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DIRECTED ENERGY
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY
DEPS Board of Directors
Candidates for the 2025 Election
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The Nominations Committee named the following ten candidates for the three DEPS Director positions to be filled
with this election. The slate emphasizes technical, organizational,and geographic diversity. Write-in candidates
are also accepted.
DEPS members can cast an electronic ballot by completing this form.
Note that member login is required; see our Members Page for details on account information.
Voting will remain open until midnight on Friday, 18 April 2025.
Cody Brownell, U.S. Naval Academy
Background: Cody J. Brownell, Ph.D., is currently a Professor of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As the leader of USNA’s Directed Energy Research Center since 2014, he has led midshipmen research and capstone projects on a range of topics related to atmospheric propagation, lethality, and counter-directed energy technologies. Cody and his students have published over 50 scientific articles, and delivered dozens of presentations at DEPS meetings and other venues. In the classroom, Cody teaches an elective course “Directed Energy: Naval Applications of Lasers” as well as majors courses in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. As Chair from 2016-2024 of the Naval Academy Science and Engineering Conference - the nation’s premier undergraduate STEM conference and one of USNA’s signature events - he has demonstrated an ability to engage a broad audience in scientific and technical topics with naval relevance. Cody is a member of the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board at West Point, and was chosen by his peers at USNA to oversee the academic promotion process for all permanent military and civilian faculty. He holds a B.S.E. (‘02) in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University, and an M.S. (‘05) and Ph.D. (‘08) also in Mechanical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.
Candidate's Statement: The Directed Energy Professional Society’s core mission is to promote DE technologies through communication, education, and outreach. To meet these responsibilities, we must strengthen partnerships across industry, government, and academia. DEPS should engage leaders at all levels on the potential role of Directed Energy, while educational funding and academic outreach must be crafted to satisfy the needs of our targeted audience. To facilitate the technical conversation about directed energy topics, the Board can ensure the Journal of Directed Energy is able to adapt to the changing landscape of academic publishing. I hope that my experiences can add a valuable perspective to the DEPS Board during this exciting time for our industry.
George Che, GTRI
Background: Dr. George Che is a Senior Research Engineer in the Antenna Systems Division of the Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory (SEAL-ASD) at GTRI. He is the Head of the System Characterization and Applications Branch and oversees a large research portfolio comprised of many efforts in HPM, EMC/EMI, and phased array antennas supporting a number of DoD customers, including SMDC, AFRL, NRL, DOT&E, and others. The HPM portion of this portfolio is heavily focused on modeling and simulation for HPM lethality, but also includes component and subsystem-level effects testing, independent assessment of compact sources, and T&E policy and guidance support. Dr. Che received the 2019 Triple Threat Award at GTRI, which recognizes exemplary performance in all three areas of leadership, technical performance, and business development. He is also heavily involved in recruiting and mentoring student employees, serving as the SEAL Associate Student Coordinator from 2020-2022 and SEAL Student Coordinator from 2022-Present. His success in mentorship of both student employees and fulltime junior researchers was recognized by an Excellence in Mentoring award in 2022. Dr. Che earned a Bachelor's (2012) degree in Physics from Princeton University and Master’s (2017) degree in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. (2018) in Exploration Systems Design both from Arizona State University.
Candidate's Statement: Maintaining and growing the talent pipeline for the DE workforce of today and tomorrow is crucial to developing innovative DE technologies and transitioning them to meet dynamic warfighter needs, especially at a time when peer adversaries are producing significantly more STEM graduates than the US both in sheer numbers and per capita. As THE professional society for DE research and development and its operational transition to the battlefield, DEPS needs to be at the forefront of sustaining and growing a highly skilled DE workforce. If elected to the Board of Directors, I will dedicate myself to enhancing DEPS public outreach programs, ensuring that students from high school up to PhD-level have greater visibility into the exciting opportunities within DE and its importance to national security. Furthermore, I will advocate for major DE centers of excellence across the services to create joint student internship and/or co-op programs, which would expose students to multiple technical topics, different work cultures, and mentorship by subject matter experts with a wide range of skillsets, thereby increasing their interest in DE while also providing multiple organizations access to top talent. As the student hiring coordinator for the Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory (SEAL) at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), I have not only recruited, hired, and/or mentored over a hundred undergraduate and graduate student employees, but also successfully transitioned many of them into fulltime scientists and engineers working on DE, EW, radar, quantum technologies, and other defense applications. I am eager to apply this expertise to a role with national-level impact on ensuring the future strength of the DE workforce.
