LRBAA Industry Day - Agenda and Speakers

Steve Feder currently serves as Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T).

As the scientific, technical, and engineering core of expertise for the Department, S&T is a direct adviser to the Homeland Security Secretary, DHS Components, and the nation’s first responders. It is responsible for identifying operational gaps, conceptualizing art-of-the-possible solutions, and delivering operational results that improve the security and resilience of the nation.

As the Chief of Staff, Mr. Feder oversees the operational and organizational needs of the $1 billion, 500-career-employee Directorate. A member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), he serves as an adviser to the Under Secretary on strategy, organizational development, communications, and planning. Mr. Feder previously served as the Director of Trips and Advance, and the Chief of Protocol to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Feder came to DHS after a 10-year career in city government and 10 year career in the private sector. Mr. Feder held positions at the New York City Council as the Director of Advance as well as the Director of the Public Private Partnership. He went on to start a successful event technology company before returning to government to work at the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Feder holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Delaware.

Orly Amir is a Division Director at the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL). Orly oversees a variety of NUSTL’s development programs and projects and serves as the Program Manager for the recently established Energy Innovation and Public Safety Program. Previously, Orly managed NUSTL’s Radiological/Nuclear Response and Recovery Research and Development Program, which has led to the development of new tools and solutions that support first responders, emergency managers, incident commanders and decision-makers during radiological or nuclear emergencies.   

Prior to joining S&T in 2014, Orly worked for the NY-NJ-CT-PA Regional Catastrophic Planning Team where she managed the development of an emergency management training program as well as evacuation and nuclear response planning tools.   

Orly has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Union College and a Master of Urban Planning from New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.  

Dr. Anderson is currently the Acting Program Management Coordinator within the Office of Mission and Capability Support at the Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate (S&T). From 2020 to 2022, Dr. Anderson was a Program Manager Supervisor, overseeing S&T’s First Responder and Disaster Resilience R&D Thrust Area, an ~$60 million research portfolio to develop capabilities to increase operational effectiveness and safety of federal, state, and local first responders and emergency managers, as well as to improve community preparedness and resiliency. 

Dr. Anderson has also held Program Manager roles in the areas of first responder capabilities, border security, and chemical/biological defense, including S&T’s Opioid Program, in support of the counter-narcotics missions of US Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigation. 

Prior to joining S&T in 2015 as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow, Dr. Anderson completed a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Medical University of South Carolina and B.S. in Biochemistry from Clemson University.

Ajmal Aziz is a Program Manager at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) where he currently manages the Public Safety and Violence Prevention Program. This research portfolio will enable policy makers and operational end-users to make informed decisions to divert vulnerable individuals, prevent potential offenders, mitigate vulnerabilities, and enhance community resilience in the face of various social and behavioral threats. Mr. Aziz’s research programs are focused on three distinct topic areas: targeted violence and terrorism prevention, soft target security, and community resilience.   

Ms. Tisha Blue-Warren is currently the Industry Liaison for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Procurement Operations (OPO). Her role as the Industry Liaison is to interface with industry, to the maximum extent practicable, to increase awareness of OPO initiatives and priorities and provide insight on how to do business with DHS. By trade, Tisha is a seasoned acquisition professional, a contracting officer with over 20 years of experience and over 10 years of leading people, leading change and results-driven in government contracting and procurement. 

Previously, she served as an Associate Director for OPO Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Acquisition Division (CWMDAD) where she provided customer support to CWMD Systems Support Division (SSD) and served as the principal business advisor providing oversight for all SSD acquisition program’s procurements from cradle-to-grave for Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) detection devices, Minor Construction, Architect-Engineer, Inter/Intra Agency Agreements (IAAs) and Advisory &Assistance Services (A&AS) contracts. Tisha obtained her B.A. in Political Science from Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC and her M.A. degree in Computer Resources Information Management from Webster University, St. Louis, MO. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Sorority.

Karl Harris has 37 years of technology, program, administration, and leadership experience in the private and public sectors with an emphasis on mission implementation of electro-optic, photonic and imaging systems, and related materials technologies. He has been a Program Manager for the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) since 2017.

As a DHS S&T program manager, Karl develops and manages several aviation and transportation security research projects, provides technology evaluations for emerging technologies, supports technology roadmap developments, and provides acquisition support of security technologies. 

Karl has a BS in Chemistry and a BS in Physics, both from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in Physics from North Carolina State University.

Sridhar Kowdley is a Technical Manager at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate Office for Interoperability and Compatibility Technology Center. With over 30 years of experience in communications and networking, he works and leads programs to help DHS Components as well as state and local first responders operate more effectively and safely through the pursuit of resilient, highly available and interoperable technology solutions. He forges and leads intra- and interdepartmental partnerships with other agencies including DoD, DoT, NSF, and DoJ.

At DHS he leads several programs including the P25 Compliance Assessment Program which ensures that radios and solutions manufactured for public safety and federal agencies are built to standards and interoperable. In partnership with industry, public safety practitioners and standards development organizations, DHS provides policy and guidance to enable procurement of land mobile radio solutions by public safety practitioners. He provides technical leadership and guidance for the NG911 Interoperability and Compliance Program designed to ensure that NG911 solutions built by industry will be evaluated for compliance to standards and demonstrated interoperability. This engagement includes industry, academia, public safety practitioners and associations. Federal agencies and partnership to ensure that NG911 are tested for nationwide deployment. 

