Executive Committee

Dr. Ahsan Choudhuri is Associate Vice President for Aerospace Center and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He is the founding Director of UTEP NASA MIRO Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research (cSETR) and holds the endowed Mr. and Mrs. MacIntosh Murchison Chair II in Engineering. He has mentored 7 Research Assistant Professors, been the research supervisor of 27 Ph.D. and 86 M.S. graduates, and co-authored more than 160 technical publications with his students. The focus of Dr. Choudhuri's activities is to catalyze a regional talent and technology development ecosystem by providing strategic capabilities in Aerospace and Defense Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing. Dr. Choudhuri has received numerous awards and recognitions, including recognition for Faculty Award for Research Innovation from NASA, multiple Best Paper Awards from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and Millionaire Research Awards, Outstanding Leadership Award, and Outstanding Performance for Securing Extramural Funding Award from UTEP. He is a proud alumnus of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology where he received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and went on to receive his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

Dr. Joel Kearns is the Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Dr. Kearns manages the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program (LDEP) and the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiatives. Prior to his appointment as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Dr. Kearns served as the director of Facilities, Test and Manufacturing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland, where he led efforts encompassing facilities infrastructure, aerospace testing, flight research aircraft, and on-site manufacturing and environmental management. Dr. Kearns also served as the deputy director of GRC’s Space Flight Systems Directorate, providing executive direction of projects assigned to Glenn in human exploration and operations, space science and space technology. He has also previously worked at NASA Headquarters in human spaceflight, and at both the Ames Research Center in California and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where he worked on programs as varied as microgravity research, the space shuttle and SOFIA. He has also held positions in industry. Joel received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As an associate fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, Joel was awarded the U.S. Government’s Presidential Rank of Meritorious Senior Executive in 2009. He is also an inventor on four patents for single crystal growth technology.

Michelle Rodrigues is Vice President, Federal Partnerships, and leads SRI International's federal business development and government relations teams. Michelle joined SRI in 2001 and has 20 years of experience delivering federal research and development funding across a range of scientific disciplines and federal agencies. She leads a team responsible for the full range of business development activities including opportunity identification, qualification and development; client relationship management; trend analysis; partnership development; capture strategy; and proposal support. She has experience working across life sciences, education and policy, computer sciences, engineering, physics, and technology transition markets. Before joining SRI, Michelle was an Administrative Manager in the Animal Nutrition Division at Cargill Inc. supporting buying and manufacturing of their animal feed line. She holds a B.S. in Animal Science and Management from the University of California, Davis and an M.B.A. from The George Washington University.

Dr. George Sowers has 30 years of experience in the space transportation field working for Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin and the United Launch Alliance (ULA). In 2017, he retired from his position as Vice President and Chief Scientist at ULA where his team developed an architecture for fully reusable in-space stages fueled by propellant mined, refined and distributed in space. Dr. Sowers is now a professor at the Colorado School of Mines as part of the world's first and only graduate program in space resources. His current research interest is developing the ice resources of the Moon to fuel the cislunar economy. He holds a BS in Physics from Georgia Tech and a PhD in Physics from the University of Colorado. Dr. Sowers is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Niki Werkheiser serves as the Director for Technology Maturation in the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters. In this role, she leads the advancement of key technologies for future space missions, including establishing policy, formulating budgets, and providing the technical leadership required for implementation. The technology maturation portfolio includes the Game Changing Development (GCD) Program, as well as the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII), which spurs the creation of novel technologies needed for lunar surface exploration. Ms. Werkheiser has over 25 years of experience developing and flying new technologies and has cultivated a proven approach to managing complex projects. She is particularly passionate about creating competitive programs and public-private partnerships across government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations. She has received numerous awards and honors, including NASA's Silver Snoopy and Outstanding Leadership Medal and the American Astronautical Society Space Technology Award. Ms. Werkheiser holds a Master of Science Degree from the University of Alabama at Huntsville with an emphasis in Gravitational and Space Biology, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Studies.

