Frédéric Ruiz-Ramón, Ph.D

Dr. Ruiz-Ramón’s career over the past 25 years has focused on finding and bringing together partners from different countries, cultures, and technical fields. He established and managed overseas offices for the United States Army to conduct technology search operations and develop cooperation in research and development. During his six years living overseas he established expansive networks across the private sector, academia, and government entities focused on innovation and entrepreneurial activities in technology development, in defense and security, in medical and biological research, and in various energy production fields.

Prior to that he worked at the US Department of Defense, assisting senior officials in developing innovative approaches to cooperation. Some of his successes included major adjustments to the US Conventional Arms Transfer policy; the development of numerous high-level bilateral defense working groups to improve civilian and technology cooperation and transfer issues; the designation of countries as a major Non-NATO Ally; and the establishment and funding of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies.

Gregory N. Schaefer, Ph.D., M.S.

As a data scientist and statistician, Dr. Schaefer provides our team with the ability to apply higher-level data-analytic methods to our market feasibility and risk assessment studies. Areas of expertise include generalized linear models, longitudinal analysis, survival analysis, machine learning techniques, and data wrangling. Dr. Schaefer has worked in private industry for more than 12 years as a data scientist, statistician, and programmer and has spent nearly an equal amount of time in academia as an instructor of undergraduate and graduate students. In private industry Dr. Schaefer has used big data to help clients reach prospective customers far more efficiently, has designed better ways of measuring performance of marketing products and internal operations, and has provided clients with a deeper knowledge of market trends and of who their customers are.

Alfredo J. Ravinet, Ph.D., P.E.,G.C

Dr. Alfredo Ravinet is a civil and environmental engineer with 39 years of experience in research, development, and academia. He has developed many international cooperative agreements between United States universities and Latin American universities, civil institutions, and military institutions to create handling economic development supported by renewable energy, efficient natural disaster response, and environmental engineering. Dr. Ravinet brings management experience in numerous engineering and construction projects in the areas of urban development, civil engineering and international hydrology programs. He has organizing, implemented, and supervised multi-tasked and multi-disciplinary research and development projects in clean technology, including logistics and production planning.

Robert E. Meffert, Jr.

Bob Meffert's 40 year career includes a diverse array of experience in engineering, military command, engineering management, and defense marketing management. While in the US Air Force he used his management and engineering skills to design communications, electronic countermeasures, and radar systems for stealth plans such as the B-2, F-117, and B-52. He also led the single largest squadron in the US Air Force where he commanded 1,200 avionics technicians. At the United States Air Force headquarters he worked in acquisitions where he was in charge of buying avionics upgrades for attack, fighter, and transport air craft.

After retiring from the military, Bob Meffert worked for Sperry Defense Systems where he was responsible for marketing helicopter, combat, and transport avionics marketing (the C-17 currently flies those avionics). He has also built and executed marketing plans that wove together the scientists, engineers, production, and marketing people for major companies, including SAAB, Airbus, and General Electric. Bob bridges the scientific, engineering, acquisition, and operations worlds while providing key insight on the US Government acquisitions processes.

Sebastian Lara

With more than 25 years of experience in the Latin American Security and Defense Market, Sebastian Lara has specialized both in Market Analyses and Studies and in Business Intelligence (BI). He has an MBA oriented to Marketing and has postgraduate degrees in Regional Strategic Security, National Defense and International Relations. Sebastian has worked in private companies such as the Perez Companc Group, Coca Cola and the Clarin Group, always with a focus on Strategic Planning and Business Development.

Between 2004 and 2015 he served in the US Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), his main role being to detect emerging technologies that support the US Army's efforts to provide its troops with the latest in technological development. In this role he directly supported all of the US Army’s RDE Commands and the Army Research Laboratory across basic research to advanced research through to engineering and product testing. He also assisted other US Government agencies seeking technologies to include the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps, the Director for Defense Research and Engineering, the Department of Energy and others. From 2015 to date, Sebastian works at the National Atomic Energy Commission managing New Business Development, and he also runs a consulting firm with operations throughout the Latin American region.