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The MITRE Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development
(MITRE/CAASD) Senior Management Team oversees the diversity of topics
MITRE/CAASD is called upon to work. In addition, the senior managers
work closely with counterparts in the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) and in civilian agencies worldwide to effect beneficial evolution
of Air Traffic Management systems.
Agam N. Sinha, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, MITRE Corporation
General Manager, MITRE CAASD
 Dr.
Agam Sinha is a senior vice president of The MITRE Corporation,
general manager of CAASD, and director of the FAA’s Federally
Funded Research and Development Center. CAASD supports the FAA,
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and international
civil aviation authorities in addressing operational and technical
challenges to meet aviation's capacity, efficiency, safety, and
security needs.
Full Biography
Gregg A. Leone
Executive Director for System Transformation
and Integration
 Gregg
Leone leads future vision planning and transformation efforts in
the National Airspace System of the United States (NAS). This includes
ATM/CNS (air traffic management-communications, navigation, and
surveillance) research initiatives, NAS evolution and modernization,
as well as system integration activities and projects. Additionally,
he is international director for CAASD’s aviation work in
Canada, the Middle East, and Africa, overseeing air traffic control
and airspace modernization; restructuring civil aviation authorities;
ATM/CNS planning; and the development of
civil aviation safety and regulatory policy, procedures, and programs.
Since joining MITRE in 1983, Mr. Leone has held several positions.
From 1996 to 2001, he led CAASD’s Atlantic City office, which
supports activities at the Federal Aviation Administration Technical
Center. From 1989 to 1992, he helped the German Bureau of Flight
Safety develop and implement a major system upgrade of air traffic
control functions and equipment throughout its country.
Mr. Leone earned a master’s degree in aeronautical science
from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a bachelor’s
degree in computer science and applied systems software from Rochester
Institute of Technology.
Lillian Zarrelli Ryals
Executive Director, Air Traffic Systems and Operations
Corporate Executive Director, Next Generation Air Transportation System
 Lillian
Ryals has more than 30 years of experience working in the aviation
sector across a broad range of NAS modernization and operations
activities. Ms. Ryals leads CAASD’s ATM/CNS systems evolution
and operations work for the FAA. This encompasses operational concepts
and infrastructure for future terminal, surface, en route, oceanic,
and flow management decision support systems; aircraft and ground
system elements for communications, navigation, and surveillance;
unmanned aircraft systems; integrated airspace and procedures design,
traffic flow operations and procedures; and aviation system safety
and security.
Ms. Ryals is also the corporate lead for MITRE’s NextGen
activities across multiple government agencies, including the FAA,
Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Joint
Planning and Development Office. She is responsible for NextGen
strategy and alignment for all corporate NextGen activities.
Previously, Ms. Ryals worked for Allied Bendix, designing its prototype
Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Throughout
her career, she has actively participated in aviation industry committees
and national and international standards bodies, including the International
Civil Aviation Organization and RTCA. She currently serves on the
RTCA NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) Subcommittee. She is a member
of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Air Traffic
Control Association, and the Aero Club. Ms. Ryals was recently elected
Chair of the Board of Directors for Women in Aerospace. She earned
a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University
of Maryland.
Detlev A. Foellmer
Director for the Business Resource Center
 Detlev
Foellmer manages the business, finance, and fiscal services and
functions that support the FAA, international and government systems
clients, and other CAASD initiatives. Mr. Foellmer is a member of
the MITRE Business Council.
Before joining MITRE in 2000, Mr. Foellmer was the chief financial
officer and administrator for the Koop Foundation Inc., a nonprofit
organization chaired by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
Prior to that, he held senior financial management positions at
PRC Inc., and GTE/Contel Federal Systems. Earlier in his career,
he worked for the Marriott Corporation and an international medical
instrumentation and supply company.
Mr. Foellmer earned a master’s degree and a bachelor’s
degree in business administration from the University of Maryland.
