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    Press release Parallax Advanced Research
Sep 14, 2022

For immediate release: September 14, 2022 

Beavercreek, Ohio – Dennis Andersh, president and chief executive officer of Parallax Advanced Research, has announced the addition of six members to the Parallax Board of Directors, effective March 29, 2022.  

According to Andersh, the additional members make 15 total board members, and they both supplement and enlarge the depth of experience, expertise, and knowledge of the board.  

“Not only have we reached deeper into academia, but we have also added experience and perspective in manufacturing, artificial intelligence/machine learning, scientific research, consulting, policy, national defense, gender diversity, and much more,” said Andersh. 

The new members of the Parallax Board are: 

Gary Kessler 

Gary Kessler is an independent consultant for his own company, Kessler Integrated Systems Solutions, LLC., performing technical, management, and organizational efforts in support of government and industry in the execution of Department of Defense activities in the areas of strategic planning, program management, workforce development, systems engineering, and test and evaluation. Mr. Kessler served as the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy air programs from October 2014 to January 2018. He was the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition on matters relating to manned and unmanned aircraft, air-launched weapons, cruise missiles, airborne sensors, and avionics. DASN(Air) monitors and advises ASN (RD&A) on programs managed by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and affiliated Program Executive Offices (PEO). He graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical and aerospace engineering and a master's degree in business administration, and he received a doctorate’s degree in Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. 

Dr. Phil Perconti 

Dr. Perconti is chief technology officer of the Arlington, Virginia-headquartered Leonardo DRS and leads corporate research and development strategy providing integrated technology solutions to produce enhanced warfighting capabilities. Leonardo DRS is a developer of defense products and is a systems developer and manufacturer with offices in Beavercreek, OH. Previously, Dr. Perconti was the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Research and Technology and Army chief scientist. He was responsible for policy and oversight of the Army’s Research and Technology program, which spanned 17 laboratories and research, development, and engineering centers, and employed nearly 12,000 scientists and engineers. He holds a Doctor of Science from George Washington University. He is a Federal Laboratory Consortium Laboratory Director of the Year awardee and a Northeastern Maryland Technology Council Visionary Leader. He is a technical fellow at the Military Sensing Symposium.  

Dr. Richard Joseph 

Dr. Joseph, during the period January 10, 2018, until mid-April 2021, served as the Chief Scientist of the United States Department of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. In this role as the senior-most scientific adviser to the AF Chief of Staff, Chief of the US Space Force, and Secretary of the Department of the Air Force. He assessed various scientific and technical issues affecting the Air Force mission. He also identified and analyzed critical technical issues and brought them to the attention of Air Force leaders, interacting with other Air Staff principals, operational commanders, combatant commands, and acquisition and science and technology communities to address cross-organizational technical issues and solutions. He also interacted with other services and the Office of the Secretary of Defense on issues affecting the broader national security technical enterprise. He served on the Executive Committee of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and as a government advisor to the Defense Science Board. He was the principal science and technology representative of the Air Force to the civilian scientific and engineering community and to the public at large. This assignment followed a 40-year career as an educator, research leader, strategic planner, arms control advisor, board member, and private businessman. He holds a B.S in Physics from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked in the US Air Force, Los Alamos National Laboratory, DoD (OSD), and NASA. 

Susan Thornton 

Susan Thornton is an associate with Dayton Aerospace, Inc. and owner of SJT Consulting, LLC in Arlington, Virginia, where she provides innovative solutions, manages risk, optimizes processes, and develops successful strategies for complex weapon systems, software, cyber capability, and advanced technology. Dayton Aerospace provides senior-level, hands-on support to government and industry customers worldwide, which includes support for all phases of the Department of Defense acquisition life cycle. Ms. Thornton served as a civilian in the Air Force, including 13 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service, and, previously, was director for Information Dominance Programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon. Ms. Thornton earned her Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from Wright State University, a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton, and a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.  

Wanda Gamble 

Gamble is Chief Business Development Officer at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), which provides its clients with scientific, health, and workforce solutions through our specialized teams of experts and a consortium of more than 150 universities and colleges. Before joining ORAU, Gamble was vice president for business development in the Health and Analytics Business Unit of Battelle Memorial Institute. She received the Battelle Energy and Health Global Business President’s Award in 2013 and the Jeannette Rankin Foundation's “Smart Women” Award in 2017. Gamble received a bachelor’s degree in government from Auburn University and a master’s degree in telecommunications and business management from Golden Gate University. 

Other Parallax board members include:  

  • C. Douglas Ebersole, Senior Executive Service (Retired), Former Executive Director, Air Force Research Laboratory 

  • Carmel Ortiz, vice president of Systems Innovation at Intelsat 

  • Gayle Rominger, board member of The Entrepreneur’s Center, Lion, UES, Brixey and Meyer, and Hohman Plating 

  • Greg Morris, Printerprezz/Vertex Manufacturing 

  • Jeff Stanley, an independent consultant, working with a variety of defense and aerospace firms 

  • Lloyd Fields, independent consultant through Quality Insights, LLC and board member of BHDP 

  • Lt. Gen. (Ret) C.D. Moore, CEO of A3R Consulting, former chief operating officer for Caliburn International, and board member of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance 

  • Michael A. Hripko, board chair of BRITE, Ohio’s Energy Incubator, and advisory board member of the Advanced Manufacturing and Research Innovation Institute 

  • Richard Graf, CPA, and Shareholder at Hammerman, Graf, Hughes & Company Inc.  