Adam Clark, NSWCDD
Background: Mr. Clark is the Principal Program Manager for the High Power Microwave Weapons Systems Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center- Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) and serves as Navy Lead for a nationally strategic advanced prototyping and demonstration program directed by Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, jointly managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, and intended to develop, demonstrate, and transition a HPM weapon system for advanced threat defense applications. Adam is recognized within the Navy and DoD communities as a subject matter expert on high power microwave and directed energy weapon systems development management, has led international level meetings with allied nations, industry, and academia partners, and authored and briefed numerous technical presentations at conferences and symposia.
Adam served in the US Army as a signals intelligence linguist and analyst before separating after 10yrs in 2005, and began civilian employment at NSWCDD as a contractor. Mr. Clark transitioned to government employment in 2010, and supported NSWDD in Directed Energy, expeditionary warfare technologies, target threat analysis, and an OCONUS deployment with a HPM Weapon System. Adam has led and managed numerous Dahlgren Division projects of increasing complexity to include countering improvised explosive devices, unmanned aerial systems, infrastructure and electronics, vessels and vehicles, advanced aerial threats, as well as subsystem development, modeling and simulation, and SBIR efforts. Adam served as the Navy’s Directed Energy Technology Office’s C-IED Portfolio Manager and as the Joint Intermediate Force Protection Office Nonlethal Vessel and Vehicle Stopping and Counter-Electronic S&T Portfolio Officer of Primary Responsibility.
Candidate's Statement: As Directed Energy Professionals whether in the lab, on the test range, or at the conference table, we should all subscribe to the DEPS core mission of fostering research, development, and transition of Directed Energy technologies. As an organization the necessity to progress to keep pace with the changing technology landscape is critical. As a DE community the ebb and flow of capability gaps, strategic importance, and the subsequent funding levels influence how we continually change manage and identify areas to maintain, refine, and improve. The past five years have demonstrated how tumultuous these shifts can be, particularly in the HPM realm and it’s not slowing. There is a clear demand signal to identify more opportunities through DEPS to advance service laboratory, industry, and academia participation within the pulsed power, source, antenna, and controls development communities to increase information exchange and support the core mission and goals of DEPS. Possibilities to explore: promoting more participation within the HPM community’s subsystem development, T&E, and M&S sectors; additional advocacy for participation in S&T and T&E conferences and workshops; increase classified opportunities, as well as non-limited opportunities, within conferences and events; providing short courses tailored for mid and senior level professionals, while maintaining courses for early careerists.
Victor Gamiz
Background: For 50 years, Dr. Victor Gamiz has been a leader and innovator in Research and Development of Laser and Space technology for the US Air Force, industry, academia and most recently US Space Force.
At AFRL, Dr. Gamiz spearheaded the application of ground-based laser illuminators for the Space Domain Awareness (SDA) (previously known as Space Situational Awareness (SSA)) Mission area. He led and directed large teams at Starfire Optical Range, NM and Maui Space Surveillance Site, HI, who successfully performed exceedingly complex demonstrations of laser illumination of satellites for tracking and imaging. His research team developed a probabilistic laser threat risk assessment (PRA) that led to the revision of DoD Instruction 3100.11, for safe, but less restrictive propagation of lasers into space for multiple DoD Missions. He led and directed large teams performing risk reduction for the Airborne Laser (ABL) program.
Ph.D. in Physics and Optical Science from University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) and Optica, (formerly Optical Society of America (OSA)) for contributions to the optics and laser community.
Adjunct Professor for the Air Force Institute of Technology. Research topics involving lasers.
For DEPS, Victor created and chaired a new session at the 2023 DEPS DE Systems Symposium entitled Laser Technology for Space Applications to inform the laser community of the Space Mission for awareness, exploit technology synergies and inform of the DoD policy to laser field testing. The new session continued and grew in 2024 and is planned for 2025. Served as a Judge for the 2023 and 2024 DEPS Special Award at the Central New Mexico STEM Research Challenges.
