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Committee and Staff Biographical Information

NICHOLAS D. LAPPOS, Chair, is a senior technical fellow for Advance Technology at Sikorsky. Mr. Lappos is also chair of the board of directors of the Vertical Lift Consortium (elected in 2010 and 2012), an industry consortium established to work collaboratively with the U.S. government to develop and transition innovative vertical lift technologies to rapidly and affordably meet warfighter needs. He was elected to the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni of the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2004 and awarded the Sir Barnes Wallis Medal by the U.K. Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators in 2013. Mr. Lappos is an honorary fellow and technical fellow of the American Helicopter Society (2013) and received the Frederick Feinberg Award as most outstanding pilot and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots Tenhoff Award (1988). Mr. Lappos holds 23 U.S. patents and three FAI world speed records. He has authored numerous technical papers for the American Helicopter Society, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and SAE International, has written articles for magazines such as Rotor and Wing and Interavia, and has a regular column in HeliOps Magazine. Mr. Lappos is a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran, and served as a Cobra attack helicopter pilot. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Republic of Vietnam’s Cross of Gallantry. Serving as a test pilot for Sikorsky for more than 27 years, he has flown more than 70 different helicopter types. With more than 7,500 hours flight time, Mr. Lappos served as chief research and development test pilot for more than 12 years. He has served on numerous technical committees for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the American Helicopter Society, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s) Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development committees and working groups. Mr. Lappos has participated in the development of serval flight systems such as the S76, UH-60, RAH-66, ABC, Fantail, Shadow, Fly-by-Wire demonstrator, CH-53E, and S92. He was the program manager for the S-92 program during its development, certification, and introduction into production. During that time, the National Aeronautic Association awarded the S-92 Industry Team the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Mr. Lappos has a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. For the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, he has served on the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), the Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable, and Aeronautics 2050: A Workshop.

ELLA M. ATKINS is a University of Michigan professor of aerospace engineering, associate director of the Robotics Institute, and director of the Autonomous Aerospace Systems (A2SYS) Laboratory. Dr. Atkins previously served on the aerospace engineering faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Atkins is editor-in-chief of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Journal of Aerospace Information Systems (JAIS),

an AIAA fellow, an Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers senior member, a small public airport owner/ operator (Shamrock Field, Brooklyn, Michigan), and a private pilot. She was a member of the Institute for Defense Analyses Defense Science Studies Group. Dr. Atkins holds a B.S. and an M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science and engineering from the University of Michigan. She has served on the National Academies ASEB, the Committee on Autonomy Research for Civil Aviation, the Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable, and the Committee for the Review of NASA’s Aviation Safety Related Programs.

JAMES G. BELLINGHAM is the director of the Center for Marine Robotics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Dr. Bellingham arrived at WHOI from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, where he was director of engineering and recently chief technologist. Dr. Bellingham was founder and manager of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Laboratory at MIT and co-founder of Bluefin Robotics, a Massachusetts-based company that develops, builds, and operates autonomous underwater vehicles (since acquired by Battelle). He recently served as a member of the Naval Studies Board committee that helped prepare the report Mainstreaming Unmanned Undersea Vehicles into Future U.S. Naval Operations.

ATHERTON A. CARTY is the director of Enterprise Technology Roadmaps at Lockheed Martin. A technical executive leader within the Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs (ADP) organization, also known as “The Skunk Works,” Mr. Carty is responsible for developing and maturing key enabling technologies and transitioning them to address critical customer needs. ADP’s Enterprise Technology Roadmaps organization includes Air Vehicles, Mission Systems, Survivability, and Revolutionary Technologies and Emerging Concepts portfolios focused on providing enabling technology in support of both current and future programs. He is an AIAA associate fellow and received the Lockheed Martin NOVA and Aerostar awards. He earned a M.S. in mechanical engineering from George Washington University’s Joint Institute for the Advancement of Flight Sciences at the NASA Langley Research Center.

