Rob Lewis, a cyber expert with the Department of the Interior, has been appointed to serve as chief of the agency's cybersecurity operations branch, G2Xchange FedCiv reported Monday. 

He most recently served as the ISSO/ASOC deputy operations manager for the Interior Department.

The cyber expert holds 20 years of information security experience in total: over 11 years with DOI and nine years as security operations center manager for Verizon Business.

Universities Space Research Association (USRA) today announced the appointment of Dr. Lisa Gaddis as director of Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), effective November 9th, the organization reported on Wednesday. 

"With Lisa at the helm, I am confident that LPI and its talented team will continue their seminal scientific and technical contributions and attain the next level in service to NASA and the planetary science and exploration community," says Dr. Ghassem Asrar, vice president, Science at USRA.

USRA began managing the Lunar and Planetary Institute, a research organization that supports NASA and planetary science, in 1969. Gaddis will join LPI with a broad range of scientific expertise, including geology and geophysics, remote sensing, planetary science, space mission planning and operations, cartography and data archiving.

She has deep rooted research expertise, including analyzing the composition, physical properties, and geologic history of planetary surfaces in the Solar System, using remote sensing data at a variety of wavelengths. 

In her new role, Gaddis will provide scientific leadership and management of the research and operations of LPI and maintain and grow it as a primary research center in support of NASA's strategic goals in planetary science and Solar System exploration.

Prior to her appointment to USRA, Gaddis served a thirty-year tenure with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center, as a scientist, administrator and supervisor. 

In addition, Gaddis has served as principal investigator (PI) on more than 35 NASA projects, including being the PI of the NASA Planetary Data System Cartography and Imaging Sciences Node from 2004 to 2020. 

Gaddis also served as chief scientist for the USGS Astrogeology Program, serving as PI of the NASA Planetary Cartography Research Program from 2003 to 2007, and managing a staff of 80 people and a budget of $8 million. 

Her NASA flight mission experience includes science and operations roles on the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) and a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) participating scientist.

She has published multiple papers across scientific journals, written several book chapters and served on several committees and advisory groups for NASA on national and international space science and exploration plans. 

"We are delighted to welcome Lisa as a member of the USRA team. Her scientific and technical expertise, and proven track record in community leadership and executive management skills make her an ideal candidate to guide the Lunar and Planetary Institute into its very promising and bright future," Asrar added. 

Akima has appointed Jean-Francois Blanc as chief growth officer (CGO) to lead the company’s corporate development efforts, grow revenue and expand market share, Akima reported on Wednesday. Blanc will report to 2020 Wash100 Award winner, Akima president and CEO, Bill Monet.

“Jean-Francois is a hands-on leader with experience winning large contracts in both the Department of Defense and civilian agencies,” said Monet. “We are pleased to add him to our leadership team, and we expect his knowledge of the market and his past success winning strategic contracts will serve him well in this growth-focused role.”

Before his new role with Akima, Blanc served a seventeen year tenure with IBM, serving in a variety of leadership positions, increasing in responsibility. Most recently, Blanc served as sales leader of IBM’s US Federal division. In the role, he led U.S. federal sales efforts for large and strategic contract pursuits. 

Blanc was responsible for supervising the entire deal process, from competitive analysis and win strategy to solutioning, teaming, pricing and proposal development. In Blanc’s previous roles with IBM, he served within the defense and intelligence markets, with a strong focus on the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy.

He was trained as an industrial and nuclear engineer, and began his career in the shipbuilding/repair industry. Blanc held a nuclear engineering position with the Norfolk Naval Shipyard before providing consulting services to Navy commands. 

“Akima has rapidly achieved a significant status in the federal market, with excellent customer and partner relationships,” said Blanc. “I am thrilled to be joining the company at a time when it is poised to build on a record of driving superior outcomes to expand into new customers and markets.”

About Akima

Akima is a global enterprise with more than 7,500 employees, delivering agile solutions to the federal government in the core areas of aviation, construction, facilities and logistics, IT and mission support, protective services and detention management, and systems engineering. 

As a subsidiary of NANA, an Alaska Native Corporation owned by more than 14,000 Iñupiat shareholders, Akima’s core mission is to enable superior outcomes for our customers’ missions while simultaneously creating a long-lived asset for NANA consistent with our Iñupiat values. In 2019, Washington Technology ranked Akima #38 amongst the top 100 government contractors.