People Category: Speaker

Lori Garver

Lori Garver is the CEO of Earthrise Alliance – a philanthropic initiative established to fully utilize Earth science data to combat climate change. Garver is the former Deputy Administrator of NASA. She led the NASA transition team for President-Elect Obama and was his lead space policy advisor on the campaign. Previous senior positions have included General Manager of the Air Line Pilots Association, Associate Administrator for Policy and Plans at NASA and Executive Director of the National Space Society. Additionally, She is a Co-Founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, an educational organization providing internships and mentorship to collegiate women pursuing degrees in aerospace fields.

Stephen Frick

Stephen Frick is the Director of Hypersonics and Advanced Materials, Lockheed Martin Space Advanced Technology Center. In this role he is responsible for developing future discriminating capabilities in the areas of advanced materials, advanced electronics, advanced manufacturing, and hypersonic mission development for LM Space products.

Mr. Frick joins Lockheed Martin after a nineteen-year career as a NASA Astronaut. He has flown two space missions on the Shuttle Atlantis, as pilot on mission STS-110 in 2002 and mission commander on STS-122, for a total of over 565 hours in space. Other key positions in support of human spaceflight included Astronaut Office Exploration Branch Chief, Orion Program Flight Crew Testing Lead, and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Smith/McCool NASA Chair Professor.

A 1986 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he served as a naval aviator, strike fighter pilot, and test pilot retiring as a Captain in 2010.  He has logged more than 4,300 flight hours in 38 different aircraft, including 26 combat missions and over 370 carrier landings. His awards include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, and Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Mr. Frick has a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, and an MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.  He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Wesley Harris

Wesley Harris serves as Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Housemaster of New House Residence Hall at MIT. Professor Harris served as the Associate Provost for Faculty Equity, from 2008-2013. He also served as the Department Head of the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics between 2003 and 2008.

Wes Ryan

Wes Ryan joined NASA’s Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) in March of 2021 and is supporting airspace modernization and automation integration strategies, including the practical use of AI/ML for aviation purposes.  He is also supporting NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions program to identify paths to transformational aeronautics concepts for future aircraft designs, digital airspace management, and new operational capabilities.  Prior to NASA, Wes was with the FAA for 18 years working R&D and certification for remotely piloted aircraft and safety-enhancing technology for General Aviation.  He holds both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas.  He is a Fellow in the Royal Aeronautical Society and an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

 

 

Kent Rominger

Kent Rominger is the vice president and capture lead for the OmegA launch system, which Northrop Grumman is currently developing for the U.S. Air Force National Security Space Launch program as well as commercial customers.

Prior to his current role, Kent served as the vice president of Strategic Programs with responsibility for the Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile Program, the Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent pursuit and Minuteman III Sustainment (FISAC PSSC) for Northrop Grumman. He also served as vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Northrop Grumman Propulsion Systems and as vice president of Propulsion Systems’ Test and Research Operations. He joined Northrop Grumman in October 2006 as vice president, Advanced Programs, following distinguished careers with NASA and the U.S. Navy.

Rominger was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1992. A veteran of five space shuttle flights, including two as the mission commander, he has logged over 1,600 hours and traveled almost 27 million miles in space. He culminated his NASA career as the chief of the Astronaut Office.

Rominger was commissioned as a naval officer in 1979. During his 26-year career, he served as an F-14 Tomcat pilot with fighter squadrons VF-2 and VF-211 and as a Navy test pilot. While with VF-211, he completed a deployment to the Arabian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. Rominger is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. He has logged more than 7,000 flying hours in 35 different types of aircraft and has completed 685 carrier landings.

A native of Del Norte, Colorado, Rominger received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University and a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

David Spencer

View David Spencer’s full information online.

Degrees

PhD, School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015
MS, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, 1991
BS, Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering, Purdue University, 1989

Interests

Mission Design
Spacecraft relative motion
Aeroassist technologies
Mission operations
Small satellite applications

Awards and Major Appointments

Honors and Awards

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Phoenix project management, 2009
NASA Space Act Award, Entry, Descent and Landing Monte Carlo Simulation, 2007
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Deep Impact mission management, 2006
Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Award, Purdue University, 2004
NASA Exceptional Service Medal, Mars Odyssey mission system leadership, 2003
JPL Award for Excellence, Mars Surveyor 2001 trajectory design, 1999
NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Mars Pathfinder mission design, 1998
JPL Award for Excellence, Mars Pathfinder Entry, Descent and Landing design, 1998

Professional Affiliations

Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, since 2010
Board of Directors, American Astronautical Society, 2015 – present
Associate Editor, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2015 – present
Advisory Board, ARCS Foundation, 2009-2012
Member, The Planetary Society

The Honorable Eric J. Holcomb

Eric J. Holcomb is the 51st Governor of Indiana.

