Background: Dr. Diana L. Loree received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University with a specialty in pulsed power in 1991. She has been employed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL/RD) (or its predecessor, Phillips Laboratory) for over 25 years. Beginning in the high power microwave division as a bench level field engineer, she rose through the ranks of the Active Denial Technology (ADT) program and into more technical leadership roles becoming ADS ACTD Technical Manager in the early 2000’s. In 2009 she was promoted to being the senior strategic planner for AFRL/RD as the Precision Engagement Product Line Lead whose portfolio included the tactical level laser system technologies research along with the counter-electronic high power microwave thrusts. In 2012, she moved to the front office into the AFRL/RD Assistant Chief Scientist role working to provide scientific oversight, assessment, and guidance to the directorate’s >$250M portfolio. Dr. Loree was Activing Chief Scientist for the first half of 2018 and then moved to be the Air Force representative to the Joint Directed Energy Transition Office (DE JTO) where she guides $10’s M in technology development and research. Dr. Loree was elected to the Board of the Directed Energy Professional Society in 2017 and has supported several DEPS Conferences including being the Chair of the RF Workshop portion of the Systems Symposium several years, session chair at many events, and Chair of the entire DE Annual Symposium held in March of 2016. Dr. Loree is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Life Member of the Air Force Association, and a long standing member of DEPS.
Candidate's Statement: Directed Energy holds the promises of scalable effects, deep magazine, low logistics chain, lowered collateral damage, and precise engagement that the users need. There have been issues in the past with DE programs overpromising and underperforming while on the other end, DE allowing too much customer concentration on the 100% capability end point without proposing acceptance of “still revolutionary” off-ramps of capability. We must take care to put acceptable rigor behind the programmatics, engineering, and effects promises of any system concept to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Academia, the services, agencies, international partners, and industry need to cooperate with each other, share data and plans to the maximum level, use sound research and systems engineering, and build that strong case – “That DE is HERE!” - not always at that Star Wars level, but in some realistic form. I believe DEPS has a key role to play in being a conduit for independent peer reviews, information sharing across the classification levels, education of the open populace, and education of “future” Directed Energy scientists and engineers and I want to be a part of that continuing. I’ve been incredibly pleased to be the DEPS Liaison to the Board of Scientific and Engineering Advisors (BSEA) and as such, manage and participate in the DEPS Scholarship and DEPS Fellows processes. Both efforts have seen a growth in quality applications and awards. We have better balanced the Scholarship portfolio between HPM and HEL and based on interest and support, even expanded into additional awards in the Ultra-short Pulse Laser category. Our Fellows represent decades of combined contribution to the history of Directed Energy. DEPS needs to continue to be that strong advocate, educational driver, and information exchange organization for Directed Energy. As DE advances, we need to bring more user, warfighter, and transition agency personnel into the folds via improved and even “directed” advertising of conferences, events and workshops. I’m proud to have served on the Board and I would be even more proud to continue serving.
Howard Meyer
Background: Dr. Howard Meyer is a S&T SME with Strategic Analysis, Inc. He serves as the Science Advisor to the Director for Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) where he tracks and advocates directed energy, electronic warfare, aircraft survivability equipment, sensing, and related advanced technologies. He previously supported the HQ USAF Operational Capability Requirements and Strategic Planning Directorates and the Army Chief Scientist, advising these organizations on a wide variety of advanced technologies including directed energy. Howard retired from the Air Force in 1999 after a 22 year career in a variety of technical, educational and operational assignments including serving as the Deputy Director of the Airborne Laser System Program Office.
Howard has been actively involved in the directed energy community for over 25 years. In addition to serving as the Deputy Director of the ABL SPO, he oversaw the inclusion of a wide variety of directed energy concepts in the 2001-2004 Title X Future Capabilities Wargames, led development of the Air Force’s 2003 and 2007 Directed Energy Master Plans, and was the lead AF representative in the 2006 DoD DE Roadmap effort. For the past several years, he has been involved in efforts to accelerate the fielding of a wide variety of warfighting technologies including directed energy applications. He has worked with staff from the Services’ laboratories and headquarters organizations, industry, operational users, and OSD organizations to advocate support and funding for a variety of DE R&D efforts. He supported the development of Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ (CSBA) “Changing the Game: The Promise of Directed Energy Weapons” and was one of the key organizers of the first Directed Energy Summit sponsored by Booz Allen and CSBA in July of 2015.