Dr. Hurtado's research expertise is in field geology; remote sensing (including Unmanned Aerial Systems); and terrestrial/planetary tectonics and geomorphology. He applies this expertise in two broad research areas: lunar geology and active tectonics in the Bhutan Himalaya. Dr. Hurtado's lunar geology work has focused on the use of remotely-sensed datasets to investigate the potential resources on the Moon and their geologic context. This has included using thermal infrared data to discover and characterize caves in the lunar subsurface, hyperspectral data to map the presence of water and titanium, and topographic data to identify water-related volcanic features. He has also conducted work at planetary analog sites to show how shallow geophysical tools (e.g., gravity, magnetics, GPR) can be used to characterize water-related explosive volcanic features on other planets as well as how other field deployable instrumentation can be used for planetary surface exploration. His Bhutan work has focused on field studies of Quaternary geomorphologic features (river terraces, fault scarps, etc.) that record ongoing tectonic uplift in the Himalaya. The objective of this work is to evaluate models for the evolution of the Bhutan Himalaya and assess seismic hazards. In addition to these research areas, Dr. Hurtado also has expertise in human space exploration through ongoing collaborations with NASA in mission simulation activities and astronaut crew training. Dr. Hurtado has also worked on various commercial spaceflight projects, including passenger training program and vehicle development with Virgin Galactic.

As a general partner at Lightship Capital, Candice Matthews Brackeen finds and funds tech innovators operating in underserved cities throughout the Midwest. Since the launch of the venture fund this year, under Candice's leadership Lightship Capital has raised nearly $40M for investment into minority owned, tech driven businesses ranging from Healthtech to Foodtech. Candice also directs programming at Hillman, a tech focussed entrepreneur education program, and NewMe, a bootcamp enriching startup founders with instruction in product development, brand building, leveraging artificial intelligence for business, fundraising, and more. Her dedication to minority innovation is tireless, as she lends herself to countless under represented tech startups and organizations as an advisor and mentor. Candice's early work as an involved organizer and recruiter for the Cincinnati tech ecosystem has contributed significantly to the city's startup growth, and on the legislative level, influenced equitable allocation Ohio of state funds to minority entrepreneurs. Her constant advocacy for underestimated regions and founders is motivated by her own experiences as a Black tech founder struggling to find meaningful mentorship and funding in and outside Silicon Valley. This foundation creates a personal connection to the founders Candice helps, each day.

Timothy Cichan (Chee-haan) is the Space Exploration Architect at Lockheed Martin, where he leads a multi-disciplinary team of engineers who figure out how to help astronauts and robots visit the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. He previously was the Orion System Architect. Timothy joined Lockheed Martin in 2002, and has worked for both human spaceflight and commercial communication satellite teams, in optimal trajectory design, mission analysis, subsystem development, and systems engineering. He has a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State.

Dr. Michael Miller has over 36 years of experience as a physical and synthetic chemist, specializing in materials science, surface science, solid-state chemistry and physics, as well as molecular spectroscopy. The main thrust of his work has been on the development of first-principles theoretical models and experimental methods aimed at predicting or determining physical and chemical pathways for the formation or disposition of molecules and materials. He directs SwRI's Sorption Science Laboratory (S3L) - a research facility dedicated to investigating the gas sorption properties of natural and synthetic materials over a broad range of thermodynamic conditions. In the area of planetary studies, he has contributed to the needs of future lander missions that include the development of chemical processes for in situ propellant production (ISPP) on Mars, and led a team of scientist to develop an inverted surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (iSERS) technique for biomarker detection. Most recently, he has been working on the experimental and theoretical determination of noble gas fractionation in Mars analogue systems, non-binary computing architectures based on photonic-molecular transduction, and modeling MW-IR and MW-Raman double resonance effects in molecular systems as the foundation for stand-off detection technologies.

Dr. Craig Hardgrove is an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU. He earned his Doctoral degree in Geology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2011 and his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. Dr. Hardgrove is the Principal Investigator for the Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) cubesat mission. LunaH-Map will launch on Artemis-1 in early 2022 and will orbit the Moon to map the distribution of water-ice throughout the lunar south pole, including within permanently shadowed regions. He is also a Participating Scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument team. Dr. Hardgrove’s research is focused on the characterization of hydrated rocks and their constituent phases on rocky planets through the use of nuclear spectroscopic instrumentation, as well as on small spacecraft development for interplanetary exploration. Dr. Hardgrove is also active in several NASA instrument development projects and has over a decade of experience working on spacecraft missions, having begun his career working on the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. In addition to serving as the Principal Investigator for LunaH-Map, Dr. Hardgrove is currently a member of the science team on the BepiColombo mission to Mercury, as well as the Curiosity and Mars 2020 Perseverance Mars rovers.

