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Lisa is a Strategic Planning and Culture Development Specialist at Northwest Industrial Resource Center, an MEP Center based in Erie, Pennsylvania. She has more than 25 years of experience working with manufacturers to grow their people and businesses. Lisa is a certified Balanced Scorecard Professional and Development Dimensions International Facilitator. She is a member of Women in Manufacturing, National Tooling and Machining Association, National Speakers Association, and Pennsylvania Business and Professional Women.

Robert Zaruta joined the Northwest Industrial Resource Center (NWIRC) as President/CEO in 2016, after serving for 16 years with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center. He’s responsible for executive management including leadership; community relations and advocacy; risk management and compliance; and strategic, program, human resources, and financial planning. Some of his focus includes collaborating with regional partners on workforce initiatives to launch high school student-run manufacturing enterprises and Uniquely Abled Academies (a CNC training program geared to individuals with high-functioning autism). In addition to his IRC experience, he has held leadership and management positions within Fortune 500, regional and small enterprises. As an entrepreneur, he founded and led a startup telecommunications company to dynamic growth. He has a bachelor of science degree in business administration from King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Barry Schneider is a staff member of the NIST Applied and Computational Mathematics Division. In early 2014, he came to NIST after a long career at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Science Foundation. Schneider's current research interests span a broad number of areas of theoretical chemistry, atomic and molecular physics, numerical methods and high performance computing.

Mike Aller serves as Director of Supplier Development at FloridaMakes. His areas of technical emphasis and strategic engagement include helping Florida’s aviation & aerospace, defense, medical devices, personal protective equipment and power generation manufacturing industries strengthen their domestic manufacturing supply chains, as well as improve their resilience to adverse events and identify and capture new opportunities in commercial space, critical infrastructure, national security and other fast-growing markets.

Together with colleagues and partners across the state and the nation, Mike has worked to develop and roll out a series of value-added tools and resources to support the interconnectedness, growth, productivity and resilience of Florida’s and our nation’s manufacturing ecosystem. These value-added resources include the Connex Florida and Connex Marketplace supplier connection platforms, the Florida Defense Cybersecurity Training Program, supplier opportunity forums in high-growth and nationally critical sectors of manufacturing, and a series of assessments for supply chain risk management and disaster recovery and resilience for manufacturers of all sizes.

Micah “Doc” Daugherty is a FloridaMakes Business Advisor working with the South Florida Manufacturer’s Association. He started his career at Weirton Steel Corporation in Weirton, West Virginia, where he spent 15 years and served as a Regional Sales Manager for Tin Mill Products, Operations Planning Supervisor, and Metallurgical Technician. He moved to Florida in 2003 and started his own steel trading and consulting business. Through the ownership and operation of this business, Micah gained extensive knowledge on international business, sales and marketing, supply chain management, and the import and export process.

During his career in manufacturing, Micah has used his 30 years of experience to implement process improvement solutions to a broad range of industries, including: aerospace, chemical processes, metals fabrication, machining, arms manufacturing and assembly, automotive, and food processing (to name a few). Micah also served as a Project Manager with the former MEP affiliate in Florida, where he supported Florida manufacturers and businesses in implementing Lean Transformation, Quality Systems, Inventory Management, and Supply Chain Solutions.

Terese Manley has led or assisted with NIST PSCR’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Program since 2017. As part of PSCR’s Open Innovation team, Ms. Manley has been a liaison to scientific and technical audiences, allowing for public engagement of funded opportunities as well as prize challenge and grants. Ms. Manley holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and is a former member of the Society of Women Engineers. 

Lindsey Walter is a rising senior at Thomas Wootton High School in Rockville, MD. They are interested in biology and computer science and are currently working on proficiency in Java. Throughout their academic career at Wootton, they have also taken courses in C++ and Python.

Lindsey will be learning about cybersecurity jobs and helping to advocate and teach others about cybersecurity jobs and why they are necessary.

Outside of biology and computer science, Lindsey is interested in kayaking and soccer, and has played goalkeeper for their travel soccer team for 6 years. They are looking to pursue soccer as well as biotechnology in college.

Kyle Truong is a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park studying Computer Engineering and is in their Academy of Machine Learning. He is also part of Gemstone, a 4-year undergraduate research program where he and his team are exploring existing bias in hiring algorithms and methods to reduce that bias. Outside of classes and research, Kyle enjoys playing tennis and volleyball.

Aubrie Kendall is pursuing a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Cybersecurity at Cal. State University San Bernardino. Aubrie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology & Anthropology and History from the University of Redlands and was a Social Studies teacher for San Bernardino City Unified School District for five years. Aubrie decided to switch gears within the public sector towards securing our nation via cybersecurity after the school district was attacked with ransomware. Aubrie was recently awarded the Cyber Halo Initiative Research Program (CHIRP) and looks forward to continued growth and interest in this field of study as well as learning about public policy implementation within cybersecurity and the intersection between education and cybersecurity.

Aubrie owns a horse whose name is Buddy. He is retired and living the highlife getting a carrot each day. Aubrie calls him “my giant lawn ornament.”

Connie LaSalle leads a team of technologists at NIST whose work is dedicated to advancing research and standardization of cybersecurity and privacy practices across the digital ecosystem. Connie previously represented NIST as a bureau liaison to the Department of Commerce, advising senior leaders on strategy and policy options related to the global standards ecosystem, the Nation’s metrology needs, and critical and emerging technologies, such as digital identity, privacy-enhancing technologies, cybersecurity, AI, blockchain, and the intersection of these topics with U.S. economic and national security interests.

Connie brings several years of industry experience with her to NIST, including management of customer success and product development teams; federal IT consulting; and global tech policy work. Her experience also includes federal service, notably leading several cybersecurity and IT modernization initiatives within the White House Office of Management and Budget and serving as the lead policy advisor to the Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Department of Justice.