The Nominations Committee has named the following six candidates for the three DEPS Director positions to be filled by election this fall. The slate emphasizes technical, organizational, and geographic diversity. Write in candidates are also be 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 Monday, 1 December.
Steve Calico Background: Dr. Steve Calico received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Texas Tech
University in 1991. Since then, at the Air Force Research Laboratory and Lockheed Martin he has
developed and managed the development of pulsed power systems, high power microwave systems, and
measures of effectiveness of such systems. While at Lockheed Martin he has participated in and/or
led over 10 high power microwave effectiveness tests and numerous unconventional electronic attack
effectiveness tests. He has over 25 publications and conference presentations, and 10 patents in
the areas of pulsed power, high power microwaves, and microwave effects. Dr. Calico is a
Distinguished Member of the Group Technical Staff at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control
in Dallas, TX.
Candidate's Statement: I will use my experience gained from government service and industry
employment to maintain, with the goal of improving, the value of a DEPS membership by identifying
the needs of and opportunities for DEPS members, encouraging their active participation and
returning to them as much value as possible. I will strive to further improve the high-quality
standards of DEPS activities, conferences, and publications. Increasing the technical content
of conferences will encourage more participation by academia, strengthening collaboration
between the government, industry, and academia which will benefit the DEPS members and their
customers.
Diana Loree
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 20 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. The ADT program and ADS
ACTD set standards for meeting expectations resulting in timely demonstrations of long range, less
than lethal capability. In 2009 she was promoted to being the senior strategic planner for the
directorate in the role of 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. Three years ago, she moved into the AFRL/RD Assistant Chief Scientist
role working as part of the front office to provide scientific oversight, assessment, and guidance
to the directorate’s >$200M portfolio. 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 has been ready to transition for some time.
It holds the promises of scalable effects, deep magazine, low logistics chain, and precise
engagement that the users need. There have been issues in the past with DE program’s overpromising
and underperforming while on the other end - DE allowing too much customer concentration on the 100%
capability end point without acceptance of still revolutionary offramps 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, 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 Ready" - together.
A success for any is a success for all, a failure for any is a setback for all. 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. In these
trying times of conference attendance issues, I believe there needs to be a temporary path of
increased "virtual" events or courses, increased print publications encouraged, and possibly an
interactive professional magazine or website to offer improved communication.
Jeff Maloney
Background: Jeff Maloney has been supporting HEL weapon system development since 2001 when
he joined Brashear, now L3. He has been the Program Manager for L3 of several HEL systems, including:
ABL, HELTD, LaWS, and LWBD. He now oversees all HEL system development at L3 and works closely with
the government and commercial partners to continue the advancement of HEL systems toward a fielded
system for soldier protection. While at L3, Jeff has also managed several large telescope projects,
specialty optics programs, and oversaw the design and installation of the worlds largest MRF optical
polishing machine. Prior to joining L3, Jeff worked in advanced development projects for BWX
Technologies. These projects included: Superconducting Super Collider, Tokamak Fusion Reactor,
AVLIS Uranium Enrichment process development, Naval Nuclear Reactor fabrication, and he ran the
production line for the Virginia Class Submarine Steam Generator. Jeff attained the rank of Captain
in the Army and served in Germany and Desert Storm.
Candidate's Statement: I believe in Directed Energy weapon technology and the protective
benefits it can bring to the soldiers. Not just the HEL technologies, but the HPM and non-lethal
deterrents as well. The threats are real and this technology, once developed, is capable of saving
American lives. I also believe in the DEPS organization. It brings together the soldiers, labs,
academia, and commercial facilities towards a common goal. It provides the education and interfacing
opportunities to share across the DE community toward the common goal of emerging technology
development. With projects like DE2DC, DEPS and several of its members and organizations, work to
educate the Congress and DoD leadership in the Pentagon on the topic of Directed Energy system. I
have personally participated in all three of the DE2DC outreach events and have seen a continuing
increase in the awareness and acknowledgement of this technology, a necessary objective for funding
the continued development. My goal as a DEPS Director will be to continue this outreach and
education and grow the DEPS organization so that it can support even greater DE community and
Government education. When I remember back to my Army days in the Gulf War, I remember vividly
the helplessness we felt against incoming fires (SCUDS and artillery). Now with the increase in
UAS’s and advanced rockets, I very much want to see these protective systems developed and deployed
so that our next generation of soldiers can be much better protected than I was.
