President
Haifeng Zhu, Ph.D.
Boeing
Haifeng Zhu, Ph.D., is currently with Boeing. He has extensive experience in multiple sectors in manufacturing industry, and led or contributed to many projects. Haifeng is interested in advancing system knowledge and technologies for humanity. It is important to promote awareness of technologies' different effects, and use technologies wisely to help human lives and society. He is also an advocator of engineer education, including promoting the awareness of importance of education and course training to entry level engineers and the correlations between quality education and the quality outcomes from work. He is also a warm-hearted volunteer to a certain charity events and organizations, sometimes helping those using technologies. He devoted some of his time in helping cross-organizational public domain knowledge sharing and stimulating possible collaborations to better serve the local community.
Vice President
Cameron Hendricks
Pratt & Whitney
Cameron Hendricks is the Pratt and Whitney Fellow for MBSE. He started his career in 1997 working for Hughes Aircraft, and spent most of his career working government contracts for Raytheon, working with other government contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and many other smaller contracts, and has spent a large part of his career analyzing and improving engineering performance
Treasurer
Rachel McGrath
Pratt & Whitney
Rachel A. McGrath is a Systems Engineer at Pratt & Whitney currently leading MBSE deployment across jet engine programs. She earned her BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Loyola University Maryland and her MEng in Advanced Systems Engineering from University of Connecticut.
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Rachel has worked at Raytheon Technologies since 2013, first at Missile Systems in Arizona before moving back to New England to work at Pratt. Her experience in manufacturing, design, analysis, and project spans the full product lifecycle, from concept development, through detailed design, production, repair, retrofit, to retirement. Systems Engineering is a natural fit for her experience and skillset, and she is an enthusiastic advocate for using MBSE models to enforce and enhance good SE.
Rachel has been an INCOSE member since 2019 and is an OMG Certified Systems Modeling Professional – Model Builder Fundamental. She lives in Hartford, CT with her husband.
Secretary
Michael Tymm
Third Pole Therapeutics
Mike Tymm is a Principal Systems/Software Engineer with over 30 years of experience as an individual contributor, manager and director in the design and development of medical devices in addition to defense work on Army and Air Force programs. Mike has worked for an Army R&D center, GE Aerospace (Over-the-Horizon radar), Siemens Medical (patient monitors), Summit Technology/Alcon (laser vision correction), Hemedex (measuring blood flow in tissue for reconstructive and transplant surgery as well as for brain injury monitoring and treatment), Corindus Vascular Robotics/Siemens Healthineers (robotic vascular surgery) and currently with Vicarious Surgical (robotic general surgery).
He has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, 1983), a Masters of Science in Computer Systems Engineering from Northeastern University (1992), has taken many computer and premed courses at Harvard Extension School, and a professional certificate program in Architecture and System Engineering from MIT (2018). He has been a member of INCOSE since 2018 and continues as secretary of the INCOSE NE chapter since 2019.
His passion is applying system engineering to startup medical device companies developing high quality, safe, reliable and effective products and the application of Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) towards this end.
Past President, 2022
Madhu Rao, Ph.D.
Belcan Engineering, LLC
Dr. Rao joined INCOSE in 2015. With an undergraduate and graduate education in Chemical Engineering, he shaped himself as a strong Systems Engineer at UTC Power working on the design, development and engineering of fuel cell power plants for over 8 years. Skills that he acquired help him transition seamlessly into Aerospace industry and he currently serves as a Section Leader for the Systems & Software Engineering group at Belcan Engineering, leading a team of over 130 professionals in the development of aerospace systems.
Dr. Rao has over 16 years of product design and engineering experience in diverse areas such as polyester manufacturing units, refinery process modeling and optimization, fuel cell power plants and aerospace systems. The underlying thread seaming through these areas of his experience is systems engineering. His current interests lie in supporting the growth of Systems & Software discipline at Belcan with special emphasis on continuous learning and training. With his engagement in INCOSE, Dr. Rao would like to expand his outreach in the Systems Engineering community through networking with experts and help grow the community and the discipline.
Dr. Rao earned a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University, NY.
Director
Dan Burbank
Collins Aerospace
Dan Burbank is a Senior Technical Fellow and the Systems Engineering Discipline Lead for Collins Aerospace. In this capacity he provides leadership in advancing execution excellence across Collins Aerospace through quality assurance reviews, new technology and methods development and employee development. Quality assurance reviews include non-advocate reviews, technology readiness reviews and design assurance reviews across the entire business. Mr. Burbank is a leader in Collins Aerospace’s Mission Systems SBU’s spaceflight hardware design and development efforts for spacesuits and spacecraft systems, including for the International Space Station (ISS), Orion, Space Launch System, Boeing CST-100 Starliner, Gateway and other Artemis platforms.
