Staff
Staff
Kevin graduated from Western Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement & Justice Administration and minors in Homeland Security and Criminalistics in May of 2019. As an undergraduate, he worked as a research assistant on projects pertaining to terrorism research. After graduating, he interned at the Homeland Security Investigations-Chicago in the financial crimes unit. In January 2020, he co-authored an article published in Security Magazine titled "Death by Association: Family Terror Networks." He also earned his Master of Arts in Public Safety Administration from Western Illinois University in July 2020. As a graduate student, he worked as a teaching assistant in the Law Enforcement & Justice Administration Department. He looks forward to contributing as much as he can to the International Center for Terrorism Studies.
Sabrina Worcester is the Human Resources Manager and Strategic Planning Analysis Research and Concepts Research Associate at Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. In this role, she is currently supporting research efforts relating to strategy and execution, including Science and Technology Transition Planning to the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Research and Development Directorate (J-9). She has also worked on several efforts that tailor science and technology policy options for government customers including the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL), Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Indian Head EOD Technology Division (IHEODTD). In addition to working as a Research Associate, Ms. Worcester currently serves as the HR Manager.
Dr. Pete Bythrow was appointed Chief Scientist of the Central Measurement and Signature Intelligence Organization (CMO, later renamed the National MASINT Office) in October 2000. He retired from government service in January 2016 and is now CEO Bougainvillea Breeze LLC a DC based consulting firm.
As CMO’s Chief Scientist, he oversaw the advanced R&D conducted to maintain a viable and responsive Research and Development program focused on the needs of the intelligence community. He also led the National Consortium for MASINT Research, a congressionally directed program to leverage, promote, and conduct research at universities applicable to the MASINT discipline.
As Chief Scientist for the National MASINT Office, Dr. Bythrow guided and oversaw the development of Intelligence Community MASINT technology development from legacy systems such as sea-based RADAR to cutting edge technologies such as antineutrino detection. The range of technology projects within his purview spans scientific disciplines from Hypersonic Glide Vehicles to Space Sensor Systems to MEMS based biological sensors.
From 2009 to 2016 Dr. Bythrow was MASINT lead on domestic Hypersonic Glide Vehicle testing working with DARPA, and with the Space and Missile Defense Center in Huntsville Alabama, as well as with the US Navy Dahlgren.
Peter was born in Quincy Massachusetts and received a BS (Physics) from Lowell Technological Institute in 1970; he served as a pilot in the USAF in Viet Nam until 1975. He received an MS and Ph.D. in Space-Physics from The University of Texas, Dallas. Dr. Bythrow spent the following 19 years at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where his research spanned disciplines from the Space Plasmas to Hyperspectral remote sensing.
Dr. Bythrow is the author of scientific papers that range in topics from “The Spokes in Saturn’s Rings” to “Rapid Visible Wavelength Detection and Identification of missile Launch”.
He is a member of the AGU, and AAAS and has served on space related panels and studies for DOD, MDA, DARPA, NASA and the US House and Senate.
Peter is married to Lisa M. Janssen and resides in Columbia MD. He has three children and eight grandchildren.
Dr. Sloan’s 20 years of active duty in the U.S. Air Force coupled with her Ph.D. and master’s degree in Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in International and Comparative Political Science have developed a deep perspective across many cross-cutting issues regarding national security and future command and control. Her experience as an Intelligence and Operations Officer, created a profound appreciation for strategic level examination of key issues associated with organizational and force design transformation.
Before joining Potomac Institute, Dr. Sloan most recently served in the newly established Air Force Futures directorate at Headquarters Air Force in Washington DC. In this role she led the development of key concepts that were core to the development of a new Air Force future force design, specifically the development of a game changing sensing grid concept. This concept reoriented $19 billion to support operations and over $375 million in key experiments to advance development of Joint All Domain Command and Control. Dr Sloan’s collaborative and innovative approach brings fresh perspective to the Institute, ensuring our team provides novel and relevant solutions to our clientele through our publications and events.
