The Need for Speed: Rapid Fielding using Other Transactions

Keynote:  Michael D. Griffin, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

Dr. Griffin is the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He is the Department’s Chief Technology Officer, and is responsible for the research, development, and prototyping activities across the DoD enterprise and is mandated with ensuring technological superiority for the Department of Defense. He oversees the activities of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the Strategic Capabilities Office, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, the DoD Laboratory enterprise, and the Under Secretariate staff focused on developing advanced technology and capability for the U.S. military.

Richard L. Dunn, Founder, Strategic Institute for Innovation in Government Contracting

Referred to as “the godfather of OTs” as a result of his pioneering work as DARPA’s first General Counsel.  Mr. Dunn provides advice and engages in research and analysis related to the deployment and implementation of technology in the military and civil sectors through partnering and other innovative means; he conducts research in national security operations, technology and their interactions; and, analyzes laws, policies and practices that impact the effective implementation of technology.

David Rothzeid, Director of Acquisition Pathways, Maj. USAF, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)

Maj. Rothzeid works on strategic initiatives focused on streamlining DoD acquisition across the Department of Defense. He also works within the Information Technology and Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence Portfolios at DIUx. Additionally, David operates as a liaison officer to Air Force program offices and educates acquisition professionals across all the services in Other Transactions utilization.

Benjamin McMartin, Chief, Acquisition Management Office, U.S. Army TARDEC

Mr. McMartin currently serves as Chief of the Acquisition Management Office for the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Michigan, responsible for management of two consortium-model Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs): The Detroit Arsenal Automotive OTA (DA2-OTA) (7 years / $700M); and the Ground Vehicle Systems OTA (GVS-OTA) (5 years / $2B), with technical focus areas in automotive, autonomy, mobility, ground combat systems, and related technologies.

Ellen M. Purdy, Director, Emerging Capabilities & Prototyping Initiatives & Analysis, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (R&E)

Mrs. Ellen M. Purdy currently serves as the Director, Emerging Capabilities & Prototyping Initiatives & Analysis in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (R&E).  She is responsible for rapid development of fieldable prototypes and capability supporting emerging needs in autonomy, communications, sensing, and electronic warfare.  She leads the Spectrum Access R&D Program and Rapid Innovation Fund Program.  Mrs. Purdy focuses on assessing resilience of  new capabilities against adaptive adversaries. She fosters collaborative engagement with traditional defense industry.

Dr. Arun Seraphin, Professional Staff Member, Senate Armed Service Committee

Congressional Professional Staff Member with oversight responsibilities for Department of Defense acquisition and procurement policy; science, technology, and innovation; test and evaluation; STEM and acquisition personnel policy; and information technology programs and policy.  Previously, Dr. Seraphin served as a deputy director of National Security and International Affairs division at the White House Office of Science a Technology Policy, assisting in supervising senior policy advisors and support staff in developing policies, programs, technical analyses, and support to the President’s Science Advisor and other senior leaders.  He also led initiatives in defense laboratory revitalization, Small Business Innovation Research program policy development.  

Michael Atkinson, Senior Program Manager, Advanced Technology International

Mr. Atkinson has a passion for providing US warfighters with the innovative technologies needed to ensure the United States remains ahead of our adversaries—a passion rooted in his more than two-decade career in the Navy.  Today, Mr. Atkinson pursues that passion as a Program Manager and Division Lead at Advanced Technology International (ATI), where he oversees the management of nearly one quarter of the Other Transaction (OT) consortia in existence today.  With more than ten years of experience at ATI, Mr. Atkinson has acted as the Program Manager for the National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) for the last four years and as the Vertical Lift Consortium (VLC) Program Manager for the last three years.  He also led the stand-up of the recently-awarded Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium (UTIC) and the Information Warfare Research Project Consortium (IWRP), and he oversees the operations of the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC). 

Mark “Puck” Mykleby, Co-Founder, Long Haul Capital Group; Principal, Innovation Finance Group

Mark is co-founder of Long Haul Capital Group and principal member of Innovation Finance Group. From 1987 to 2011, he was a career Marine Corps officer, serving as an F/A-18 pilot, a strategic planner for U.S. Special Operations Command, and as a special strategic assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After retiring as a colonel in August 2011, he joined the New America Foundation as a senior fellow. In September 2014, he helped found and co-directed the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University where he coauthored The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21st Century.

Mica Dolan, Director of Contracts and Procurement, Advanced Technology International

Mica is responsible for managing ATI’s contracts team that supports ATI’s Consortium-based Other Transaction Agreements.  Ms. Dolan has served as the contracts manager for the National Armaments Consortium (NAC) since ATI assumed its management in 2009. Starting from an annual throughput of $50M in 2009, Ms. Dolan has been instrumental in developing a set of best practices in conjunction with government leadership that has enabled project throughput to increase ten-fold since then. She has been involved with the startup of a number of OTA-based consortia, to include consortia formation, negotiating terms and conditions with the government, establishing solicitation processes, providing member training, and working hand in hand with the government throughout the execution of the OTA; she is a leading practitioner in the space.

~ Invited ~

Moshe Schwartz, Analyst, Defense Acquisition Policy at Congressional Research Service

Moshe Schwartz is a Specialist in Defense Acquisitions at the Congressional Research Service. He is also an adjunct professor at National Defense University’s Eisenhower Center and adjunct instructor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College.  Mr. Schwartz is currently on detail, serving as the Executive Director of the 809 Panel.