Candidate's Statement: Serving on DEPS Board of Directors, I will work with the DEPS board, staff and members to work to achieve the DEPS goals through current, and newly initiated DEPS activities.
My specific interests include:
- Grow the new Laser Technology for Space Applications session to increase the awareness of Space Mission needs to DE community. Continue to educate the laser community to the requirements of field testing of above the horizon laser field testing.
- Strongly support DEPS Warfighter Outreach Program for Directed Energy Technologies providing a touchpoint with the Warfighter for their feedback on the utility and effectiveness of DE technologies in relevant environments.
- Promote the enhancement of mission planning tools for the warfighter to understand the operational opportunities, effectiveness, limitations and nuances of utilizing DE weapons against relevant targets in relevant scenarios.
- Foster a close relationship with JDETO to understand and promote DE technology development in support of the DoD services and CoCOMs.
- Promote DE education to the technology community, service labs and the warfighter, via Professional development short courses on DE topics, Publishing of the peer-reviewed Journal of Directed Energy, DE event proceedings and Books on DE technologies.
- Actively support DEPS DE Symposia, Conferences and Workshops.
Kevin Hewett, AFRL
Background: Dr. Kevin B. Hewett is currently the Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate’s Deputy Program Manager for the Laser Weapons Capability Analysis program which is responsible for generating new airborne laser weapon concepts and the technology development requirements for the laser division. During his 23 year career at AFRL, he has led multiple laser technology development efforts and held multiple leadership roles. His technical expertise in gas laser technology (HF/DF lasers, Chemical Oxygen Iodine Lasers (COIL), and Diode Pumped Alkali Lasers (DPAL)) resulted in his appointment to the HEL-JTO Gas Laser TAWG [2005-2015], chairing the Gas Laser TAWG from 2008-2015. He was the Staff Specialist for Directed Energy Weapons in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in 2015-16. Dr. Hewett returned to AFRL and was selected to oversee the design, fabrication, and integration of the LANCE laser – the lowest SWaP 50kW class laser ever built. Upon the completion of LANCE, he continued working to reduce SWaP for future airborne laser systems through various programs at AFRL before assuming his current position. Dr. Hewett has a BS in Chemistry from North Carolina State University and a MS and PhD from Cornell University.
Candidate's Statement: In the last few years, the fielding of laser weapon systems was starting to become a reality. From multiple prototypes for both ship and ground based systems being field tested by the Navy and Army, to an awareness that airborne laser weapon systems could solve protection issues with our widely spaced airbases in the Pacific, the fabled program of record seemed to be within our grasp. However, multiple issues affecting the directed energy community are starting to manifest. With significant budget reductions for the DoD laser programs, potential personnel losses from an aging workforce, and significant turnover of our political leadership, the directed energy community is fast approaching a crossroads. The Directed Energy Professional Society creates a common forum where Government, Industry, and Academia can mingle and collaborate together as a community, thus avoiding the on-coming storm clouds visible on the horizon. Utilizing the DEPS multiple annual conferences to develop relationships and generate new collaborations and partnerships, we can push through the likely fiscal difficulties of the next few years. The DEPS educational activities, especially at the graduate and undergraduate level, are critical for replacing personnel who are beginning to retire. Only by reaching out to students and generating enthusiasm for DE career paths, can our community continue to grow and renew our membership. And finally, DEPS needs to restart the Directed Energy to DC Exhibition (DE2DC), which has not been held since 2020. This outreach event enables the DE community to educate our newly elected/appointed leaders to both the current reality and the future promise of directed energy weapons. As a member of the DEPS Board of Directors, I will work with the Services and our industrial and academic partners to renew optimism and help create conditions for multiple systems to be transitioned into real world weapons systems to protect our armed forces and homeland.
