Andy Aldrin is the founder and Program Chair of the Master of Space Operations program at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He previously founded and directed the Center for Space Entrepreneurship at the Florida Institute of Technology. He is also President of the Aldrin Family Foundation which focuses on bringing space education into the classroom.

Daniel Apai is the Interim Associate Dean for Research at the College of Science of The University of Arizona. Apai is Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. He is studying planetary atmospheres and extrasolar planets with the long-term goal of identifying planetary systems capable of supporting life. He is leading major NASA-funded astrobiology research projects and co-leading technology development for novel space telescope architectures. He published around 200 refereed publications that have been cited over ten thousand times. He is also co-inventor of novel astronomical optical systems and biotechnology-based solutions for carbon capture and removal. Learn more

Greg Autry is Director of Space Leadership, Policy, and Business in ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Affiliate Professor with the Interplanetary Initiative. He is Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and National Space Society VP. Autry was NASA’s White House Liaison and served on NASA’s Agency Review Team as well as FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. Autry publishes in Foreign Policy, Forbes and Space News and is author of A New Entrepreneurial Dynamic. He serves on editorial review boards at: The New Space Journal and The Journal Space Safety Engineering. Autry holds an MBA and PhD from UC Irvine. Learn more

Twenty-fifth Secretary of the Air Force, Barbara Barrett led creation of the Space Force within the Department of the Air Force. A defense and national security advisor through seven presidential administrations, Barbara participated in space and aeronautics strategy in corporate, academic, military, and diplomatic settings. She chaired the Aerospace Corporation board for four terms and was an officer of the Space Foundation board. She was US Ambassador to Finland, Federal Aviation Administration Deputy Administrator, and Civil Aeronautics Board Vice Chairman. In Arizona, Barbara was an executive of two Phoenix-based Fortune 500 companies. She chaired the board of Valley Bank of Arizona and served on the boards of Raytheon, Mayo Clinic, Exponent Corporation, Piper Aircraft, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She was interim President of Thunderbird School of Global Management, now part of ASU. In 2009 Barbara qualified for space flight on the Soyuz TMA-16 to the International Space Station.

Daniel W. Bliss is a Professor at Arizona State University, Director of ASU’s Center for Wireless Information Systems and Computational Architectures, and President of DASH Tech Integrated Circuits. Dan received his Ph.D. in Physics, University of California, San Diego (1997), and B.S. in Electrical Engineering, ASU (1989). He is responsible for foundational work in adaptive MIMO communications, MIMO radar, distributed-coherent systems, RF convergence, and heterogeneous systems on chip. Dan is an IEEE Fellow and received the 2021 IEEE Warren D. White Award for Radar Engineering Excellence. He has published two textbooks and more than 200 technical articles. Learn more

Ken Buer is Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for Viasat Arizona—the team responsible for designing and building Viasat’s space payloads and ground terminals. He was a partner in technology start-up US Monolithics which was acquired by Viasat in 2002. Ken was previously at semiconductor company MACOM, and Motorola where he designed IRIDIUM K band flight hardware. Ken has published numerous technical articles and has 133 U.S. patents. He earned a BSEE degree in 1991 from the University of Minnesota, MSEE degree from Arizona State University in 1995 and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

Dr. Elizabeth R. Cantwell (Betsy) is the Senior Vice President for Research & Innovation at the University of Arizona (UA) and is responsible for a $770M annual research portfolio, and an annual operating budget of $60M. Her responsibilities include the 1,268-acre UA Tech Park, one of the nation’s premier university research parks, with more than 40 businesses, such as IBM and Raytheon, and contribute $1.7B annually to the regional economy. She came to UA from Arizona State University (ASU) where she served as the VP for Research Development and the CEO of the ASU Research Enterprise, a 501.c.3 dedicated to translating research to commercial outcomes. There she directed a $45 million annual budgetn of 150. Prior to ASU, Dr. Cantwell served at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as Director for Economic Development and Director for Engineering Mission Strategy. From 2008-2010, she served as Deputy Associate Director for Global Security at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she worked with the US DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration, the US DOD, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and NASA. Prior to joining ORNL, Dr. Cantwell served as the Division Leader for the International and Space Research (ISR) Division and Director for the Threat Reduction Directorate Office of Strategy at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Learn more

Lt Col Justin W. Chandler is the Director of the Chief of Space Operation’s Strategic Initiatives Group, Headquarters United States Space Force, Pentagon, District of Columbia. The Chief of Space Operations is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and serves as the senior uniformed Space Force officer responsible for the organization, training, and equipping of all organic and assigned space forces serving in the United States and overseas. Lt Col Chandler is a recent graduate of the United States Air Force’s Air War College and the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Learn more

Philip Christensen is a Regents Professor and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the composition, processes, and properties of planetary surfaces. A major facet of his research is the development of spacecraft infrared instruments, and he has built eight that have gone to Mars, Bennu, and the Trojan asteroids, with an infrared camera prepared to launch on NASA’s Europa Clipper. He recently co-chaired the National Academies Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey.

