Maria Roat serves as chief technology officer at the Transportation Department, where she leads the department’s technical vision and strategic direction.

She most recently served as director of the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program from January 2013 through August 2014.

The 30-year information technology veteran previously served at the Department of Homeland Security, first as deputy director of technology development for the Transportation Security Administration’s secure flight program.

Roat was also the program manager for the fraud detection and national security system at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service before she became chief of staff within Office of Information Technology and chief information security officer for USCIS’ information security program.

In September 2008, Roat served as chief of staff for the Office of the CIO in DHS headquarters, where she advised the CIO and deputy CIO on budget, acquisitions, communications, human resources and support programs.

Roat then became the deputy CIO, director for administration within the DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency in November 2011.

She previously worked with the U.S. Navy Medical Information Management Command in Norfolk and other commands that serve in the areas of enterprise network management and engineering before she joined DHS in 2004.

Roat graduated from the University of Maryland, Harvard Business School Executive Education Program for Leadership Development and the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy.

Josh Martin is the chief of staff for Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of House Armed Services Committee.

Prior to his current role he served as the health policy director for Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.).

Martin started his legislative career as a budget and policy analyst for Gov. Rick Perry, first in the lieutenant governor’s office and later in the governor’s office.

He began to represent Perry on various federal health and human services issues at the Texas Office of State and Federal Relations in 2001.

In 2003, Martin served as a legislative assistant on federal health policy for Rep. Michael Burgess before he became the representative’s legislative director and later deputy chief of staff for Burgess.

Martin studied political science and peace and conflict resolution at the University of Texas in Austin and American University in Washington, D.C.

Chris Hamm serves as director of the General Services Administration’s FEDSIM organization, where he oversees information technology and professional service contracts worth $7 billion.

The 15-year acquisitions and project management veteran frequently speaks at conferences on various topics such as performance-based contracting, information technology service level agreements and agile acquisition.

Hamm served as government chairperson for the 2013 ACT IAC Partners program.

He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Peter Highnam has served as director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity since August 30, 2012 and is in charge of the agency’s “high-risk, high-payoff” research into technologies for the U.S. intelligence community.

He came to the agency in February 2009 to lead its incisive analysis office and previously worked in a senior adviser role at the National Institutes of Health and at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

Dr. Highnam also managed electronic warfare and airborne communications programs at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency from 1999 to 2003.

He has more than 10 years of applied research experience in the private sector and co-invented and patented three commercial seismic exploration methods.

He is a recipient of the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award and the Defense Department‘s Civilian Exceptional Service Award.

He holds a doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Gregory Touhill serves as the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity operations and programs within the National Protections and Programs Directorate’s Office of Cybersecurity and Communications.

Touhill is responsible for the development and implementation of NPPD’s programs that aim to protect government networks and critical infrastructures.

Touhill retired from the U.S. Air Force in July 2013 and previously served as the chief information officer and director of command, control, communications and cyber systems at the U.S. Transportation Command.

Before joining the Transportation Command, he was the U.S. defense attaché to Kuwait and commander of the 81st Training Wing, with responsibility in the Air Force’s cyberspace operations training programs.

He also oversaw the command’s cyberspace defense mission and information technology portfolio as senior cyberspace operations officer.

Touhill graduated from the Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and the Advanced Communications Officer Training school.

He also is a graduate of Air War College, Armed Forces Staff College, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellows program and University of North Carolina’s Logistics and Technology Program for Executives.

Donna Dodson serves as associate director for cybersecurity and chief cybersecurity adviser of the information technology laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she oversees the lab’s cybersecurity research, development and outreach programs.

She is responsible for the IT lab’s collaborations with industry, academia and government agencies on security management, cryptography, identity management, security automation, configuration, test validation and measurement of systems security properties and emerging security technologies.

Dodson also leads the lab’s effort to produce standards, guidelines, metrics, practices and tools to protect the information and communication infrastructure.

She was awarded with two gold medals from the Commerce Department and three NIST bronze medals.

Dodson is also the director of NIST’s national cybersecurity center of excellence, which she helped to establish.

Rob Klopp serves as chief technology officer of Social Security Administration, where he is responsible for data warehousing, technical debt reduction programs, service-oriented architecture, analytics and cloud technologies.

Klopp reports to the Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin and is a member of her executive staff.

He also manages the enterprise architects, database architects and new SSA digital service team that is connected to the White House U.S. Digital Services team.

Klopp served as senior director of technology and innovation for HANA at SAP from July 2012 to August 2014 before he joined the SSA.

The 35-plus-year information technology veteran was previously the field CTO of EMC’s Greenplum division for EMEA region between December 2010 and July 2012.

He also held the role of advisory consultant with Skyland Technologies, acting vice president of product management at
Quantivo Corp., VP of product services at Callixa, founder and CEO of WhoWhatWare and VP of data warehouse technologies at Per-Se Technologies.

Michael “Mike” Geggus serves as industry innovation advocate at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he is responsible for facilitating technology collaborations between the agency and industry.

He joined NGA in 2004 to help the agency establish its advanced geospatial intelligence office and later became the organization’s technical executive, functional manager and director.

Geggus also worked as a deputy director for the operations functional management group and the joint operations integration office as well as an acting director for the commercial imagery, data and programs division.

He has also served as NGA’s executive steward in the Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence program.

He spent more than 21 years in the U.S. Air Force as a scientific applications specialist and worked on measurement and signature intelligence systems.

Geggus also helped the military branch design, build and install nuclear detection technologies and served as a chief operating technician at a remote laboratory designed to collect and analyze gas and particles.

He retired from military service in August 2000 and worked in the private sector until his appointment at NGA.

Francis Taylor serves as the undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, where he provides homeland security intelligence and information to the secretary, senior leadership, components and DHS partners.

He most recently served as vice president and chief security officer at General Electric, with responsibility for security operations and crisis management processes.

Prior to GE, he was the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security and director of the office of foreign missions and served as an ambassador with responsibility in the global security of all U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities.

As ambassador, Taylor was also responsible for implementing counterterrorism policy overseas and coordinating the government’s response to global terrorist activities.

The 35-year government service veteran also became brigadier general in September 1996 and has served as commander of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Taylor holds his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Paul Oostburg Sanz serves as general counsel of the Department of the Navy, where he oversees the naval criminal investigative service and advises senior Navy and U.S. Marine Corps officials on various law matters.

He also serves as the senior ethics officer, with oversight on the department’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program.

Oostburg Sanz was the interim convening authority for military commissions and interim director of the office of military commissions between March 20, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2014.

Oostburg Sanz also served as general counsel for the committee on armed services in the House of Representatives from January 2007 until his appointment as the Navy’s general counsel.

Before Oostburg Sanz joined HASC, he served as the deputy chief counsel for the committee on international relations in the House of Representatives, where he advised the committee’s ranking member on legislation and issues related to the Western Hemisphere, foreign aid and non-military security assistance.

Oostburg Sanz holds a bachelor’s degree from the Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, a master in public affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School.