Sigmatech Leadership

Gurmej S. Sandhu, Ph.D.
Founder, Chairman & Chief Technical Advisor
Huntsville, Alabama

• 35 years technical & management experience
• Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM), Space & Missile Defense Command (SMDC), Research, Development & Engineering Center (RDEC) & Program Executive Offices (PEOs), NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
• Career spans realms of research, industry & education
• Over 100 technical publications on system science & signal processing
• Inducted to the Distinguished Engineering Academy of the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2001 and was a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, the university’s highest honor, for the year 2004.
• Board of Directors of the University of Alabama at Huntsville Foundation
• Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
• Diverse background ranging from executive leadership & program management to principal engineer & project lead for companies that include Boeing Aerospace, Teledyne Brown Engineering & General Research Corporation

Jeff Flewelling
President/CEO
Huntsville, Alabama

• Planning out overall strategies and policies for the company
• Creating and implementing organization, vision and direction
• Executive Manager of all SIgmatech Operational Divisions
• Former SVP of Space and Cyber Operations
• Over 25 years of U.S. Air Force experience, Retired USAF Colonel

Phil Hays
Chief Technical Officer
Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Provides executive oversight for all Sigmatech Space and Cyber Operations
• Provides expertise to Air Force Space Command, Directorate of Operations (HQ AFSPC A2/3/6) on space launch operations/maintenance, and launch vehicle, satellite, range activities and security concerns of the nation’s space launch capability.
• 30+ years of spacelift experience
• 20+ years as HQ level action officer at AFSPC/DOS
• 20+ years of experience Launch Vehicle PEM
• Operational Test Planning Experience

Clifford ‘Cliff’ Crivello
Sr. Vice President, Army Enterprises
Huntsville, Alabama

• 35 years of Security Cooperation (SC) and Security Assistance(SA) experience:
• 15 years at NATO/SHAPE – area of responsibility was Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Luxemburg, Norway and Great Britain all aspects of international support from LOC access, joint exercises to international agreements and FMS support.
• 20 Years with USASAC experience included:
  • Ombudsman to industry in reference to over 5000 FMS cases valued at that time around ~$140B
  • Assigned to DSCA to develop the SC/SA POM and Budget process, Pre-LOR process, improvements to the Case execution Process
  • Force manager for the AMC FMS community – instituted activity based costing
  • Responsible for operational and financial policy – rewrote treasure accounting process and line of accounting for FMS 8242 funds
  • Worked as the Commanders initiatives officer, the G1 the G8
  • As the G8, was responsible for the fiscal management and execution of over ~200B of 8242 funds for the entire army – was the SME in the Army for this fund.
  • Responsible for remapping all core FMS processes.

David Deist
Sr. Vice President, Space and Air Enterprise Division
Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Oversees Sigmatech’s Space and Air Enterprise Division contracts, task orders and initiatives
• PM NSSI, 11 Years
• Bachelors of Science in Aerospace Engineering USNA
• Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School
• Master of Science in Strategic Studies, Army War College

Frank Brown
Chief Financial Officer
Huntsville, Alabama

• Oversees all of Sigmatech’s finance and accounting functions
• Secretary of Sigmatech’s Board of Directors
• Over 20 years of experience in both public and privately held corporations in all facets of financial management
• Attended Officer Candidate School and served in the infantry
• Graduate of Leadership Huntsville Management Academy
• Certificate in Accounting from the University of Alabama in Huntsville
• Bachelor’s Degree in General Administration from McNeese State University

Tim McDonald
Vice President, Aviation Programs
Huntsville, AL

• Project Lead for the Multi-National Special Projects Office (MASPO). 
• Product Manager, Special Operations Aviation Mission Equipment at Fort Eustis, Virginia. 
• Systems Integration Officer, Systems Integration and Management Office with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
• Assistant Product Manager in PM Cargo and PM Non-Standard Rotary Wing Aircraft
• Joint Heavy Lift Branch Chief in the Combat Requirements Directorate at Fort Rucker, AL. 
• Director of Operations for GE Healthcare. 
• MS in Acquisition Management from the Florida Institute of Technology
• Commissioned as an Aviation Officer after graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate from Southern Illinois University in 1990. 