Dr. Waltzman has 39 years of experience performing and managing research in Artificial Intelligence applied to domains including social media and cognitive security in the information environment. He is formerly Deputy Chief Technology Officer and a Senior Information Scientist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA. Prior to joining RAND, he was the acting Chief Technology Officer of the Software Engineering Institute (Washington, DC) of Carnegie Mellon University. Before that he did a five-year tour as a Program Manager in the Information Innovation Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he created and managed the Social Media in Strategic Communications (SMISC) program and the Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales (ADAMS) insider threat detection program. Dr. Waltzman joined DARPA from Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories (LM-ATL), where he served as Chief Scientist for the Applied Sciences Laboratory that specializes in advanced software techniques and the computational physics of materials. Prior to LM-ATL he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, where he taught and performed research in applications of Artificial Intelligence technology to a variety of problem areas including digital entertainment, automated reasoning and decision support and cyber threat detection. Before his professorship he served as a DARPA Program Manager focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Image Understanding. Dr. Waltzman has also held research positions at the University of Maryland, Teknowledge Corporation (the first commercial Artificial Intelligence company in the world where he started in 1983), and the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington.
Prior to joining the Institute, Dr. Claire Costenoble-Caherty received her doctorate in Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Uniformed Services University in 2020, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from The University of Maryland College Park in 2013. She conducted her doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Ann Jerse, where she developed murine models of gonorrhea/chlamydia coinfection and upper reproductive tract infection, and studied the immune response in the context of such infections.
Dr. Robie Samanta Roy is the Chief Operating Officer of Electra.aero, a next-gen aerospace company devoted to sustainable advanced air mobility, headquartered in Northern VA.
He most recently was the Vice President of Technology – Government Affairs at Lockheed Martin where he was responsible for supporting corporate engagements with the US Government science and technology community across the United States. Robie also served as Lockheed Martin’s first Corporate Vice President for Technology Strategy and Innovation under the Chief Technology Officer where he developed and provided technical intelligence and strategy for the corporation, engaged the global S&T ecosystem outside the corporation, and fostered cross-enterprise innovation.
Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Robie was a professional staff member with the Senate Armed Services Committee with the portfolio of the Department of Defense’s wide spectrum of science and technology-related activities including test and evaluation. He came to that position from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where he was the Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics and was responsible for space and aeronautics activities ranging from human space flight to the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Robie also served as a Strategic Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office and as a Research Staff Member in the Systems Evaluation Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses.
Dr. Samanta Roy earned his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. He earned a master’s degree in space policy from George Washington University and diplomas from the International Space University and Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.
Robie is a Fellow and a recent member of the Board of Trustees of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the National Research Council’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. He is on the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee and from 2015-2019 chaired the Industry Relations Committee of the International Astronautical Federation. He is a Reservist in the U.S. Space Force.
Sharon Layani is a Research Fellow in the S&T Division. She provides assessments of emerging science and technology trends, government acquisition strategies, strategic planning, and policy recommendations. Prior to this she served as Research Associate and Research Coordinator at the International Center for Terrorism Studies. Her work focused on counterterrorism, international security, and rule of law issues. She provided research support and analysis for books, such as NATO: From Regional to Global Security Provider (2015) and The Islamic State: Combating a Caliphate Without Borders (2015), and assisted on a number of counterterrorism reports and projects. Ms. Layani served on the senior staff for Terrorism: An Electronic Journal and Knowledge Base and coordinated foreign policy and national security-related seminars. Ms. Layani graduated from the University of Michigan with a double major in Political Science and Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience, and a minor in International Studies focusing on the Middle East.
