Officers

Mr. Vincent Poteat is a Senior Principal Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman with over 11 years of engineering experience including rapid prototype development, integration and test, requirements analysis & management, and technical planning. His education includes a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineer and a Caltech Systems Engineering Fundamentals certificate, and he holds INCOSE ASEP certification.

Dr. Julia Taylor is a Strategic Management consultant, a field very closely aligned with systems engineering, involving many of the same principles including systems thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration, consideration of the whole from the beginning, and use of processes in order to deal with complex systems. Dr. Taylor feels this is an exciting time for systems engineering because of new technologies allowing for simulations, greater use of software in systems, and new ways of working together like concurrent engineering. She received her PhD in 1992 from Alliant International University, San Diego, California, and has consulted for over 25 years. Julia will hold the role of chapter President in 2024.

Mr. John Thomas is a Principal Systems Engineer at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and former Naval Aviator, competent in engineering processes, management and military doctrine and experienced in computer programming, program design and execution. John has over 10 years of experience in Electronic Warfare, Cryptologic Operations, Cyber, and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. He has employed systems leveraging National Intelligence information at the Strategic and Tactical levels and is proficient in fusing tactical and operational intelligence sources to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness. John recently served INCOSE as the Technical Program Committee Co-Chair of the Western States Regional Conference (WSRC 2020) and WSRC 2021, where he provided guidance on overall program development and reviewed candidates for papers and presentations.

Ms. Cyndi Reyes is a Senior Systems Engineer with over 15 years’ experience in the aerospace and defense industry, where she has primarily been focused in the mission systems, ground controls, and unmanned systems domains. Over the course of her career, she has achieved significant experience in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Requirements and Verification Management, and Human Systems Integration (HSI). Cyndi is currently employed at Northrop Grumman Corporation as a systems engineering leader for Advanced Programs. When she is not working in her day job, Cyndi is the Chairman of an Engineering Resource Group (ERG) at Northrop Grumman, enjoys teaching coding to elementary school children, and has coached for the FLL Jr. robotics competition. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from MIT, and has professional education certificates in Systems Engineering from California Institute of Technology, Engineering Leadership and Management from University of Southern California, and Design Thinking and Strategic Innovation from Stanford University.

Mr. Troy Smith is a Signal Engineer Principal at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and retired Naval Crytologic Warfare Officer. He is familiar with engineering processes, management and military doctrine, and experienced in program design and execution. Troy has over 25 years of experience in Electronic Warfare, Cryptologic Operations, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, and Counter-Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. He earned his Master’s Degree in IW Systems Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School.  He has trained, tasked, and employed various Naval EW and SIGINT systems while leveraging National Intelligence information at the Tactical and Operational levels to achieve an information advantage for Tactical Commanders.

Mr. Mitchell Seime is a Systems Engineer for Naval Information Warfare System Command, currently leading technical authority implementation for Navy Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence systems. A retired submarine electronics technician, Mitch served as the assistant program manager for the development of the Common Submarine Radio Room V2 and V3. In 2016 Mitch reported to NAVWAR Office of the Chief Engineer to stand up the Navy Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications Chief Engineer. In his role as Lead Systems Engineer, he defined engineering and certification process for strategic systems and established active relationships with other strategic deterrent stakeholders. Mitch has a BS in Workforce Education focused on Technology Management and a MS in Systems Engineering Management from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Mr. James Wasser is a Principal Systems Engineer, currently on the team to develop a C6ISR system for the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR). He has over 15 years of experience in information technology, project management and system engineering for US Navy and US Marine Corps systems. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from California State University Long Beach, and holds several cyber security, system administration, project management and business certifications. James grew up in San Diego and enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing and scuba diving.

Mr. Frank Lacson is a Human Factors Subject Matter Expert (SME) at Imagine Believe Realize (IBR), with over 12 years of experience in conducting Human Systems Integration (HSI) for DoD projects and Programs of Record (PoR) for C4ISR and Enterprise Information Systems for the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR, formerly SPWAR). Throughout his career, he has served as the end user advocate in Integrated Product Teams (IPTs), working closely with System Engineering, Logistics / Product Support, Software Engineers, Architecture, and Test & Evaluation. Competency areas include: User Experience, Human Centered Design, and DoD HSI policy and Standardization. He has served in leadership roles with the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society (HFES), the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) Los Angeles Chapter, and the San Diego Smooth Dancers (a ballroom dancing organization). Mr. Lacson has a Master and Bachelor degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Frank also has a certificate in Systems Engineering from UCSD Extension.

Mr. Ted Mulder is a Program Manager at Northrop Grumman corporation. He is an experienced leader with a strong history of leading teams to successful project completion, meeting cost and schedule, requirements analysis, system architecture, and minimizing project risks. Ted is skilled in unmanned aerial vehicles (Avionics & Ground Segment), C5ISR systems, communications, Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), software, project and subcontractor management, as well as integrating very large complex systems for a wide variety of aerospace systems. Ted has earned both a Bachelor and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, and he holds an active INCOSE CSEP certification. His professional experience includes over 15 years at Northrop-Grumman as well as time at Lockheed-Martin corporation. Ted is also a Past-President of the INCOSE San Diego chapter, leading the chapter in 2018 to their first Platinum Award status as well as the President’s Award for Outstanding Chapter, worldwide. He also received the Grady Outstanding Service Award for 2019 and the 2020 Keith F. Glassman Outstanding Engineering Service Award by the San Diego County Engineering Council (SDCEC). In 2021, Ted served as the Chair for the Western States Regional Conference (WSRC) which was hosted in San Diego.

Mr. John Thomas is a Principal Systems Engineer at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and former Naval Aviator, competent in engineering processes, management and military doctrine and experienced in computer programming, program design and execution. John has over 10 years of experience in Electronic Warfare, Cryptologic Operations, Cyber, and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. He has employed systems leveraging National Intelligence information at the Strategic and Tactical levels and is proficient in fusing tactical and operational intelligence sources to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness. John recently served INCOSE as the Technical Program Committee Co-Chair of the Western States Regional Conference (WSRC 2020) and WSRC 2021, where he provided guidance on overall program development and reviewed candidates for papers and presentations.

Currently open.

Currently open.