Advancing Research and Innovation for National Defense and Security Symposium 2025

Opening of iCOMMAND and Introduction of Keynote Speaker

Colonel John T. Whelahan enlisted in the Army and served in the 75th Ranger Regiment and attached or assigned to other United States Special Operations Command elements. He was selected to attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Field Artillery. He served, again with the U.S. Army Rangers and as a Special Assistant and Aide De Camp for the Commanding General. 
  
As a Captain, he served in various Fire Support Roles and deployed to the Middle East as a Battalion and Brigade Fire Support Officer and as a Planner. He commanded C Battery 3rd Battalion 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment and deployed in that role as well. COL Whelahan was selected to Command the Advanced Airborne School, where they not only trained paratroopers and jump masters but tested and fielded new equipment and the new parachute system. He then commanded the Division Special Troops Battalion (Provisional) during Modularity. 

From 2008 until 2011, COL Whelahan served as a Battalion Executive Officer, Brigade Operations Officer, and Brigade Executive Officer before moving to 3rd Army, United States Army Central, where he served as the Deputy Fire Support Coordinator, Chief of Targeting, and Chief of Special Programs Effects and Targeting from January 2012 through June 2014. 
  
COL Whelahan commanded 1st BN, 290th RGT which went through transformation over his 26 months of command. Originally a Combined Arms Task Force with Artillery Battery, Infantry Company, and an Armored Troop, they transformed to a mixed Battalion of of cannon and rocket artillery systems. He served as the Army Subject Matter Expert on designing and employing long range surface to surface artillery systems. 
  
COL Whelahan served at U.S. Southern Command as the Future Operations / Plans Chief, Current Operations Chief, then as Deputy Director and Chief of Staff for a Joint and Interagency Counter Transnational Organized Crime and Counter-Terrorism Task Force.   
He served as the Director of the Army Capability Manager for Fires Cells and Targeting in Army Futures Command where he managed a multi billion-dollar portfolio and wrote and managed future requirements for innovative changes in Material, Training, and Doctrine across the Army. 
In 2023, COL Whelahan assumed duties as the Director of Transformation and Innovation at XVIII Airborne Corps and in January of 2025, he accepted his current responsibilities for technology and innovation and achieving Corps Effects to shape of desired End State. 

LTC (Ret) Steve DeLellis served more than 36 years on Active Duty, with more than 31 years in Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF). Having served at every enlisted rank from Private through Sergeant Major and every commissioned rank from Second Lieutenant through Colonel, through 16 combat rotations in 6 conflicts, Steve has a unique understanding of the battlefield and battlefield medicine. He culminated his career as the Deputy Command Surgeon for the United States Army Special Operations Command. Steve previously managed the longest, continuously funded Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) surveillance project in ARSOF history and has Co-authored more than 40 publications on TBI in Army Special Operations Forces. Steve is an Army Medical Department Iron Major, a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit, the 2019 United States Army recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation Hero of Military Medicine award, and an inductee into the Special Operations Forces Medical Hall of Honor, inaugural class of 2024. Steve currently serves as the Senior Technical Advisor and Executive Director of The Geneva Foundation’s Fort Bragg Research Institute. 

Bob Burton joined the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) on February 1, 2020, as the Senior Manager, Technology Transition and then as the Director in May 2024. Bob will work as a member of the Defense Technology Transition (DEFTECH) office to connect the North Carolina innovation ecosystem with emerging and urgent technology requirements across the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide optimum solutions for warfighters and law enforcement personnel.  Bob assists current DEFTECH members with business development, capture, contract execution, and other capabilities, recommend actions, and assist in coordinating other resources to fill gaps and improve capabilities.  At the same time, Bob will develop new relationships to grow the DEFTECH network to support new business opportunities in N.C.

Bob is a retired Special Forces CSM with over 30 years of special operations leadership starting from the 12-man SF Operational Detachment Alpha (SFODA).  He influenced, led, and drove strategic results through more than ten years of executive-level leadership to include 3-star general officer trusted advisor staff SGM for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).  Bob deployed extensively across CENTCOM, EUCOM, and PACOM areas of operation/responsibility (AO/AOR) in support of U.S. security and strategic objectives.  Proven combat leadership refined through many engagements from the local village chief level through national military leadership levels and advised diplomatic efforts as well as military operations in sensitive security environments.

In addition to his military service, Bob’s experience includes Executive In Residence: Hacking for Defense (H4D) Lean Entrepreneurship for Special Operations at North Carolina State University.  Bob Served as a military mentor for Hacking for Defense and synchronized submission of problem statements for USSOCOM Special Operations capability needs.  He provided the connective link between the Special Operations Mentor network and North Carolina State University in support of operational objectives.  Encouraged innovation and experimentation in the development of a minimum viable product to solve Special Operations capability needs.

