Mark T. Powell
Director, C4 & IT Infrastructure Operations
US Coast Guard
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Mr. Mark Powell was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1981. After graduation, he worked for a number of years in private industry at several locations including NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Naval Research Laboratory. At Goddard, he was a member of the team that developed and built the hardware and software for the NASA networked communication systems supporting satellite and space shuttle missions.
In 1988, Mr. Powell joined the Naval Research Laboratory in the Space Systems Development Department. While at NRL he was involved in the development of GPS-based transceiver technology, high-speed networking technology, software defined radios, mobile command posts, and phased array antenna technology. He also made significant contributions to the development and design of the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems on the Navy’s DD(X) next generation destroyer and to the design, test, launch, and operation of numerous DoD satellite systems. During his employment at NRL, Mr. Powell furthered his education receiving a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, a Masters of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law.
In 2002, Mr. Powell became the Chief Technology Officer for the Command, Control, Communications, and Computer Systems Directorate (J6) of the Joint Staff. There, he served as the senior technology advisor to the Director and Vice Director of J6 on advanced technology related to C4ISR and space systems.
In 2005, Mr. Powell became the Director, Information Technology Research and Development / Chief Technology Officer for the FAA. He was responsible for FAA information technology related research and development activities, information security research and development, enterprise architecture, information and data architecture, IT standards, interagency information sharing, web operations, and process improvement.
In 2008, Mr. Powell became the Director, Command Control, Communications, Computers and Information Technology (C4 and IT) Infrastructure Operations for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Mr. Powell is a registered professional engineer. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). He received numerous awards for his contributions including the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civil Service Award, the Navy Unit Commendation Award, and the NRL Technology Transfer Award.