Candidate's Statement: Our vision of transitioning DE systems to operational use is closer than it has ever been because of the significant advances have been made in all DE technology areas. The recognition that DE will be a major future capability and capability-enabler resulted in establishment of DE as a focal area within USD(R&E). As we thus begin to look toward many forthcoming DE transitions, the DE Weapon Review and Approval Process (DEW RAP) will become very important to our community, as well as something that we will want to sunset thorough increased warfighter acceptance and advocacy of DE.
To accelerate forthcoming DE transitions, our Society must evolve to become more than just a scientific society. DE S&T will always remain the foundation of all we do, but broader interactions with many other organizations and communities are essential if we hope to accelerate DE transitions. This will require broader interactions with operationally-focused societies (including air/land/sea operations, special operations, etc.), operations-enabling societies (intelligence, sensing, modeling/wargaming, strategy, etc.), and developmental and industry societies (NDIA, etc.). These interactions must include both educational outreaches and participation in their efforts to facilitate greater DE advocacy and acceptance. I’ve worked with one of the most important of these groups to us - the EW community – for the past 13 years and have worked with their professional society, the Association of Old Crows (AOC), for the past four years specifically focusing on joint EW and DE educational and cross-pollination initiatives.
In my day-to-day job, I am called upon to look at a wide variety of technologies and how they are developed and transitioned. I have had the opportunity to successfully advocate a wide variety non-DE technologies including sensing technologies, aircraft survivability technologies, electronic warfare technologies, and fundamental technologies that enhance a broad range of operational capabilities. As I did this, I’ve helped developers consider many strategic, operational, acquisition, and developmental issues from the perspective of those who will be using these new technologies and managing developmental efforts. This has given me an understanding of how those outside our community view DE and a level of credibility within these communities that can help us move DE forward.
When I previously served on the DEPS Board, I helped guide the development of our strategic plan with these thoughts in mind. To further our efforts to transition DE and advance the goals of our Society within the scientific and military communities, I would like to again serve our Society as we address the challenges I’ve outlined. I would thus greatly appreciate your vote.
Mike O'Connor
Background: Michael O’Connor’s history with the D.O.D. began as an enlisted soldier in the Army Special Forces in the mid and late 1980’s. He served on two “A-Teams” during the Cold War era as a light weapons specialist and studied the Polish language at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. The G.I. Bill afforded Mike the opportunity to attend his home state school, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. There Mike attained a B.S. in Physics and a M.S. in Geology (Geophysics). After graduating, his physics background, coupled with a lifelong penchant for tinkering, landed Mike a job as an R&D engineer in fiber optics at Spectran Corp., which would later become Lucent Technologies. Years later, toward the end of the Telecom boom, Mike joined start-up Nufern (now Coherent). Fortunately for Nufern, as the telecom bubble burst, fiber lasers became of interest, particularly at the D.O.D. At this time, Mike switched from an engineering role to a position in technical business development, which included writing proposals to the HEL-JTO for the development of next-generation fibers for high power fiber lasers. Many of the fibers developed during the early- and mid-2000’s with JTO funding would become the current standards in high-power fibers for both DE and commercial fiber lasers. After Nufern was acquired in 2008, Mike took a position at IPG Photonics as Director of Advanced Applications. This involved developing laser opportunities in the scientific, medical, and defense markets. During his eight years there, many of the U.S. DE demonstrations and lethality testing used IPG lasers, so Mike was privileged to have direct involvement with several Army, Air Force, and Navy DE programs. Mike also worked directly with laser system developers at prime D.O.D. contractors. In 2016 Mike joined nLIGHT, where he leads their DE business as GM of nLIGHT Defense.
Candidate's Statement: I have been continuously involved with DEPS and our DE community for nearly 20 years. I have received much from this community over that time -- serving on the DEPS Board would be an opportunity to “give back”. It happens that the DEPS Board presently consists of mostly government people; I would bring more than three decades of industry experience, offering diversification to the Board. Perhaps most importantly, as a former Special Forces soldier, I would bring a strong sense of what we are all in this for. This is an exciting time in DE as we transition from Science & Technology to real HEL systems for our national defense. It would be my pleasure and privilege to serve on the Board of DEPS.
