David Hopkins, Participant

David Hopkins is an innovative leader who guides companies in highly regulated industries taking technology to the “next level” as their businesses expand and grow through merger and acquisition. He is known for transforming vague issues into effective strategies and roadmaps that fully leverage the potential of evolving technology. With a unique ability to make the mundane exciting, he gets others to see the possibilities. David is articulate, persuasive and has a sense of humor that builds credibility and support. Currently David serves as the Chief Information Officer for Mesa Airlines, a regional contract airline headquartered in Phoenix, AZ. David recently secured funding and resources to standup a major cybersecurity program for Mesa which will surpass TSA and newly announced, SEC cybersecurity requirements. Mesa Airlines operates a large fleet of regional jets and narrow body aircraft on behalf of our partners: United Express and DHL Express throughout the US, as well as Canada, Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas. Previously David was the Vice President of IT Applications for CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA company, where David championed the firm’s technology and digital transformation. Prior to that role, David rose through the ranks of American Airlines to division CIO/Managing Director of IT for Technical Operations (Tech Ops). At American Airlines David spearheaded the creation of the Project Management Office, effectively managing the integration of hundreds of Tech Ops systems through merger with US Airways. Earlier as an IT strategy expert, David championed a business-focused technology roadmap and overhauled the division’s governance structure. David received a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Missouri and participated in the Director Education program of the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute, Drexel University. He holds two U.S. patents for RFID inventory management technology. Active in professional organizations and in the community, David is also an author, keynote speaker and Licensed Private Pilot.https://commons.erau.edu/avcysecworkshop-bios-2025/1023/thumbnail.jp

Dr. Rajendra K. Raj, Participant

Dr. Rajendra K. Raj is a Professor of Computer Science at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), whose research lies at the intersection of data science and cybersecurity as applied to critical infrastructure protection. Dr. Raj’s work has been funded by various agencies, including the NSF, NSA and Homeland Security. He helped to establish the M.S. in Cybersecurity program at RIT over 20 years ago, developing its courses in Secure Coding and Data Security & Privacy. Before joining RIT, Dr. Raj was a vice president at a multinational financial services firm, where he designed, implemented and managed high-performance private cloud infrastructures for financial applications. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington Seattle. Committed to advancing the computing profession, he has held several leadership roles in ABET’s Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC), including serving as the 2021-22 Commission Chair. He previously chaired the CAC Criteria Committee that created cybersecurity accreditation criteria for bachelor\u27s and associate degree programs. More recently, Dr. Raj co-chaired the ACM/IEEE-CS/AAAI task force that developed Computer Science Curricula 2023 (CS2023) and led the CS2023 Security Knowledge Area Subcommittee. He currently serves on the international task force of the ACM, IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Digital Privacy Initiative and IFIP, which is working on the first master’s-level curricular guidelines for Digital Privacy. He is a Fellow of ABET.https://commons.erau.edu/avcysecworkshop-bios-2025/1042/thumbnail.jp

1967 5BFTS First Reunion Dinner. October 14.

The First Reunion Dinner for RAF pilots who had trained at 5BFTS during WW2 was held on October 14, 1967, at the Royal Aero Club, London. This image is annotated “Still we listened (i)”.https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-1967-dinner-images/1023/thumbnail.jp

1967 5BFTS First Reunion Dinner. October 14. W/C Charles W Lindsay

The First Reunion Dinner for RAF pilots who had trained at 5BFTS during WW2 was held on October 14, 1967, at the Royal Aero Club, London. This image is annotated “W/C C W Lindsay speaks”. W/C Charles W Lindsay was the 5BFTS Commanding Officer from April 1, 1944, until 5BFTS closed on September 3, 1945.https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-1967-dinner-images/1009/thumbnail.jp

Research Networking Lunch

Enjoy lunch with your colleagues

Janet Grondin, Participant

Janet Grondin is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stellar Solutions Inc., a small, woman-owned business and leading provider of high-impact engineering services to significant intelligence, defense, civil, commercial, and international customers for the past 30 years. Prior to this role, Grondin served as Vice President for Intelligence Programs, Vice President, Defense Programs and Director of Emerging Space Capabilities. Grondin is a former Northrop Grumman Director and a retired USAF Colonel with 30+ years of experience in navigation, remote sensing, satellite communications, launch, space superiority, and launch ranges.  Her education includes a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering (magna cum laude) from Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University, a M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the AF Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Strategic Studies from Air War College, and a M.S. in Military Operational Art & Science from Air Command and Staff College. Grondin serves on the CHG Group, Inc. board as an outside director.  She is an active American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) member focusing on leadership development, a former President of the Women In Defense Greater Los Angeles Chapter (GLAC), serves as Space Division Vice Chair for the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), is an executive board member of the NDIA GLAC, and board member of NDIA-DC chapter.  Janet and her husband, Pat, reside in Centreville, Virginia, have two adult sons.https://commons.erau.edu/avcysecworkshop-bios-2025/1018/thumbnail.jp

1967 5BFTS First Reunion Dinner. October 14.

