2008-2009 ComSci Fellows

ANN M. GARRETT Fishery Biologist Endangered Species Division Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Department of Commerce

Education:
B.S., The Evergreen State College, 1995
M.E.S., The Evergreen State College, 1998

Background Highlights:
Ms. Ann Garrett is a senior fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Headquarters Office of Protected Resources in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is the program lead for section 7 Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations on water pollution issues. She is responsible for coordinating with and advising NMFS’ regional offices on technical and policy issues related to water pollution and its affects on threatened and endangered species. Ms. Garrett is also a part-time instructor at the Department of Interior’s National Conservation Training Center where she teaches classes on the ESA and managing risk of human actions on threatened and endangered species.

Ms. Garrett received her Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she studied the interstream movements of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki). Early on in her career with NMFS, Ms. Garrett was a research biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center assessing the status of coastal cutthroat trout in Washington, Oregon, and California. Ms. Garrett has published several papers on the ecology and management of Pacific salmonids and is a long standing member of the American Fisheries Society.

KIRK E. HERZOG Senior General Engineer Technical Advisor, Damage Mechanisms Branch Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW) Department of Defense

Education:
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Louisiana State University, 1985
M.B.A., University of West Florida, 1995

Background Highlights:
Mr. Kirk Herzog is the Technical Advisor for the 50-person, Damage Mechanisms Branch of the AFRL/RW at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, responsible for long term technology development and cultivating strategic alliances within DoD, DoE, industry and foreign militaries. Mr. Herzog leads the Air Force 60-person Warheads/Damage Mechanisms Core Technical Competency that received a “World Class” rating from the AF Scientific Advisory Board in 2005. Under his guidance, they have transitioned 4 weapons systems to the warfighter; BLU-119/B (CrashPAD), CBU-107/B (Passive Attack Weapon), GBU-39A/B (Focused Lethality Munition), BLU-121/B (Enhanced Blast Weapon), and several quick reaction products for Special Operations Command. He is co-lead for the Blast Fragmentation Munitions Area Technology Group for the $60-million Joint Insensitive Munitions Technology Program managed by OUSD(AT&L).

In the 1990’s, Mr Herzog blazed the Air Force counterproliferation technologies trail to provide the US with the capability to defeat production and storage facilities containing weapons of mass destruction. He established two nationally unique capabilities at Eglin AFB; the ReUseable Target (~1995), and the Weapon Performance Measurement for Biological Agent Defeat facility (~2001). In 1996-97, he moved from Special Projects, innovative “technology leap” warhead development efforts, and was selected for career broadening and assigned to the Joint Direct Attack Munition System Project Office. Since 2002, Mr. Herzog has served as an industry panelist for the Louisiana State University, Department of Mechanical Engineering Capstone Senior Design Course. His federal research career spans 23 years from bench level scientist to technology area lead to core competency lead and branch leadership.

MALGORZATA KLOSEK, Ph.D. Scientific Review Officer Center for Scientific Review National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services

Education:
M.Sc. Politechnika Warszawska (Warsaw Technical University), 1980
Ph.D. Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University, 1986

Background Highlights:
Dr. Malgorzata Klosek is a Scientific Review Officer at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health (CSR/NIH). She joined the CSR at the end of 2003. At the CSR, she manages the scientific review of multidisciplinary grant applications on the development of novel quantitative tools for study of biomedical systems. At her current position, she has brought to charter the Study Section on Modeling and Analysis of Biological Systems and been involved in various NIH-wide initiatives such as the NIH Director's Roadmap National Centers for Biomedical Computing. Before joining the CSR, she conducted research in academia and Federal Government. She held a post-doctoral level appointment at the Department of Mathematics at the University of California Davis. Next, she achieved tenure as an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM). Her research and collaborations on stochastic processes and their applications to model diverse phenomena in physics, chemistry, biology, and economics led to about 30 peer reviewed publications. Subsequently, she held research positions at the Congressional Budget Office and the National Cancer Institute, just prior to joining the CSR.