Donna Howland, Boeing
Background: Donna Howland has a passion for lasers & the mission of delivering Directed Energy to the warfighter and has published numerous technical papers in the area of lasers and optics. Howland is currently at Boeing and provides strategic guidance to the Boeing Directed Energy organization. Prior to Boeing, Howland led a Directed Energy portfolio at Lockheed Martin as Program Manager for the DE M-Shorad program for Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office and the EOIR product line. Before her position at Lockheed Martin, Howland was a senior manager at Northrop Grumman for over 20 years, holding positions such as the Acting Director for Business Development and General Manager for the Directed Energy Operating Business Unit at Northrop Grumman. Additional Northrop Grumman positions held include the Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) Program Manager and LWSD Integration and Sustainment Program Manager. As part of the LWSD testing, Howland supported many operational testing underways on board the USS Portland LPD-27 for Office of Naval Research and the Navy. Howland has over 20 years’ experience in optics and lasers. Prior to working on LWSD Howland held positions of increasing responsibility in Business Development, Functional Management, Logistics & Operational Support, and Integrated Product Team (IPT) Management at Northrop Grumman. Previously Howland held the position of Northrop Grumman Manager of the Optical Components Technology Doman IPT within Supply Chain Management. Earlier in her career at Northrop Grumman she supported programs including the Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser Program, Airborne Laser, Shield and James Webb Space Telescope. She holds a BS and MS in Physics, an MBA and is certified in Production and Inventory Management,
Howland is the current Secretary on the Board of Directors for the American Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council (OEOSC). She also supports the OEOSC Technical Task Group on Laser Damage and has published many technical papers on the development of an American Laser Damage Standard.
Technical highlights include the Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser 6 pass pre-amplifier utilizing master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) architecture used on the Joint High Power Solid-State Laser.
Howland has 25 years of technical, program and functional management experience.
Bonnie Johnson, Naval Postgraduate School
Background: Dr. Bonnie Johnson is a systems thinker and visionary who studies advanced technologies as engineered solutions for Naval warfighters. She leads interdisciplinary research projects at the Naval Postgraduate School to explore and advance directed energy weapons and systems, combat systems, and artificial intelligence-enabled battle management aids. Dr. Johnson has advised hundreds of NPS active-duty and civilian graduate students as they pursue their thesis and dissertation research projects. Her mission engineering and system analysis research for directed energy includes development of a cognitive laser approach for warfighter decision-making, enhancements to the directed energy kill chain, kinetic/non-kinetic engagement coordination, countering red kill chains with high-power microwave and ultra short pulse laser capabilities, and counter directed energy warfare solutions and tactics. Dr. Johnson has worked at NPS for 14 years. Prior to NPS, she was a senior systems engineer for Northrop Grumman and SAIC working on air and missile defense programs. She has a B.S. in Physics from Virginia Tech, an M.S. in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins, and a PhD in Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Johnson won the 2022 Hamming Award for Leadership in Interdisciplinary Research and the 2024 Surface Navy Association Literary Award for her article on the “Coming of Age of Directed Energy Weapons and the Red Sea Crisis.”.
Candidate's Statement: I am honored to ask for your support as I seek to serve on the DEPS Board of Directors. Directed energy (DE) technology stands at a pivotal moment in history, as we are on the brink of seeing DE systems not only transition into operational capabilities but also make a profound impact on the battlefield, enhancing the effectiveness of our warfighters. This is a critical time for our community, and I am passionate about playing a role in shaping the future of DE to support the warfighters who need it.
My vision is clear: I want to help guide DEPS through the challenges of maturing directed energy systems and bridging the gap to ensure they cross the “Valley of Death” and are deployed to provide real-world operational capabilities. The future of DE is not just about advancing technology—it’s about ensuring that these systems are practical, reliable, and ready to support our warfighters when they need them most.
I also aim to revitalize the Journal of Directed Energy, transforming it into a more active and collaborative space. By encouraging greater participation from the DE community—both as authors and peer reviewers—we can elevate the journal’s impact, sharing the latest innovations and research while fostering a culture of knowledge exchange.
In addition to the technical challenges, I want to ensure that we continue to focus on the education and development of our future DE leaders and warfighters. It is crucial that we encourage more active duty officers to participate in DEPS activities, so they are better equipped with the tools and understanding to navigate the growing complexities of directed energy warfare. Our warfighters must have a deep understanding of these systems in order to fully leverage them in future conflicts.