Don Seeley
Background: Don Seeley is a program manager with Applied Technology Associates (ATA) where he manages efforts in DE Laboratory Support including the AFRL Beam Control Laboratory and Aero Effects Laboratory, and ATA support of SMDC’s HELMTT. Don also manages projects in DE product development at ATA in the areas of Acquisition, Tracking and Pointing, and system control for laser weapon systems. Prior to joining industry, Don was the Deputy Director with the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO) where he was instrumental in all key HEL-JTO programs including the Robust Electric Laser Initiative (RELI), Joint High Power Solid State Laser program (JHPSSL), Advanced Beam Control for Locating and Engagement (ABLE), HEL-JTO Broad Area Announcements, Service and Agency Calls, and Multi-Disciplinary Research Initiative. Don managed and expanded the HEL-JTO Educational Initiative with DEPS and was a key advocate and lead for international collaboration on HEL technologies. Before joining the HEL-JTO, Don was the Test Director and Senior Test Engineer at the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility where he managed and conducted test operations involving the Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), the SeaLite Beam Director (SLBD) and the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL). Don holds a Master’s degree in Optical Science and Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
Candidate's Statement: As a current DEPS board member, I led a committee on DE Outreach Opportunities. The goal of this committee was to make recommendation to the DEPS Board of Directors on DE outreach investments for the K-12 level. The recommendation of this committee, which has been implemented by DEPS, was to target specific science fairs and encourage teachers to suggest DE-related projects, and provide awards to those selected as being DE related and relevant. I serve as Treasurer for the Board of Directors and oversee and support the Board and the DEPS staff in all budgetary and fiscal matters.
As a future board member for the Directed Energy Professional Society, I will continue to serve the DE community by supporting the transition of DE technologies to the field and into the hands of the warfighter. DEPS membership can support this transition by working to better define and solve the many problems of transition such as policy, sustainment, safety and others. I will remain a strong advocate for DEPS to maintain and expand its role in educational support of future DE leaders, technologists, and operators. It is crucial to our community to have a pipeline of bright minds excited about these technologies and systems. In addition, I plan to continue to support the global expansion of DE collaboration with our international partners by supporting and working to hold more joint conferences and sessions with presentations and attendance by non-US participants under existing and future agreements.
Jeff Thomas
Background: Since 2002, Mr.Thomas has been the High Energy Laser Department Head at the Electro-Optics Center, a Division of the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory, a Navy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) and Mantech Center of Excellence for Electro-Optics. As Department Head, he has led a team of talented scientists and engineers that have supported numerous laser weapon programs including the Navy Laser Weapon System (LaWS), the USMC FNC Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) system, and the Navy Optical Dazzler Interdictor – Navy (ODIN) system, and the DE JTO Advanced Beam Control for Locating and Engagement (ABLE) system. In addition to having technical oversight responsibility for these and other programs, he has been the Principle Investigator for numerous laser based programs including a man-portable fiber laser weapon system, laser lethality programs, and several laser based Manufacturing Technology programs. In addition, Mr. Thomas has led the establishment of a unique high power laser lab focused on damage testing and characterization of optical components and coatings used in HEL weapon systems. Other projects he has been responsible for include the development of processes and applications for ultrashort pulsed lasers. He has over 30 years’ experience in the electro-optic industry with specific expertise in optical system design and analysis as well as laser system development for military, industrial, and scientific applications.
Candidate's Statement: We all share the common goal of transitioning DE weapons to benefit the warfighter. DEPS has played a key role in bringing the Directed Energy community together to provide a forum for industry, government, and academia to share information and to discuss the issues related to the development and transition of DE weapons. As an active participant in DEPS for over fifteen years, I can attest to the value that it has provided me personally. As an employee of a Navy UARC (University Affiliated Research Center), I believe I bring both an academic as well as a government perspective regarding the benefits DEPS provides and how to broaden its influence. As a Board member, I will strive to maintain the high technical content of conferences, short courses, and publications and will work to strengthen the collaborative environment DEPS provides. I also believe there needs to be more involvement, at an early development stage, with the end users who will ultimately utilize these weapons in the field. I believe DEPS can play a major role in strengthening this interaction.