Peter Eck
Vice President, Aberdeen Operations
Belcamp, Maryland

• 33+ years combined experience as a soldier and contractor with multiple deployments supporting our Army, Joint Services, and Coalition Partners
• 25+ years leading and executing large ($100-475M) global fielding, training, engineering, and FMS programs and projects
• Former Sev1Tech Director of C5ISR Operations and Staff Action Control Officer (SACO) responsible for overseeing daily operations of ~400 employees
• Senior Leader responsible for increased Sigmatech presence and growth in the greater Aberdeen, MD market
• Member, United States Army Signal and Ordnance Corps

Raj Sandhu
Vice President, Corporate Development
Huntsville, Alabama

• 20 years of experience in business development, corporate strategy, pricing, procurement and contracts
• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Minor in Economics from Georgia Institute of Technology
• Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Emory University

Lisa Willett
Vice President, Contracting
Huntsville, Alabama

• 27 years of experience in DoD and NASA support in contracts, program control, pricing and program management
• Masters of Business Administration from the University of North Alabama
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Athens State University
• Member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA)

John Neil
Vice President, Foreign Military Sales
New Cumberland, PA

• 33+ years Government service as a Security Cooperation and Security Assistance specialist
• 20+ years with the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC), experience included:
  • Country Program Manager (CPM)
  • EUCOM/AFRICOM Liaison Officer
  • Studies and Analysis Group
  • Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Deployment Director
  • 12+ years, Director, Performance and Process Management Office
• Member Army Acquisition Corp, Program Management, Level II Certified
• B.S. in Public Administration, Shippensburg University
• M.S. in Management, Webster University

Ray Woolery
Vice President, Engineering Services
Huntsville, Alabama

• Director, Aviation Programs
• Nearly 30 years of U.S. Army experience
• Over 40 years of Aviation support
• Former Project Manager for the Army’s Aviation RESET Project Office, AMCOM
• AAAA VP for Operations Tennessee Valley Chapter
• Current member of AUSA, AUVSI, AAAA, and PMI
• Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Level III Program Manager and Level III Logistics Manager

Patrick Howell, PhD
Director, Business Development
Huntsville, AL

• 30 years of Army service culminating as the Director of the Modern War Institute at West Point
• 7 years leading various functional sections that supported the operations of the parent organization (human resources, vehicle/equipment maintenance & service, construction engineering, facility maintenance, and logistics).
• Over 6 years as a strategic planner conducting strategy formulation & management and leading strategic initiatives on behalf of two operational organizations ranging from 5,000 to 250,000 personnel as well as the US Army.
• 6 years leading four different operational organizations from 30 to 800 personnel comprised of three to seven direct reporting elements. Provided purpose, direction, motivation & vision and developed & implemented plans for organizations to accomplish a variety of US foreign policy goals.
• Over 5 years in various academic leadership positions and governance committees: Center Director, Program Director; Assistant Program Director; Course Director; various Governance Committees.
• PhD in Political Science (Duke University); Master of Military Arts & Sciences (School of Advanced Military Studies), Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy (The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy/Tufts University)
• United States Military Academy, 1992- International Relations

Stephenie Palmer
Director, Operations
Huntsville, Alabama

• Over 19 years of Operations and Program Management experience in Army Garrison Support, Army Combatant Command, Army Acquisition and Defense Industrial Base Organizations.
• Provides operational oversight for corporate administrative, security and IT staff at headquarters Huntsville
• Interfaces with and assist executive management from all division offices
• Serves as headquarters Facility Manager and Assistant Facility Security Officer
• DSS Security Fundamental Profession Certification, May 2018; DSS Security Asset Protection Professional Certification, May 2019; International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) Facility Management Profession Certification, May 2018    
• Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology, Marshall University

Ernie Rodriguez
Space and Cyber Systems Business Development
Colorado Springs, Colorado

• 25 years of U.S. Air Force space and nuclear operations experience
• Former Space Group Deputy Commander, leading 500+ technical and operational personnel performing experimentation, operational testing, and space range operations
• Leads Sigmatech business development efforts for USAF Space, Cyber, Nuclear and Homeland Defense programs
• Master’s in Technical Management from West Coast University
• Bachelor’s in International Relations from the United States Air Force Academy

Corey Averitt
BD Portfolio Lead
Huntsville, Alabama

• 20+ years of leading teams, developing systems, securing infrastructure, managing projects, and winning new business.
• Builds and develops innovative solutions for new opportunities.
• Led capture on large ($100M+) opportunities within the DoD.
• Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Auburn University
• Master of Science in Management Information Systems from The University of Alabama in Huntsville
• Board Member for the UAH Cybersecurity and Information Systems Advisory Council

Romeil Sandhu, PhD
Chief Data Scientist
Huntsville, Alabama

• 15+ Years in Data Science w/ 50+ publications in areas of autonomy, machine learning, cloud computing, and vision. 
• PhD, MS, and BS in Electrical Engineering, Georgia Tech
• Former Professor, nationwide recognitions include AFOSR YIP, NSF CAREER, and AFRL SFFP
• Technical capability lies on the intersection of controls, differential geometry, topology, and statistics (information geometry).