Dr. Bryan Biegel
Director

Dr. Biegel joins the NITRD NCO from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where he served as Deputy Chief of the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division. He also served as the NASA Representative on the NITRD Subcommittee and Co-chair for the High End Computing (HEC) Interagency Working Group (IWG).

Prior to joining the NASA NAS Management Team, Dr. Biegel worked as a contractor at the NAS facility, pursuing research in modeling and numerical simulation of nanoelectronics, space electronics, and quantum electronic devices.

Dr. Biegel received his bachelor's degree and master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Dr. Biegel has 17 years of experience in software development for large-scale electronic device simulation and has published over 30 technical papers.

Dr. Peter Lyster
Deputy Director

Dr. Lyster joins the NITRD NCO from the National Institute of Health (NIH)/National Institute of General Medicine Sciences (NIGMS), where he served as the Program Director in the Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology. He also served as the NIH NITRD representative for the High End Computing (HEC) Interagency Working Group and as a Subcommittee Representative.

While at NIH, Dr. Lyster managed a broad program in biomedical informatics and computational biology. He also served as the lead of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) National Centers for Systems Biology (NCSB) program and was co-lead of the Big Data (BD2K) Centers of Excellence in Big Data Science. He was formerly a Program Director at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. Dr. Lyster was also one of the first scientific review administrators at the NIH Center for Scientific Review to focus on biomedical informatics and computational biology. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Lyster worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where he laid the groundwork for some of the scientific applications of the Federal High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) initiative. He then became Principal Investigator in the HPCC program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at the University of Maryland. As such, he led the effort to use massive computing power to improve data collection for weather and climate models.

Dr. Lyster received his Ph.D. in Physics and Computational Science from Cornell University. His expertise is in computational science and technology in a range of domain areas that have societal relevance: nuclear energy research, climate and weather research, networking and communications, and biomedicine.

Ms. Virginia Moore
Program Manager

Ms. Moore joined the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office (NCO) for in January 2001. She manages a multi-disciplinary contract team and has overall responsibility for the quality, timeliness, and delivery of all project deliverables. In addition, she supports the Director and Associate Director in the management of the NITRD Program and ensures internal controls and standard operating procedures are in place that responds to the requirements and needs of its Federal customers and stakeholders.

Ms. Moore has provided progressive support to the NCO/NITRD Program for more than nine years and served under the leadership of eight Directors. During her tenure, she and her team have consistently delivered quality service and support to the NITRD Program. Her accomplishments include leading the NITRD/NCO Program to compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2008 (FISMA) and OMB Circular A-123 “Management's Responsibility for Internal Control”, and the completion of the Federal Cybersecurity R&D, NITRD, and NCO Strategic Plans.

Prior to joining the NCO, Ms. Moore served as the Director of Information Management for Air Force One (June 1997–June 2001). She managed the receipt and distribution of all information received former President Clinton, Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and other high-ranking dignitaries while traveling aboard Air Force One. She also served as the liaison to the White House Travel Office and coordinated, validated, and cleared all individuals traveling aboard Air Force One.

Ms. Moore holds a M.S. in Administration and is holds a Master’s Certificate in Project Management.

Ms. Jacqueline Altamirano
Executive Coordinator

Ms. Altamirano is the Executive Coordinator for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD). She provides high-level executive support to the NCO Director and Deputy Director. She is the NCO administrative liaison to the White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate for matters relating to the activities of the NCO Director as they relate to the NCO/NITRD Program. Ms. Altamirano also provides administrative and logistical support for all NITRD Interagency Working Group (IWG) meetings, conferences, and workshops and provides support to the NCO Program Manager.

Prior to joining the NCO, Ms. Altamirano was the Project Control Coordinator for the Civilian Business Unit. She assisted the Vice President and Management staff with daily operations that included preparing draft inputs for various reports, assisted in preparing material and presentations for meetings, analysis of program forecasts and budgets, and supporting recruiting efforts.

Adrian Baranyuk
Software Engineer

Mr. Baranyuk is the Software Engineer for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD). His maintains and supports NITRD public and private websites; manages and oversees NITRD social media accounts; conducts system analysis and development to keep NCO systems current with changing technologies.

Mr. Baranyuk received both his BA in Philosophy and Computer Science, and MA in Theology from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. He is currently pursuing Master of Science in Information Systems at Strayer University.

