Bob Collom is currently an integration lead on the Mars Reconnaissance Team in the Planetary Science Division at NASA HQ. In this capacity he helps identify and answer questions we need to resolve to safely put humans in the Martian system. Bob is also the Deputy Executive Secretary for the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), a collaborative effort by 28 participating space agencies to advance Martian exploration through international cooperation. Additionally, Bob supports NASA’s contributions to the International Mars Ice Mapper mission concept and ongoing Mars Exploration Program strategic planning.

Bob joined NASA as an intern in the NASA history office while completing his master’s degree in political science with a focus in space flight policy. Bob is a lifelong space advocate and science fiction nerd who enjoys gardening, Dungeons & Dragons, and the company of his cats.

Lon Levin is Vice President of New Ventures at Lockheed Martin Space. In his current position, he is responsible for developing new businesses and markets for the company. Previously, Lon was the President and Chief Executive Officer of GEOshare, an entrepreneurial subsidiary of Lockheed Martin that developed new satellite and space businesses. He has 30 years experience as an executive and entrepreneur in the telecommunications, media, and aerospace industries. Before joining Lockheed Martin, Lon co-founded XM Satellite Radio and played an integral executive role in the formation and development of other media, satellite, and wireless companies, including Mobile Satellite Ventures, XM Canada, Slacker Radio, American Mobile Satellite Corporation, TerraStar Networks, and SkySevenVentures. Before his corporate career, Lon was a partner in the law firm of Gurman, Kurtis, Blask & Freedman, specializing in space and satellite law. He holds five telecommunication satellite patents. Lon serves on the Board of Directors of The Planetary Society (Treasurer) and the Board of Governors of the National Space Society. He is a co-founder and senior advisor to Arizona State University’s MILO Space Science Institute. Lon previously served on the Board of Directors of the Space Foundation, the Defense Business Board of the U.S. Department of Defense) and the Human Exploration and Operations Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. He is a founding board member of the Satellite Industry Association.

Sydney Hamilton began her career at Boeing in 2014 as a Structural Design Engineer, a role in which she supported projects like the 777 Automated Floor Drilling Equipment Elimination & Floor Redesign project and the 777X Folding Wing-Tip Mock-Up. She also worked in the Commercial Aircraft Operations Center as a Service Engineer before moving on to become a Mechanical Systems Engineer designing, analyzing and managing projects for additively manufactured parts for space and launch systems. Sydney next took on the position of Responsible Engineering Authority (REA) for satellite reflectors, in which she led a cross-functional team to develop reflectors for multiple commercial and government programs, demonstrating rapid problem-solving skills and the ability to consistently meet aggressive deadlines and cost targets. In her current role of Structures Stress Engineering Manager, she leads a high-performing team of 18 engineers that perform critical technical analyses for all 3 major Boeing Divisions: Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) and Boeing Global Services (BGS). While Sydney’s primary organization within the company is in BCA, her leadership spans beyond BCA products to include BDS products such as the CST-100 Starliner reusable spacecraft capsule, Space Launch System and Wideband Global SATCOM.

Sydney has distinguished herself in many areas since joining Boeing. She became Manager of the Structural Analysis Team at Boeing just after her 30th birthday, a role in which she leads a team that provides structural analysis engineering for design, repairs and modifications for multiple Boeing programs, including satellites, rockets, manned spacecraft and commercial airplanes. As part of the Advance Design Engineering Additive Manufacturing Team, Sydney developed and maintained the largest database of additive manufacturing analyses at Boeing. Sydney received a Promise Award from SSPI in 2021 as one of three leaders of the 2021 “20 Under 35” cohort.Learn more about Sydney.

Chris Stott is the Founder, Chair, and CEO of Lonestar Data Holdings Inc., the Lunar information, technology and communications company. Chris is also the Founder and Non-Executive Chair of ManSat, the world’s largest commercial provider of satellite spectrum.

Chris serves as the Chair Emeritus, alongside the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, of the Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), the largest professional association in the global space and satellite industry, which also named him Satellite Industry Mentor of the Year for 2015.

