Leadership - AURA Technologies

Anna Bennett

Co-CEO

Anna Bennett focuses on the commercial, product development, and all core operations of AURA, including developing and implementing strategies for scaling the ongoing exponential growth of the company. She also…

Anna Bennett

Co-CEO

Ms. Bennett spent nearly 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, where she most recently was the Head of Global Content Development at IQVIA, the world’s largest life sciences data health company. There she rebuilt the operations of a ~200-person global department. Prior to IQVIA, Anna worked at GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals (GSK) where she initiated processes, improvements, and employee training programs to support the enterprises’ goals. Her work at GSK and IQVIA revolutionized communications to doctors and patients for clinical trials and increased speed-to-market for FDA-approved drugs that benefited millions of medical patients worldwide.

Ms. Bennett’s expertise resides in bringing order to complex, multi-leveled organizations driven by technical innovation while maintaining a strong focus on staff development and culture. The work Anna has led has saved hundreds of thousands of labor hours for companies, while improving both quality and speed.

Anna Bennett holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Douglas Bennett

Co-CEO

Douglas Bennett

Co-CEO

Douglas Bennett focuses on the technology development, financial and legal aspects of AURA. He also leads AURA’s defense technology. Mr. Bennett started his career being assigned to the advanced R&D division of the NRO. He has also served as a Study Director for the National Academy of Science’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. In that role, he crafted public policy for the U.S. federal and state governments that shaped the United States future technology development. Douglas has served as a consultant to NASA, the US Navy’s Space and Naval Information Systems Center, the US Air Force Laboratory, and DARPA.

Mr. Bennett spent 2 years conducting oceanographic research onboard ships, working for the Marine Division of Schlumberger, Inc., in the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. His work has included extensive international collaborations with Europe, Latin America, North America, Australasia, Japan, and the West Indies.

Mr. Bennett has worked in and founded numerous companies and has decades of experience developing advanced technologies, building technology portfolios valued at over $200M USD.

Douglas Bennett received a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Georgia Tech. He also holds a Master’s in English, Creative Writing from Iowa State University, and a second Master’s in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies – concentrating on Astrophysics, English, and Political Science. He is a designated outstanding alumni from Iowa State.

Leadership Team

Dr. Alex Blate

Chief Innovator

Dr. Alex Blate has over 20 years of experience in Software, Hardware, and…

Dr. Alex Blate

Chief Innovator

Dr. Alex Blate has over 20 years of experience in Software, Hardware, and Embedded Systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the area of low-latency tracking and displays for optical see-through augmented reality. His academic research included significant work characterizing and integrating with a variety of optical and inertial sensors. Prior to UNC, he was Senior Software Architect at CA Technologies (now part of Broadcom) and was responsible for the architecture and design of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. Prior to CA, he worked on Tier-1 VoIP and Mobile Applications platforms in the capacity of Systems Engineering, software performance, and scalability.

William Harvey

EVP of Software Programs

William Harvey manages all software development lifecycle activities at AURA. Mr. Harvey has…

William Harvey

EVP of Software Programs

William Harvey manages all software development lifecycle activities at AURA.

Mr. Harvey has over 20 years of experience in senior technology leadership roles spanning global scale product management and software development. Most recently as the Chief Technology Officer for Integrated Behavioral Health, an EAP services company with millions of covered lives, where he oversaw the development of proprietary business applications and managed a multi-state HIPAA network. Before that, he was the Chief Product Officer at Lantern Credit, a fintech startup that was acquired by SoFi. A decorated veteran, he served in the US Marine Corps as a Combat Engineer.

Mr. Harvey was at eBay/PayPal for several years, first as the Senior Product Manager of X.commerce, managing developer networks for over 50 eBay companies. Then as the Principal Product Manager at Magento, the largest open-source ecommerce platform of its time, he focused on performance and scalability of the Magento Enterprise Edition platform while contributing to partner relationships with white-glove customers, and oversight of the product roadmap for the eBay/PayPal split. Finally, as the Director of Marketing Operations for eBay Enterprise, eBay’s B2B technology subsidiary, he focused on internal tool development, operational excellence, lead attribution, and portfolio tracking for over $7B of annual sales.

William Harvey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Studies from Portland State University.

Greg Houlgate

EVP of Commercialization

Greg Houlgate is an innovator of new technologies in medical, automotive, commercial and…

Greg Houlgate

EVP of Commercialization

Greg Houlgate is an innovator of new technologies in medical, automotive, commercial and consumer products industries. With over 25 years of senior product development, corporate development, sales and marketing experience; Mr. Houlgate has worked for numerous companies including: Analytics Ventures (VC Firm) – portfolio companies CureMetrix and CureMatch (AI Healthcare companies), Oska Wellness – CES 2018 Start-up of the Year winner, DJO’s Global Recovery Science Division (a Blackstone Portfolio Company); Onsite Network, an interactive media company; West Coast Trends, a leading travel luggage and golf bag provider; Porsche Design, and Callaway Golf. His experience has taken Greg to work, travel and live in many markets around the world where he has developed a strong network of government, commercial and media relations across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

As a technology pioneer, Greg has been cited in numerous publications including Huffington Post, Sports and Fitness Tech, VatorNews, The Los Angeles Times, Drug Store News, Inc, Wearable and more.