Read each board member bio here: https://parallaxresearch.org/about-us/our-team 

FACTSHEET 

Listing of Parallax’s other board members include: 

C. Douglas Ebersole

C. Douglas Ebersole, Senior Executive Service (Retired), Former Executive Director, Air Force Research Laboratory where he served as the principal assistant to the commander responsible for managing the Air Force's $2.1 billion science and technology program along with an additional $2.3 billion of externally funded research and development. Other notable technical leadership assignments in his DoD career include Director of Engineering for the F-22 Raptor and then the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programs. Following his retirement from government service in 2017, he served in executive positions at Leonardo DRS, Tangram Flex, and Cornerstone Research Group. Mr. Ebersole holds a B.S. in Aero/Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton, and as a Sloan Fellow, was awarded an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Carmel Ortiz

Carmel Ortiz, vice president of Systems Innovation at Intelsat. Ms. Ortiz has more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications, satellite, and digital media industries. Prior to joining Intelsat in May of 2020, Carmel was the vice president/chief systems engineer of OneWeb, where she was responsible for the overall system engineering, design, and performance of the low-earth orbit (LEO) constellation broadband communication system. In 1995, Carmel co-founded Skjei Telecom, a satellite communications engineering consulting firm serving large commercial and federal government clients. Over the course of 20 years as vice president of engineering at Skjei, Carmel executed myriad complex technical projects on behalf of clients, leading to the firms' continued revenue growth and reputation as a premier satellite system engineering firm.  Early in her career, Carmel held various engineering positions at GTE Corporation, GTE Spacenet, and GE Americom. She is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a certificate in telecommunications and participated in the Co-operative Education program. 

Gayle Rominger

Gayle Rominger, board member of The Entrepreneur’s Center, Lion, UES, Brixey and Meyer, and Hohman Plating. Ms. Rominger served as executive vice president at YSI Inc where she was responsible for sales, marketing, strategy and business development. She was a member of the YSI Board of Directors for six years. Following, Ms. Rominger served as vice president of Business Development & Strategy for Xylem Analytics. Since retirement from Xylem in 2013, Ms. Rominger has been active in the local start up community providing mentoring and angel investment for new companies. Ms. Rominger is a Hoosier with an MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. 

Greg Morris

Greg Morris, of Printerprezz/Vertex Manufacturing. Mr. Morris has been involved in advanced manufacturing since the founding of Morris Technologies Inc., a business started in 1994 in Cincinnati, OH. In late 2012, GE Aviation acquired both Morris Technologies and Rapid Quality Manufacturing. In his initial roles with GE Aviation, Greg was one of the leaders of additive technologies within GE. In early 2020, Mr. Morris along with his previous business partners and colleagues, started a new venture, Vertex Manufacturing, which is focused on advanced manufacturing technologies serving the aerospace, medical, DoD, oil & gas and automotive industries. 

Jeff Stanley

Jeff Stanley is an independent consultant working with a variety of defense and aerospace firms. Mr. Stanley is a former senior executive with the USAF with over 35 years of experience as an engineer and program manager. His previous position was as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering. He is a recognized subject matter expert in all aspects of weapon system cybersecurity, mission systems, and digital engineering. He holds an M.S. in Strategic Studies from the Air War College, Air University, and MBA in Management from the University of Dayton, and a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Ohio University. 

Lloyd Fields

Lloyd Fields, independent consultant through Quality Insights, LLC and board member of BHDP. Mr. Fields possesses forty years of senior executive experience in operations for engineering and manufacturing technology companies selling to federal markets. He was co-owner and chief operating officer and president of software companies supplying to the DoD. He managed SDRC’s Asia Pacific Region for technical services and sales. He served as VP of the Federal Business Unit for an industry leader in additive manufacturing. He’s a U.S. Navy veteran and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Pursue University and an M.S. in Industrial Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University. 

Lt. Gen. (Ret) C.D. Moore

Lt. Gen. (Ret) C.D. Moore, CEO of A3R Consulting, former chief operating officer for Caliburn International, serves on board of directors for the Parallax Research Corporation and the National Aviation Heritage Alliance. Lt. Gen. C. D. Moore served in the United States Air Force for nearly 35 years. He has operations experience leading large organizations and complex aerospace programs. He was Vice Commander of Air Force Materiel Command, the first commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, he served in the Pentagon as director of special programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, deployed to Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and is an accomplished experimental test pilot with over 3,000 hours in 30+ type aircraft. As a Guggenheim Fellow, General Moore earned an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Columbia University. He also earned an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from The Industrial College of the Armed Forces (National Defense University). In addition, he holds a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering and a B.S. in Political Science from the United States Air Force Academy. 

Michael A. Hripko

Michael A. Hripko, board chair of BRITE, Ohio’s Energy Incubator, and advisory board member of the Advanced Manufacturing and Research Innovation Institute. Mr. Hripko retired from Youngstown State University as associate vice president for External Affairs, Government Relations, and Economic Development. Prior, he served as YSU’s associate VP of Research. He’s also worked in executive leadership positions with America Makes, Youngstown State University College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and Delphi Packard Electric Systems. Mr. Hripko holds a B.S. in Mathematics degree from the University of Dayton, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering (Operations Research) from the University of Iowa, and an M.B.A. from Kent State University.    

Richard Graf

Richard Graf, CPA and Shareholder at Hammerman, Graf, Hughes & Company Inc. He’s serves in a variety of industries, including service, manufacturing, construction, and real estate. He specializes in government contract accounting and compliance and multistate tax compliance. Richard was previously employed as an auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency and held various positions at a national accounting firm.   

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About Parallax Advanced Research 

Parallax is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that tackles global challenges by accelerating innovation and developing technology and solutions through strategic partnerships with government, industry, and academia across Ohio and the Nation. Together with academia, Parallax accelerates innovation that leads to breakthroughs. Together with the government, Parallax tackles critical global challenges and delivers new solutions. Together with the industry, Parallax develops groundbreaking ideas and speeds them to market.