Ms. Nekeia J. Butler
Executive Secretary

Ms. Butler joined the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD), National Coordination Office in March 2004. She serves as Executive Secretary to the NITRD Subcommittee and provides administrative and logistical support for the NITRD working groups. Her duties include: preparing meeting agendas, minutes, and presentation templates, official government travel, and expense vouchers; corresponding with government officials on behalf of the NCO Director; maintaining official data for NITRD on the OMB MAX Portal; and updating Member agency and Program Component Area (PCA) Co-chairs’ information on the NITRD Website. In addition, Ms. Butler provides writing and editorial support for the annual NITRD Supplement to the President’s Budget and various other non-technical documents, reports, and memorandums.

Before joining the NCO, Ms. Butler was a Recruiting Coordinator and an Assistant Manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Ms. Butler received her B.S. in Biology from Norfolk State University.

Ms. Angela E Carter
Technical Coordinator, Robotics and Intelligent Systems (RIS), Health IT R&D (HITRD), and Human Computer Interaction and Information Management (HCI&IM)

Ms. Angela Carter provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership and management, and guidance to the NITRD Program in the areas of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (RIS), Health IT R&D (HITRD), and Human Computer Interaction and Information Management (HCI&IM) groups for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program. Her activities include attending and participating in relevant conferences and workshops and organizing monthly meetings. Ms. Carter also assists in the writing and editing of technical reports and planning documents (e.g., workshop reports, frameworks, responses to OSTP and PCAST inquiries, and the annual NITRD Program Supplement to the President’s Budget).

Before joining the NCO, Ms. Carter was a business analyst at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She received her B.A. in Administration of Justice from Howard University and a Project Management (PM) Certificate from Georgetown University.

Ms. Jeniece Clark
Student Intern

Ms. Jeniece Clark is recently graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a B.S. in Biology. While attending West Virginia Wesleyan College, she was the Vice President of the Beta Beta Beta Biological Honorary, President of the Alpha Phi Omega National Co-Ed Service Fraternity, and a team leader on the WE LEAD Healthy Lifestyle Issue Team. Ms. Clark was also employed by Wesleyan’s Biological Sciences Department as a laboratory teaching assistant in order to reinforce instructional content and facilitate student success in introductory and advanced courses.

Ms. Clark provides staff and research support for the Health IT R&D Interagency Working Group. This include working closely with the Technical Lead for the group; conducting on-line research on relevant IT R&D related topics; providing oral and written feedback on her findings; coordinating the meeting logistics for the group, preparing documentation and correspondence for the meetings, and attending the meeting and taking notes.

Ms. Clark is pursuing an MD in Medicine and attends Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University.

Ms. Hattie Clougherty
Student Intern

Ms. Hattie Clougherty is a 4th year student at the University of Virginia pursing a B.S. in Systems Engineering with a double minor in Design Integration and Engineering Business. At UVA, she is a Resident Advisor and the President of Alpha Omega Epsilon Engineering Sorority. Ms. Clougherty provides support to the IT staff at the National Coordination Office.

Mr. Faisal D’Souza
Technical Coordinator, Social Computing (SC) Interagency Working Group (IWG)
Senior Security and Information Technology Analyst

Mr. D’Souza provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership and management, and guidance to the NITRD Program in the area of Social Computing. He supports the groups’ monthly meetings and workshops, to include identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration within the NITRD Program. He is also responsible for Security and IT Analyst for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD). He has overall management and supervisory responsibilities for the security and network operations. He successfully coordinated and managed the activities that led to the NCO/NITRD Program meeting the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requirements as of February 4, 2010.

Before joining NCO in April 2009, Mr. D’Souza held two positions, Senior Security Specialist and Senior Network Engineer. As a Senior Security Specialist under contract for the USDA and the GSA, Mr. D’Souza’s responsibilities included the management of FISMA Compliance, C&A activities, Risk Management, Security Test & Evaluation, Disaster Recovery, Intrusion Detection & Prevention, and Vulnerability Scanning and Remediation. As a Senior Security Engineer, he was responsible for network design architecture, configuration, management and maintenance of Information Systems from medium to large scale enterprises.

Mr. D’Souza is currently pursuing his B.S in Management Information System from the University of Maryland Business College. He is a Microsoft Certified System Engineer and holds compliance certification in ITIL v2 and v3.

Nancy Forbes
Technical Coordinator, Video and Image Analytics (VIA) Interagency Working Group (IWG)
Senior Strategy Analyst/Writer

Ms. Forbes provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership, management, and guidance to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program, including identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration among the NITRD Agencies. She is the Technical Coordinator for the Video and Image Analytics. She also provides strategic planning and coordination expertise in support of the NITRD Program, and writing and editing of strategic plans, federal plans, and other technical reports and planning documents.

