Biographies

John Cable

 

John H. Cable, RA, PMP

Mr. Cable is a licensed architect and general contractor with over 35 years of experience. His activities have included planning, design, and construction of buildings; building energy conservation research; management consulting; and teaching. In 1980, he was cited by Engineering News-Record as “one who served in the best interests of the building industry.” In 1992, he was selected by Remodeling Magazine as one of the 50 best remodeling contractors in the United States, and in 2012, PMI recognized him for his “Distinguished Contribution” to the profession. Since joining the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999, Mr. Cable initiated the graduate program in project management, an undergraduate minor, and the Project Management Center for Excellence. He teaches courses in Project Management Fundamentals, and Managing Projects in a Dynamic Environment, and is widely sought after for his seminars and workshops on a variety of project management topics. He is also chairman of the Project Management Institute’s Global Accreditation Center Board of Directors, a member of the Federal Government’s Project Management Working Group, and a member of the Science & Engineering Council of NASA’s Center for Program/Project Management Research. Mr. Cable is also a founding member of the International Project Management Educational Union along with Peking University and 6 other universities worldwide. In 2004, he coauthored a report for the National Academy of Sciences Federal Facilities Council on “Key Performance Indicators for Federal Facilities Portfolios.”

Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cable was a Research Fellow in the Logistics Management Institute (LMI) Facilities and Engineering Management group. In this role, he analyzed facility design and construction practices, conducted benchmarking and business process re-engineering studies, assessed the use of information technology in the management of design and construction, managed business and program planning assignments, and trained and assisted clients in becoming certified in compliance with ISO9000 Quality Management Standards.

Prior to LMI, Mr. Cable created and managed a design/build firm specializing in renovation and new construction of residential, commercial and retail properties, and directed energy conservation research in buildings for the U.S. Department of Energy. Mr. Cable has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Clemson University and a Master of Architecture & Urban Planning degree from Catholic University of America.

Steve Chabinsky

 

Steven Chabinsky

Steven Chabinsky is Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs, General Counsel, and Chief Risk Officer at CrowdStrike, a global provider of security technologies and services focused on identifying advanced threats and targeted attacks. He is also an adjunct faculty member of George Washington University, and the cyber columnist for Security magazine. Prior to joining CrowdStrike, Mr. Chabinsky had a distinguished 17-year career with the FBI, culminating as Deputy Assistant Director, the highest-ranking civilian (non-law enforcement officer) position in the FBI’s Cyber Division.

Prior to that role, Mr. Chabinsky organized and led the FBI’s Cyber Intelligence program, and was the FBI’s top cyber lawyer. Mr. Chabinsky also served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where he rose to become Acting Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Cyber, Chairman of the National Cyber Study Group, and Director of the Joint Interagency Cyber Task Force. A graduate of Duke University and Duke School of Law, Mr. Chabinsky began his legal career as an associate with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and as a law clerk for the Honorable Dennis Jacobs (now Chief Judge) of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Chabinsky is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive, and the National Security Agency Bronze Medallion for inspired leadership. In 2012, he was named one of Security magazine’s “Most Influential People in Security.”

Wind Chen

 

Professor Wind Chen

Professor Wind Chen has more than 20 years of experience in project management, and has worked actively in many sizable projects in Asia Pacific and the United States. Most of his project experience has involved leading multinational project teams, working in multicultural environments, and delivering global projects.

Prof. Chen is an expert in technology deployment, IT/network infrastructure, system design, development, migration and conversion. His technical expertise and project management experience have ensured the success of numerous international projects. He is also actively involved in management consulting, helping senior executives and stakeholders to set up business strategies, identify technologies, and design solutions that lead to clearly-defined and successful projects.

Prof. Chen holds advanced degrees in Computer Science and Business Management, as well as degrees in Accounting and Statistics. Professionally, Prof. Chen was a senior executive in Bellcore and Japan Telecom. He also engaged in various start-up ventures, including one that developed IP-based middleware that is tied to Cloud Computing technology.

