SOAR TECHNOLOGY, INC.
ANN ARBOR, MI

At SoarTech, we believe that helping enhance human thinking doesn’t begin with software. It begins with humans. That is why we pride ourselves in bringing together the knowledge leaders to create unique and creative solutions to help solve challenges ranging from life saving to cost saving and beyond. Mr. Andrew Dallas oversees the company’s Autonomous Platforms business area. Mr. Dallas brings over thirty years of extensive executive experience in the federal government. He is a founding member of the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) and previously served as its President. As part of this capacity he works towards transitioning robotics research into the field. Mr. Dallas also served as a senior consultant on the State of Michigan’s 21st Century Job Fund which was created to help diversify and grow Michigan’s high-tech economy by investing in: basic research at universities and non-profit research institutions; applied research at small business; university technology transfer; and the commercialization of products, processes and services. Prior to joining Soar Technology, Inc., he held senior positions at the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where he played a leading role in the research, development, and advancement of Information Technologies to support the maritime community. Mr. Dallas was also a senior analyst and a personal assistant to the Commander, Second Fleet where he designed, tested, and implemented warfighting processes adapted for use in large multinational operations, and was awarded a Letter of Commendation for helping to transition Naval operations from the Cold War to the new asymmetrical threat. In the private sector, Mr. Dallas directed business activities relating to the federal government for Saffron Technology and for Veridian ERIM International, leading the creation of information technology supporting data collection, information sharing and knowledge generation. Mr. Dallas holds BSE (1979) and MSE (1986) degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Denise Nicholson, is leading the eXploration of new intelligent systems applications with potential for long-term growth. Dr. Nicholson has a unique blend of over 25 years of government, academia and industry experience. She began her government career as an engineer with the USAF’s 485th Communications Group, Intrusion Detection Branch, before being selected for a research position at AFRL’s Rome Photonics Lab, Signal Processing Division, and eventually rose to be the Deputy Director of Science & Technology at NAVAIR Training Systems Division. Dr. Nicholson founded the Applied Cognition and Training in Immersive Virtual Environments Laboratory at the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Simulation and Training, where she also held joint affiliations in the Modeling and Simulation Graduate Program, Industrial Engineering and Management Department and the College of Optics and Photonics/CREOL. Before joining SoarTech, Dr. Nicholson transitioned to industry as the founding Director of DSCI’s Human Systems Engineering Division. She has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona, a B.S. in Electrical Computer Engineering from Clarkson University and is a Certified Modeling and Simulation Professional (CMSP). With over 100 multidisciplinary publications, Denise was a founding Co-Chair of the Augmented Cognition International (ACI) and AHFE’s Cross-Cultural Decision Making Conference and is currently Co-Chair of the AHFE 2016 Human Factors in Cyber Security Conference. Dr. Scott D. Lathrop, CISSP, is leading research at the intersection of autonomy and cyber to include making cyberspace capabilities more autonomous and making autonomous systems more trustworthy. Dr. Lathrop is a retired Colonel in the United States Army. He culminated his military career as the Director of Advanced Concepts and Technology at the United States Cyber Command, serving as the chief technology officer for the Commander, United States Cyber Command/Director, National Security Agency. Dr. Lathrop received the Army’s Draper Leadership Award as a tank company commander, led the development of some of the Army’s first distributed command and control applications, and was recognized for teaching and research excellence as an associate professor at the United States Military Academy’s nationally-rated Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. He was an early creator and coach of the Military Academies’ and the National Security Agency’s Cyber Defense Exercise, a primary developer of West Point’s robotics program, and helped establish the Military Academy of Afghanistan’s Computer Science Department. Dr. Lathrop is a distinguished graduate from the United States Military Academy and has a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan. Ms. Katherine Putt leads the accounting staff for Soar Technology, Inc. and manages all DCAA/DCMA audit requirements. Also under her leadership are SoarTech’s financial reporting, corporate tax filings, and external audits. Prior to Soar Technology, Inc., Ms. Putt was employed by the University of Michigan as a Financial Analyst with the Department of Internal Medicine. Her roles at UM included budget preparation of $25M annually, faculty research budgeting and financial reporting to Federal, State and Foundation entities. Ms. Putt received a BS (Accounting) from Eastern Michigan University in 2001 and a BA (Advertising and Marketing) from Michigan State University in 1984. Ms. Laura Schwennesen manages Soar Technology’s suite of government contracts. This includes both proposal support and contract management. Contract management activities include a cradle to grave approach encompassing all aspects of the contract lifecycle from negotiation to closeout. Prior to joining Soar Technology, Inc., Ms. Schwennesen was employed by Altarum Institute where she led a team who jointly submitted over 200 proposals annually and managed a book of business of over $70 million. Ms. Schwennesen has over 20 years of federal and commercial contracting experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Michigan University and is an accredited Contract Manager from the National Contract Management Association.