Ms. Forbes has over 25 years’ experience with a broad range of science and technology-related programs in both the military and civilian sectors, as well as in the Intelligence Community (IC), ranging from management and technical oversight of R&D programs (R&D) to intelligence analysis, technology assessment, acquisition and systems engineering. She is also a recognized science writer and editor, with two books and numerous publications. She has served as Contributing Editor for The American Institute of Physics’ The Industrial Physicist and IEEE’s Computing in Science and Engineering.

Ms. Forbes holds a BS and MA in Physics from Columbia University and a BA in Spanish from the University of Virginia.

Pat Johnson
Technical Writer

Ms. Pat Johnson is the Technical Writer for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD). She provides the NITRD program with editing and formatting assistance for its planning and technical documents. She has worked since 1989 as a member of writing teams focused on helping subject matter experts and technical writers communicate effectively in print and online with non-expert, nontechnical readers. As an editor, she has worked with the World Technology Evaluation Center, the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, and the Semiconductor Industry Association. As an educator, she was a learning applications and instructional support specialist in the University of Maryland University College Graduate School either full-time or part-time from 1998 through 2015; before that she worked with the Intensive English Language Program at Meio University in Okinawa, Japan. She has a B.A. in Asian Studies from University of California Berkeley and a graduate certificate in instructional technology from University of Maryland Baltimore College.

Ms. Ji Hyun Lee
Technical Coordinator, High End Computing (HEC)

Ms. Lee provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership, management, and guidance to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program including identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration among the NITRD Agencies. She coordinates the activities of the High End Computing (HEC) Interagency Working Group (IWG). Her activities include attending and participating in relevant conferences and workshops and organizing monthly meetings. Ms. Lee also assists in the writing and editing of technical reports and planning documents (e.g., workshop reports, responses to OSTP and PCAST inquiries, and the annual supplement to the President’s Budget).

Prior to joining NCO, Ms. Lee was a Systems Architect. As a Systems Architect, she served as technical advisor and subject matter expert for the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) where she supported the clients in matters of border protection technologies and modernization of legacy systems. She was responsible for architecting solutions, conducting analysis of alternatives, cost benefit analysis, ensuring compliance to Enterprise Architecture and security requirements, and providing solution strategies.

Ms. Lee received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Ernest Lucier
Technical Coordinator, Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), High Confidence Software and Systems (HCSS), and Software Productivity, Sustainability, and Quality (SPSQ)

Mr. Lucier provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership, management, and guidance to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program including identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration among the NITRD Agencies. He coordinates the activities of the Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), the High Confidence Software and Systems (HCSS), and the Software Productivity, Sustainability, and Quality (SPSQ). His activities include attending and participating in relevant conferences and workshops and organizing monthly meetings. Mr. Lucier also assists in the writing and editing of technical reports and planning documents (e.g., workshop reports, responses to OSTP and PCAST inquiries, and the annual supplement to the President’s Budget).

Before joining the NCO, Mr. Lucier served as Technical Advisor and Chief Scientist for Information Technology at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); there he was responsible for exploring new IT technology in other government agencies and transitioning the technology to the FAA. He also served as a program manager on a number of projects at NASA Headquarters including the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) level zero processor, which collects data from the Earth Science satellites and the International Space Station. Mr. Lucier has previous experience with NITRD, which included representing the FAA in the High Confidence Software and Systems Coordination Group.

Mr. Lucier received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Brown University.

Dr. Grant Miller
Senior Technical Coordinator, Large Scale Networking (LSN)

Dr. Miller provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership and management, and guidance to the NITRD Program in the area of Large Scale Networking. In addition, Dr. Miller supports the Joint Engineering Team (JET) and Middleware And Grid Interagency Coordination (MAGIC) Team of the LSN. He supports these groups’ monthly meetings and workshops, to include identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration within the NITRD Program. Dr. Miller also assists in the writing and editing of technical reports and planning documents (e.g., NSTC Federal Plans, workshop reports, and the annual Supplement to the President’s Budget).

Before joining the NCO, Dr. Miller supported the NASA National Research and Education Network (NREN) Program from 1994–1998 with responsibility for networking for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System. In that capacity, he also coordinated international networking cooperation through the Networking Subgroup of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and the Global Observation Information Networks (GOIN) Presidential Initiative. Dr. Miller also supported the State Department Undersecretary for Security Assistance with responsibility for coordinating international science cooperation programs, interagency development of the Chemical Weapons Treaty, and the development of U.S. Space Launch Policy.