Prof. Chen is a certified PMP® and holds ITIL® certification. He served as a member of the Marketing Committee, California Public Utility Board, and as an executive member of the Technical Advisory Board, International Engineering Consortium. Prof. Chen teaches Business Strategy, Cross-Cultural Human Resource Management, and Project Management at the Business School of Zhejiang University. He is also an advisor to the Continued Education Board of the Chinese State Department.

As an adjunct to his professional career, Prof. Chen is certified in New Jersey as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and has served for nearly 30 years as a volunteer member of a local rescue squad and as a member of the New Jersey Somerset County Search and Rescue Team. He is also a member of the New Jersey State First Aid Council and the National Association For Search And Rescue (NASAR).

Tom Corley

 

Tom Corley

Tom Corley is an author, Certified Public Accountant, and Certified Financial Planner. He is certified by the Corporation for Long-Term Care, and has a Master’s degree in Taxation. He is President of Cerefice & Company, a CPA firm, and is the CEO of The Rich Habits Institute, an organization that offers Rich Habits training, seminars and education learning sessions. Mr. Corley has authored several books, including his revolutionary self-help book “Rich Habits” and his “Top 100 Cheapest Places to Retire in the U.S.” book series. He trains businesses, individuals, and students how to be financially successful in life through his Rich Habits education programs, and has spoken to millions of radio listeners and television viewers. Mr. Corley has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, New Jersey Star Ledger, Baltimore Sun, Florida Today and many other newspapers around the country, sharing research from his numerous books.

Robert Ferguson

 

Robert Ferguson

Mr. Robert Ferguson is an entrepreneur and private investor with experience in real estate, telecom and systems integration service provisioning, financial services, and food importing and processing. He has both negotiated nine-figure contracts with Fortune 50 companies and been involved with early-stage start-ups. He has held senior management positions in sales, marketing and customer service operations with New Jersey Bell and Verizon managing thousands of employees. As general manager of Perot Systems (now Dell Professional Services) he led the development of the Communications and Media practice.

Private investments include a start-up financial services company serving the non-profit sector with creative financing for capital projects which are negotiated with major investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Fifth Third, and Comerica among others. As COO and a major investor in Atlantic Quality Spice, Mr. Ferguson managed all operations of this food importing, processing and packaging enterprise. Additionally, he has been an active partner and investor in a residential real estate development corporation.

Mr. Ferguson is adept in project management in a wide variety of contexts. He earned a BS degree from Rutgers College, an MBA from Seton Hall University, and an MS in General Management as a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Terry Gudaitis

Dr. Terry Gudaitis provides psychological and behavioral profiling for investigations and offers profile training to security professionals. Currently the Owner/Principal of Mindstar Security & Profiling, LLC, Dr. Gudaitis specializes in custom security training, consulting, and imminent threat assessment for the commercial sector. Prior to forming her own firm in 2013, she was the Vice President and Cyber Intelligence Director at Cyveillance, responsible for operations and management of the security/intelligence delivery organization. Earlier in her career, before expanding profiling techniques for the use in response services, Dr. Gudaitis was an operations officer and behavioral profiler at the Central Intelligence Agency (Counter Terrorist Center).

In addition to her corporate-related work, Dr. Gudaitis has served on the United States Secret Service Advisory Board for Insider Threats; trained investigators at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; regularly presents at national and international conferences; frequently is interviewed in the major media as an intelligence and security expert; and has authored publications in numerous security-related journals and books.