The First Reunion Dinner for RAF pilots who had trained at 5BFTS during WW2 was held on October 14, 1967, at the Royal Aero Club, London. This image is annotated “Mostly we listened (ii)”.https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-1967-dinner-images/1020/thumbnail.jp

Mechanical Characterization and Determination of Self-Healing Efficiency for polyurea-PDMS Polymers via Tensile Testing

The intrinsic self-healing efficiency of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based polymers is extensively evaluated through tensile testing. Our research group has synthesized three novel, intrinsically self-healing polymers composed of bis (aminopropyl) terminated PDMS units reacted with diisocynates to form urea linkages. By altering the molecular weight range of the aminopropyl terminated PDMS starting material, polymers that yield different mechanical properties are created. The self-healing efficiencies and modulus of these novel polymers are evaluated via tensile testing to evaluate their overall strength and flexibility. Tensile testing involves stretching the polymer until it fractures, recording the force (N), time (s), and extension (mm) which can be used to calculate the stress and strain to determine the tensile strength and elastic modulus. Samples of the polymer are tested before and after being damaged to determine the percentage healing efficiency. The study identifies how molecular weight of the PDMS influences the self-healing capability and the mechanical properties of the polymer. This data is crucial for understanding the relationship between polymer structure and self-healing efficiency. Furthermore, this systematic investigation into the balance of IMFs and molecular mobility as a function of chain length gives insight towards the design of other self-healing polymers with different functional groups and mechanical properties

Kandy Phan, Participant

Kandy Phan is a principal cybersecurity researcher and red team lead at Sandia National Laboratories. He has worked there for over 20 years with a research focus on improving assessment capabilities for IT, ICS, electric vehicles, cloud, and specialized systems. He has led roadmap efforts to identify key investment areas for the future information security landscape and is the red team lead of the DOE CyberForce Competition, an event for college cyber defenders to learn about cyber-physical threats against infrastructure. Kandy received his M.S. degree in Computer Science with a focus in Information Assurance from The Naval Postgraduate School. He is a speaker at security conferences such as the Red Team Summit and KernelCon and has published papers on using a threat-informed methodology to assess nuclear power plants to the American Nuclear Society NPIC/HMIT conference. His research interests include assessment automation, ICS and EV security, cyber threat emulation, and malware analysis. His interests include exploring methods to improve red team performance, malware analysis, and automation for virtualization security.https://commons.erau.edu/avcysecworkshop-bios-2025/1041/thumbnail.jp

Krishna Sampigethaya, Organizer

Dr. Krishna Sampigethaya is currently the Chair for the Department of Cyber Intelligence and Security at the Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ, a DHS/NSA designated Center of Academic Excellence for Cyber Defense; offering one of the world\u27s few ABET accredited cybersecurity degree programs; a member of the US CYBERCOM Academic Engagement Network and the RSA®C Security Scholar Program; a DoD Cyber Scholarship Program site; and the only NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) institution for aviation and aerospace cybersecurity. Krishna received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Washington (2007) and was the first to defend a thesis on connected vehicle privacy and aircraft cyber security. He then joined The Boeing Company and was selected early as the first Associate Technical Fellow for aviation cyber-physical security. He was also the first Associate Director for cyber security at the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Research Center. Krishna founded the first aviation cyber security technical committee, sponsored by the SAE in 2008, and has organized cyber security tracks at AIAA, IEEE, and SAE aerospace conferences. He has served on the RTCA SC-216 standard committee. He co-edited the first special issue on cyber-physical systems, published in the first centennial year issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE journal. With over 65 papers, 24 keynotes/plenaries, and 24 patents in aviation CPS security, he has received awards such as the ASEI Engineer of the Year Award handed to him by the Honorable Charles Bolden and ASEI Corporate Engineering Excellence Award. At Embry‑Riddle, he has led several projects in aviation and aerospace cyber security including the world\u27s first student-led aviation cyber-physical security competition. He has taught the world’s only and award-winning ICAO course on aviation cyber security to professionals from over 24 countries. His pioneering work has been recognized by prestigious awards such as the 2025 AIAA Information Systems Award. He’s an AIAA Associate Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.https://commons.erau.edu/avcysecworkshop-bios-2025/1000/thumbnail.jp