Dr. Miller received a B.A. in chemistry from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Fouad Ramia
Sr. Systems Engineer and Faster Administration of Science and Technology Education and Research Community of Practice (FASTER CoP) Coordinator

Mr. Ramia provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership, management, and guidance to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program including identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration among the NITRD Agencies. He coordinates the activities of the Faster Administration of Science and Technology Education and Research Community of Practice (FASTER CoP). FASTER’s goal is to enhance collaboration and accelerate agencies’ adoption of advanced IT capabilities developed by Government-sponsored IT research. His activities include organizing monthly meetings with invited guest speakers, and workshops to share information on protocols, standards, best practices, technology assessments, and testbeds, and to accelerate deployment of promising research technology. Mr. Ramia also assists in the writing and editing of technical reports and planning documents (e.g., workshop reports, responses to OSTP and PCAST inquiries, and the annual supplement to the President’s Budget).

Mr. Ramia is also the Systems Engineer for the National Coordination Office (NCO) for NITRD. His main duties are managing the day-to-day operations of the NCO/NITRD IT network as well as overseeing its enhancement. He also does staff support, technology research and assessment, and problem management.

Before joining NCO in December 2009, Mr. Ramia was a Network Engineer for 3H Technology where he was responsible for the infrastructure design, support, and maintenance of the 3HT network, which included the implementation, configuration and active maintenance of a Voice-over-IP system for more than 500 users. Before that, Mr. Ramia was involved in the planning, creation and active maintenance of a disaster recovery site that provided full redundancy and a 99.9 percent uptime for the Army Emergency Relief (AER) network.

Mr. Ramia received both his M.S. and B.S. in Computer Engineering from George Mason University.

Ms. Diane Theiss
Operations Manager and Budget Analyst

Ms. Theiss joined the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) in January 2001. Since 2006 she has been the Operations Manager and Budget Analyst.

Among her most recent contributions, Ms. Theiss co-created a new budget tracking and reporting system for the NCO, which tracks every detail of the NCO budget and allows for seamless and transparent reporting. She also assisted in documenting its process and procedures, which has allowed the NCO to obtain compliance with OMB Circular A-123 (from the Office of Management and Budget) and the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Ms. Theiss's responsibilities include managing the overall day-to-day operations of the office; oversight of Web design, development, and testing; quality control on Web content and functionality; budget analysis and preparation of the annual NITRD Supplement to the President's Budget; and quality control of major NCO publications (including the NITRD Supplements to the President's Budget, CSIA Federal Plan, and PCAST report). Ms. Theiss also serves as backup to the Contract Program Manager Virginia Moore, which helps ensure seamless NCO operations.

Before joining the NCO, Ms. Theiss was Executive Assistant and Information Systems Technician for Prism Mortgage Company. She is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and is George Washington University Certified in Project Management.

Dr. Tomas Vagoun
Technical Coordinator, Cybersecurity and Information Assurance (CSIA)

Dr. Vagoun provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership and management, and guidance to the NITRD Program in the areas of Cyber Security and Information Assurance and Cybersecurity Research and Development. He supports the coordination activities in cybersecurity R&D within the NITRD Program, including the activities of the CSIA interagency working group, writing and editing technical reports and planning documents (e.g. Federal strategic plans, workshop reports, and the annual supplement to the President’s Budget).

Before joining the NCO, Dr. Vagoun led the implementation of software development projects for major federal civilian and defense agencies. One of the projects, the Enterprise Income Verification system at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been recognized nationally with awards from the Office of the President, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the General Services Administration (GSA), and industry.

Dr. Vagoun received a M.S. and B.S. in Computer Science from West Virginia University and Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of Maryland.

Wendy Wigen
Technical Coordinator, Big Data (BD) Interagency Working Group (IWG) and Wireless Spectrum Research and Development (WSRD) Interagency Working Group (IWG)

Wendy provides subject matter expertise, technical leadership and management, and guidance to the NITRD Program in the areas of Big Data and Wireless Spectrum Research and Development. She supports the groups’ monthly meetings and workshops, to include researching relevant topic areas to ensure awareness of the ITR&D priorities that are of interest to her groups and the NITRD Program. Wendy also assists in the writing and editing of technical reports and planning documents (e.g., NSTC Federal Plans, workshop reports, and the annual supplement to the President’s Budget).

Before joining the NCO in November 2010, Ms. Wigen served as a government relations officer for EDUCAUSE, an association of over 2000 college and university IT professionals. In this role, she coordinated their Network Policy Council, and working groups dealing with wireless and converged communications. Ms. Wigen also led the telecommunications policy effort for EDUCAUSE, bringing together various stakeholders to educate Congress, the White House and the FCC and FTC on the need for a National Broadband Plan, for access to fast, affordable broadband for all citizens, and for the need to protect the characteristics of an open internet.

Ms. Wigen received a B.A. in History from the University of Puget Sound and M.S. in Information Management from Syracuse University.