Tom Stroup
As President of SIA, Tom Stroup is the trade association’s lead advocate for regulatory and policy issues of critical importance to SIA’s membership, including spectrum and licensing issues, defense and public safety matters, and export control and international trade issues. He also manages the day-to-day operations of SIA, including member communications, staff leadership, and organization of SIA sponsored events.
Prior to joining SIA, Mr. Stroup was with Shared Spectrum Company (SSC), a leading developer of spectrum intelligence technologies, where he served as CEO. For more than a decade, he served as the President of the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA). Previous to his position at SSC, he founded and ran several companies in the technology industry, including Columbia Spectrum Management, P-Com Network Services, CSM Wireless, and SquareLoop.
Mr. Stroup holds a BS, summa cum laude, in Public Administration from the University of North Dakota. He is also a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center where he served as Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.
Dr. Ioana Cozmuta
Dr. Ioana Cozmuta is the managing partner of Gravity Free Consulting and CEO of G-Space Inc, two small, women-owned businesses. These two portfolio companies are a reflection of Dr. Cozmuta’s driving passions: (1) to discover new revenue opportunities at the intersection of Space and Earth Technologies and to help accelerate the time to market AND (2) to develop, design and optimize advanced and new materials by liberating the potential design space from the limiting effects of gravity.
Dr. Cozmuta’s work at the confluence of Space and Earth is based on a nineteen years career in academia, at NASA and in the start-up world uniquely combining expertise in physics, computational chemistry and materials research; data science and space technology with business and entrepreneurship. From her early work in nanotechnology research to engineering projects for missions such as Hypersonics, Stardust, Mars Science Laboratory, Orion or the International Space Station, dr Cozmuta has built a legacy on transforming the status quo, opening new avenues for innovation and devoting her energy, enthusiasm and collaborative spirit to advance the new space entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Dr. Cozmuta holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands and post-doctoral specializations in computational chemistry and material design from the California Institute of Technology respectively Genomics and Biotechnology from Stanford University.
Dr. Jonathan Fentzke
Dr. Jonathan Fentzke is the Managing Director for the Techstars Allied Space Accelerator. He is a scientist by training with a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences and an experienced entrepreneur and investor. Prior to joining Techstars, he served as CEO of FKM Group asset management. Previously, Jonathan was a co-founder, executive and Board Director at OmniEarth – a geospatial analytics business exited in 2017 by Vista Private Equity. He has also worked with Shell TechVentures building Shell TechWorks in Boston and InSpace while in Washington, DC after a career as a space scientist working on various space missions and funded research programs around the world.
He has focused his energy more recently on mentoring founders and working with investors in Venture Capital and Private Equity after multiple successful exits. In addition to angel investments, Jonathan is an advisor to several startups and organizations including GuardianAI, Innosek, e-agree, OneTen Capital, Grupo Guayacán, Parallel18, and 43North. You can follow along @jtfentzke
Dr. Jamie Morin
Jamie M. Morin is vice president of Defense Systems Operations, Defense Systems Group at The Aerospace Corporation. He assumed this position on March 29, 2017. In this role, Morin serves as executive director of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy, which provides objective analysis and comprehensive research to ensure a well-informed, technically defensible, and forward-looking space policy.
Morin most recently served as director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) for the Department of Defense, where he led the organization responsible for analyzing and evaluating the department’s plans, programs and budgets in relation to U.S. defense objectives,
threats estimated costs and resource constraints.
Prior to his role as director of CAPE, Morin served for five years as the assistant secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller). Jamie also served for a year as acting undersecretary of the Air Force, where he led the Air Force Space Board and Air Force Council.
Previously, Morin was a member of the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget and served as the committee’s lead analyst for the defense, intelligence, and foreign affairs budgets. He also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and as an economic development strategist with the firm J.E. Austin Associates, where he worked on projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Dr. GP Sandhoo D.Sc
Dr. Sandhoo is the Superintendent of the Spacecraft Engineering Department of the Naval Center of Space Technology (NCST) at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). As the Superintendent, he provides executive direction and technical leadership in the development of policies and objectives necessary in conducting research, design, and development in the areas of satellite and orbital transfer vehicle systems, with an emphasis on new and advanced space systems and technologies to improve the performance of the Navy mission.
The spacecraft engineering department is responsible for executing a $170M program, including the development of cutting edge space capabilities in satellite servicing, space robotics, and satellite operations.
After working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, and in industry, Sandhoo began his career at NRL in 2005 as a senior aerospace engineer on the Operationally Responsive Space initiative. He progressed into broader roles at NRL, including time as the science advisor for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and as a member of Naval Warfare Integration Group (N00X) on the staff of Chief of Naval Operations.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, Master’s from the U.S. Naval War College, a Master’s and a Doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from George Washington University, and is an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow. Since 1986, he has served in uniform in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy. Currently, Sandhoo is a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an Engineering Duty Officer. He is the recipient of numerous personal, unit, and campaign awards, which are all a tribute to the Sailors, Marines, and civilians he served alongside throughout his Navy, Marine and civilian career. Of them all, he most treasures his peer-awarded Battalion Marine of the Year Award.