Jud of Georgia Tech Space Research Institute

Biography:

W. Jud Ready serves as the inaugural executive director of Georgia Tech’s Space Research Institute and is a principal research engineer in the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Ready previously served as associate director of external engagement for the Institute for Matter and Systems, deputy director for the Institute for Materials, and as director of the Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR). He also holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Ready’s research focuses on energy capture, storage, and delivery enabled by nanomaterials for aerospace applications.  His work has been included on multiple space missions, including deployments to the International Space Station, low earth orbit, and heliocentric orbit. Over his career, he has secured more than $25 million in research funding from federal agencies, industry, and philanthropic sources. His recent honors include Georgia Tech’s Class of 1934 Outstanding Innovative Use of Education Technology award (2025), the Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development award (2023), and the One GTRI Collaboration Award (2022). 

Dr. Ready is a Senior Member of IEEE and the National Academy of Inventors IEEE, as well as a Life Member of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS).   In 2015, he was named as a “Brimacombe Medalist” by TMS for sustained excellence and achievement in business, technology, education, public policy, and science related to materials science and engineering.   Dr. Ready recently served as the TMS President in 2022.

Dr. Ready is a helicopter pilot with fixed wing instrument and autonomous pilot ratings as well.   He has also served on the Georgia Tech Faculty Assembly and Executive Board, as well as Trustee for the Georgia Tech Athletic Association and the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

Nima of School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech

Biography:

Dr. Nima Ghalichechian is an associate professor at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the director of the mmWave Antennas and Arrays Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Maryland in 2007. His research interests include millimeter-wave (mmWave) phased arrays, reconfigurable antennas, reflect-arrays, transmitarrays, on-chip antennas, phase-change materials, nonreciprocal microwave devices, high-power arrays, and mmWave measurement techniques. He is a Senior Member of IEEE.

Farah of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies

Biography:

Farah El Mamouni is a Radiation Effects Engineer at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies. Her work focuses on qualifying electronic parts and systems for Space and Defense Applications. Farah received her Ph.D in Electrical Engineering department in 2012 at Vanderbilt University Nashville TN, USA. Her research focused on investigating the Total Ionizing Dose and Single Event Effects on bulk and SOI FinFETs.

Chris of Georgia Tech Research Institute

Biography:

Dr. Christopher R. Valenta is a Principal Research Engineer and associate division head at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) as well as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Optical Engineering (OE) from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the Masters of Science and Doctoral Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has also spent time as a visiting researcher at the Politecnico di Torino in ITALY, the Technical University of Munich in GERMANY, and Osaka University in JAPAN. He has served as PI or co-PI on contracts and grants exceeding $23.4M for the Army, Navy, Air Force Research Lab, Naval Research Lab, Space and Missile Systems Center, NASA, and private industry. Dr. Valenta has been a part of the Orbital Calibration (OrCa) CubeSat mission, LunarFlashlight, and the upcoming OrCa2 CubeSat mission. His research interests lay at the intersection of electromagnetics, optics, and signal processing - specifically in remote sensing, LIDAR, space situational/domain awareness (SSA/SDA), microwave and milli-meter wave sensing, wireless power, radio frequency identification, and communications. Dr. Valenta’s work has been documented in over 100 publications which have been cited ~1900 times. His work has also been featured in Space News, Aviation Week, Wired, US News and World Report, and RFID Journal, among others. Dr. Valenta is a Senior Member of the IEEE and SPIE, member of OSA, and DEPS and serves in numerous professional leadership positions. Dr. Valenta is the winner of the 2015 IEEE Microwave Magazine Best Paper Award, a 2020 SPIE Rising Researcher, a Georgia Tech 40 under 40, and a registered professional engineer in the state of Georgia.

Leda of Georgia Tech Research Institute

Biography:

Dr. Leda Sox received her BA in Mathematics-Physics from Agnes Scott College and her PhD in Physics from Utah State University. She is a subject matter expert in atmospheric remote sensing and has developed a number of LIDAR systems with applications in defense technology and the scientific study of the near-space region. Dr. Sox is currently a Senior Research Scientist at GTRI in the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory and holds a courtesy appointment in the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Greg of Viasat

Biography:

Greg Kiesel joined Viasat in 2019, where he has been responsible for developing multibeam array technology for multi-mission Communication and remote sensing applications. He has been the lead system engineer on several programs managing the antenna, RF, mechanical, digital, and power systems. On the technical side, he has worked directly on RF feeds, signal processing, and digital control systems. Additionally, he has provided program management support by balancing the resource needs of major programs at Viasat Antenna Systems.

Prior to Viasat, Mr. Kiesel was a Principal Research Engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. There he was responsible for developing reconfigurable antenna technology, and was a lead in developing architecture, hardware, and software for Agile Aperture Antennas. His work included developing phased array hardware and advanced signal processing routines for measurement radar systems. Additionally, he designed many RF systems from UHF to Ka-band often supported by computational and optimization tools developed by himself.

Mr. Kiesel holds four patents related to antenna technology, and has authored ten papers on antenna technologies. Greg received his bachelor’s and master’s from Georgia Tech and is a Senior Member of IEEE.Mr. Kiesel joined Viasat in 2019, where he has been responsible for developing multibeam array technology for multi-mission Communication and remote sensing applications. He has been the lead system engineer on several programs managing the antenna, RF, mechanical, digital, and power systems. On the technical side, he has worked directly on RF feeds, signal processing, and digital control systems. Additionally, he has provided program management support by balancing the resource needs of major programs at Viasat Antenna Systems. Prior to Viasat, Mr. Kiesel was a Principal Research Engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. There he was responsible for developing reconfigurable antenna technology, and was a lead in developing architecture, hardware, and software for Agile Aperture Antennas. His work included developing phased array hardware and advanced signal processing routines for measurement radar systems. Additionally, he designed many RF systems from UHF to Ka-band often supported by computational and optimization tools developed by himself. Mr. Kiesel holds four patents related to antenna technology, and has authored ten papers on antenna technologies. Greg received his bachelor’s and master’s from Georgia Tech and is a Senior Member of IEEE.