Strategic industries alliance

Chad Causey
Executive Director
Arkansas Aerospace & Defense Alliance

The Arkansas Aerospace & Defense Alliance supports the Strategic Industries Alliance with:

• Collaboration on dual-use aerospace and defence R&D projects
• Facilitation of industry and academic efforts across our network of aerospace and defence organizations
• Knowledge transfer, training, and technical guidance to enhance workforce capabilities
• Joint initiatives leveraging international collaborations in advanced manufacturing, dual-use technology, and ordnance capabilities
• Support for demonstration and testing of advanced industrial technologies in Central Queensland and Arkansas

Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla AM FAA FTSE HonFIEAust CPEng

• 2022 NSW Australian of the Year
• ARC LAUREATE FELLOW
  DIRECTOR, ARC Microrecycling Research Hub
• HUB LEADER, Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub, National Environmental Science Program
• DIRECTOR, Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology

Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor revolutionising recycling science. She is renowned for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of ‘green materials.’  As the founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, she is producing a new generation of green materials and products made entirely, or primarily, from waste. Veena also heads the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for ‘green manufacturing’, a leading national research centre that works in collaboration with industry to ensure new recycling science is translated into real world environmental and economic benefits. 

Reza Ghodssi, Ph.D.
Distinguished University Professor - University of Maryland

• Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering
  
• Executive Director of Research and Innovation, MATRIX Lab
  
• President, Transducer Research Foundation
  

We strongly support the development of the Strategic Industries Alliance and its objectives to establish a multi-sector industrial and innovation hub in Central Queensland. This initiative offers significant potential for dual-use aerospace, UAV, and advanced technology research, as well as workforce development and regional economic growth. 

We welcome the opportunity to work with Strategic Industries Alliance and the AUKUS Forum to translate global research expertise into practical industrial and aerospace outcomes, strengthening the capabilities of Central Queensland and supporting international collaboration.

Vandiver (Van) Hood

Chief Operating Officer

United States Bomb Technician Association

Chief Master Sergeant (retired) United States Air Force, hails from Greensboro, NC. Van served as an Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician for over 30 years retiring as the Air Force EOD Career Field Manager. During his time in the Air Force, he served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan earning the Legion of Merit and three Bronze Stars. As the USBTA Chief Operating Officer Van overseas all operational activities and the strategic plans to support USBTA activities including congressional support activities, training, education, community outreach, technology exchange, member relations, facility operations, and industry support. 

Col. Gloria Berlanga (Ret)

Associate Vice President, Business
Development - Defense Sector  

Rhode Island’s compact maritime ecosystem—Quonset & Newport, NUWC & the Naval War College, plus Electric Boat, Raytheon, and agile dual-use SMEs—offers ready AUKUS pathways: supplier qualification, joint prototyping in sea/undersea & unmanned systems, workforce exchanges, and co-location at Quonset, Unity, and Aquidneck. 

A trailblazer (one of the first women to graduate the U.S. Army Engineer School; former Chief of Staff, RI National Guard), Col. Berlanga focuses on turning strategy into delivery.

Dr. Jason Held is the CEO and founder of Saber Astronautics.

With over 25 years of experience in space, Dr. Held has worked in both civil and military programs. Before founding Saber Astronautics, he served with U.S. Army Space Command and deployed internationally during wartime. 

He also served as an engineer at the Army Space and Missile Command Battle Lab. As a civilian, he wrote flight software for the Hubble Space Telescope and conducted testing for the International Space Station. 

In 2016, Dr. Held played a pivotal role in advocating for the establishment of an Australian space agency. He was part of the government-appointed Expert Reference Group that helped design the Australian Space Agency, which was founded in 2019.