Dr. Michael M. Crow is an educator, knowledge enterprise architect, science and technology policy scholar and higher education leader. He became the sixteenth president of Arizona State University in July 2002 and has spearheaded ASU’s rapid and groundbreaking transformative evolution into one of America’s best public metropolitan research universities. As a model “New American University,” ASU simultaneously demonstrates comprehensive excellence, inclusivity representative of the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the United States, and consequential societal impact. Learn more

Lindy Elkins-Tanton is a planetary scientist, the Principal Investigator of the NASA Psyche mission, and Arizona State University Vice President of the Interplanetary Initiative. Her research concerns the formation and evolution of rocky planets, and processes of education for the future of society. She has led four field expeditions in Siberia. Asteroid (8252) Elkins-Tanton is named for her, as is the mineral elkinstantonite. In 2021 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Elkins-Tanton received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from MIT. Learn more

Kiah Erlich is the Head of Brand Partnerships and Astronaut Sales for Blue Origin. Working closely with innovative industries, Kiah is focused on developing unique business models and partnerships with the best brands on Earth. As the first point of contact for future astronauts, she also leads Blue Origin’s Astronaut Sales team working with future Blue Origin astronauts. Kiah grew up on the Central Coast of California watching rocket launches out of Vandenberg Air Force Base. When she was 16-years old, she started taking flying lessons and soon after became a licensed pilot. She continued flying in college where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Management from Auburn University, as well as a Master of Business Administration in Aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Kiah’s career lifted off at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport where she worked as a graduate intern in airport management. Keeping her focus on the aerospace industry provided Kiah the opportunity to lead multiple $300M+ avionics and software businesses for Honeywell Aerospace, and several key acquisitions. At Honeywell, she was selected as one of the top 100 global millennial business leaders by Forbes 30 under 30 author Dan Schawbel and was featured in his Washington Post bestseller Back to Human. More recently Kiah led the global sales team for Panasonic Avionics Corporation. In 2019, Kiah joined Blue Origin as the NASA Launch Services Director, where she sold rocket launches to the Moon and beyond to NASA. Kiah is now the Head of Brand Partnerships and Astronaut Sales where she develops the company’s brand strategy and key partnerships and builds relationships with future astronauts to help them achieve their dream of going to space as part of Blue Origin’s mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. Learn more

Stephen Fleming is the University of Arizona Director of Strategic Partnerships & Innovation. Stephen trained as a physicist, and spent 15 years in operations roles at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Nortel Networks, and a venture-funded startup. He has 25 years of experience as a technology-focused venture capitalist and angel investor. Stephen moved to Tucson in 2017 to develop the University of Arizona’s engagement with the private sector, where he is now focused on the NSF-funded Center for Quantum Networks. He is an investor in over a dozen private aerospace startups, a founding member of the Space Angels Network, and is the founder and chair of the Arizona Space Business Roundtable. Learn more

Mike Gold is the Chief Growth Officer at Redwire. In this role, Gold leads Redwire’s business development, marketing, and external affairs teams, positioning the company for long-term growth and expanding adoption and integration of Redwire’s cutting-edge capabilities across civil, commercial, and national security space sectors. Gold was previously the Executive Vice President for Civil Space and External Affairs at Redwire, where he supported the company’s civil space business development efforts and government and media relations. Learn more

Saikat Guha is the Director of the NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks and the Peyghambarian Endowed Chair Professor of Optical Sciences, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Applied Mathematics at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He received his Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 2002, and his S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004 and 2008, respectively. From 2008 to 2017, he worked at Raytheon BBN Technologies, where he was a member of the founding team of the Quantum Information Processing group. He leads various federally sponsored projects in topics surrounding quantum-enhanced photonic information processing, and quantum networking.

Kavan is an associate professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona. His research group is active in designing, characterizing, and optimizing multi-functional and field adaptive materials built by additive manufacturing techniques, focusing on materials performance and failure mechanisms under fatigue, impact, and high-temperature thermomechanical loading. Kavan is the recipient of the 2020 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award focusing on design optimization and mechanics of additively manufactured metamaterials. His research on additive manufacturing has been constantly funded by NASA. Learn more

Dr. Sanjeev Khagram is CEO, Director-General and Dean of Thunderbird School of Global Management, ASU Foundation Professor of Global Leadership, and a member of ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability's board of directors. He is a world-renowned expert in global leadership, the international political economy, sustainable development, and the data revolution. He has worked extensively with global start-ups, corporations, governments, civil society groups, nonprofit organizations, cross-sectoral action networks, public-private partnerships, foundations, professional associations, and universities worldwide. Dr. Khagram holds a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies and Engineering, and a master’s degree and doctorate in Political Economy, all from Stanford University. Learn more

Sally C. Morton, Ph.D., is executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise and professor of statistics at Arizona State University. She is responsible for ASU’s research and economic development ecosystem, research institutes and initiatives, corporate and strategic partnerships, international development, and technology transfer. Morton’s career spans both academia and industry. Learn more