Her most current publications include a book on social engineering and other hacking techniques (“Low Tech Hacking: Street Smarts for Security Professionals”), and a book on profiling hackers (“Malware Profiling”). Dr. Gudaitis is also a frequent speaker at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

Rabinder Madan

 

Dr. Rabinder N. Madan

Dr. Rabinder N. Madan is a Life Fellow of IEEE and 2010 recipient of the IEEE Harry Diamond Award. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. in Physics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi (India), and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Princeton University. Presently he is a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University. As Program Manager, Systems Theory, Office of Naval Research (1984-2012), he directed programs in Signal Processing, Communications and Information Sciences. In prior years, he held faculty positions at the Universities of California, Massachusetts and North Carolina, and was a Senior Scientist at Hughes Aircraft Co. His interests and publications are in information sciences, signal processing, communications theory, nonlinear phenomena, variation and optimization principles, scattering theory and principles of Radar. From 1993-2010 he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Franklin Institute. He is credited with having initiated the era of Special Issues and articles of substance with long shelf-life in the Journal. He is the recipient of the 1989 Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) J. C. Bose Memorial Award for the best paper in Science and Engineering, and the best paper award in Cognitive Information Fusion at the IEEE 2010 International Conference on Multisensor Fusion and Integration for Intelligent Systems which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Madan participates in several IEEE Societies such as Signal Processing, Communications and Circuits and Systems and is a member of several IEEE technical committees.

John Mather

 

Dr. John C. Mather

Dr. John C. Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he specializes in infrared astronomy and cosmology. He received his Bachelor’s degree in physics from Swarthmore College, and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at Berkeley. As a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, he led the proposal efforts for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission (1974-76), and came to the Goddard Space Flight Center to be the Study Scientist (1976-88), Project Scientist (1988-98), and also the Principal Investigator for the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). He and his team showed that the cosmic microwave background radiation has a blackbody spectrum within 50 parts per million, confirming the Big Bang theory to extraordinary accuracy. The COBE team also discovered the cosmic anisotropy (hot and cold spots in the background radiation), now believed to be the primordial seeds that led to the structure of the universe today. It was these findings that led to Dr. Mather receiving the Nobel Prize in 2006.

Dr. Mather now serves as Senior Project Scientist (1995-present) for the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the great Hubble Space Telescope. He will be speaking about “The History of the Universe from Beginning to End, and Observing with the James Webb Space Telescope.”

S. K. Nandy

 

Dr. S. K. Nandy

Dr. S. K. Nandy is a Professor at the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre, and the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Prof. Nandy has been instrumental in initiating research in Large Scale Integration (LSI) System Design at the Indian Institute of Science. He is the convener of the Computer Aided Design Laboratory, a state-of-the-art laboratory for Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems Design created in 1985 with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Electronics, Government of India. His current research interests include Dataflow and Flexible Multi-core Processor Architectures, Micro-architectural and Compiler optimizations for power and performance, Chip Multiprocessors (CMPs) and Runtime Reconfigurable Multiprocessor Systems on Chips (MP-SoCs), and Cloud Systems. Prof. Nandy has over 130 research publications in journals and proceedings of international conferences that highlight his research contributions. He is responsible for setting up Morphing Machines (www.morphingmachines.com), a technology incubated start-up from the Indian Institute of Science, engaged in the development of Reconfigurable Silicon Cores. Currently, he is the Honorary Chief Scientist for Morphing Machines.

Prof. Nandy obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1977. He obtained his B.E. (Hons) degree in Electrical Communications Engineering in 1980, his M.Sc. (Engg) degree in Computer Science and Engineering in 1987, and his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering in 1989 from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Amber Schroader

 

Amber Schroader

Amber Schroader has been a driving force in the field of computer forensics for the past sixteen years. During that time, she developed and taught numerous courses for the computer forensics arena, specializing in wireless forensics as well as mobile technologies. Ms Schroader is the CEO of Paraben Corporation and is the inspiration behind many of the most innovative forensic technologies on the market today. Ms Schroader has been key in developing new and effective technologies to help investigators with the extraction of digital evidence from hard drives, e-mail and mobile devices, and coined the concept of the 360 degrees of digital forensics for each of these areas. She has extensive experience working with all sectors of forensic investigation ranging from federal, state, local, corporate and private parties. With an aggressive development schedule, Ms Schroader continues to bring new and exciting technology to the computer forensics community world-wide and is dedicated to supporting the investigator through new technologies and training services that are being provided through Paraben Corporation. Ms. Schroader has been a contributor to several books in the field of digital forensics including “Wireless Crime and Forensic Investigation,” “Techno Security’s Guide to Managing Risks for IT Managers, Auditors and Investigators,” “Techno Security’s Guide to E-Discovery and Digital Forensics: A Comprehensive Handbook,” and “Alternate Data Storage Forensics.”