Kelly McDonald
Background: Ms. Kelly McDonald completed her undergraduate studies at the University of
LaVerne in Public Administration and then her Master of Science degree in Business Leadership and
Global Business. After working on a variety of Navy missile and weapons programs she established
the International Technology Cooperation Office; a Command resource for conducting activities
relating to international agreements and cooperative relationships in scientific research and
development for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) at China Lake and Pt.
Mugu, California. In this capacity she was responsible for developing an international cooperation
strategic plan, vision, and leadership for the international office. She is currently supporting
the Navy’s Unmanned Systems Program as the lead for International Programs. She is an experienced
international traveler and communicator with over 25 years experience working for the U.S. Navy
and has completed Defense Acquisition University (DAU) International Affairs Certification, level
III and DAWIA International Program Management level II certification.
Candidate's Statement: My goals, if elected to the DEPS Board of Directors, are to: Sean Ross
Background: Dr. Ross, A CREOL graduate, has been a part of the DE community since 1994 and
has worked in nonlinear optics, fiber pumped solid state devices, thin disk laser, and high energy
laser weapon systems and is perhaps best known for his work in laser beam quality metrics. His 2006
Journal of Directed Energy paper, co-authored with Dr. Pete Latham, was seminal in raising awareness
of the need for mission traceable metrics and has influenced multiple directed energy programs. His
Laser Beam Quality short course has been well received and is a regular feature of DEPS conferences.
Dr. Ross chaired the planning committee of the Solid State and Diode Laser Technology Review
(SSDLTR - now part of the AHPL) from 2000 to 2011 and has served as conference technical chair and
session chair many times while in that capacity.
Dr. Ross is employed at the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate and is
currently leading the team constructing an environmental test facility that will emulate platform
environment while allowing full power operation of laser systems, subsystems and components.
Candidate's Statement:The Directed Energy Professional Society is the idea interchange
for defense related directed energy technologies. Our technologies are getting ready for deployment
just as fiscal constraints are getting tighter. This means that partnerships and collaborations
are vitally important to our ability to serve the warfighter and the nation. "Horizontal"
partnerships join sister services, agencies and industry with similar needs to collaborative efforts.
"Vertical" partnerships involve the chain of technologies needed to make an integrated system perform
in the field - an example being power, thermal, system control, laser, beam control. As a member
of the DEPS board, I will work to encourage and facilitate both kinds of partnerships so that the
revolutionary benefits of directed energy make it out of the laboratory and are deployed and put
to the use of the warfighter and the nation.
Harold Schall
Background: Dr. Harold Schall is Chief Engineer for Directed Energy Systems for The Boeing
Company and a Boeing Senior Technical Fellow. He has over twenty-five years experience in the
development, integration and test of beam control and directed energy systems and has held technical
leadership positions on a wide range of DOD directed energy programs, including the ground-based
free-electron laser, space-based laser, advanced tactical laser, and proprietary programs.
He was chief engineer for integration and test for the Airborne Laser (ABL) program through all
phases of ABL’s test program. In 2009 he was co-recipient of the Missile Defense Agency’s Technology
Pioneer Award for the development and integration of crucial technologies that enabled ABL. Dr.
Schall is a DEPS Fellow and an AIAA Associate Fellow. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the
State University of New York at Binghamton and doctorate in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Candidate's Statement: The Directed Energy community is facing significant challenges in
the current fiscal environment to maintain capabilities required to meet current and future
war-fighter needs. Attracting young professionals into the Directed Energy field has become
extremely difficult as career opportunities are diminished in both the government and private
sectors. Moreover, with the aging population of the Directed Energy community, there is significant
risk that the hard earned directed energy knowledge base will be lost. I believe DEPS plays a
critical role helping to address these issues to maintain the overall health of the Directed
Energy community. Through increased interaction and collaboration with end-users to address
near-term needs that can be supported by existing and/or near-term capability and focused workshops
and panel discussions on knowledge management DEPS can help address the challenges to maintain the
nation’s Directed Energy capability. In addition, through increased educational efforts, such as
graduate scholarships, Directed Energy internships, and travel grants to attend DEPS conferences,
DEPS can help ensure the vitality of the next generation of Directed Energy professionals.
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