Sigmatech Leadership

Jeff Flewelling
President/CEO
Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Dir. Space and Cyber Operations
• Oversees Sigmatech’s Space and Cyber contracts, task orders and initiatives
• Over 25 years of U.S. Air Force experience
• Former Inspector General, Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)
• Master’s in National Security Studies from the National War College
• Master’s of Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

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

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

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.

Chester DeCesaris
Chief Engineer Systems Technologies
Huntsville, AL

• 36 Years Government Service with Department of Defense, mainly Missile Defense Agency (25 yrs)
• 16 Year Member of the Senior Executive Service
• Presidential Meritorious Service Award 2007
• Member Army Acquisition Corp, Acquisition and Test  Level III Certified
• Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland
• Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VaTech)
• Recognized expert in Hypersonics, Test, Systems Engineering, and Program Management

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

Jason A. Fauth
PM, AMCOM FMA
Huntsville, Alabama

• Retired US Army Aviation Safety Officer with over 21 years uniformed service
• More than 30 years’ experience in the defense industry supporting Army, Joint, Coalition, and allied headquarters
• Experienced in Hazard Mitigation Strategies, Root Cause Analysis, and OSHA, ISO & AS Standards
• ICAO Safety Management System Certified
• ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, and AS 9100, 9110, and 9120 Lead Auditor Certified
• Master of Project Management Degree, Pennsylvania State University
• Bachelor of Science Degree, Professional Aeronautics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

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

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

John Jones
Vice President, Emerging Programs
Huntsville, Alabama

• Commander of a 1300 person workforce at the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center, conducting developmental testing to include range operations, aviation flight test, missile test, environmental, small arms and tactical missile performance testing, and cyber.
• 7 years of Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Command at both the O-6/O-5 levels in CONUS and in combat in Afghanistan. Portfolios included over 1200 companies, 100,000 defense contractors, and contracts in excess of $50B
• Commander, DCMA Aircraft Integrated Maintenance Operations, Enterprise and Greenville, oversaw 10 different overhaul, maintenance, repair, and manufacturing facilities (4 years)
• Experimental Test Pilot serving as Chief of Flight Test, Director of Test Management, Branch and Division Chief, overseeing all developmental flight test activities for manned, unmanned, rotary and fixed-wing aircraft (6 years)
• 30 years Army service, Master Army Aviator with ratings in eight rotary and fixed wing aircraft and flight in over 52 different airframes
• Over 19 years of Acquisition experience in Test, Program Management, and Contracting for all Armed Services, multiple Agencies, and Federal Organizations
• Certified Level III Acquisition professional in Program Management and Test and Evaluation; Level II in Contracting and Systems Engineering
• MS Degree, International and Strategic Studies, Air University, Air War College; MA Degree, Procurement and Acquisition Management, Webster University
• United States Military Academy, 1990, BS – Computer Science, Branch Aviation
• Member Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), AAAA (30 year), AUSA

John Neil
Director, 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

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

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

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).

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)