Mr. Houlgate holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from U.C. Irvine and an MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix at Del Mar, CA.

Mark Maxwell

EVP Defense Programs

Captain Mark Maxwell retired from the US Navy in 2016 as the military…

Mark Maxwell

EVP Defense Programs

Captain Mark Maxwell retired from the US Navy in 2016 as the military lead for Advanced Manufacturing technology for the Naval Air Command. Capt. Maxwell worked for over 25 years in the maintenance and sustainment of US Navy aircraft. He also worked as a Quality Engineering Manager and Lean SixSigma Blackbelt. He holds certifications as a DAWIA Level III Program Manager, ASQC Quality Engineer, Technician and Auditor, ISO-9000 Auditor, LEAN Bronze (ASME), and several space application soldering standards (NHB5300 and J-STD-001). During his career span, Mark continued his commitment as a Naval Reservist as an Aviation Maintenance Officer. As a Reservist he managed Organizational, Intermediate, and Depot level maintenance providers for H-2, H-3, P-3, and GIV Gulfstream aircraft and then transitioned to NAVAIR as an Acquisition Program Manager and Military Director for Additive Manufacturing & Digital Thread.

Dr. Eric Strong

EVP, AI Programs

Dr. Eric Strong is leading AURA’s efforts in the field of applied AI research.…

Dr. Eric Strong

EVP, AI Programs

Dr. Eric Strong is leading AURA’s efforts in the field of applied AI research. His past work includes the development of machine learning algorithms for condition-based maintenance in multiple industries including nuclear plants, naval vessels, aircraft, and industrial plants. Throughout his career, he has led teams in the development of multiple successful AI products, including predictive maintenance. Dr. Strong served as a technical lead for prognostics at the DEI Group, and as a senior data scientist at his former company, Honeywell Aerospace.

AURA Technical Advisors

Stephen Cunnion

Steve Cunnion, Ph.D., M.D. is a retired Navy Captain, a Senior Fellow at the Potomac…

Stephen Cunnion

Steve Cunnion, Ph.D., M.D. is a retired Navy Captain, a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Study, Chief Medical Officer for NeuroRx, a partner for the Diogenic Group, a co-founder of iJet.com, and a Senior Medical Advisor for AURA Technologies. With over forty years of involvement in infectious disease, Dr. Cunnion was introduced to tropical medicine in 1970 as an Army combat medic assigned to the Ministry of Health in South Viet Nam. Dr. Cunnion was the scientist/physician for a joint DoD/State Department Chemical Biological Investigation Team in Thailand investigating allegations of biological and chemical use in Laos, Cambodia, and Afghanistan and assisting the Thai military in malaria and HIV control. He has held other positions as a professor at the Uniformed Services University teaching outbreak investigations and malaria epidemiology and the Director of Preventive Medicine and Occupational Health at the Bureau of Medicine. He received the2003 ProMED Reporting Award for being the first person to alert the Western world of the disease outbreak known as SARS.

Tom McDermott

Tom McDermott is a leader, educator, and innovator in multiple technology fields. He…

Tom McDermott

Tom McDermott is a leader, educator, and innovator in multiple technology fields. He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Systems Engineering Research Center at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, as well as a consultant specializing in strategic planning for uncertain environments. He has over 30 years of experience in technical and management disciplines, including extensive experience at the Georgia Institute of Technology and with Lockheed Martin in roles as Chief Engineer and Program Manager for the F-22 Raptor Avionics Team. Additionally, he held the position of GTRI’s Director of Research and interim Director from 2007-2013. Tom’s current research activities focus on innovation models, strategic foresight techniques, system data analytics, and modeling and simulation of policy implications in current and future complex systems. Tom is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, with degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering. Tom is also one of the creators of Georgia Tech’s Professional Master’s degree in Applied Systems Engineering and lead instructor of the “Leading Systems Engineering Teams” course.

Dave Kasik

Dave Kasik was formerly Boeing’s Senior Technical Fellow in visualization and interactive techniques…

Dave Kasik

Dave Kasik was formerly Boeing’s Senior Technical Fellow in visualization and interactive techniques until his 2016 retirement. He developed the first user interface management system to simplify application programming. His work with 3D graphics ranges from computer animation and device drivers to massive model visualization tools and techniques. He pioneered the use of visual analytics to help extract more business insight from complex non-geometric data. Mr. Kasik also has extensive experience in the digital management of manufacturing data. Dave earned his Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Colorado in 1972 and a Bachelors in Quantitative Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 1970. He is an ACM Fellow and involved in professional activities with ACM and IEEE.

Frank Culbertson, Jr.

Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. (Capt. USN, Ret.) is a former American naval officer…

Frank Culbertson, Jr.

Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. (Capt. USN, Ret.) is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, NASA astronaut, and graduate of the US Naval Academy. He served as the Commander of the International Space Station in 2001. Most recently, Mr. Culbertson held the position of President of the Space Systems Group at Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. There he was responsible for the execution, business development, and financial performance of the company’s human spaceflight, science, commercial communications, and national security satellite activities. Mr. Culbertson was named Deputy Program Manager, Phase 1 Shuttle-Mir, and became Manager of the Shuttle-Mir Program and spent one year as Deputy Program Manager for Operations of the International Space Station Program. A recipient of numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and the Navy and Air Force Commendation Medals; Culbertson was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010, the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997, and was designated a Fellow of AIAA in 2013.

AURA Advisory Board Members

Phillip Lacombe

Phillip Lacombe has extensive experience developing and managing security services businesses as a…

Phillip Lacombe

Phillip Lacombe has extensive experience developing and managing security services businesses as a co-founder of Secure Missions Solutions (SMS) and the former head of Cyber Initiative at Parsons Corporation. Mr. Lacombe was President at Veridian Corporation’s cyber sector, Vice President and manager of GD’s cybersecurity business line, Senior Vice President and General Manager of SAIC’s integrated security business unit, and Executive Vice President of Integrated Security Solutions of Olive Group FZ-LLC. Phil also served as the Director of the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, providing recommendations to the President and supporting the government’s initial critical infrastructure and nationwide cyber protection actions. He was also a founding director and President of the Information Technology – Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC). Phil is a retired US Air Force Colonel, a graduate of the National War College, the University of North Carolina (MA), and the University of Massachusetts.

Thomas R. Kurfess

Dr. Thomas Kurfess received his S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical and…

Thomas R. Kurfess

Dr. Thomas Kurfess received his S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering from M.I.T and is a chaired professor at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Mr. Kurfess served as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America. He has served as a special consultant of the United Nations to the Government of Malaysia and as a participating guest at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in their Precision Engineering Program. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, and on the Board of Trustees for the MT Connect Institute. He has received numerous awards including a National Science Foundation (NSF) Young Investigator Award, an NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award, the ASME Pi Tau Sigma Award, SME Young Manufacturing Engineer of the Year Award, the ASME Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award, the ASME Gustus L. Larson Award, an ASME Swanson Federal Award, and the SME Education Award.

Igor Jablokov

Igor Jablokov is the Founder and CEO of start-up Pryon Inc., an advanced…

Igor Jablokov

Igor Jablokov is the Founder and CEO of start-up Pryon Inc., an advanced AI company. He is also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) for Blackstone NC, a regional initiative focused on accelerating the commercialization of academic research backed by the Blackstone Foundation, Duke University, NC State University, and The University of North Carolina. He was awarded Eisenhower and Truman National Security Fellowships to deepen collaboration between government and industry. Previously, Igor was founder and CEO of Yap, an institutionally-funded venture that pioneered cloud-based speech recognition. The startup was subsequently acquired by Amazon and is integrated into successful products such as the Alexa Voice Service platform, the Echo speaker, and the Fire TV set-top box. As Program Director of IBM’smultimodal research group, Igor led the team that invented the world’s first ever speech-enabled Web browser. With over two dozen patents issued and pending, he was named an industry luminary by Speech Technology Magazine and an outstanding engineering alumnus of Penn State. Igor holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from The University of North Carolina.

AURA Advisory Board Members Emeritus

Alton D. Romig, Jr. (Emeritus)

Dr. Romig is the Executive Officer of the National Academy of Engineering. Under…

Alton D. Romig, Jr. (Emeritus)

Dr. Romig is the Executive Officer of the National Academy of Engineering. Under the Congressional charter, the Academy provides advice to the federal government on matters of engineering and technology. Dr. Romig served as Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Advanced Development Programs, better known as the Skunk Works^®. He spent the majority of his career at Sandia National Laboratories, operated by the Lockheed Martin Corporation, and he joined Sandia as a Member of the Technical Staff in 1979, became Executive Vice President in 2005, then served as the Deputy Laboratories Director and Chief Operating Officer until 2010. Dr. Romig received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh University, and is a Fellow of ASM International, TMS, IEEE, AIAA, and AAAS. Dr. Romig was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003 and the Council of Foreign Relations in 2008. He was awarded the ASM Silver Medal for Materials Research in 1988.

Looking for Something?

The Remarkable People of AURA

Anna Bennett

Anna Bennett

Douglas Bennett

Douglas Bennett

Dr. Alex Blate

Dr. Alex Blate

William Harvey

William Harvey

Greg Houlgate

Greg Houlgate

Mark Maxwell

Mark Maxwell

Dr. Eric Strong

Dr. Eric Strong

Stephen Cunnion

Stephen Cunnion

Tom McDermott

Tom McDermott

Dave Kasik

Dave Kasik

Frank Culbertson, Jr.

Frank Culbertson, Jr.

Phillip Lacombe

Phillip Lacombe

Thomas R. Kurfess

Thomas R. Kurfess

Igor Jablokov

Igor Jablokov

Alton D. Romig, Jr. (Emeritus)

Alton D. Romig, Jr. (Emeritus)