Autonomous Systems

 Dr. Hise O. Gibson is a Professor at the Harvard Business School in the Technology and Operations Management Unit.  He graduated with a B.S. in Operations Research from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He received his M.S. in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, a Masters in Operations from the Air Command and Staff College, and a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Technology and Operations Management from Harvard Business School. He is a career military officer and master-aviator who has been awarded the Bronze Star medal. He has led large and small teams globally. His expertise is at the intersection of operational effectiveness and human capital development. He has also worked with midsize and large transportation and distribution organizations, retailers, finance, energy, and tech-startups on operational issues and pathways to better leverage their human capital in more effective ways to maximize the intersection of Technology, People, and Processes and leading through crises. 

 Nini Hamrick is the cofounder and President of Vannevar Labs—a Silicon Valley defense technology startup that develops software for important national security challenges. Nini leads Vannevar’s mission teams that launch and grow its technology deployments with the Department of Defense. Vannevar's first product, Decrypt, helps public servants working on military and foreign policy decisions understand, target, and respond to foreign actors in ways previously not possible, and has been deployed across 15 organizations in the Department of Defense since its launch in January 2021. Prior to co-founding Vannevar, Nini served as a US intelligence officer in several counterterrorism mission groups, including embedding with the US military overseas. She holds a BA from Harvard College, where she studied Middle Eastern History and Arabic, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  

 Brandon Tseng is Shield AI’s Co-Founder, President, and Chief Growth Officer. Previously, Brandon proudly served in the Navy for seven years as a SEAL and Surface Warfare Officer aboard USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52). He founded Shield AI – with the mission to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems – driven by firsthand experiences during deployments to Afghanistan (x2), the Pacific Theater, and the Arabian Gulf. At Shield AI, he leads all aspects of growth – business development, corporate development, strategy, marketing, and government relations – to help Shield AI achieve its mission at a global scale. Brandon earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and his MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Timothy (Tim) Booher is Vice President Combat Systems, Aeronautics for Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading Aeronautics Engineering and Technology Combat Systems team, which develops and sustains all electronic, computational systems enabling combat and mission effectiveness for all platforms across Aeronautics. Responsibilities includes leadership through all phases of design, development, delivery, and sustainment of integrated solutions ensuring Aeronautics decisions support the corporate strategy from both a business and technology migration perspective. 

Before joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Booher was HSBC Bank’s Global Chief Technology Officer for Cybersecurity where he was responsible for 986M in annual security spend and for the strategy, design, engineering and implementation of security technology across 22 countries, 4 regions, and 3 business units for 40-million customers, 250,000 employees, and 2.7B AUM. 

Prior to his tenure at HSBC, Mr. Booher was Colgate-Palmolive's Chief Data and Chief Information Security Officer responsible for the analytics, data strategy, technology architecture and computer security. Before his time at Colgate, Mr. Booher was a program manager for the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, where he directed a research portfolio of offensive cyber technologies, data analytics, programming languages, cryptography, formal methods, advanced sensing, and artificial intelligence. He also previously served in the Air Force Red Team at the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the deputy director for technical policy integration for special programs at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. He has led assessments of advanced technology including sensors for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, aircraft survivability, directed energy and cyberspace operations. He has also held positions at Headquarters U.S. Air Force (AF/A9, AF/A8, SAF/AQ), the Air Force Research Laboratory (RYS, RWC), the F-15 SPO, Joint Special Operations Command and the Active Materials and Structures Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In a part-time capacity Mr. Booher co-founded three start-up companies and served as a board director and advisor for Google, Team8, Glilot Capital Partners and Forgepoint Capital. He is a judge for the Ansari Xprize. Mr. Booher has degrees in Aeronautics/Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He holds certificates in Financial Planning from Georgetown University and Computer Security from Carnegie Mellon University.

 Serving the First Congressional District of Virginia since 2007, Rob has been focused on strengthening our military and supporting veterans, promoting economic development through fiscal responsibility, fixing our crumbling infrastructure, increasing access to high-speed internet, and promoting workforce development through Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs. In the U.S. congress, Rob serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Natural Resources, and the House Select Committee on China where he is well-positioned to represent the needs of Virginia's First District.  He has quickly earned a reputation for being an advocate for our men and women in uniform and for being a champion of the Chesapeake Bay.

On the Armed Services Committee, Rob serves as Vice Chairman of the full Committee and Chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Subcommittee. In addition, as Co-Chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, he is a staunch advocate for a robust Naval fleet and a healthy domestic shipbuilding industry. He also currently serves in the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors. Rob also served as Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee for four years and as Chairman of the U.S. Naval Academy's Board of Visitors for nine years.

As a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Rob brings his professional expertise in water quality, fisheries, and other natural resource issues. He is a champion of the Chesapeake Bay -- for its environmental and economic attributes -- and has introduced legislation that will increase the accountability and effectiveness of cleaning up the Bay. He serves as co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus, which brings Bay issues into focus for Members of Congress. As a Co-Chair of the House Rural Broadband Caucus, he is leading the way to bring high-speed internet to the unserved areas of the First District and the nation. In 2018, he held two meetings of his Broadband Taskforce, where he brought together national, state, and local stakeholders to focus on finding real solutions that will expand broadband to unserved areas. His other infrastructure priorities include deepening and widening the Port of Virginia, easing congestion on I-95, improving and expanding the Long Bridge, expanding the capacity of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), and providing sustainable funding mechanisms to Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA).

He was re-elected for his eighth full term in the House of Representatives in November 2022 and for more than 30 years, Rob has served in several levels of government, from Montross Town Council to United States Congress. Rob won his first campaign for public office in 1986 when he was elected to the Montross Town Council, where he served for 10 years, four of them as Mayor. In 1995, Rob was elected to the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors and was elected its Chairman in 2003. In 2005, voters in the 99th Legislative District elected Rob to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served until he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2007.

Prior to his election to Congress, Rob spent 26 years working in state government, most recently as Field Director for the Virginia Health Department's Division of Shellfish Sanitation. Earlier, he worked for many years as an environmental health specialist for local health departments in Virginia's Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.