THERESA KRAUS, Ph.D. R&D Program Coordinator Research and Technology Development Office Air Traffic Organization NextGen and Operations Planning Federal Aviation Administration

Education:
B.A., history, Catholic University, 1980
M.A., history, Shippensburg University, 1981
Ph.D., history, University of Maryland, 1986

Background Highlights:
Dr. Theresa Kraus is an analyst in the FAA’s Research and Technology Development Office. Through a variety of brochures and other outreach materials and through her own publications, FAA R&D Review and the FAA R&D Annual Review, she is ensuring new safety research developments are accessible to aviation system users, researchers, and those with a general interest in aviation. Her focused activities are helping improve communication with stakeholders and the public, transforming those who are sometimes passive critics of the R&D program into active participants engaged in identifying critical research requirements. In addition, her commitment to making R&D and safety accomplishments understandable serves as a valuable tool in expressing the Agency’s commitment to enhancing safety and allows the Agency to explain how public funds are being spent on the most critical projects. She joined the FAA in 1991 as senior historian. Before coming to the FAA, she worked for the U.S. Army Center of Military History, where she co-edited and served as an author of the Army’s official history of Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Her publications include complete books, chapters in anthologies, and a variety of articles appearing in military and aviation magazines and journals.

DANIEL J. MELÉNDEZ ALVIRA, Ph.D Tropical Cyclones and Weather Radar Lead NOAA National Weather Service Office of Science and Technology Department of Commerce

Education:
B. S., Physics, Cornell University, 1981
M. Eng., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1981-82
M. S., Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Michigan, 1986
Ph. D., Atmospheric and Space Sciences, The University of Michigan, 1990

Background Highlights:
Dr. Daniel Meléndez is the lead at NOAA National Weather Service’s (NWS) Office of Science and Technology for tropical cyclones and weather radar. He co-leads the Joint Radar Planning Team, forging a vision of weather radar and associated technology through 2025 and is a member of the Working Group on Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR), chartered by the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM). He is also the Executive Co-Secretary and technical member of NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP), a broad plan to improve hurricane forecasting and associated research. He is a co-author of the 2006 study Federal Research and Development Needs and Priorities for Phased Array Radar and of the 2007 Tropical Cyclone Research: The Plan Ahead by the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology. He led two studies on tornado events, the first dealing with tornado incidence on the Delaware-Maryland-DC-Pennsylvania region, and the other on the May 2003 tornado outbreak, the latter published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Dr. Meléndez also led the severe weather and tropical cyclone Science and Technology Infusion Plans, guiding National Weather Service science and technology infusion. He is NOAA NWS liaison to the NSF-funded Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Studies of the Atmosphere (CASA), and served as liaison to the National Academy of Sciences/BASC study on weather radar coverage of floods in complex terrain. His professional career spans nine years with NOAA, six years as a research physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Alabama and a National Research Council Research Associateship at NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center. He has published in professional scientific journals and given numerous public and technical presentations. Dr. Meléndez also has experience as operational forecaster with NOAA. His activities resulted in receiving various awards at NOAA, NRL and NASA. He is an experienced search and rescue pilot.

CHARLES K. ORTHMAN Technical Operations Project Officer Systems Engineering Analysis Office Directorate of Science & Technology Central Intelligence Agency

Education:
M.S., Technical Management, Johns Hopkins University, 2004
B.S., Electrical Engineering, Northeastern University, 1985
A.S., Business Management, Newbury College, 1981

