Speaker Bio:

Dr. Hobson was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2014 as a Deputy Director in the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, within the Office of the Secretary of  Defense. She is currently the Deputy Director for Strategic Initiatives, Policy and Emerging Technologies focused on advancing operational and live fire test and evaluation tools, methods and capabilities to meet the test and evaluation demands of the future.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Hobson supported the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, in two other capacities: first as a Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses and then as an Aircraft Systems and Weapons Staff Specialist in the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation. During these tenures, she provided guidance and direction on the survivability and lethality evaluation of major Department of Defense aircraft and weapons acquisition programs to include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force KC-46A aerial tanker, and the Navy P-8A multi-mission maritime aircraft.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Hobson worked as a Research Associate resident at the National Institute of Aerospace/NASA Langley Research Center. She defined and executed an interdisciplinary research that included the application of smart materials to actively control boundary layer flow demonstrating the ability to advance aerospace vehicle concepts and technologies. She authored articles, scientific publications and studies to explore the application of this research towards building more fuel efficient aircraft. Other duties included Aerospace Engineering Department lecturer and Airbus North America consultant.

Dr. Hobson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering from A. James Clark School of Engineering at University of Maryland. Dr. Hobson is a recipient of the National Fellowship for Exceptional Researcher awarded by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), and two Secretary of Defense Medals for Meritorious Civilian Service.

Speaker Bio:

Wendy Masiello is an independent consultant having retired from the United States Air Force as a Lieutenant General.  She is president of Wendy Mas Consulting, LLC and serves as an independent director for KBR Inc., EURPAC Service, Inc., and StandardAero (owned by The Carlyle Group).  She is also a Director on the Procurement Round Table and the National ReBuilding Together Board, President-elect for the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Board, Chair of Rawls Advisory Council for Texas Tech University’s College of Business and serves on the Air Force Studies Board under the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Prior to her July 2017 retirement, she was Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency where she oversaw a $1.4 billion budget and 12,000 people worldwide in oversight of 20,000 contractors performing 340,000 contracts with more than $2 trillion in contract value. During her 36-year career, General Masiello also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary (Contracting), Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, and as Program Executive Officer for the Air Forces $65 billion Service Acquisition portfolio.  She also commanded the 96^th Air Base Wing at Edwards Air Force Base and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting for Forces.

General Masiello’s medals and commendations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal and the Bronze Star.  She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University, a Master of Science degree in logistics management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Managers in Government.

General Masiello is a 2017 Distinguished Alum of Texas Tech University, was twice (2015 and 2016) named among Executive Mosaic’s Wash 100, the 2014 Greater Washington Government Contractor “Public Sector Partner of the Year,” and recognized by Federal Computer Week as one of “The 2011 Federal 100”.  She is an NCMA Certified Professional Contract Manager and an NCMA Fellow.

Speaker Bio:

Ms. Jill Marlowe is the NASA’s first Digital Transformation Officer, leading the Agency to conceive, architect, and accelerate enterprise digital solutions that transform NASA’s work, workforce and workplace to achieve bolder missions faster and more affordably than ever before. Her responsibilities include refinement and integration of NASA’s digital transformation strategy, plans and policies and coordination of implementation activities across the NASA enterprise in six strategic thrusts: data, collaboration, modeling, artificial intelligence/machine learning, process transformation, and culture and workforce.

Prior to this role, Ms. Marlowe was the Associate Center Director, Technical, at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.  Ms. Marlowe led strategy and transformation of the center’s technical capabilities to assure NASA’s future mission success. In this role, she focused on accelerating Langley’s internal and external collaborations as well as the infusion of digital technologies critical for the center to thrive as a modern federal laboratory in an ever more digitally-enabled, hyper-connected, fast-paced, and globally-competitive world.

In 2008, Ms. Marlowe was selected to the Senior Executive Service as the Deputy Director for Engineering at NASA Langley, and went on to serve as the center’s Engineering Director and Research Director. With the increasing responsibility and scope of these roles, Ms. Marlowe has a broad range of leadership experiences that include: running large organizations of 500 –  1,000 people to deliver solutions to every one of NASA’s mission directorates; sustaining and morphing a diverse portfolio of technical capabilities spanning aerosciences, structures & materials, intelligent flight systems, space flight instruments, and entry descent & landing systems; assuring safe operation of over two-million square feet of laboratories and major facilities; architecting partnerships with universities, industry and other government agencies to leverage and advance NASA’s goals; project management of technology development and flight test experiments; and throughout all of this, incentivizing innovation in very different organizational cultures spanning foundational research, technology invention, flight design and development engineering, and operations. She began her NASA career in 1990 as a structural analyst supporting the development of numerous space flight instruments to characterize Earth’s atmosphere.

Ms. Marlowe’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1988, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1990, and a Degree of Engineer in Civil and Environmental Engineering at George Washington University in 1997.  She serves on advisory boards for Virginia Tech’s Aerospace & Ocean Engineering Department, Sandia National Laboratory’s Engineering Sciences Research Foundation, and Cox Communications’ Digitally Inclusive Communities (regional). She is the recipient of two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, was named the 2017 NASA Champion of Innovation, is an AIAA Associate Fellow, and was inducted in 2021 into the Virginia Tech Academy of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering Excellence.  She lives in Yorktown, Virginia, with her husband, Kevin, along with the youngest of their three children and two energetic labradoodles.