I am committed to being open to ideas and feedback from the DEPS community on how we can improve collaboration across all sectors: the Services, labs, academia, industry, and, of course, our future DE warfighters. In this new era of DE warfare, it will be essential that we foster strong partnerships, ensuring that all stakeholders are engaged, informed, and working toward common goals.
This is a crucial moment for directed energy, with the potential for DE weapons to redefine the way we approach warfare. However, this also introduces a new and evolving DE threat environment that we must stay ahead of, particularly as adversaries develop their own capabilities. DEPS will play a key role in fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and ensuring that our warfighters have the best tools to succeed.
With your support, I am eager to contribute to this mission and ensure that DEPS continues to be a driving force in the growth of directed energy and its integration into the future of warfare.
Thank you for considering me for this important role.
Thomas McNellis
Background: Thomas McNellis began his career on the Corona Program (a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites during the early days of aerial ground penetrations) produced and operated by the Directorate of Science and Technology. Thomas has devoted his time over the past five years pursuing the topics of Accelerated Learning and Memory Processing via Artificial Intelligence. He also taught those topics as an Adjunct Professor. Thomas has held Government Clearances for numerous programs and operations. He holds multiple graduate degrees including an MBA in Operations Research, an ME in Engineering Research with emphasis in Computer Design and an MS in Engineering & Business from the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas hopes to use this diverse background to assist Direct Energy Progress.
Conor Pogue, NIWC
Background: Dr. Conor Pogue is a member of the Atmospheric Propagation Branch at the Naval Information Warfare Center where he pursues projects around atmospheric sensing and prediction for Directed Energy applications. During his 7 years at NPS, Conor earned his Master's and PhD in Directed Energy fields, focusing his research on THz laser diagnostics, laser pulse shaping for electron injectors, THz FEL design, and atmospheric propagation modeling. His work there directly contributed to numerous Master's theses for both US Navy, US Marine Corps, and international Naval officers, highlighting his commitment to mentorship and advancement in research within the DE community. At NIWC Pac, Conor has a diverse portfolio of Directed Energy projects, including model validation utilizing field tests, outdoor propagation experimentation of novel sources, and atmospheric prediction capability development. He actively leverages this work and collaborates across the DoD to drive new research across multiple DE disciplines.
Candidate's Statement: Driven by a passion for advancing Directed Energy technologies,
Dr. Conor Pogue has been a dedicated member of the DEPS community for 15 years. DEPS internships at the Naval
Research Laboratory and Naval Postgraduate School were integral in sparking his interest in Directed Energy
research and drove him to pursue a PhD in Free Electron Laser technologies. In his academic pursuit he was also
recipient of a DEPS fellowship, which was imperative to supporting his doctoral studies. These programs are an
important avenue to drive young scientists and engineers into the diverse area of DE research and Conor
understands firsthand the importance of supporting early career development and the critical role that the
Directed Energy Professional Society plays in that area. His commitment to DEPS is evident through his active
participation in the Systems, Science & Technology, and Test & Evaluation symposiums. He has chaired several
Atmospheric Propagation tracks at S&T and T&E symposia, fostering collaboration between Department of Defense,
industry, and academia. As a board member, Conor aims to leverage his experience and leadership to further the
mission of DEPS and inspire the next generation of Directed Energy professionals.
Sean Ross, Army RCCTO Directed Energy
Background: Dr. Sean Ross is a DEPS Fellow, has had a career in Air Force Directed Energy for 30 years and most recently is a Senior Technical Advisor for Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Directed Energy Project Office.
Candidate's Statement: My abiding interest is in seeing Directed Energy Weapon Systems transition to the warfighter and fulfil the promise the DoD has seen since the mid 1970s. The Directed Energy field will undergo a change as we shift from primarily early phase technological research to fielding, improving, acquiring and maintaining Directed Energy Weapon Systems and DEPS will need to change to match. We need to continue and expand the inclusion of Power, Thermal, Structural, Command & Control, Detection, Tracking and tactics in our conferences so that DEPS continues to be THE place for people to talk about and collaborate about Laser and Microwave weapon systems.
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Last updated: 4 April 2025
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