Dr. Aaron Shenhar

 

Dr. Aaron Shenhar

Dr. Aaron Shenhar is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in project and program management, technology management, and execution leadership. He holds five academic degrees in engineering and management, including three degrees from Stanford University and two from the Technion in Israel.

He was named “Engineering Manager of the Year” by the Engineering Management Society of IEEE, and was the first recipient of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Research Achievement Award. Dr. Shenhar was recently awarded a Fellow Award from PMI, and he is a Fellow and Member of the Science Council of the Center for Program and Project Management Research, co-sponsored by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and NASA.

After serving in the Israeli Navy, Dr. Shenhar joined the defense industry in Israel, where he has been involved in managing projects, innovation, R&D, and high technology businesses for almost 20 years. Working for Rafael, Advanced Defense Systems, he participated in all phases of engineering and management — from project manager to the highest executive posts. As an executive, he served as Corporate Vice President, Human Resources, and later as President of the Electronic Systems Division.

In his second career of over 20 years in academia, Dr. Shenhar was a tenured professor, serving at several universities where he founded new programs in Project and Technology Management, among them Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, University of Minnesota, and Tel-Aviv University. Dr. Shenhar’s research has focused on project and program management, and technology and innovation management. He has also concentrated on leadership of professionals in technology-based organizations. Based on his extensive research, he developed the concepts of Strategic Project Leadership® and the “Diamond Model,” which teach corporations and managers how to focus projects on business results and adapt their management practices to the specific project environment.

With six books and over 150 publications, which have been cited more than 3200 times and published in leading journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Sloan Management Review, Research Policy, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Dr. Shenhar’s writings have influenced project and technology management research and education around the world. His publications are highly regarded and used in the curriculum of corporate and university programs in project and technology management.

James Snyder

 

James Snyder

James Snyder is one of the founders of the Project Management Institute (PMI). Often referred to as the “Father of PMI,” Mr. Snyder has been awarded the PMI Man of the Year Award and is an Honorary Life Member of the Institute. The James R. Snyder Knowledge and Wisdom Center at PMI Headquarters is named in his honor.

Mr. Snyder is retired from SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals where his most recent assignment was International Planning & Business Management, Strategic Product Development. Mr. Snyder has 37 years of experience in the pharmaceutical Industry in computer sciences, operations research, international marketing, marketing administration and finance. He holds a BSIM degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Drexel University. He served as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers in the United States and Germany.

Mr. Snyder is a Founder of the Project Management Institute, a Fellow of the Institute, past Volunteer Executive Director for 13 years, President, Chairman of the Board, and active participant in the activities of the Institute. In 2010, he received the James J. O’Brien Lifetime Achievement Award from the PMI College of Scheduling.

Mr. Snyder is a founding member of the Delaware Valley Chapter of PMI, the Pharmaceuticals Special Interest Group (SIG), and the College of Scheduling. As a member of the PMI Global Project Action Team (1999 – 2000), he worked to help structure the Institute to meet the challenges of 2000 and beyond. He is also a member of the Publications Board of the Institute.

Mr. Snyder has served as both a member and Chair of the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation (PMIEF). The PMIEF International Student Paper of the Year Award, and the James R. Snyder Knowledge and Wisdom Center at PMI Headquarters are both named in his honor.

