SCIENTIFIC SYSTEMS COMPANY - Key Persons
Retired U.S. Air Force Major General Charles "Corky" Corcoran is a Strategic Advisor for Scientific Systems. With extensive operational and command experience, he offers the company critical guidance on multi-domain integration, advancements in manned-unmanned teaming, and tactical and policy procedures.
With over 31 years of military service, including serving as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at USAF Headquarters (HQ) in Washington D.C and Commander of the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center in Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, his expertise will increase the speed of information available to warfighters to accelerate decision-making, expedite the sense-to-effects kill chain, and ensure mission success.
General Corcoran is a 1992 graduate of the USAF Academy, a 2000 graduate of the USAF Weapons School, and a 2011 graduate of the National War College. As a command pilot, he logged 3,200+ flying hours and 440+ combat hours, primarily in the F-22 Raptor and F-15 Eagle.
General Corcoran serves on the board of directors for the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance and is a Senior Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Business Development
David "Heat" Lyons is Vice President of Business Development. He leads the go-to-market team by overseeing efforts to identify and execute target market opportunities in the Products Division in line with corporate strategic objectives. Mr. Lyons brings a long and distinguished record of success through 30 years of experience in the defense and aerospace industries.
Mr. Lyons is a retired United States Air Force Colonel who commanded at the squadron, group, and installation level, in and out of combat. As an F-16 Fighter Pilot, he is a graduate of and later returned as an instructor to the United States Air Force Weapons School. He served in staff assignments at Checkmate - Headquarters Air Force, Sub-Unified Combatant Command, and the Joint Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation level at DARPA. Prior to Scientific Systems, he served as the Growth Lead for Spectrum Systems, Mercury Systems, where he opened a new $200M product line by repurposing existing technology to fill a critical government requirement.
Mr. Lyons holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the United States Air Force Academy, an MBA from TUI University, and a Master of Arts from the Naval War College. He is a graduate of the Maritime Advanced Warfighting School and was a National Defense Fellow at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Dr. Jeff Ridder is Chief Scientist, Autonomy Systems at SSCI. His primary responsibility is to provide the strategy and vision to shepherd autonomy technologies from R&D to products and programs of record. His particular focus is on autonomy and battle management for multi-domain command and control, air domain and electronic warfare collaborative autonomy. He has over 30 years of leadership and technology development experience in government R&D labs, federally funded research and development centers, and large and small aerospace and defense companies. He has been a key performer on multiple major DoD studies resulting in major programs of record; led multiple S&T programs with DARPA, ONR and AFRL in battle management, collaborative autonomy, and electronic warfare; developed a distributed, multi-domain battle management reference architecture for a major prime contractor with application in multiple significant programs; and worked on the Space Shuttle rocket motors now adapted for Artemis. He holds BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Mission Solution Development
- Vice President, Solutions Development
Dr. Owen Brown is the Vice President of Mission Solution Development at Scientific Systems. His primary responsibilities include the conceptualization, development, and implementation of disruptive prototypes and demonstrations of revolutionary solutions for SSCI customers' most challenging missions. Overall, the focus is on the creation of AI/ML enabled capabilities to command, control, communicate with, and manage composable collections of intelligent agents, smart sensors, and autonomous platforms.
Previous to joining Scientific Systems, Dr. Brown was a Program Manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he led the MiTEx space demonstration and created the fractionated spacecraft architecture concept culminating in the System F6 program. He was the Chief Technology Officer of KTSi (later SAIC), where he provided senior military leadership advice on advanced space programs. He served as a committee member of the National Academy of Sciences National Security Space Defense and Protection project, and led a congressional report on space traffic management. Brown served on active duty as a nuclear submarine officer and retired from the US Navy Reserve as an Engineering Duty Officer.
A former researcher at NASA Ames, he holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University.
Dr. Raman Mehra, Chief Executive Officer, founded Scientific Systems in 1976 and is responsible for overall technical and financial management of R&D projects, and supervision of a professional staff of engineers and scientists. He has participated in the development of innovative applications of autonomy and intelligent guidance, navigation and control (GNC) for aerospace and defense systems; image and signal processing for target detection and recognition; multisensory multitarget tracking; Kalman Filtering and Nonlinear Filtering; Battlemanagement, Wargaming and Mission Planning.
He is responsible for getting the company into new fields such as Robotics, Unmanned Systems, Networking, Formation Flying, Fault-Tolerant Control, Multi-Spacecraft Autonomy & Control, Information Assurance, Network Centric Warfare, nonlinear optimization of flight vehicles, missile guidance and control, process control and electric power systems. He has published over 300 papers and edited a book on System Identification.
