Keynote – Naval Center for Space Technology

Dr. Steven Meier is the director of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST). NCST’s core mission is to develop innovative basic and applied research through advanced development of spacecraft technology and ground command and control stations. Dr. Meier provides executive leadership and direction to the NCST and is responsible for all personnel, finances, programs, and facilities. He serves as a national authority on matters related to space technology to top Navy, Department of Defense, aerospace industry, and allied foreign government leaders.

Dr. Meier held executive level positions at NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, and Lockheed Martin Corporation. He has also led the creation of organization-wide technology roadmaps to guide investment strategies for seamless transition of technologies from research and development to operations. He served on several independent evaluation teams and study panels that strengthened federal acquisition regulations, enhanced technology management practices, and developed organizational cost-effectiveness guidelines.

He is a senior aerospace executive with more than 25 years of federal and private industry experience in the defense, intelligence, and civil space communities. Dr. Meier was first appointed to the federal Senior Executive Service (SES) in January 2011 at NASA, departed to private industry, and returned to the SES cadre in July 2020. He has led highly diversified program portfolios focused on delivering innovative technologies from concept to operations for air and space platforms.

Dr. Meier is a recognized thought leader and sought-after keynote speaker with more than 40 peer reviewed publications and presentations in the areas of leadership, technology management, organizational change, federal acquisition, project management, systems engineering, and in several technology areas, including optical physics, materials science, spectroscopy, and astrophysics. He earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from George Mason University, a master’s in physics from the University of Southern California, a master’s in electrical engineering with a concentration in applied physics from the University of California at San Diego, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a concentration in optical physics from the Johns Hopkins University. He also has graduate certificates in Executive Leadership and Business Administration from Georgetown University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).