A lifelong Hoosier, Gov. Holcomb is a veteran of the United States Navy, served as the state’s 51st Lt. Governor, was a trusted advisor to both Gov. Mitch Daniels and Sen. Dan Coats, worked for Congressman John Hostettler and is a former state chairman of the Indiana Republican Party.

He was elected governor in November 2016, following an unprecedented 106-day campaign and was sworn in on Jan. 9, 2017.

In 2018, Gov. Holcomb partnered with the Markle Foundation to launch “Skillful Indiana,” to bridge the divide between the skills Hoosiers have and the skills businesses need. Indiana is just the second state to have this program.

Under his leadership, Indiana has had two consecutive record-breaking years for job commitments. In 2018, 320 companies committed to create at least 31,000 jobs in Indiana.

Next Level Connections, a $1 billion program focused on accelerating major road projects, is focused on increasing access to high-speed, affordable internet to unserved Hoosiers, establishing more nonstop flights to and from Indiana, and committing the largest infusion of trails funding in state history.

He has a mission to increase Indiana’s competitiveness in the global economy by “bringing the world to Indiana and taking Indiana to the world.” He announced Indiana’s first-ever nonstop transatlantic flight from Indianapolis to Paris, beginning in May 2018. So far, the governor has met with officials and industry leaders in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, Israel, India, France, Belgium, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic to showcase Indiana’s assets and build global economic ties. In 2018, Holcomb was honored as the International Center’s International Citizen of the Year.

In his first legislative session as governor, he rallied bipartisan support from Indiana lawmakers to expand pre-kindergarten for qualifying Hoosier kids and unveiled Next Level Recovery—a one-stop-shop for information and resources on the state’s comprehensive and community-based effort to fight the opioid crisis. The governor was honored with the Richard M. Fairbanks Circle of Hope Award in 2019.

Gov. Holcomb is focused on moving our state forward. In his first months as governor, he led the way for the largest long-term infrastructure investment in our state’s history with the long-term, fully-funded 20-year, $60 billion Next Level Roads program.

The governor has called workforce readiness the defining issue of the decade. To meet our state’s rapidly changing workforce needs, he unveiled the Next Level Jobs program to help connect more Hoosiers to high-demand, high-wage careers. Holcomb was awarded the 2019 Mira Trailblazer Award by TechPoint for his work with the growing tech industry in Indiana. He is the former chair of Jobs for America’s Graduates and now serves on the board of directors.

He is passionate about helping incarcerated Hoosiers break cycles by learning essential job skills. The Last Mile, a program dedicated to reducing recidivism by teaching computer coding inside prisons, chose Indiana to be the first state outside of California to participate by opening a program at the Indiana Women’s Prison in 2017. It has expanded to include the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility. The governor has introduced high-wage, high demand certificate training to prepare offenders to be successful in their communities upon release.

All of this work is underscored by Gov. Holcomb’s commitment to delivering great government service for Hoosier taxpayers. Indiana was ranked first in the nation for government efficiency by U.S. News & World Report in 2017.

Holcomb currently serves as the policy chairman of the Republican Governors Association and in 2018 was named one of ten governors shaping the future of politics by The Hill.

In an article in Governing Magazine, they said, “Indiana’s governor doesn’t scream, doesn’t threaten, and doesn’t even complain. He just wins.”

Throughout his career in service, he has earned a reputation of being a consensus builder. He travels weekly throughout the state—visiting with Hoosiers wherever he goes about how to make Indiana an even better place to live, work and play. He has earned honorary doctorate degrees from Trine University, Anderson University and Ivy Tech. A lifelong basketball fan, Gov. Holcomb has shot and made a basket in each of Indiana’s 92 counties.

The governor is a graduate of Pike High School in Indianapolis and Hanover College in southeastern Indiana where he majored in U.S. History with a focus on the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era. He is a collector of presidential signatures and currently has documents signed by 43 of our nation’s 44 presidents, missing only the signature of George Washington.

He and his wife, Janet, live with their Miniature Schnauzer, Henry, in the Governor’s Residence on North Meridian Street in Indianapolis.

Marcia Lindstrom

Marcia Lindstrom leads the Strategic Communications Team for
NASA’s Space Launch System, the SLS – America’s rocket being
designed to carry humans to the Moon and on to Mars. Prior to joining
the SLS team, Marcia managed the External Relations Office for
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and before that served as the
Communications Strategist for NASA Headquarters leading the
Agency’s efforts for large-scale events. Marcia came to NASA after
more than a decade of work at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Her
tenure at the Center involved development efforts such as the Saturn V
Restoration and included a 6-year stint as the Director of Operations for
the Center’s world-renowned Space Camp programs. Marcia is a
veteran of the USAF.