Background Highlights:
Mr. Charles Orthman is a Technical Operations Project Officer/System Engineer in the Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T) and is responsible for providing operational systems engineering and coordination support on technical activities in the execution of the Agency mission. He has nearly 23 years of federal service to include 14 years in the Intelligence Community. In 1996, Mr. Orthman, while working at the National Security Agency, was invited to assist in the startup of the Clandestine Information Technology Office (CITO), a joint DS&T/Directorate of Operations (DO) effort to address the challenges and opportunities that have arisen due to the rapid evolution of Information Technologies that are being developed and utilized across the globe. While his work has focused in this area, Mr. Orthman has helped break new ground on multiple initiatives/activities that have enabled the Agency to continue to perform its mission, keeping our national decision makers informed on issues that affect our national interests. As a senior officer, Mr. Orthman has been a direct contributor to the innovation that made Information Operations activities successful. His responsibilities at CIA have been as a Program Officer, Technical Operations Officer, Technology Development Manager, Program Management Engineer, Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative, and Mentor. Prior to his work in the Intelligence Community, he worked with the U.S. Navy’s INFOSEC Engineering Component as a field test engineer, program manager, and as a Pentagon Action Officer.

NICHOLAS G. PAULTER, JR. Program Manager Detection, Inspection, and Enforcement Technology Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Department of Commerce

Education:
B.S., Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1980
M.S., Chemistry, University of New Mexico, 1988
M.S., Electronics Engineering, University of Colorado – Boulder, 1990

Background Highlights:
Mr. Nicholas Paulter is the Program Manager for the Detection, Inspection, and Enforcement Technologies program of the Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD. He develops and oversees metrology programs related to concealed-weapon detection, through-wall surveillance, traffic control devices, imaging for security and emergency response applications, biometrics for identification, and weapon output characterization. In this role, he has initiated two NIST programs in sub-millimeter-wave concealed weapon imaging, facilitated the development of visible-light hyper-spectral image projection, initiated a NIST-centric imaging metrology program for security and emergency applications, started two through-wall surveillance/sensing metrology activities, and started a program for characterization of the high-voltage output of electroshock weapons. He was awarded a NIST Bronze Medal in 2003 for his work in developing minimum performance requirements for metal detectors. Prior to being a Program Manager in OLES, from 1990 to 2005, Mr. Paulter was the Leader for the High-Speed Pulse Metrology Project at NIST. In that capacity, he developed several high-speed electrical pulse generation and sampling systems, electro-optic based measurement systems, and short optical pulse laser systems for use in pulse metrology. Moreover, during his tenure as the Project Leader, the metrology services provided by his project became the best in the world. From 1980 to 1989, Mr. Paulter was with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, and was involved in the study of fast electrical and optical phenomena. Mr. Paulter has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed technical articles and provided numerous presentations at a variety of technical conferences.

JOSEPH PELLETTIERE, Ph.D Technical Advisor/Senior Mechanical Engineer Biomechanics Branch, Biosciences and Protection Division 711th Human Performance Wing Air Force Research Laboratory Department of Defense

Education:
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 1992
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 1993
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Virginia, 1999

Background Highlights:
Dr. Joseph Pellettiere is a Senior Mechanical Engineer and a Technical Advisor for the Biomechanics Branch of the 711th Human Performance Wing (711 RHPA). He is also on the graduate faculty of Wright State University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His experience is in biomechanics, human simulation and injury, crash protection and prevention using both testing and computational technologies. He has served as program or technical manager for many 6.2 and 6.3 programs and currently leads several projects in the branch including occupant modeling and simulation, seat system interfaces and neck injury protection. He is responsible for developing the technical direction of the branch including long term planning and coordination with other agencies. In addition, Dr. Pellettiere has mentored many junior personnel and helped them develop their careers.

SEEMA S. RAO Supervisory Patent Examiner Technology Center 2600 Multiplex Communications and Networking The United States Patent and Trademark Office Department of Commerce

Education:
B.S., Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Mysore, 1987
M.S., Telecommunication Systems Management, University of Maryland, 1994

Background Highlights:
Ms. Seema Rao is a Supervisory Patent Examiner in the Technology Center 2600. She manages the Art Unit that examines and approves patents in the area of Communications including, various accessing techniques, channel sharing techniques, and network communication protocols. She is currently the team leader of the Strategic Human Capital project for the area of communications and is responsible for establishing and improving horizontal and vertical communication in the Patent Business Unit. She also serves as a vital recruiting team member where she has been instrumental in exceeding the hiring goals of the office for the past several years. Ms. Rao is also involved with coordinating external training programs for patent examiners such as an annual Technology Fair. In addition, she is currently involved in administering training for International Patent examiners.