Chris’s passion for the economics and commerce of space has led him to co-found both the Institute of Space Commerce in the United States and the International Institute of Space Commerce on the Isle of Man in the British Isles. He has served on faculty at the International Space University (ISU) since 2003 and is a former co-chair of the university’s school of business and management. Chris is also a guest lecturer in space law and regulation at MIT Media Labs, the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the School of Law at the University of Houston.

In his spare time, Chris is a multi-award winning producer, writer and documentary filmmaker. A naturalized Manx American, Chris lives in Florida with this wife and son and their dogs. He enjoys shooting (pistol, rifle, skeet, and trap), SCUBA and Free Diving and flying helicopters. He drinks way too much coffee and rarely watches TV. When he needs to sleep, he reads his own bio. Learn more about Chris.

Meredith Garofalo is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist as designated by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and a science/space journalist for News 12 New York. Meredith also was the 2021 Chair for the AMS Station Scientist Committee, which focuses on raising greater awareness & outreach when it comes to science education for viewers.

Meredith’s 14 years in the broadcast business includes a wide variety of experience all across the country stemming from her internship at WGN-TV in Chicago. Before joining News 12 in New York, Meredith worked at local television stations in Ohio, South Dakota, Florida, and California and for a national weather network in Denver, CO. Meredith has covered the historic Atlantic Hurricane Seasons over the last 4 years as well as tornado outbreaks across the U.S. She’s been live out in the field during tropical storms, wildfires, snowstorms, and the aftermath from tornadoes. Meredith is also an accomplished reporter, producing weather and science stories. This includes rocket launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral, in depth special reports and features on NOAA’s GOES-R and JPSS satellite series, and coverage on some of NASA’s biggest accomplishments over the past 4 years. She’s interviewed some of the top scientists and leaders of the space & science industry including astronauts live from the International Space Station, and her career highlight was being selected as the only meteorologist to travel with the GOES-West satellite from Colorado to Florida in 2017 on the C-5M Super Galaxy. Her personal and professional work has been recognized numerous times over the last decade including being awarded “Favorite Weathercaster of the Year” in 2016, Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties’ Community Partner of the Year in 2017, and most notably the inaugural Valparaiso University Alumni Association First Decade Achievement Award recipient in 2018.

Meredith loves supporting and donating her time to organizations such as Make-A-Wish, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Girl Scouts, and the Space Foundation. Meredith was a panel moderator at the 2021 Satellite Conference, the 35th & 36th Space Symposiums, and also at the 2018 AMS Summer Conference. She also spends countless hours doing school, career, and motivational talks and participates in podcasts to help encourage women pursuing STEM careers and inspire our future generations. Meredith is an accomplished singer and actor, most recognized by performing the National Anthem at a Denver Broncos game in 2018 and for the Cleveland Indians in 2021.

The final episode of this series is based on the July edition of the New York Space Business Roundtable. In this episode, we bring together industry heavyweights who share a common exercise, or practice. Each meditates and has discovered great lessons through the insights it brings. As we expand our space-faring capacity and venture further and longer into space, the concept of time, our longing for home, and whatever else we create or find created already will surely require new adaptive tools. And the only place that adapts in the human species, as each wisdom tradition has taught us for centuries, is the mind.

One of the primary truths of learning and ESPECIALLY learning in the commercial space and satellite industry, is that it is an endless endeavor. No narcotic expands the mind like learning about space, satellites and the power of the individual to find their strengths not “out there,” but “in here.” We are in a moment in time when we must shift spiritual orbits. Take giant leaps that will help us adapt to the transformations to civilization, both at home and beyond.

Guests include:

• Lon Levin, Vice President of New Ventures, Lockheed Martin Space
• Nicole Stott, Astronaut and Author: Back to Earth
• Frank White, Author: The Overview Effect, The New Camelot, The Cosma Hypothesis
• Steven Wolfe, President and Co-founder, Beyond Earth Institute; and Partner, CWSP International
• Jason Rainbow, Senior Staff Writer, SpaceNews
• Debra Werner, Silicon Valley Correspondent, SpaceNews