Rear Admiral (ret) Jim Rodman, USN is an engineer and an attorney. From 2011 to 2014 he served as the Chief Engineer of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR),San Diego, CA, leading SPAWAR’s worldwide engineering workforce in the design, development, deployment, and sustainment of the Navy’s C5ISR, Enterprise Information, and Space Systems. Before SPAWAR he served in various assignments in fleet maintenance, ship and weapons systems, and space and network systems acquisition and operations. He commanded three Navy Reserve units and served as the Vice Commander of the Navy Net Centric Warfare Group. He is the Chief Executive Officer of XSITE LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business providing systems engineering and integration services to the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.
Scott Tait is President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Science and Engineering, a pre-eminent human factors research, engineering and design firm located in San Diego, California but operating around the globe. Pacific Science develops cutting edge human-machine interfaces for complex and high-consequence systems in sectors including defense, intelligence, aerospace, medical and automation. Prior to joining PSE, Scott served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years. His assignments included positions leading strategy, policy and innovation efforts, working directly for 3 and 4-star commanders in the Indo-Pacific region and Washington, D.C. He also held senior policy positions, with a focus in Indo-Asia, on the Joint Staff (J-5), Pacific Fleet staff and U.S. Seventh Fleet staff. At sea he served in Cruiser and Destroyer ships, commanding USS Mustin (DDG 89) and, most recently, USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000).