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: recruit, grow, create – recruit out-of-state companies to expand their operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to grow their business in Arizona and beyond; and partner with entrepreneurs and companies large and small to create new jobs and businesses in targeted industries. Victor leads the Business Development Team of the ACA and is responsible for bringing businesses to Arizona and assisting companies already in Arizona to grow and thrive. Daily activities include site selection, coordination of local communities, utilities, education, workforce, and logistics partners to identify and solve business needs and management of ACA’s Foreign Trade/FDI and Film/Digital Media teams. In previous roles, Victor has served Economic Development for over twenty years in various capacities including the State of Illinois as Deputy Director of the Business Development Team; the Village of Huntley, Illinois as the Business Attraction Coordinator; the Delta Regional Authority of Illinois as Delegate and Executive Board Member; the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation as Vice President & Treasurer; the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce as President of Real Estate Development. Additional expertise includes six years as partner at Centerville Properties-Site Selection and Entitlement and 18 years in Commercial Banking with major US and regional banks including US Bank, Bank One. He has served as Lead Analyst and on lending teams dedicated to serving the lending and other financial needs of medium and large businesses.

Dr. Cheryl A. Nickerson is a Professor of Life Sciences in the Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics at the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University. Her innovative infectious disease, microbial pathogen, and 3-D tissue engineering research using spaceflight and spaceflight analogue platforms has pioneered novel approaches to benefit astronaut health and spacecraft sustainability, resulting in 11 NASA biomedical spaceflight experiments on the International Space Station. Dr. Nickerson’s research is funded by commercial, medical, philanthropic, and government partners and facilitated an educational pipeline for student job placement in the spaceflight industry. She co-leads the ASU Space Life Sciences and Health Initiative. Learn more

Jeremiah is the founder and CEO of Tucson-based Lunasonde. His startup emphasizes the importance of sustainability and resource exploration without disruption to the environment. In 2020, Jeremiah was a recipient of Forbes 30 under 30 in Manufacturing and Industry. His company’s technology most recently launched from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in January of 2022. Learn more

John Reed is United Launch Alliance’s Chief Rocket Scientist. In this role he manages the Technical Fellows program at ULA and is focused on a wide variety of initiatives from launch vehicle reuse to upper stage enhancements and trajectory planning, from defining our next generation capabilities to creating a culture of innovation and protecting Intellectual Property. John is a long-time member of the AAS and an Associate Fellow of AIAA, actively engaged on a couple AIAA task force teams, the ASCEND event and AAS GN&C Conference.

Jessica Rousset is the Deputy Director of the Interplanetary Initiative, leading its strategy, collaborations and operations. Jessica is a mission-driven operational, business development and commercialization leader focused on growing early-stage technology companies, creating innovation engines in large organizations and bridging academic, government and corporate interests toward the common goal of improving people’s lives. Learn more

Kyle Squires is the dean the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University and vice provost for Engineering, Computing and Technology. Appointed in February 2016, Squires previously served as vice and interim dean, as well as the director of the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of the seven Fulton Schools of Engineering. A professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Squires holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Washington State University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. Squires’ expertise encompasses computational fluid dynamics, turbulence modeling of both single-phase and multi-phase flows, and high-performance computing. Learn more

Binil Starly serves as the School Director and Professor in the School of Manufacturing Systems & Networks at Arizona State University. He has over 20 years of experience in Digital manufacturing. His laboratory is working on technologies that merge the digital and the physical world towards advancing both discrete and continuous manufacturing. His work is supported by the US National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. He has received the NSF CAREER award, SME ‘20 Most Influential Professors in Smart Manufacturing’, SME Young Manufacturing Engineering Award (2011) and numerous teaching awards. Learn more

Eric Stallmer is the Executive Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy for Voyager Space. Before joining Voyager, he was the President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Prior to CSF, Eric served as the Vice President of Government Relations at Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI). Eric served on both the Defense Innovation Board, as well the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group (UAG) where he sat on the Executive Committee. Eric has served on numerous industry affiliated boards including the Future Space Leaders Foundation and the Washington Space Business Roundtable. Stallmer served as an officer in the United States Army and Army Reserves. Learn more

David Trilling is Professor and Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Northern Arizona University. He uses telescopes all over the Earth and in space to study the small bodies in the Solar System to understand how our planetary system formed and evolved. He is also interested in instrumentation, astrobiology, astroinformatics, workforce development, student mentoring, and any kind of collaboration and exchange of ideas.

Meenakshi Wadhwa is a planetary scientist interested in the time scales and processes involved in the formation and evolution of the Solar System and planets, and the history of water and volatiles on the terrestrial planets. She is Director and Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. She also holds an appointment as Distinguished Visiting Scientist and serves as the Mars Sample Return Principal Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. She received her doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at San Diego. She is recipient of the National Academy of Sciences J. Lawrence Smith Medal, the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. Asteroid 8356 has been named 8356 Wadhwa in recognition of her contributions to meteoritics and planetary science. Learn more

Dr. Jason Wilder has worked at Northern Arizona University since 2008 where he has served in a variety of leadership roles, including his present position as VPR and previously as Dean of the College of the Environment, Forestry and Natural Sciences. In these roles, he has been a strong supporter of NAU’s Astronomy & Planetary Science program by investing in its research growth, doctoral training program, and increasing opportunities for undergraduate engagement with research. Learn more