Mr. Kowdley supports the research, development, and test and evaluation of next generation communications technologies including 5G/XG, Internet of Things (IoT), and Smart Cities to identify opportunities, risks and vulnerabilities for DHS Components and state and local first responders. He contributes to the research activities across DHS to address capability gaps and vulnerabilities in these technology areas. Currently, he leads initiatives across DHS to make communications networks and systems more resilient to cybersecurity risks including spectrum interference. 

Prior to DHS S&T, he supported the modernization of radios systems for CBP to include analysis for early adoption of next generation broadband systems. He led teams supporting the DHS CIO’s Joint wireless Divisions to support spectrum needs for DHS components including leading initiatives for clearing DHS spectrum as a result of C Block spectrum auctions. For commercial operators, he led the development, migration, transitioning and deployment of cellular networks from 2G to 3G including support for a major carrier’s technology evolution. He also supported the development, deployment and testing and evaluation of commercial and military systems such as IRIDIUM and MILSTAR.

He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University NYC and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from George Mason University.

Dusty Lang assumed the role of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Director and LRBAA in 2019. She has worked extensively with the DHS SBIR program, administered by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), having joined the program team in 2016. In 2018, Ms. Lang served as the Prize Competition and LRBAA Program Manager before coming back to the DHS SBIR and LRBAA programs as Director in 2019.

Prior to joining DHS S&T, Ms. Lang began her career working at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station at the Hazardous Materials Warehouse. After subsequent positions in the Information Resource Management Office and PMA-207, in 2006 she moved to the Naval Air Systems Command SBIR office. During her time in the NAVAIR SBIR office, she served as the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Lead, with a brief intermission, from 2015-2016, as the Department of the Navy STTR/STP Program Manager.

Alyssa Malcomson has been working for the federal government for the past eight years. She has performed a wide range of duties, including auditing, contract and grant management, research and development, budget formulation and execution, data analysis and reporting, and regulatory compliance.  

At DHS, she is a Program Manager and provides decision making, financial analysis, and project support on multiple projects, including the Next Generation Maritime Public Communications activity, Waterway Analysis and Management System (WAMS), Mass Rescue Device, Ontology, and Alternative Energy.  

 Ms. Malcomson has a BS in Kinesiology and a MPH from the University of Maryland. 

James Small is the Portfolio Manager for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the largest component within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr. Small acts as primary S&T liaison to CBP and oversees the S&T activities that support CBP operations across the entirety of their vast mission space.

Jim comes to S&T with over 29 years of experience as a Military Officer, Army and United States Coast Guard (USCG) Special Missions Aviator, Program Manager and Administrator of Research and Development and Innovation Programs (RD&I). Most recently, Jim acted as the Deputy Head of Coast Guard RD&I prior to his retirement from military service in 2020. During his military career, Jim has advanced major technological change in every organization he has served. From early adoption of GPS technology after the first Gulf War, to construction of “state of the art” command centers at USCG and FEMA headquarters after Hurricane KATRINA; establishment of the Coast Guard’s first mobile air intercept capability to support POTUS movements; fielding of the Coast Guard’s first dedicated incident management software system, and development of the service’s first public mobile app; he has acted as a conduit for the adoption of innovative solutions to solve the most difficult operational challenges. 

Jim holds DHS Level III certifications in Program Management, IT Program Management, and Technology Management. Additionally, he holds a certification as a Project Management Professional, Commercial Pilot’s License, and acted as Aircraft and Mission Commander of the OH-58 Kiowa, AH-64 Apache, and USCG MH-65 Dolphin airframes. He holds a Master of Information Technology Management from the University of Maryland College Park, with a concentration in Usability Design.

Anna Tedeschi is the Program Manager for the Explosives Threat Assessment Program. She began her tenure at DHS S&T in May of 2021 after seven years at the FBI Laboratory as a contractor supporting the Improvised Explosives research program. Previous to that Dr. Tedeschi was a contractor at DHS S&T from 2007-2014 supporting various explosives detection programs. It appears that seven is her lucky number for employment. 

Dr. Tedeschi earned her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Materials Science and Engineering in 2004 and 2007 respectively from the University of Florida. In an unusual move, her dissertation thesis topic was optical methods of detecting explosives which lead her directly to her current career.  She earned her Bachelors of Science in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Arizona in 2002. 

When not reading reports of things blowing up, Dr. Tedeschi enjoys knitting, dancing ballet, and leading her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop.   

John Whipple is an Associate Division Director in the Office of Procurement Operations where he serves as a business advisor and advocate for DHS’s research and development programs. Since joining DHS in 2009, he has supported a wide array of DHS missions ranging from transportation screening to shipbuilding to artificial intelligence/machine learning.

He received his B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, and his M.B.A. from the George Washington University.

When not advising clients and negotiating contracts, he plays guitar, runs (slowly), and cooks and bakes with his two daughters.