Bob is originally from Branchport, NY.  He received his Master’s degree in Executive Leadership from Liberty University.  He enjoys spending time with his family and helping people to grow and to develop their potential.  Bob is excited to keep his roots in the military community, defense, and security sectors in N.C.  Bob is helping North Carolina maintain and improve its status as the best place to innovate, live, work, and prosper.

Mr. Judge has over 20 years of economic development, entrepreneurship, technology transfer, strategic management, and workforce development experience. He holds an MBA and Six Sigma Black Belt from Winston-Salem State University and most recently led the Division of Business and Industry as the Associate Vice President of Corporate Education and Economic Development at Alamance Community College. Before that, Mr. Judge spent 13 years as a Senior Licensing Associate and Director of Outreach and Technology Transfer at N.C. A&T State University. Mr. Judge leads NCI’s work in the Piedmont region, anchored by N.C. A&T State University.

Mr. Gavin specializes in information technology and undersea warfare with a focus on, artificial intelligence and cyber security. Prior to joining SMI’s Senior Advisors, Mr. Gavin was at Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he served as the Head of DoD Strategic Business Development. Before his time at AWS Mr. Gavin served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for C4i and Space from 2016 until 2018. In addition, he spent 6 years at SPAWAR including serving as the PEO for Enterprise Information Systems. Previously, Mr. Gavin was at NAVSEA where he served as both the Executive Director of PEO Littoral Mine Warfare (2008-2011) and the Technical Director of PEO Submarines (2005-2008).  At the start of his career Mr. Gavin was a systems engineer at NUWC.  

Mr. Gavin has a BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and a MS in Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Erin Reifsteck, PhD is the director of the online MS in Sport and Exercise Psychology program and UNCG’s Faculty Fellow for Student Veteran Well-Being. She holds a PhD in Kinesiology (Sport & Exercise Psychology) with a doctoral minor in Educational Research Methodology and a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies. Prior to joining the kinesiology faculty, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Center for Athlete Well-being. Her research focuses on promoting physical activity and health through sport, military, and life transitions, with an emphasis on translating research into practice. Dr. Reifsteck is a Fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and editorial board member for the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal. 

Dr. Ignatova’s personal research interests and professional training are highly cross-disciplinary, enabling a wide perspective on nano-science in general. Her solid physics backgrounds and extensive research experience in nanotechnology and bioengineering allow her to excel at the cutting edge of applied physics and materials science of low-dimensional nanostructures. 
In her group, they work on a number of projects on experimental nanoscience of low-dimensional materials, focusing on physics of biosensing, spectroscopic intra-cellular imaging, and nanofabrication for energy storage. This research is aimed at advancing applications based on 2D layered materials and hybrid DNA-nanotube structures, pushing the limits of nano-characterization and nanofabrication, and exploring nanomaterials for transdisciplinary applications. 

Dr. Keith Whitener joined DARPA as a program manager in the Defense Sciences Office in September 2023. 

His interests include catalysis, photochemistry and spectroscopy, and the chemistry and physics of novel classes of materials. These include nanomaterials, active matter, 2D materials, and their applications to energy, logistics, sensing, and health. 

Keith comes to DARPA from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where he was a staff scientist in the Surface Nanoscience and Sensor Technology Section leading research programs on biomimetic materials for force health protection as well as the integration of nanomaterials with biological systems. 

Prior to this, Keith was a National Research Council postdoctoral research associate at NRL studying the chemical modification of graphene and its application to electronics, spintronics, and surface engineering. He also performed postdoctoral work in polymer synthesis and catalysis at the University of Colorado at Boulder. 

Keith received his doctorate in chemical physics from Yale University and Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Julia Barzyk brings over 10 years of hands-on experience managing a portfolio of basic research in geoscience and civil engineering at the U.S. Army Research Office. She directed all stages of the funding process, including writing topics for large ($6M) investments.

She has extensive experience with the following:
– Single investigator (~$360k)
– Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI)
– Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) and Minority-serving Institution (MI) programs
– Defense Established Program Research to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR)
– Young Investigator Program/Early Career Program (YIP/ECP)
– Presidential Early Career Award Science and Engineering (PECASE) program
– Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
– Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)

Prior to serving as an ARO program manager, Julia worked in publishing services, managing a team of editors who performed editing of scientific manuscripts written by non-native English speakers in advance of submission to leading journals.

Julia holds a B.A. in Geology from the University of Rochester, an M.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago. She lives with her husband and their two teenagers in Durham, North Carolina.