Speakers
DR. MARTIN GLICKSMAN
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Dr. Glicksman earned his B. Met. E. (1957) and Ph.D. (Physical Metallurgy, 1961) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and was selected for a National Academy of Sciences Postdoctoral Research Associateship (1961-63), during which he studied electronic transport in liquid metals, and growth of metallic single crystals.
In 1967 Dr. Glicksman formed and headed NRL’s Transformations and Kinetics Branch. Subsequently Dr. Glicksman was appointed Associate Superintendent of NRL’s Solid State Division. In 1975, he assumed the Chairmanship of the Materials Engineering Department at Rensselaer, and over the next decade helped RPI develop academic and research programs in electronic materials and materials processing. In 1986 he was appointed as the John Tod Horton Chair of Materials Engineering, pursuing full-time his interests in the kinetics of solidification, phase coarsening, atomic diffusion, and grain growth. In 2006, Professor Glicksman was selected as a Florida 21st Century Scholar, and served until 2011 as Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. In August 2011 he accepted the Allen S. Henry Chair at Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, and is currently University Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. He has co–authored over 300 technical papers and monographs, and is the author of two major materials science textbooks, Diffusion in Solids (Wiley, 2000), and Principles of Solidification (Springer, 2011).
LINDSAY GREENE
SPACEX ENGINEER
Lindsay Greene attended Florida Institute of Technology and received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 2010. During her time at Florida Tech, she served as a NASA student ambassador, as well has obtaining two internships with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Cente, working in Materials Testing and Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) processing.
In 2011 she started studying toward a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in Structures. That following summer she interned with SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA, working on launchpad structural design and analysis as part of the Launch Mechanical Engineering team. After interning for 7 months, Lindsay accepted a full time position with SpaceX here in Cape Canaveral. She serves as the Responsible Engineer for the operations and maintenance of the launch pad structural systems as well as the umbilical systems. She continues to pursue her master’s degree with an expected graduation in December 2016.
SCOTT OTTO
LOCKHEED MARTIN PROJECT MANAGEMENT & INTEGRATION
Mr. Otto has over 36 years of experience in process and material development, systems integration and production support. He was awarded the NASA Silver Snoopy for technology advancement and received a National Public Service Medal in Washington D.C. for his role in the Space Shuttle Vehicle Flight.
In 1978, Mr. Otto joined Lockheed Missiles and Space Company and began working process application elements for the Space Shuttle External Tank Program where he worked in a variety of engineering roles. He received certification for Space Shuttle Flight Inspection and was the Lockheed Martin lead for the Final Inspection and Flight Performance Assessment Team.
After the Shuttle Program, he joined the Persistent Threat Detection System Program and was responsible for Production Mechanical Operations for the manufacturing of the launch support equipment. In 2013, he joined the Fleet Ballistics Missile (FBM) Program at Cape Canaveral, where he serves in the Project Management & Integration office.
ALVARO "AL" GRACIA
NORTHROP GRUMMAN - OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS
Al Gracia was born in Bogota, Columbia and moved to Queens-Jamaica New York City, NY at the age of two, later moving to Miami FL. Al accepted a congressional appointment to the Unites States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Colorado. Four years later Al graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering (minor in guidance & control theory) and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Al’s first assignment at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) was guiding the development of air-air combat modeling and simulation supporting developmental ground and flight testing of the Advance Medium Range Air-Air Missile (AMRAAM). Because this job required minimal travel Al was able to earn a Master’s of Science in Operations Research from the UWF in Pensacola FL. In his follow on assignments Al has led several multi-disciplined teams supporting various defense programs such as Milstar, Space-Based Laser,F-22, C4ISR platforms, Chemical-Biological defense systems, and numerous human systems programs (Combat medicine, aircrew life support equipment). He has held several positions as a Program Manager, a Systems Analyst, Biomed Engineer and a Systems Engineer. During his 20-year Air Force career, Al has been assigned to three program offices (LA AFB & Brooks AFB), a joint assignment (Defense Information Systems Agency), the Pentagon, and AF Research Lab (Eglin AFB). Highlight of his career was organizing and directing a joint Air Force & Lawrence Livermore National Lab rescue team to ground zero in NYC in September 2001.
After retiring from the Air Force in San Antonio, Al was hired by Northrop Grumman in Melbourne as a senior systems engineer. Al has leveraged his military experience and technical degrees to provide operational analysis in support of manned and unmanned airborne sensors for the Air Force, Navy and Allied Nations. He has also had a chance to support new and emerging technologies. Al has had the privilege to mentor college Co-Ops while he was in the service and college interns while at Northrop Grumman.
DR. MICHAEL H. THURSBY
FORMER BAE SYSTEMS SENIOR ENGINEER AND FIT PROFESSOR
Dr. Thursby received his BS EE, MSE and PhD from the University of Florida. He held a post-Doctoral Fellowship at the State university of New York at Buffalo, in the Department of Physiology, School of Medicine.
Dr. Thursby has held a number of positions in engineering. he was a Senior Engineer at Sierra Research Corporation, Buffalo, NY where he worked on Radar systems, RF data communications systems and microprocessor control systems for the Air Force and the Navy. He was Professor of Electrical Engineering at Florida Tech. where he taught courses in Control Systems, Communications Systems, Antenna and RF systems, measurements, and Senior Design. He was Vice President for Engineering for a new start-up company Sky Cross which manufactures high efficiency compact antennas for the wireless industry. He was a senior engineer Command Technologies Inc, Modern Technologies Corp. and most recently for BAE systems. He is retired, but still consults for BAE Systems as needed.
Dr. Thursby has published numerous papers and conference presentations on all aspects of his engineering work. Dr. Thursby also has nine patents. His current work includes Radio Astronomy, Neural Networks for Image and signal processing and audio recording from multiple microphones. Dr. Thursby is a member of Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, the Association of Old Crows, the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association, and he is a Life Senior Member of IEEE.
AYAZ HEMANI
NIELSEN N.V. SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER
Ayaz Hemani is a Senior Project Manager and ScrumMaster at Nielsen, where he has dedicated his career to innovation and execution of engineering measurement projects for the last three years. As a recent graduate of the University of South Florida, with a Bachelors in Computer Engineering, Ayaz launched his career through the Emerging Leaders Program at Nielsen. He now leads global teams to deliver Television Audience Measurement projects in new and innovative ways. With strong ties to IEEE and national student branches, he is eager to share his experiences and continue to collaborate with students globally in order to further advance and jumpstart their careers.
As a ScrumMaster, Ayaz Hemani will would like to share some of his experiences with Agile development in his interactive workshop “Leading Agile Development”. In this workshop, students will develop skills and techniques for successful engineering development, gain some knowledge on Agile development practices, and most importantly, have fun while engaging in interactive and live examples of Agile development. Through this interaction, students will understand the characteristics and skills needed to lead successful engineering projects.
We have prepared several speakers for the week. Below you can find a short bio for each speaker.
Please check back regularly for any changes.