DANIEL DELAURENTIS is a professor of aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue University. Dr. DeLaurentis also serves as the director of the Institute for Global Security and Defense Innovation at Purdue University. His research is focused on the development of foundational methods and tools for addressing problems characterized as system-of-systems in the context of Next-Generation Air Transportation Systems, especially including the presence of revolutionary aerospace vehicles, new business models, and alternative policy constructs. Dr. DeLaurentis has received the C.T. Sun Research Award and the Kevin Corker Award. He earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. DeLaurentis has previously served on the National Academies Panel on Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences.

NANCY G. LEVESON is a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. Dr. Leveson conducts research on the topics of system safety, software safety, software and system engineering, and human-computer interaction. Dr. Leveson received the Association for Computing Machinery Allen Newell and the Sigsoft Outstanding Research Awards for computer science research, and the AIAA Information Systems Award for “developing the field of software safety and for promoting responsible software and system engineering practices where life and property are at stake.” Recently she was awarded the 2020 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies. She is the author of two books on system safety. Dr. Leveson received a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has previously served on the National Academies Air Force Studies Board, the Committee for the Evaluation of NASA’s Fundamental Aeronautics Research Program, and the Steering Committee for the Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics.

GEORGE T. LIGLER is the proprietor of GTL Associates, which provides systems integration/engineering and product management services related to telecommunications, computer system and hardware/software engineering, and information management to domestic and foreign clients. Since August 2018, Dr. Ligler has also been, on a half-time academic year basis, the Dean’s Eminent Professor of the Practice in the University of North Carolina,

Chapel Hill/North Carolina State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. He has worked as a subject-matter expert to support the FAA’s implementation of both satellite-based navigation and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) as components of the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Dr. Ligler is a member of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) Program Management Committee and the Plenary leadership group for the Industry-FAA Equip 2020 initiative related to ADS-B out equipage. He is co-chair of RTCA Special Committee-159 (Navigation Equipment Using the Global Navigation Satellite System) and a former founding co-chair of RTCA Special Committee-228 (Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems). Dr. Ligler has also been active in RTCA Special Committee-186 (Automatic Dependent Surveillance—Broadcast) since its inception in 1995. Dr. Ligler was awarded the 2006 RTCA Achievement Award, RTCA’s highest award, for his contributions to ADS-B and satellite-based navigation system initiatives. He is also a co-recipient of the 2017 RTCA Achievement Award for his contributions to the development of standards for unmanned aircraft systems. Dr. Ligler holds a D.Phil. in mathematics and computation from Oxford University, with his studies supported by a Rhodes scholarship. He has previously served on the National Academies Committee on Assessing the Risks of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration.

LOURDES Q. MAURICE has served on the advisory board of Boom, a start-up company working on a supersonic passenger commercial airliner, since 2017. She is also the owner of a consultancy, DLM Global Strategies, LLC, focused on aerospace, environmental issues, and international relations. Dr. Maurice was selected as executive director of the Office of Environment and Energy in 2011 and served in that post until March 2017. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing, recommending, and coordinating national and international standards, policy and guidance, research and studies, and analytical capabilities on aviation environmental and energy matters. In addition, she represented the United States in the International Civil Aviation Organization Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection. Dr. Maurice oversaw efforts to establish regulations and standards, provide guidance and technical assistance for FAA compliance with applicable federal environmental and energy statutes and regulations, and develop analytical tools and metrics to assess aviation environmental impacts. She also oversaw policy, applied science, and technical research programs to address aviation’s environmental and energy issues. Dr. Maurice joined the FAA as chief scientific and technical advisor for environment in 2002. In that capacity, she served as the agency’s technical expert for basic and exploratory research, advanced technology development focused on aircraft environmental impacts and its application to noise and emissions certification and policy, and the application of alternative fuels to mitigate environmental impacts. Dr. Maurice also founded, managed, and provided agency technical leadership for the Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction Center of Excellence. Prior to joining the FAA, she served as the Air Force Deputy, Basic Research Sciences and Propulsion Science and Technology, in the office of the Deputy Associate Secretary of the Air Force for Science and Technology. Dr. Maurice also worked at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion and Power Directorate from 1983 to 1999 planning and executing basic, exploratory, and advanced development propulsion science and technology programs, focusing on state-of-the-art aviation fuels and propulsion systems. Her areas of expertise include pollutant formation chemistry, combustion kinetics, hypersonic propulsion, and aviation fuels. Dr. Maurice received her B.Sc. in chemical engineering and M.Sc. in aerospace engineering from the University of Dayton and her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of London’s Imperial College at London, United Kingdom. She is also a distinguished graduate of National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces, where she earned a M.Sc. in national resource strategy. Dr. Maurice has served as a lead author for the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She was recognized as a contributor to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC in 2007. She is an associate editor for AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power and serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Aeroacustics. She has authored more than 100 publications and is a 2003 fellow of AIAA. For the National Academies, she has served on the Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable, the Committee on Air Force/Department of Defense Aerospace Propulsion, and the Committee for Review of NASA’s Revolutionize Aviation Program.

