of developed or acquired solutions in excess of $1.2 billion annually.

Mr. Nguyen enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard as an Infantryman in 1989.  He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1994 and was commissioned in the U.S. Army the same year. He began his career as a Sapper Platoon Leader in 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea. Following 2nd ID, he was Platoon Leader and Executive Officer in B Co, 317th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia. He commanded C Co, 5th Engineer Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. After command, he was hand-picked to be a small group leader, Engineer Captain’s Career Course. He transitioned to Army Acquisition in 2006 and was assigned as the Chief Systems and Security Engineer for the Global Command and Control System at the Defense Information Systems Agency. His last assignment prior to retirement from the U.S. Army was as a Program Manager for a fleet of airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms supporting combat operations in Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan.

Mr. Nguyen retired from active duty in 2014 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was appointed to the Senior Level in September 2020 and Senior Executive Service in May 2023. Prior to his current position, he served as the Technical Director for U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command.

Shawn Fetterolf joined Intel in 2022 after 3 years at Synopsys and nearly 19 years at IBM and IBM Research.

While at IBM Shawn worked on pre-production and later production-qualified bulk planar transistor technologies at 130, 120, 90, 65, and 20nm nodes, he also worked on SOI technologies at the 45, 32, 22, and 14nm nodes. During this time, he supported the definition, bring-up, and operation of IBM’s Trusted Foundry operations as well as High Performance Compute solutions across multiple families of supercomputers. In these roles he led teams of test, characterization, ASIC design/development, as well as process development engineers and scientists.

In 2010 Shawn transferred to IBM France and worked as a Flash memory developer and was appointed the IBM on-site leadership of a three-party collaborative effort in FDSOI process and IP development at the 28, 20/14, and 10nm nodes. He also supported the transfer of the International Semiconductor Development Alliance (ISDA)’s 20nm LPM technology from Research to Production. In these roles he regularly worked with the French and US Governments.

Returning from France in 2015, Shawn led collaboration efforts around EUV tooling, mask, and process development work supporting FinFET as well as gate-all-around transistors at the 14, 10, 7, and 5nm nodes. He also supported MRAM development as well as AI Accelerator architecture efforts.

In parallel he architected, assembled, and led the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) project. This DoD funded project brought together competing parties to solve their shared concerns related to technology access and design for the defense industrial base, government, and commercial suppliers. This work continued upon his departure ultimately influencing the DoD RAMP, MINSAV, and MQA programs.

At Synopsys Shawn co-led Synopsys’s entry into the government space leading R&D and collaboration efforts across the defense industrial base and government. During this time, Shawn also served as the vice-chair of the NDIA Electronics Division.

Now at Intel, Shawn works on mid and long-term Federal strategy to collaboratively support the government and Intel’s combined interests.

He is a named inventor on a diverse portfolio of over 20 patents, and participated in IBM’s Corporate Service Corps in Dodoma, Tanzania helping to establish the University of Dodoma.

Colonel Edward G. Ferguson is the Chief, Advanced Warfighter Capabilities and Resources Analysis Division (J81) and the Director, Space Technical Analysis Group (STAG), at United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado. As J81, he analyzes warfighter gaps and identifies future capability solutions in support of USSPACECOM objectives; and leads all Science, Technology and Advanced Concepts efforts to accelerate development, prototyping or demonstration of new technologies or concepts. As the STAG director, he produces technical assessments, performs analyses, and integrates results to support planning and decision making on behalf of the Commander of USSPACECOM.

Col Ferguson began his Air Force career in 2001 as a Physicist after graduating from the Colorado School of Mines. He received his commission through ROTC Detachment 105 at the University of Colorado – Boulder. He has held a variety of acquisitions, ICBM combat crew and staff positions. Col Ferguson was a CSAF Blue Horizons Fellow, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Service Chief’s Fellow, is a graduate of Naval War College Navy Command and Staff program as a Gravely Scholar, and graduate of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.

Col Ferguson has deployed as the Executive Officer, 379th Expeditionary Mission Support Group in support of Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM and Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, and as an Operations Analyst in the Strategy Division of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Air and Space Operations Center in support of Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM.

Anthony Di Stasio currently serves as the Director of the Manufacturing, Capability Expansion, and Investment Prioritization Directorate (MCEIP) at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD A&S). MCEIP prioritizes and invests in industrial development and production critical for protecting national security.

Previously, Mr. Di Stasio served as the Director of the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III Program, now known as Defense Production Act Investments (DPAI). Prior to his role leading the DPA Title III Program, he served as the Program Manager for the Department of Defense Joint Enhanced Munitions Technology Program (JEMTP) at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD R&E). He simultaneously served as the U.S. National Lead for the OUSD R&E’s Technical Cooperation Panel (TTCP) for energetics. He also has 17 years of experience at the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (Armaments Center), headquartered at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, where he focused on munitions design and development.

His service at Armaments Center included Project Officer for the Insensitive Munitions Explosive Program, Project Officer for the Future Requirements of Enhanced Energetics for Decisive Munitions Energetics Program, Project Officer for the Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition Explosive Thrust, and Insensitive Munitions Technical Lead. He led more than five field transition technologies and holds five patents for the development of the subscale insensitive munitions testing and production of nano-energetics. He won three research and development awards from the Army, as well as awards from NATO for contributions to insensitive munitions technology development. He was recognized by TIME for having one of the “Inventions of the Year” in 2010.

Mr. Di Stasio has expertise in energetic materials, detonation train design, nano-energetics, gun propulsion, rocket propulsion, insensitive munitions, program management, and risk analysis.

He received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Degree from the University of Delaware.

Sonny Tahiliani works for RTX Ventures covering science, technology & investing for the corporate venture capital arm of RTX. The team sits within the Corporate Finance Group and invests in & co-ordinates strategic partnerships with startups that seek to transform aerospace & defense.  Prior to Ventures, Sonny spent three years in the RTX Corporate Chief Technology Office working partnerships, technology scouting, cross business unit technology road-mapping and special projects.

Before joining RTX in 2019 he was head of capital investment, North America for the UK government at the British Consulate in New York City for two years.  Additionally, he spent four years in venture capital as managing director for an investment group where he structured technology investments and assumed board & interim operating roles at portfolio companies.  Before then, he was a senior research analyst on the buy-side, investing for BMO for five years primarily in public equities.  Ahead of transitioning into the financial sector, he was an entrepreneur for seven years in defense & aerospace avionics, exiting by acquisition.  He began his career as a machine learning engineer (in aerospace applications) for four years in 1997, after interning with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Education: B.Sc. Electrical Eng., B.Sc. Aerospace Eng., M.A. Political & Economic History, M.Sc. Technology & Strategy Leadership