 Vanessa
Fong is responsible for CAASD’s aviation security and NAS
communication, cyber security, tactical operations, and traffic
flow management. Additionally, she is a member of the MITRE NextGen
Cross-Cutting Leadership Team, focusing on the interagency mission
space among the FAA, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland
Security.
Ms. Fong was the first director of the NAS Enterprise Architecture
Council, which was created in 2004 to apply systems engineering
and integrated domain expertise to CAASD’s NAS effort. She
has directed a broad range of air traffic management projects, overseen
the CAASD air traffic management laboratory and prototyping efforts,
and led the development and technology transfer of the User Request
Evaluation Tool conflict probe capability.
She has earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University
of Wisconsin, a master’s degree in computer science from Johns
Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from
National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan. She has been named an Outstanding
Woman of Color in Technology, in the category of Research Leadership,
by the U.S. Black and Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology
magazine.
David G. Hamrick
Senior Technical Advisor
 David
Hamrick provides strategic technical guidance to CAASD’s executives,
managers, and staff when working on large, complex projects of critical
importance to the FAA and MITRE’s other Federally Funded Research
and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsors, most notably the Department
of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. His current areas
of focus are information system security, integrated surveillance
and position, navigation and timing systems, and unmanned aircraft
systems. In helping CAASD address such topics of interest to multiple
FFRDC sponsors, Mr. Hamrick helps ensure that the best MITRE expertise
and capabilities are brought to bear and that MITRE’s work
and recommendations are coordinated and consistent.
He has nearly 30 years of experience in ATM/CNS system modernization
at MITRE CAASD. Before joining MITRE, Mr. Hamrick designed digital
voice communications systems at AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories.
He has earned a master’s degree in operations research from
Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science
and applied mathematics from the University of Virginia. He is a
member of the Air Traffic Control Association, American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Institute of Electric and Electronic
Engineers, and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honorary Society.
Christopher J. Hegarty, D.Sc.
Director for CNS Engineering & Spectrum
 Christopher
Hegarty has been a technical advisor to the U.S. government in a
number of forums, including the International Civil Aviation Organization,
International Telecommunication Union, and bilateral and multilateral
negotiations regarding the compatibility of Global Positioning System
with foreign satellite navigation systems.
Dr. Hegarty currently serves as chair of the Program Management
Committee and co-chair of Special Committee 159—both for RTCA.
He served as president of the Institute of Navigation in 2008 and
editor of ION’s (Institute of Navigation) quarterly journal
from 1997 to 2006.
Dr. Hegarty earned a doctorate degree in electrical engineering
from George Washington University, and a master’s degree and
a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Worcester
Polytechnic Institute (WPI). In 2005 he received a Department of
State’s Superior Honor Award and ION’s Johannes Kepler
Award. In 2006 he received WPI’s Hobart Newell Award, and
coauthored and co-edited the second edition of Understanding GPS:
Principles and Applications, published by Artech House. He is a
Fellow of both ION and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers.
Urmila Hiremath
Director, NextGen Integration
 Urmila
Hiremath is responsible for strategy and integration efforts in
the modernization of the National Airspace System, specifically
as it relates to NextGen.
Urmila has more than 25 years of experience in air traffic management
system modernization and has contributed to a wide variety of projects
for the Federal Aviation Administration. She was responsible for
developing the world-class MITRE Aviation IDEA Laboratory that has
been used in many areas, including the development of ADS-B applications,
unmanned aircraft system, airspace design, controller automation
and decision support, and runway safety initiatives. In addition,
she developed the Collaborative Experimentation Environment used
in addressing a broad range of interagency issues.
She earned a master's degree in computer science, concentrating
in artificial intelligence, from George Washington University, and
a bachelor's degree in computer science from Virginia Tech. The
U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine named her
an Outstanding Woman Engineer of Color in 2001.