PAUL E. McDUFFEE is business development and strategy executive at the Boeing Company. He is responsible for supporting the company’s development of autonomous vehicles and operations in urban air mobility. Prior to

joining Boeing, Mr. McDuffee was Insitu, Inc., vice president of government relations and was responsible for regulation shaping and development of Insitu’s future in civilian and commercial use of unmanned aircraft. He continues in this role, supporting the Boeing team in FAA in matters relating to regulation for UAS operations and as advocate for UAS national airspace integration. Mr. McDuffee’s involvement in UAS regulatory development is extensive. Prior to joining Insitu, he transitioned from a 30-year career in academia as a full professor and vice president of Aviation Training at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Mr. McDuffee joined Insitu as vice president of Flight Operations and Training before moving on to his current role. He currently serves on the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International board of directors. Mr. McDuffee was a charter member of the FAA Small Unmanned Aircraft System Aviation Rulemaking Committee and former member of the FAA UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee. He was past working group chair on the ASTM F-38 Committee, developing industry consensus standards for small UAS. Mr. McDuffee has served as co-chair of RTCA Special Committee 228 chartered by FAA to establish performance standards for UAS command and control and detect and avoid solutions. He is a recipient of the RTCA 2017 Achievement Award and received three Outstanding Leader Awards from RTCA. He was a member of the FAA/RTCA Drone Advisory Committee Subcommittee and a member of the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team Steering Committee. Mr. McDuffee is an active pilot and aircraft owner holding Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor Certificates, with jet-type ratings, has logged more than 9,000 flight hours, and holds both a B.S. and M.S. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He has served on the National Academies Committee on Assessing the Risks of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration.

VINEET MEHTA is vice president of engineering at AIRXOS (a GE venture) and is a member of the company’s founding team. Dr. Mehta is responsible for spearheading architecture, design, development, and delivery of multiple mobile device and cloud-based software products for UAS operations, logistics, and traffic management. He is responsible for management and fiscal oversight of an engineering organization with more than 50 software engineers. Dr. Mehta was previously a group leader and principal investigator at MITRE Corporation, where he focused on various aspects of computer and network security, and was also the chief engineer at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Command. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, in electrical engineering.

CONSTANTINE SAMARAS is an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Samaras’s research spans energy, vehicle automation, technoeconomic assessment, and defense analysis, and he directs the Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation. He has published studies examining electric and autonomous ground and air vehicles, is a fellow in Carnegie Mellon’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, and is an affiliated faculty member in the Traffic21 Research Center. Dr. Samaras is also an adjunct senior researcher at the RAND Corporation. From 2009 to 2014, he was a researcher at the RAND Corporation, where he led research on strategic basing of major weapons systems, defense installation analysis, and energy technology assessment. He is currently an FAA Certified Drone Pilot. Dr. Samaras received his Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University. He has previously served on the National Academies Review of the U.S. DRIVE Research Program, Phase 4 Committee.