Prior to joining United Technologies in July 2018, Mr. Burbank served for 22 years as a NASA Astronaut. During his NASA career he flew two Space Shuttle missions (STS-106 and 115) to assemble and outfit the ISS. He also flew aboard Soyuz 28 and served as Flight Engineer during ISS Expedition 29 and as Commander of ISS Expedition 30 with a combined spaceflight mission duration of over six months. Other NASA assignments included Chief, Vehicle Integration Test Office, NASA Director of Operations – Russia, and Chief, Astronaut Office EVA (spacewalk) and Robotics Branch. Prior to his NASA career, Mr. Burbank served in the U.S. Coast Guard as an aviator and aeronautical engineer for 11 years, logging over 4000 flight hours in Coast Guard H-60 and H-3 helicopters including over 300 search and rescue missions.
Mr. Burbank is a member of the Association of Space Explorers, the U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Association, the Daedalians Society, the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Mr. Burbank earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a Master of Science in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Director
Eric Dano, Ph.D.
BAE Systems
Dr. Dano has been working in the areas of systems architecture and engineering at Sanders/BAE Systems in Nashua, NH for over 22 years. During that time he has served in numerous systems engineering roles including systems engineering lead, design lead, IV&V lead, and principle investigator on multiple internal R&D efforts.
Over the past 8 years he served as System Architect/Chief Engineer on multiple advanced defense systems. He currently serves as a Technical Director in the Electronic Combat Solutions business area and is lead of the System Architecture Community of Practice. In this capacity, he teaches four core systems architecture courses, has created all systems architecture process artifacts, and has created the current BAE Systems SE Handbook given out to all new employees.
Prior to BAE Systems, Dr. Dano was a 1987 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, majoring in Physics, and served in the United States Marine Corps as an Electronics Counter Measures Officer (ECMO) flying in the EA-6B Prowler. In 1997, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Electrical Engineering and Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, focusing on modeling E-M scattering from oceanic breaking waves.
Dr. Dano has been an INCOSE member since 2011, and is a member of the Physics Honor Society (ΣΠΣ), a Senior member of IEEE, and serves on the NDIA system architecture committee.
Director
Peter Huie
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
As Senior Manager of Corporate Partnerships at WPI, Peter has opened many doors of collaboration between industry and academia. He is passionate about helping corporations achieve high levels of innovation and productivity through WPI’s cutting-edge research, educational and training programs, and access to the university’s talented students and faculty. Peter has been successful at helping companies transition from Systems Engineering awareness to expertise in the field, by facilitating and developing tailored Systems Engineering degree programs for their engineers. He has also been influential with the development of custom Systems Engineering short courses and technical training, based on the needs of industry. Peter has been an INCOSE member since 2011.
Director
William Luk
BAE
Bill Luk has served in various positions in systems engineering for BAE Systems for 20 years. His present position is Chief of Staff of ES Defense Systems Engineering where he manages SE process, tools, training, and education for 1100 engineers. His experience is with systems engineering for sensors, network management, Link-16, and army communications programs. Prior to BAE Systems Bill served 26 years in the US Army Signal Corps and taught EE at USMA for 3 years. Bill has a BS from USMA and an MSEE from Naval Post Graduate School. Bill is currently serving as the BAE Systems Representative for NDIA SE and AIA Engineering committees. Bill lives in Amherst , NH and enjoys travel and collecting oriental rugs in his free time.
Director
Gissel Sawyer
Sikorsky Aircraft
Gissel Sawyer has over 25 years of Engineering and Management experience in the fixed wing and rotorcraft aerospace industry. Her experience spans across aircraft design, flight test, systems engineering and program management areas of engineering. Currently, Gissel is the Senior Manager of Systems Engineering for Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of Lockheed Martin. Her responsibilities include oversight over Systems Engineering process, training, and tooling and automation for an organization of over 130 Systems Engineers across all product lines and over 2,500 Engineers across the enterprise.
Director
Brian M. Sheehan
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc.