Robert L. Humbertson
International Director for Asia Pacific and
Director of the MITRE Aviation Institute
 Robert
Humbertson’s responsibilities include the transfer of knowledge
and technology to nations that are working with MITRE in such disciplines
as CNS, ATM planning and implementation, airport system integration
and capacity analysis, delay/saturation modeling, airspace design,
RNAV-RNP (required area navigation-required navigation performance)
procedures development, and training for implementation of Safety
Management Systems.
Additionally, he heads the MITRE Aviation Institute, a continuing
education resource that provides professional development opportunities
to MITRE staff and the worldwide aviation community. Since joining
MITRE in 1999, Mr. Humbertson has worked on various projects for
the FAA, Department of Defense, and Joint Planning and Development
Office projects, many of which have led to NextGen.
Prior to MITRE, Mr. Humbertson was air traffic management director
at BAE SYSTEMS, where he also was technical director for the Systems
Engineering and Technical Assistance Support contract (SETA-I and
SETA-II) for the FAA. Additionally, he worked for a large consulting
firm that specialized in special-use airspace needs analysis for
the Department of Defense. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran, having
spent more than two decades in international ATC (air traffic control).
Mr. Humbertson earned a master’s degree in business and international
marketing, and a bachelor’s degree in business and ATC facility
management from Troy University. Additionally, he has certifications
in systems engineering from the University of Maryland and training
in enterprise architecture from the MITRE Institute.
Bernard Lisker, Ph.D.
International Director for Europe and Latin America
 Dr.
Bernard Lisker, international director at CAASD, focuses on Europe,
Latin America, and other areas. His responsibilities include transfer
of technology to nations working with MITRE in technical fields,
such as airport capacity and delay/saturation, airspace design,
noise modeling, and satellite navigation.
Since joining MITRE in 1986, Dr. Lisker has contributed to many
FAA research and development projects, one of which led to the acceptance
of dependent instrument approaches to converging runways. Using
the Chicago O’Hare International Airport as a case study,
he worked on the development of simultaneous instrument approaches
to converging runways. He has been involved with projects in Argentina,
Armenia, Belgium, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands,
Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and other nations throughout the world.
Originally an electrical engineer, Dr. Lisker went on to earn
a master’s degree in science and a doctorate in Flight Transportation
from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Debra A. Pool
Director, Air Traffic Systems and Operations
Debra Pool oversees and leads CAASD’s support of the FAA’s
national airspace redesign; airspace modeling; new procedures development
in the terminal, en route, and oceanic environment; international
work in airport and airspace design; and unmanned aircraft systems.
She has more than 30 years’ experience in ATM system modernization
and has contributed to a wide variety of FAA projects. These include
developing decision-support tools for controllers and traffic managers,
ATM/CNS, real-time human-in-the-loop simulations, airspace, and
procedure design; and performance analysis of the National Airspace
System.
Ms. Pool earned a master’s degree in computation and optimization
mathematics from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s
degree in mathematics from the University of Vermont.
James K. Reagan
Director for the ATM/CNS Evolution Division
Jim Reagan guides CAASD’s work on tower, terminal, en route,
oceanic, air traffic control, and decision support systems. Additionally,
he is responsible for leading CAASD's work on aircraft surveillance
and flight information service systems. Mr. Reagan has more than
15 years of experience in ATM and CNS system modernization at CAASD.
Since joining MITRE in 1985, Mr. Reagan has held several roles,
including project team manager for a U.S. Navy submarine communications
improvement initiative, outcome leader for the navigation services
improvement project, program manager for the aircraft surveillance
systems project and, most recently, director for the ATM/CNS Evolution
division.
Prior to joining MITRE, Mr. Reagan served in the U.S. Navy submarine
service on the U.S.S. James Madison, a fleet ballistic missile submarine.
He earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from
George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in ocean
engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Glenn F. Roberts, Ph.D.
Chief Engineer
Glenn Roberts directs MITRE’s independent research and development
programs in civil aviation and air traffic management. As part of
MITRE’s Innovation Program, this work taps into staff innovation
and creativity to develop new tools and concepts for advancing aviation.