PETER SHANNON is founder and managing director at Radius Capital. Mr. Shannon is an investor focusing on advanced aerial mobility and its application toward positive impact for transportation across the economy. He is active in the aviation community around issues critical to enabling high-scale adoption of aerial mobility systems, has published a series of articles on advanced aerial mobility, and is involved with programs attached to NASA, FAA, and private industry. Mr. Shannon holds two patents, including on vertiport network management. He also serves as an advisor or mentor for the Community Air Mobility Initiative, the Boeing GoFly prize, and the AeroInnovate startup accelerator. Earlier, Mr. Shannon was at Firelake Capital and Atlas Venture, investing in transportation and sustainability technologies. He started flying when he was 19 and actively maintains a Private Pilot Certificate with Instrument Rating. He holds an M.B.A. with high honors from the University of Chicago, Booth, and a B.S. with distinction in systems engineering from the University of Virginia. Mr. Shannon has served on the National Academies NASA Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable.

STAFF

DWAYNE A. DAY, Study Director, a senior program officer for ASEB, has a Ph.D. in political science from the George Washington University. Dr. Day joined the National Academies as a program officer for the Space Studies Board (SSB). He served as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003, was on the staff of the Congressional Budget Office, and worked for the Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University. He has also performed consulting for the Science and Technology Policy Institute of the Institute for Defense Analyses and for the U.S. Air Force. He is the author of Lightning Rod: A History of the Air Force Chief Scientist and editor of several books, including a history of the CORONA reconnaissance satellite program. He has held Guggenheim and Verville fellowships at the National Air and Space Museum and was an associate editor of the German spaceflight magazine Raumfahrt Concrete, in addition to writing for such publications as Novosti Kosmonavtiki (Russia), Spaceflight, Space Chronicle (United Kingdom), and the Washington Post. He has served as study director for more than a dozen National Academies’ reports, including 3-D Printing in Space (2013), NASA’s Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus (2012), Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (2011), Preparing for the High Frontier—The Role and Training of NASA Astronauts in the Post-Space Shuttle Era (2011), Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies (2010), Grading NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program: A Midterm Review (2008), and Opening New Frontiers in Space: Choices for the Next New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity (2008).

COLLEEN HARTMAN is the director of the ASEB and the SSB. Dr. Hartman has served in various senior positions, including acting associate administrator, deputy director of technology and director of solar system exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, and deputy assistant administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Dr. Hartman was instrumental in developing innovative approaches to powering space probes destined for the farthest reaches of the solar system, including in-space propulsion and nuclear power and propulsion. She also gained administration and congressional approval for an entirely new class of competitively selected missions called “New Frontiers,” to explore the planets, asteroids, and comets in the solar system. Dr. Hartman has built and launched balloon and spacecraft payloads, worked on robotic vision, and served as program manager for dozens of space missions, including the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Data from the COBE spacecraft gained two NASA-sponsored scientists the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics. Dr. Hartman earned a B.S. in zoology from Pomona College in Claremont, California, an M.P.A. from the University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. in physics from the Catholic University of America. She started her career as a Presidential Management Intern under Ronald Reagan. Her numerous awards include the Claire Booth Luce Fellowship in Science and Engineering, the NASA Outstanding Performance Award, and multiple Presidential Rank Awards, one of the highest awards bestowed by the President of the United States to senior executives.

DANIEL NAGASAWA is an associate program officer with the SSB. Before joining the SSB, he was a graduate research assistant specializing in stellar astrophysics, measuring the abundance of elements in the atmospheres of very old, metal-poor stars. Dr. Nagasawa began his research career as an undergraduate research assistant for the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search. When he began graduate school, he transitioned to designing and evaluating astronomical instrumentation, specifically ground-based spectrographs. He went on to specialize in high-resolution stellar spectroscopy and applied these techniques on stars in ultra-faint dwarf satellite galaxies of the Milky Way to study the chemical history of the Galaxy as part of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). He also developed skills in education and public outreach by teaching an observational astronomy course and writing for an outreach initiative for DES. Dr. Nagasawa earned his Ph.D. in astronomy and his M.S in physics at Texas A&M University; he earned his B.S. in physics with a concentration in astrophysics from Stanford University.

GAYBRIELLE HOLBERT is a program assistant with the Space Studies Board. Prior to joining the National Academies, she was a communication specialist for a nonprofit organization that helped inner-city youth by providing after-school programs and resources to engage their needs. Prior to that, she was the social media consultant for the Development Corporation of Columbia Heights and a production assistant for a startup multimedia production company. She holds a B.A. in mass media communications from the University of the District of Columbia.