Dr. Alyssa Adcock is a S&T Policy Research Fellow. At the Institute, she has been involved with several efforts focused on providing strategic S&T recommendations and technical forecasting to government customers including ongoing work with NASA. Dr. Adcock obtained her Ph.D. from Georgetown University in Inorganic Chemistry. Her graduate research focused on bismuth and rare earth element materials to address energy, lighting, and security needs as well as uranium chemistry relevant to nuclear waste and environmental management. Prior, she received her B.S. in Chemistry at Jacobs University in Germany and served as an intern at the Carnegie Institute of Washington’s Geophysical Laboratory focusing on origin of life and geochemistry research. Dr. Adcock is a member of the Graduate Education Advisory Board of the American Chemical Society.
Mr. Farro is a Level III Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Certified Acquisition Professional with over 40 years’ experience.
From his initial assignment as a Procurement Intern for the Defense Logistics Agency’s Defense Personnel Support Center (DLA DPSC), Philadelphia, PA, he has worked various and ever more challenging assignments across both the Interagency and International spectrum.
Management positions supervising the activities of Contract Specialists took him to Washington, DC, where he was on special assignment to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (DoT FHWA).
After a successful tenure at DoT FHWA, Mr. Farro received his TS/SCI clearance and worked as a Major Systems Program Integrator for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack and Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (TSSAM and JASSM) programs. For his work on the JASSM program, he received awards from the U.S. Air Force’s Senior Acquisition Executive and the Director, Defense Contract Management Command (DCMC).
For his excellent work on the JASSM program, Mr. Farro was selected as the Program Manager for the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Corporate Workforce Management Reports (CRMR) program. He was able to turn the program around from a chronic underperformer into an example of efficient acquisition providing DLA a workforce management capability that came in ahead of schedule and under budget.
His following assignments in support of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), earned him two Combat Commanders Medals for Acquisition Excellence. At the conclusion of his support to USSOCOM and subsequent tours on the staffs at the Naval Sea Systems Command and Defense Contract Management Agency, Mr. Farro assumed responsibility for the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) evaluation. He worked closely with the President’s Office of Management & Budget assuring that MDA’s performance supported allocated resources. His efforts on the PART evaluation permitted him to earn entry into the National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) where he earned his Master’s Degree in National Security Strategy.
At ICAF, Mr. Farro completed his Senior Acquisition studies and was certified as a Senior Acquisition Professional. After ICAF, he completed another special assignment, this time with the Joint Chief of Staff’s Logistics Directorate (J4). His duties were that of Study Director for the Mobility Capability Study (MCS). During that time, Mr. Farro was promoted to Director, Research & Development Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Inspector General (NASA IG).
His leadership on the NASA IG’s audit of their Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and his interaction with the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency ensured that acquisition funds were spent wisely and effectively. From the NASA IG, he rejoined the Department of the Navy (DON), currently supporting DON and Department of Defense initiatives to enhance U.S. international engagements with longtime allies Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and maturing relationships with other allies, e.g., Chile and Iceland.
Mr. Farro is retired from Civil Service. After retirement, he joined E3R, Inc., (a Service Disabled Small Business) as Senior International Cooperative Analyst/Engineer. His primary duties supported the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Code N94 (Senior Naval Representative)/Office of Naval Research – Global and Naval Information Warfare Systems Command – Pacific.
He has joined the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies as a Research Fellow.
Dwight Lyons is a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and the Director of the Concepts and Analyses Division. He holds a masters degree in physics, served in the U.S. Army, and in addition has over 26 years providing analytical and technical support for Naval operations, developing systems and processes, operational and strategic planning, definition and management of Science and Technology (S&T) programs, experimentation, transition of successful S&T products, research program financial management, and participation in “real-world” military operations. He has worked on a number of programs, formulating and executing S&T programs, conducting technology assessments and applications to military operational needs, working with teams at ONR and DARPA, military laboratories, and operational commands, and including both near-term transitions and the development of strategic long range S&T plans. Mr. Lyons is recognized as a leading expert in the analytical and technical support of warfighting and S&T programs.
The Honorable Matthew P. Donovan is vice president of Requirements & Capabilities for Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies.
