Chiang founded the Princeton EDGE Lab in 2009 and then founded several startup companies and industry consortia in edge computing. As the science and technology adviser to the U.S. secretary of state in 2020, he initiated tech diplomacy programs for the U.S. government. Currently, he serves on the inaugural board of the U.S. Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation and several corporate and nonprofit boards. Chiang received his BS (1999), MS (2000), and PhD (2003) from Stanford University and an honorary doctorate (2024) from Dartmouth College. For his research in communication networks, he received the NSF Alan T. Waterman Award (2013), as well as the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award (2012), the IEEE INFOCOM Achievement Award (2022), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2014). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Class of Mathematical and Physical Sciences 2024), the National Academy of Inventors (2020), and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (2020).

During his career in the Air Force, Abel was a member of the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) team, which won the 2018 Robert J. Collier Trophy. He flew more than 500 combat hours as an E-11A evaluator pilot in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Abel completed his Air Force career as director of the Joint Center for Electromagnetic Readiness for United States Strategic Command. He received a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Crossley has received numerous teaching awards at the school, college and university levels, including the College of Engineering Dean A. A. Potter Faculty Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching, the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, and the Dean H. T. Yang Faculty Excellence Award for Leadership in Service. He was also inducted into the Purdue University Book of Great Teachers. Crossley led the formation of the System of Systems Signature Area in the College of Engineering at Purdue that provided the impetus for the Purdue Systems Collaboratory.

At NASA Headquarters, Dumbacher served as deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, where he oversaw the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, and Ground Systems Development and Operations program.

Prior to joining SpaceX, Gerstenmaier served as the associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. He provided strategic direction for all aspects of NASA’s human exploration of space and cross-agency space support functions of space communications and space launch vehicles.

For nearly 20 years, he has held engineering leadership positions across Boeing’s single- and twin-aisle jet families and future airplane concepts. From 2019 to 2021, he was the engineering executive leader for the Boeing 737 MAX return-to-service efforts in Europe and the Middle East, working with international regulators and operators to ensure readiness and safety. He was awarded the Outstanding Aerospace Engineer distinction by Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2016.

In addition, Marcus cofounded AirMap, the world’s leading airspace management platform for Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management, and jetAVIVA, the global leading broker for business jets. An FAA-certified airline transport pilot and flight instructor, he has logged more than 5,000 flight hours in over 100 aircraft types.

McGowan also held roles as a journal associate editor, senior project manager, systems analyst, instructor, and test engineer. She has experience with the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and NATO. She earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics from Old Dominion University and a PhD in design science from the University of Michigan.

Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Science Research, Army Research Office, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Energy, and industry partners, such as Rolls-Royce and the Boeing Company. Qiao is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and serves on the boards of the Combustion Institute and Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering.

With 22 years of experience in the aerospace and defense fields, Roehm led fan and compressor sub-system development for military and commercial introduction programs for new products. In 2002, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Before leading SDA, Tournear served as assistant director of research and development for space within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, where he coordinated the Department of Defense’s space initiatives and launched programs to address critical capability gaps. His prior industry experience includes leadership roles at Harris Corporation, where he led investments in growth areas such as small satellites and advanced space systems and oversaw operations for the $450-million Space and ISR business unit. Earlier, he held program management positions at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He earned a PhD in physics from Stanford University.

During more than 25 years with Textron Aviation, she has held roles in both the commercial and defense segments of the company and has supported engineering, new product development, flight test, and operations. Townsend is a private pilot with an instrument rating and A&P certificate. She received an MBA from Baker University.