Dr. Bleacher is a planetary geologist who is currently the Chief Exploration Scientist in NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) at NASA headquarters. In this role he is the science advocate for NASA technology and architecture development that is intended to enable human exploration of the Moon, deep space and beyond. He also serves as a primary contact with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the science community external to NASA. Dr. Bleacher earned a BS in Geosciences from Franklin and Marshall College and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the Arizona State University. During his Ph.D. research he worked on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Mission by conducting geologic mapping of the initial images acquired of the large Tharsis province volcanoes by the Mission’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). Dr. Bleacher joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow after which he was hired by NASA as a research scientist. Dr. Bleacher’s research focuses on understanding the volcanic history the Earth, Moon and Mars by remote sensing mapping and field work. Upon joining the NASA workforce he began supporting the Constellation Program Office to conduct studies examining potential landing sites and developing science traverse plans to help define requirements for hardware on the lunar surface. Dr. Bleacher served as a science team member and test subject as a crew member for NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS), which focused on field tests of operations associated with prototype human rovers for the Moon. He has served as the lead for the Goddard Instrument Field team, in which he organized GSFC’s planetary science field research deployments as well as GSFC’s Lead Exploration Scientist, for which he worked to create cross-Center awareness of ongoing human exploration projects. Dr. Bleacher is a co-author on a number of peer reviewed science publications including a cover article for the journal Nature focused on explosive volcanism on Mars as well as the chapter on Mars Volcanism in the Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, 2nd edition. He has served on a series of Special Action Teams (SATs) for the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) and Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) including the Lunar Sample Acquisition and Curation Review, Candidate Scientific Objectives for the Human Exploration of Mars, and Geological Astronaut Training and has served on NASA’s In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Systems Capability Leadership Team. He applies a strong interest in both scientific research and human exploration to his current role at NASA headquarters.

Dr. Kris Zacny focuses on robotic space mining and drilling, sample handling, geotechnical systems, and Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) at Honeybee Robotics. Previously, Dr. Zacny managed mining projects and production in South Africa. Dr. Zacny earned a Ph.D. in extraterrestrial drilling and mining, and an ME in Petroleum Engineering from University of California, Berkeley, as well as a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Cape Town. Dr. Zacny has over 200 publications, including several edited books. He participated in drilling expeditions to Antarctica, the Atacama Desert, the Arctic, Greenland, Mauna Kea, and the Mojave Desert. Dr. Zacny has over 40 NASA New Technology Records and four NASA Group Achievement Awards. He is a PI of PlanetVac pneumatic sample delivery system for CLPS and TRIDENT ice mining drill for VIPER and PRIME1.

Ariel Ekblaw is the founder and Director of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, a team of over 50 graduate students, staff, and faculty actively prototyping the artifacts of our sci-fi space future. Founded in 2016, the Initiative now includes a portfolio of 40+ research projects focused on life in space (from astrobiology to space habitats), and supports an accelerator-like R&D program that enables a broad range of payload development. For the Initiative, Dr. Ekblaw drives space-related research across science, engineering, art, and design, and charters an annually recurring cadence of parabolic flights, sub-orbital, and orbital launch opportunities. Dr. Ekblaw forges collaborations on this work with MIT departments and space industry partners, while mentoring Initiative research projects and providing technical advice for all mission deployments. The Initiative is preparing for its first lunar payload, as part of an MIT-wide effort, in 2024. Dr. Ekblaw brings a humanist approach to her research at MIT, with undergraduate degrees in Physics, and Mathematics and Philosophy from Yale University, a Master's in distributed systems from the MIT Media Lab, and her recent MIT PhD in self-assembling space structures for space architecture, via the TESSERAE platform.

Greg Schmidt serves as Director of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), located in the NASA Research Park at Ames Research Center. Prior to his current position, Schmidt served as Associate Director for Strategic Planning in the Ames Research Center Science Directorate. He also was a co-founder of the NASA Ames Space Portal, an organization which promotes activities in Entrepreneurial Space, in which he led development of an effort studying a commercially leveraged lunar science campaign. Within the Space Portal he also established the first known class in space entrepreneurship and established a Center for Space Biotech at San Jose State University. As Associate Director, Schmidt also established the Space Tech Center at the NASA Research Park, and led development of NASA's Generations Initiative through the Office of Biomedical and Physical Research, which was proposed to Congress in the FY2001 budget. Schmidt was one of the core team who developed the science of astrobiology in the late 1990s, leading the team that developed the first Astrobiology Roadmap and heading the Astrobiology Integration Office at Ames Research Center. In the mid-1990s Schmidt served at the NASA HQ Life Sciences Division, where his work led to two successful Space Shuttle demonstrations of "electronic nose" and miniature mass spectrometer experiments. At NASA HQ, he also co-developed the Advanced Human Support Technologies program, and led a collaboration with the National Cancer Institute which leveraged NASA and DOD technologies for the early detection of breast cancer. Schmidt is an Associate Fellow with the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and has received multiple awards from NASA for his accomplishments.