Before this position, he served as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In this role, he led the Department of Defense’s response to the COVID-19 global pandemic and published the first 10-year vision and strategy to align DOD personnel and readiness policies to national defense strategy imperatives.
Previously, Hon. Donovan also served as Under Secretary of the Air Force, Acting Secretary of the Air Force, and as policy director and professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services. He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a colonel after 31 years of enlisted and officer active duty service and with more than 2,900 flight hours in the F-15C Eagle and F-5E Tiger II.
Hon. Donovan holds a bachelor’s degree in technical management from Regis University, and master’s degrees in management from Webster University, airpower art and science from the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Airpower Studies, and military arts and sciences from the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies. He has also earned the Secretary of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Aerial Achievement Medal, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
Brian Shirley is a senior executive and advisor with over 34 years of broad-based experience in the semiconductor industry, including fourteen years as an executive officer of Micron Technology, a US-based Fortune 500 leader in semiconductor memory, as well as several years of senior consulting to the US Government on topics related to the Semiconductor Industry and US National Security.
Mr. Shirley began his career in 1988 as a product engineer on Micron’s first product, a 64K DRAM. Over the next 18 years, Mr. Shirley held a number of technical positions of increasing responsibility, leading multiple DRAM design projects and overseeing Micron’s worldwide design operations for a nine-year period. He is listed as an inventor on 82 US patents, and helped drive Micron’s expansion into specialized memory for servers, mobile and networking solutions, in addition to maintaining a focus on cost leadership and power reduction.
In early 2006, he became an officer of the company, leading multiple functions over the next 14 years including the memory business units with full P&L responsibility, as well as Micron’s worldwide engineering teams responsible for product design and development. During this time he drove further DRAM diversification, Micron’s product expansions in NAND solid-state memory and related SSD product lines, and productization of multiple emerging memory technologies. In addition, he oversaw the engineering and business integration of numerous acquisitions including Micron’s purchase of Texas Instruments’ memory operations, Elpida Memory, Lexar Memory, Numonyx Memory, and Tidal Systems. He served on the boards of numerous joint ventures and industry organizations, including Inotera Memory, Micron’s development partnership with Intel in non-volatile memory, and the Global Semiconductor Association. He has keynoted numerous industry events, presenting on a variety of technical and memory industry topics. Through these years, Micron grew from $300M of annual revenue with approximately 1500 employees all in Boise, Idaho, to its current size of over 37,000 employees worldwide with annual revenue of over $30B. Mr. Shirley retired from Micron in December 2019.
In early 2020, Mr. Shirley joined CTC Aero and began direct consulting with multiple departments of the US Government, including OSD, Commerce, and ODNI, in the areas of supply chain resilience, semiconductor geopolitical landscape, and US National Security. In addition, he is serving as a senior advisor and board member to multiple semiconductor startups.
Mr. Shirley attended Stanford University where he graduated with distinction in 1992 with a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering.
After serving in Congress for 26 years, Mac Thornberry continues to work at the intersection of technology and national security. A former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, he was also a member of the House Intelligence Committee for more than a decade.
The Almanac of American Politics 2020 called Mac “one of Congress’ brainiest and most thoughtful members on national and domestic security issues.” Widely respected across the political spectrum as an innovator and a strategic thinker, Mac has led on strategic nuclear issues, homeland security, cyber and space issues, as well as enhancing innovation and improving acquisition to benefit the men and women who serve and the nation.
In December 2021, Mac received the Peace Through Strength Award from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He is also the recipient of Distinguished Service Medals from the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, as well as awards and recognitions from a number of other organizations. On a bipartisan basis, Congress named the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act for him.
Prior to his election to Congress, Mac served in the State Department during the Reagan Administration, as staff on Capitol Hill, and practiced law. Raised on the family ranch in Donley County, Texas, Mac graduated from Texas Tech University and received a law degree from the University of Texas. He and his wife, Sally, have two children.