Dr. Mehra was an Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics at Harvard University from 1972-1976. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1965 and 1968, respectively. His professional awards include: Fellow IEEE (1986), Eckman Award (1971), IEEE T-AC Best Paper (1971) and Automatica Best Paper (1982) Awards. Dr. Mehra has close to 10,000 Citations for his papers. They can be found on Google Scholar.
Dr. Seereeram is responsible for leading SSCI's collaborative mission autonomy technology vision, strategy and roadmap development. In this role, he coordinates team efforts in AI/ML-enabled active perception, collaborative and cognitive mission autonomy for current and future multi-vehicle unmanned systems to meet the strategic and tactical capability needs of our customers.
He has led DARPA, NASA, AFRL and NAVAIR-funded efforts to develop software technologies for onboard autonomy, mission planning, image-based navigation, autonomy, robotics and control for maritime, air and space systems. His interests and experience include Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, Advanced Controls and Estimation, and Information Technologies. Dr. Seereeram holds a M.S. in Electrical Engineering (Brown University) and a Ph.D. in Computer & Systems Engineering (RPI).
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Technologies for SSCI
- Vice President, Technologies
Dr. Scott Littlefield is the Vice President of Technologies for SSCI. It this role he directs SSCI's research in areas including autonomy, machine learning, perception, and vehicle controls. Scott joined Scientific Systems from the Georgia Tech Research Institute, where he managed programs in unmanned vehicle test and evaluation and collaborative autonomy for small unmanned aerial systems. Prior to GTRI, Dr. Littlefield was a Program Manager in the Tactical Technology Office at DARPA, where he led the ACTUV and Hydra programs. Prior to DARPA, Dr. Littlefield worked in several roles at the Office of Naval Research, and was the Director of Technology and Innovation at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division. Scott has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, M.P.A. from Harvard University, and D. Eng. in Engineering Management from George Washington University.
Job Titles:
- Technical Director and Group Leader, Active Perception
Dr. Deligeorges leads the development of autonomous systems and sensing focused on edge processing and behavior driven closed-loop sensing at SSCI. His team works on modular autonomy stacks for small autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles and ground robots to support squad level operations and to create ‘taskable' systems that can be given missions as if it were just another member of the team. Areas of interest include incremental development of autonomy, creating complex behaviors from simple building blocks, on the fly path and mission planning, smart sensing, and user interfaces to enable manned-unmanned teaming. Dr. Deligeorges background is in acoustics, neuroscience, neuromorphic technologies, and smart sensors, particularly to enable robotic systems and increase autonomy. Prior to joining SSCI, he ran BioMimetic Systems for 12 years specializing in hostile fire detectors and counter-sniper technologies, patenting technology and selling systems domestically and internationally, as well as running sensor programs with DARPA, ONR, ARL, C5ISR, Natick Soldier Center, Picatinny Arsenal, AFOSR, NIH, and the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnology.
Dr. Deligeorges holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, M.S. and Ph.D. from Boston University in Biomedical Engineering with a specialization in Neuroscience.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Advanced Concepts at SSCI
- Vice President, Technology Innovation
Job Titles:
- Scientific Systems' Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Innovation Officer
- Vice President
Dr. Todd C. Hughes is Scientific Systems' Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, responsible for strategic growth initiatives in artificial intelligence for multi-domain mission autonomy software applications. Dr. Hughes comes to SSCI from BigBear.ai where, as Senior Vice President of Technology, he led the research and development team delivering leading-edge artificial intelligence to its data-driven decision support software. In the role of Chief Technology Officer for Next Century Corporation (acquired by CACI) he established a thriving line of business that earned industry recognition for innovations in analytics, applied behavioral science, artificial intelligence, command and control, and machine learning. Dr. Hughes also served at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as Program Manager, building an expansive portfolio of research and development initiatives leading to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, computer vision, geospatial analytics, and neurotechnology for defense and intelligence missions. He has also worked in technical leadership positions at Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories and Cycorp, Inc. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Mission Solution Programs
- Vice President, Solutions Programs
Mr. Bob Polutchko is the Vice President of Mission Solution Programs at Scientific Systems. His primary responsibilities include the realization and delivery of disruptive prototypes and demonstrations of revolutionary solutions for SSCI customers' most challenging missions. Overall, the focus is on the creation of AI/ML enabled capabilities to command, control, communicate with, and manage composable collections of intelligent agents, smart sensors, and autonomous platforms. Bob brings over 25 years of experience as a leader of innovative aerospace and defense research and development in large, small, and multi-national companies.