Ms. Rao began her career at the United States Patent & Trademark Office in November of 1994. She has an extensive experience in the examination of patent applications in the areas of communications and networking. She was granted Full Signatory Authority in 2000, wherein she was delegated the authority to make patentability determinations. Ms. Rao was selected as a Supervisory Patent Examiner in September 2002 and has been a manager for the last 6 years.

CURTIS B. ROBERTS, JR. Information Technology Specialist Office of Chief Information Officer Department of Housing and Urban Development

Education:
B.S., Computer Information Systems, Strayer University, 2005
M.S., Information Systems, Software Engineering Management, Strayer University, 2007

Background Highlights:
Mr. Curtis Roberts is a Senior Information Technology Specialist with the Office of Systems Integration and Efficiency, Office of the Chief Information Officer at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Roberts, a Project Manager for applications software/systems engineering and development manages, development and integration of integrated application software solutions supporting HUD’s mission to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. During his tenure Mr. Roberts managed systems engineering and development supporting the Office of General Counsel, Administrative Law Judges, and initial engineering of the tracking system currently employed by HUD’s Enforcement Center. Mr. Roberts, a 15 year senior enlisted U.S. Navy veteran entered the Federal Civilian Service with the Department of HUD in 1989. Previously a DOD civilian contractor, Mr. Roberts preformed Information Technology technical services supporting the Office of Secretary of Defense, and Aviation Engineering Logistical Support for U.S. Navy, Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Roberts maintains an advisory relationship with the Joint Educational Facility (JEF), a non-profit educational organization who interest teaches advanced computing sciences and contemporary mathematic topics with an emphasis on Intelligent Technologies to students from Grades 4 through 12 who later attend research intensive universities upon High School and JEF program completion.

LAURA M. ROMAN, Ph.D Assistant Director Division of Receipt and Referral Center for Scientific Review National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services

Education:
B.A. Biology, Smith College, 1977
Ph D. Cell Biology, Yale University 1983
MBA Loyola College Maryland 2009

Background Highlights:
Dr. Laura Roman is an Assistant Director in the Division of Receipt and Referral at the Center for Scientific Review at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Roman’s responsibilities include the referral of applications submitted to NIH from the extramural scientific community to the appropriate Integrated Review Groups, the assignment of applications to one or more of the Institutes and Centers at NIH for funding consideration and the development and application of NIH submission policies. She also carries out a number of out-reach activities aimed at educating both NIH staff and the extramural scientific community about the submission and assignment process.

Prior to joining the federal government, Dr. Roman was a member of the Physiology Departments at Yale and then Johns Hopkins Medical Schools where her lab focused on the factors controlling neural crest development. These studies utilized both in vitro systems and developing zebrafish as a model organism. At both Institutions she taught first year medical and graduate students histology, physiology and developmental biology. Dr. Roman also completed postdoctoral training in epithelial cell biology and virology at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg Germany and was a Howard Hughes Fellow at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where she developed a mouse model for type I diabetes.

BEHROUZ N. SHABESTARI, Ph.D Scientific Review Officer Surgical Sciences, Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Center for Scientific Review National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services

Education:
B.S., Electrical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, 1978
M.S., Management and Organizational Development, U.S. International University, 1979
M.S. Engineering Science, University of Toledo, 1981
Ph.D., Bioengineering, University of Toledo, 1988