Brian is a Systems Engineer at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., a not-for-profit research and development institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He specializes in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methods as well as the execution of Systems Engineering (SE) activities from concept to deployment for new technologies in aerospace systems. He has been a member of the Draper team since June 2019. In his primary role Brian supports Draper’s largest U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) customer, the Department of the Navy, as a Systems Engineering Lead for Reentry Flight Systems and as a MBSE Subject Matter Expert for Strategic Guidance, Navigation, and Control Systems. Brian also supports other DoD and Strategic Programs in standing up MBSE framework and the curation of system models and model data. He is a thought leader for Draper’s Digital Engineering Roadmap and consults R&D proposal submittals in the field of Digital Engineering.
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Brian’s enthusiasm for Systems Engineering continues beyond his professional role. He was recently appointed to the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE)’s New England Chapter Board of Directors. In that role, he provides and collects insight on Systems Engineering across industry and academia. Additionally, he enjoys mentoring new staff and students in the discipline and is regularly emphasizing systems thinking and the importance of good verifiable requirements. Brian is committed to thought sharing and cultivating an inclusive workspace to arrive at the best solution possible for customers. Brian also engages with academia and is a member of a Draper working group dedicated to strengthening ties between Draper and top engineering universities across the country.
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Prior to joining Draper, Brian was a Performance and Diagnostics Engineer for Belcan Engineering LLC, an outsourcing firm headquartered in Cincinnati Ohio. Brian joined the Windsor Connecticut team in May 2016 and was partnered with Belcan’s main customer in that area, Pratt & Whitney. In that role Brian developed and executed performance simulations for Pratt’s Next Generation Propulsion Family (NGPF) of engines to understand new engine design, test data anomalies, and fielded system performance. Additionally, he developed and tested system health diagnostics algorithms for predictive maintenance and sustainment of Pratt’s F135 military engines.
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Education wise, Brian received a Master’s of Engineering in Advanced Systems Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2019. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor’s of Art in German which were both awarded in 2016 from the University of Connecticut.
Director
Amy Thompson, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut
Pratt & Whitney Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering
Dr. Thompson joined INCOSE in 2008 and has been teaching systems engineering and coordinating systems engineering education programs for 14 years at the University of New Haven and most recently, at the University of Connecticut. Over the past 28 years, she has held engineering and management positions in several industries, including gaming, agricultural chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, software, building energy efficiency, and engineering consulting. Her current research focuses on applying an MBSE approach for designing complex products, manufacturing systems, manufacturing facilities, maintenance and support systems, and supply chains.
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Dr. Thompson's systems engineering education interests lie in developing effective online systems engineering teaching programs, developing best practices for teaching systems engineering at the graduate level, and developing best practices for infusing systems engineering education into undergraduate engineering curriculum. She earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering, M.S. in Manufacturing Engineering, and Ph.D. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Rhode Island. She currently works as the Associate Director at the UConn Pratt & Whitney Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering directing the graduate education programs and outreach activities. She also leads the SmartBuildings CT program at UConn and serves as the Operations Director for the new US Department of Energy Industrial Assessment Center at UConn. Her research and projects have been funded by the Navy NIUVT program, AFRL, Pratt & Whitney, US Department of Energy, Eversource, and United Illuminating-Avangrid.
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Director
Bao Truong, Ph.D.
Malta, Inc.
Dr. Truong is the Vice President of Engineering at Electrified Thermal Solutions Inc., working on long duration thermal energy storage systems electrically conductive firebrick. He has a background in nuclear engineering thermal systems and a decade of experience in developing and implementing systems engineering strategies in a startup environment. Dr. Truong is a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) with broad experience in system requirements development, system design and integration, verification & validation, and operational excellence.
Creating sustainable clean energy solutions to improve the quality and equity of life around the world has been the animating purpose of Dr. Truong's professional journey. Prior to joining Malta Inc., Dr. Truong worked at TerraPower, an advanced nuclear energy startup. His work there spanned all aspects of systems engineering, including requirements development, integrated system analysis, testing, safety analysis, engineering processes, verification & validation, training and mentoring, and product development. He spearheaded the application of formal systems engineering to the development of advanced nuclear reactors, managed the Design Integration group, and served as the company’s go-to expert on systems engineering. Before TerraPower, Dr. Truong was a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certified Senior Reactor Operator for 6 years at the MIT research reactor.
Dr. Truong has earned many prestigious honors throughout his career, including being among the top 80 young STEM leaders in the U.S. selected to attend the Frontiers of Engineering and the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative conferences. During his graduate studies, he received the Nuclear Engineering University Program and NRC graduate fellowships. Dr. Truong holds BS degrees in Physics and Nuclear Engineering and MS and PhD degrees in Nuclear Engineering, all from MIT. He also holds Professional Engineering licenses in Mechanical Engineering in Massachusetts and Washington.