He is also focused on expanding the technical stature of MITRE staff,
working actively to increase staff participation in publication
and presentation of research outputs, as well as external collaboration
with the aviation research community. Dr. Roberts directs CAASD’s
technology transfer activities, where he actively works to transition
technology to the field and into commercial practice.
Dr. Roberts is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, where he serves on the Emerging Technologies
committee; he is a member of the Air Traffic Control Association,
where he serves on the Editorial Board for ATC Quarterly. He is
a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the Eta
Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society. He holds a doctoral
degree, a master’s degree in engineering, and a bachelor’s
degree in electrical, computer, and systems engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute.
Hassan Shahidi, D.Sc.
Director for System Operations, Safety,
and Performance
 With
more than 20 years’ experience in ATC modernization, currently
Dr. Shahidi oversees modeling, analysis, and research on the RNAV-RNP
Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing initiative. In
addition, he oversees a number of key safety initiatives, including
Safety Management Systems, runway incursions human factors analysis,
and prevention research.
Previously, Dr. Shahidi was the program manager for RNAV-RNP, which
included research, development, and modeling for domestic and international
implementation. He serves on a number of industry panels, including
the Commercial Aviation Safety Team and the International Civil
Aviation Organization Task Force for performance-based navigation.
Before joining MITRE, Dr. Shahidi led ATC modernization and aviation
human factors activities at Systems Control Technology and FAL Inc.
Dr. Shahidi has received the RTCA Outstanding Achievement Award.
He has a private pilot license, and is a member of the Air Traffic
Control Association, Institute for Operations Research and the Management
Sciences, and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honorary Society. He earned
a doctorate degree in systems engineering management from George
Washington University and a master’s degree in systems engineering
from the University of Virginia, as well as a master’s degree
in economics and a bachelor’s degree in international economic
studies from George Mason University.
Brian T. Simmons
Associate Director for Analysis Capability Integration
 Brian
Simmons is responsible for CAASD’s analysis capability planning
and system architecture. He oversees CAASD’s Aviation Data
Services and Security department, including the CAASD Repository
System, which maintains MITRE’s integrated database of global
aviation system information. Mr. Simmons also oversees the organization
that maintains the Aviation Integration Demonstration and Experimentation
for Aeronautics (IDEA) Laboratory. This laboratory emulates a comprehensive
set of current and future ATM and CNS technologies and integrates
them to support concept development and human-in-the-loop analysis
of the NAS.
Since joining CAASD in 1996, Mr. Simmons has focused on the development
and application of fast-time and real-time human-in-the-loop simulation
capabilities. He was the past principle investigator overseeing
the development of CAASD’s NAS-wide simulation capability,
systemwideModeler. Mr. Simmons served as program manager
for CAASD’s airspace redesign department where he managed
the development of tools and analysis processes, and oversaw the
completion of domestic and international airspace redesign projects.
He was program manager and site leader for CAASD’s CNS-ATM
modernization program in Taipei, Taiwan.
Mr. Simmons earned a master’s degree and a bachelor’s
degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia.
Joseph H. Sinnott
Director for Program Management and Integration
 Joseph
Sinnott is responsible for program management, integration, and
planning for CAASD’s overall work program and CAASD’s
work in modeling and simulation for the FAA.
Mr. Sinnott’s 27-year career with CAASD spans a broad spectrum
of work areas, including the National Airspace System architecture
and operational concepts, traffic flow management, air traffic procedures,
airspace design, and operational performance analysis, as well as
modeling and simulation, airspace user economics, and air transportation
policy.
Prior to joining MITRE, Mr. Sinnott was the director of Research
and Engineering at a consulting firm that specialized in complex
and sensitive surface transportation planning and policy analysis.
He earned a master’s degree in transportation systems analysis
from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree
in civil engineering from Tufts University. He is a member of the
Air Traffic Control Association, the Institute for Operations Research
and the Management Sciences, and the American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics.
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