Background highlights:
Dr. Behrouz Shabestari is a Scientific Review Officer in the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He manages and coordinates the scientific peer review of research grant applications primarily in the areas of Development of Methods in Vivo Imaging and Bioengineering Research, Bioengineering Research Partnership, and Center Grants. He is also a member of Knowledge Management Group and Review User Group of CSR, and Bioengineering Consortium Bridges Team of NIH. Dr. Shabestari has over 15 years research and technology experience in the area of industrial and medical imaging. Prior to joining the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Shabestari has served as Director of the Advanced Imaging Group for the Edison Industrial Systems Center (EISC) and President of the AvantGarde Technology at Toledo, Ohio. He has also served as full time Associate Professor and program director of Computer Science and Engineering Technology at the University of Toledo. He has supervised a team of scientist and engineers and has managed and completed over ninety imaging projects funded by industry directed toward improving quality and reducing cost. His projects include a multi-disciplinary grant from NIST/ATP, a technology action fund from Ohio Department of Development, and a technology development grant from American Display Consortium. In addition, he has managed five imaging research projects funded by EISC at three local Universities and Colleges and was involved in several program committees’ advisory and governing board. Dr. Shabestari has also published twenty papers and over eighty technical reports in the areas of industrial and medical imaging. He holds a US patent in the machine vision field and he is the recipient of the 1996 Machine Vision Association Chairman's Award.

DIANE L. STASSI, Ph.D. Health Science Administrator Center for Scientific Review National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services

Education:
B.S., Biological Sciences, Tulane University, 1971
M.S., Molecular Genetics, Florida State University, 1974
Ph.D., Biological Sciences, Florida State University, 1978

Background Highlights:
Dr. Diane Stassi is a Health Science Administrator at the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), National Institutes of Health. Her primary responsibility is to organize and administer the review of grant applications in the area of prokaryotic cell and molecular biology. In addition, she is the Coordinator of the CSR National Registry of Volunteer Reviewers. In 2007 she was a recipient of the CSR Explorer Award, a Special Act Award, and CSR Director’s Award.

Prior to joining the federal government Dr. Stassi was a research scientist in the private sector for approximately 20 years. At Diversa Corporation and Abbott Laboratories she employed genetic reprogramming, metabolic engineering, and metagenomics to isolate novel antibiotics. She investigated bacterial protein secretion at BioTechnica, Int. and vector development at Paul Sabatier University. She was awarded six patents and has authored over 50 publications and meeting abstracts. Dr. Stassi was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. She co-chaired the Third Workshop on the Development of Streptomyces, Corynebacterium and Bacillus Host-Vector Systems (Toulouse, France) and the Wind River Conference on Genetic Exchange (Estes Park, CO). She is a graduate of the Leadership Development Program, Center for Creative Leadership, San Diego, CA.

LEE L. ZIA, Ph.D. Lead Program Director National STEM Education Digital Library Program Division of Undergraduate Education National Science Foundation

Education:
B.S., Mathematics, University of North Carolina, 1978
M.S., Mathematics, University of Michigan, 1981
Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, Brown University, 1985

Background Highlights:
Dr. Lee Zia is a Program Officer in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA. His primary responsibility is to serve as the Lead Program Director for the National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) Program. Dr. Zia’s involvement with this program is a natural outgrowth of a long-standing interest in the application of information technology to education which began when he started as a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at the University of New Hampshire in the mid-eighties. In addition to his research into applications of parameter estimation techniques to models of insect dispersal, Zia began implementing PC-based software applications for computing, animating, and visualizing concepts in his classes in ordinary differential equations and linear algebra. This work led to the receipt of multiple grants from the National Science Foundation, which in turn led him to spend a two-year “rotation” at NSF as a program officer in the Division of Undergraduate Education, managing a variety of proposal driven grant programs. During this stint at NSF (1995-96), Dr. Zia played a key role in developing the concept and vision for a digital library program to support education in a world of networked digital resources. When the current NSDL program came into being officially, he returned to NSF and became a permanent member of the staff in late 2000. Dr. Zia has published numerous articles about digital libraries and educational applications of information technology, and he participates both in intra-agency working groups at NSF that deal with NSF’s emerging emphasis on cyber infrastructure and in cross-agency interactions in this area.

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