Ron Taylor

 

Ron Taylor

Ron Taylor, MBA, PMP, is an internationally-known leader, lecturer, author, and consultant, and the Principal and Founder of the Ron Taylor Group. He served as President and CEO of a 10,000-person corporation (PMIWDC) and was named Leader of the Year of the 500,000-member Project Management Institute. Mr. Taylor is an Adjunct Professor in the MBA Program at both Virginia Tech and George Mason University. He has been quoted in several books and periodicals devoted to project management and leadership, and is a frequent guest on radio programs. His work has been published not only in the United States, but also in India, Sweden, Canada and Great Britain. He is represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau, and his latest book, “Leadership: Stories, Lessons and Uncommon Sense,” is available on Amazon.com. Mr. Taylor has an MBA from the University of Kentucky and holds the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification from the Project Management Institute. Additional information on Mr. Taylor may be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Taylor_(author) or at the web site for the Ron Taylor Group at http://therontaylorgroup.com.


wayne-towson2

Wayne Towson

Wayne Towson is the Chief Information Officer for INTERPOL Washington; the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL and a component of the United States Department of Justice. Mr. Towson has worked at INTERPOL Washington for twenty-two years, with fourteen in Information Technology. One of his primary responsibilities includes the management of the expansion and integration initiatives of INTERPOL systems throughout the United States. Mr. Towson also oversees the application development and the implementation of internal INTERPOL Washington systems to support transnational development of INTERPOL law enforcement services. As the current chair of the INTERPOL Law Enforcement Technical Advisory Group (ILETAG), Mr. Towson is responsible for advising the INTERPOL General Secretariat on the strategic development of cost-efficient technologies that support global police and law enforcement activities for INTERPOL.

A graduate of the University of Maryland-College Park, Mr. Towson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and is actively pursuing a Master of Science degree in Computer Software Engineering at the University of Maryland-University College. Mr. Towson resides in Washington, DC with his family.

Vijay Verma

 

Vijay Verma

Vijay K. Verma is an internationally-renowned speaker and author, who has written a three-volume series on the “Human Aspects of Project Management” published by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The three volumes in that series include “Organizing Projects for Success,” “Human Resource Skills for the Project Manager,” and “Managing the Project Team.”

Mr. Verma received the 2009 PMI Fellow Award (one of the highest and most prestigious awards given by PMI), the 1999 PMI David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award (for his book “Managing the Project Team”), and the 1999 PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for sustained and significant contributions to the project management profession.

Mr. Verma has given numerous keynote presentations at various conferences. He has authored and presented many papers at national and international conferences on the Human Aspects of Project Management and Managing Cross-Cultural Teams. He has presented several workshops on project management in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa, China, and India, with participants from a wide range of industries. His presentations have been attended by over 4,000 professionals working in the area of project management and have helped enhance their skills and confidence in managing projects effectively.

Mr. Verma has worked for over 34 years providing project management services at TRIUMF (TRI University Meson Facility), Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and one of the world’s leading subatomic physics laboratories. He has also served as President of the West Coast British Columbia Chapter of Project Management Institute (1988-89) and as Vice President of Programmes for the chapter (1986-88). Mr. Verma is a professional engineer and holds an M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from DalTech, Halifax, and an MBA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, with his wife and three children.

Howard Whyte

howard-whyteHoward Whyte is a highly skilled IT security executive with extensive experience in operations, risk management, threat management and intelligence fusion in support of mission assurance.  His 20 years of experience cover various positions in organizations supporting global IT missions.

Mr. Whyte is currently serving in the NASA Office of the Chief Information Officer as the Executive for IT Security Operations where he is charged with leading the agency’s cyber security operations program, including the Agency’s Security Operations Center.  As Cyber Security Operations Executive, Mr. Whyte works across NASA and collaborates with internal and external partners engaged in cyber activities to improve the agency’s cyber security posture and assurance of NASA’s missions and programs.

While working at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Mr. Whyte was selected to attend the National Defense University’ Advanced Management Program where he received his Federal Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer Certifications.  Mr. Whyte also holds an MBA degree from the University of Phoenix in Heidelberg, Germany.