Prior to his current position, Mr. Hunter was a senior fellow in the International Security Program and Director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He focused on issues affecting the industrial base, including emerging technologies, the defense acquisition system, defense trade and industrial policy.

Mr. Hunter previously served as a senior executive in the Department of Defense as Director of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell, his duties included fielding solutions to urgent operational needs and leading the work of the Warfighter-Senior Integration Group to ensure timely action on critical issues of warfighter support. Mr. Hunter served as the Chief of Staff to the Honorable Ashton B. Carter and the Honorable Frank Kendall, while each was serving as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Additional duties while at the Defense Department included support to the Deputy’s Management Action Group and examining ways to reshape acquisition statutes.

Mr. Hunter served as a Professional Staff Member of the House Armed Services Committee, leading the committee’s policy staff and managing a portfolio focused on acquisition policy, the defense industrial base, technology transfers and export controls. He also served in a variety of staff positions in the House of Representatives, including Appropriations Associate for Congressman Norman D. Dicks; Military Legislative Assistant and Legislative Director for Congressman John M. Spratt Jr.; and staff member for the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China.

Dr. Pamulapati is responsible for oversight over the DoD R&D enterprise consisting of the Defense research laboratories and warfare/engineering centers, the Department’s Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and the University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs). Additionally, he oversees the DoD’s basic research investments, from establishing Department-wide policy for grants to overseeing and managing education and workforce development programs, to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCUs/MSIs) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives across the Department. In addition to policy and oversight of the R&D enterprise, Dr. Pamulapati is also responsible for the than 63,000 scientists and engineers that work in over 60 DoD laboratories, warfare centers, and engineering centers across 22 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to R&D enterprise matters, Dr. Pamulapati also oversees the Department’s technical interchange between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (Five Eyes) partners.

Dr. Pamulapati was selected for the Senior Executive Service in January 2016. Prior to this, Dr. Pamulapati was in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) from June 2006. In this position, he was responsible for developing and implementing policy initiatives for the Army’s laboratories. He also fulfilled the role of the Executive Director for Strategic Plans and Program Planning, a Senior Executive Service position, where he was responsible for the Basic Research, Innovation Enablers, Manufacturing Technologies, Technology Wargaming, and International Portfolios.

During his time with the Army, Dr. Pamulapati also served as a senior policy analyst within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, responsible for a broad portfolio of national security interest items; the Chief Scientist and Chief Technical Officer responsible for technology integration for the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program the Army’s leading transformational initiative consisting of soldiers, manned and unmanned systems within a unifying network; and a scientific liaison to the Army Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 where he provided technical expertise and insight on science and technology issues.

Dr. Pamulapati began his distinguished career at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) where he developed advance ultra-submicron high speed devices for next generation optoelectronic integrated circuits and monolithic millimeter wave integrated circuits, infrared materials for forward looking infrared imagers as well as high power infrared laser sources for countermeasure applications.

Dr. Pamulapati received his B.S.E., M.S.E. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He holds eleven patents and has contributed to more than 40 archival journal publications and three books. On numerous occasions, he has been invited to lecture at national and international fora for industry and academia. Besides the Army War College in Carlisle, PA, he has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway.

Dr. Pamulapati has a myriad of talents and interests outside of science and technology. Besides being a single digit handicap golfer, he is also a pastry arts and design chef holding a degree in Pastry Arts from L’Academie de Cuisine, Gaithersburg, MD.

As a retired Air Force officer, Dr. Wax has over 45 years of Defense research and development (R&D) experience, including executive positions in DoD and industry and as a senior technical consultant. His most recent Government position was Chief Scientist of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an SES position that serves as the technical advisor to the Director, DTRA, and the Director, DTRA R&D. In this role, Dr. Wax was responsible for DTRA’s basic research program, its international S&T engagement, and the coordination of DTRA’s S&T program with the Combatant Commands. Dr. Wax also served 12 years at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), including as Director of the Defense Sciences Office (DSO), where he was responsible for a $450 million per year office portfolio of innovative basic, applied, and exploratory research and technology programs spanning the physical sciences, biological warfare defense, biological science, combat medicine, human effectiveness, cognitive science, and mathematics. His other DARPA positions included Deputy Director, DSO, and Senior Scientist, Materials. As an Air Force officer, Dr. Wax was assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, DARPA, and the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory.

Dr. Wax was a member of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Human Effectiveness Directorate’s independent Review Team and the National Materials and Manufacturing Board. He also served as a panel member on the Materials Science and Technology External Review for Sandia National Laboratory. His awards include the George Kimball Burgess Memorial Award (material science) and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Ceramic Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.