Mr. Polutchko has led organizations and programs engaged in development of ground robotics, advanced power generation, sniper detection systems, intelligent munitions, spacecraft heat shields, weapon GN&C, MEMS instruments, aircraft avionics upgrades, guided airdrop systems, and Space Shuttle rendezvous & proximity operations GN&C. Bob has SM and SB degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from M.I.T.
Mr. Kunal G. Mehra, President, leads the implementation of company strategy, oversees finances, and manages senior staff. He was previously charged with transition of SSCI's technology development programs into fielded products. Mr Mehra successfully led the commercialization of both the CMARS and ImageNav products while securing Phase III funding. Prior to SSCI, he was Vice President of Strategy and Market Development at Equitant Inc. (ACQ: IBM), a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provider that managed over $50 billion of revenue on behalf of market leaders such as Microsoft, Cisco, Lucent, Hewlett Packard, and Visteon, among others.
While spearheading Equitant's Global Market Development and Strategy, Mr. Mehra helped increase revenues by 80% in the 18 months prior to IBM's acquisition of the company. He holds a B.S. (Honors with Distinction) in Operations Research with Minors in Economics and International Affairs from Columbia University.
Job Titles:
- CFO and VP of Contracts at SSCI
- Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Contracts
Ms. Lora Loyall is the CFO and VP of Contracts at SSCI since April 2017. She oversees operational and strategic financial planning and analysis, accounting, compliance, and contracting functions for the company.
Prior to coming to SSCI, Ms. Loyall held senior financial positions at BBN Technologies (now part of Raytheon), iRobot's Government Division, BTI Systems (now part of Juniper Networks), and Crossbeam Systems (now part of Symantec). She brings 20 years of financial and government accounting and strategic planning experience to SSCI. Ms. Loyall holds an M.S. in Finance from Northeastern University and a B.S. from Bloomfield College.
Job Titles:
- V.P. of Human Resources
- Vice President, Human Resources / Security / Administration
Ms. Pat Kelly is the V.P. of Human Resources, Security and Administration. She oversee the Business Operations group including Human Resources, Security and Administration. One of Scientific Systems' longest serving employees, Ms. Kelly rose from Manager to Senior Manager to V.P. Ms. Kelly brings over 30 years of experience in leading and directing business operations in various government contractor organizations. Earlier in her career, Ms. Kelly held similar roles at Allen Bradley and Westinghouse.
Ms. Kelly holds a M.S. in Business Admin. from Boston College. and B.S. from Boston Univ.
Job Titles:
- Acquisition Executive
- Strategic Advisor
Mr. Walden has 40+ years of acquisition and technology development experience, as a former U.S. Air Force acquisition and technical officer. In previous roles, Mr. Walden was a member of the Senior Executive Service and Director and Program Executive Officer for the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Among his accomplishments were directing development of both the B-21 long-range stealth bomber, as well as the Common Mission Control Center (CMCC) for the Air Force. Both efforts are pathfinders for digital software acquisition, demonstrating an agile approach to quickly fielding warfighter capability.
He's since held an advisory role at the Pentagon and is a member of the Aerospace Corporation's Board of Trustees.
Mr. Walden graduated from Christopher Newport College and later served more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. He was a flight test engineer with Air Force Material Command. During his tours as a flight test engineer, Mr. Walden participated in the development, ground and flight-testing of numerous aerospace weapon systems.
Job Titles:
- Member of the IRobot
- Senior Vice President, Products
- Vice President of the Products Division
Tom Frost is Sr. Vice President of the Products Division. He oversees transitioning SSCI's cutting-edge research and technology to mature systems ready for fielding. Frost brings a long record of hardening cutting-edge robotics technology for worldwide battlefield deployment.
Frost, an early member of the iRobot team, helped develop and transition the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) PackBot robot from a prototype to full-rate production and battlefield deployment. Working search and rescue with the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR), Tom brought PackBots to their first real-world fielding on Sept. 11th at the World Trade Center Disaster site. Shortly thereafter, Frost deployed with the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force (REF) to use PackBots in search caves and bunkers in the mountains of Afghanistan. Today, thousands of PackBots are deployed around the world, saving countless lives with counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), recon, and hazmat operations.
After serving as iRobot's General Manager for the Defense business unit, Frost went on to become the President of Endeavor Robotics. His team was successful in capturing multiple Programs of Record and delivering thousands more robots to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. After Endeavor Robotics was acquired by FLIR and subsequently FLIR by Teledyne, Frost served as General Manager of the Unmanned Ground Systems business unit.
Frost holds an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.