Lori Gordon
Lori Gordon, MPA, PMP is a Systems Director in the Corporate Chief Engineer’s Office at The Aerospace Corporation, leading national security, cybersecurity, and infrastructure protection and resilience enterprise integration initiatives for the space enterprise. With almost two decades of experience in the Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) and private sector communities, she has advised a range of federal agencies in initiatives to accelerate technology innovation in complex systems while mitigating national security and civil space enterprise risk. Ms. Gordon is a Partner with Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) and a Fellow at the National Security Institute (NSI), and has served on several curriculum advisory boards in cybersecurity and information technology, law and government, and resilient design. Ms. Gordon holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Catherine Melquist
Catherine Melquist holds the position of Government Aero Market Development at Intelsat, where she works closely with Channel and Ecosystem Partners to provide aeronautical satellite communication solutions to government users worldwide. This includes catering to various mission sets such as VVIP, transport, and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR). With an investment of over $2 billion, Intelsat has constructed the world’s first truly global and unified 5G network, delivering on the security and diverse connectivity requirements of its government, business, and commercial aviation customers.
Previously serving as the president of the Mobile Satellite Users Association (MSUA), Catherine has held a variety of leadership positions in product and market development within the satellite industry. Catherine’s additional mission is to champion support for women in the telecom industry, and she currently serves as the co-founder and chair of the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) at Intelsat.
Bill Milroy
Prior to co-founding ThinKom (www.thinkom.com), William (Bill) Milroy held the position of Senior Engineering Fellow within the Electromagnetic Systems Department of Raytheon’s Electronic Systems (ES) Segment. During his 20 year tenure at Raytheon (Hughes Aircraft), Mr. Milroy managed and lead the RF antenna design, development, and production of a wide range of antenna array implementations for radar and communication applications in both the commercial and military marketplaces including 1-D and 2-D Electronically-Scanned Arrays (ESA’s). These efforts have included the creation and invention of a number of innovative EM modeling and RF design improvements, including the invention of the Continuous Transverse Stub (CTS) Array and its variants. He left Raytheon in May of 2000 in order to co-found and incorporate ThinKom Solutions, where he currently holds the titles of Chairman and CTO. Located in Hawthorne, California, ThinKom Solutions is focused on the design and development of innovative antenna access solutions and products for the Broadband Wireless Communication market.
Mr. Milroy is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, earning BSEE, MSEE, and Engineer (Ph.D. course, field, and examination requirements) degrees and is a graduate of the Hughes (Raytheon) Corporate Program Manager Development Course (PMDC) and Engineering of Systems Course (EOSC) curricula and the Executive Marketing Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business Management. He is the author or co-author of nine journal and symposia papers in the fields of Network Analysis, Circuits, Antennas, and Microwaves. He is the inventor or co-inventor of over forty-five awarded and pending patents in the fields of Electromagnetic Scattering, Materials, Microwave Devices, and Antennas. Mr. Milroy is a past Chairman of the Los Angeles Chapter of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (IEEE-APS.)
Dr. Lawrence Robertson
Dr. Lawrence M. “Robbie” Robertson, III, is a member of the scientific and technical cadre of senior executives, and the Lead Space Experimentalist, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Air Force Materiel Command, Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico. Dr. Robertson serves as the principal scientific authority and independent researcher in the field of space satellite systems, integrates state-of-the-art scientific advances with military technology requirements and guides space experimentation research and development efforts across the AFRL enterprise.
Dr. Robertson began his career as a consultant to Teledesic Corporation and worked as a Member of Technical Staff at SVS Inc and Nichols Research – both small high-tech companies – before joining the AFRL.
He joined the AFRL in 1998 and has contributed to a wide range of technologies in space and directed energy. Robbie’s first position was the Beam Control Lead for the highly successful Airborne Laser Advanced Concept Testbed highlighted in the September 5, 2000 front-page article in the Wall Street Journal. He has been a leader in science and technology transition supporting Space Control, Space Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and Space Command and Control.
Dr. Robertson has published over 40 papers in national and international journals or conferences and has one US patent. He has also served as an advisor to several national committees including one AF Scientific Advisory Board position.
Robert Weitendorf
Rob, a satellite an industry veteran who began his VSAT career in the early days of aeroplatforms, co-founded Lepton Global Solutionsnearly eight years ago as he was looking foways to provide flexible turnkey satellite services to government and military customers. During his time at Lepton, Rob gained significant
expertise not only in managing a small business, but also, in the technical understanding of how
to successfully manage global TDMA networks and support various types of terminals. He also developed relationships across the satellite industry ecosystem from capacity suppliers to teleport operators.
Since the acquisition of Lepton Global by Kymeta Corporation in August of 2020, Rob has transitioned to a new role as a Vice President of Business Development. With close SOCOM relationships and customer understanding, Rob’s primary focus is developing government and custom satellite solutions oriented toward mission critical customers. In August of 2023 Rob took over leading the US military and government sales team.
Before founding Lepton Global Solutions, Rob led the MTNGS sales team, where his knowledge of communications-on-the-move (COTM) technologies resulted in several big contract wins in airborne and maritime sectors.
Rob began his career in the satellite industry with Tachyon Networks, where he was responsible for all global government business and was an early adapter in Airborne (COTM) satellite communications. During his time at Tachyon, he gained expert knowledge on multiple platforms, including iDirect, ViaSat, and Comtech.
Phil Whitacre