Dr. Francesca Scire-Scappuzzo is a Consultant, Advisor, and Board Member, working with high-tech startups (Blockchain/Web3, Autonomy, AI/ML, RF, electronics, communications), large firms (Aerospace and Defense), and Government (FFRDcs, labs, and DoD) to accelerate speed of innovation, enable portfolio expansion, improve profitability, and gain competitive edge through business and technical modernization within new digital ecosystems. Dr. Scire-Scappuzzo was Sr. Director of Advanced Technology and Innovation at FAST Labs, the R&D branch of BAE Systems, delivering new external technologies via tech-transfer to its business units. She joined BAE Systems in 2017 as a Chief Scientist and Section Lead in the Autonomy Division. Francesca has extensive experience in the commercial and defense sectors, as President and CEO of Ondetech, developing antenna systems for communications and directed energy, and before this as Vice President of R&D and CTO for Metamagnetics Inc., developing electronic devices based on advanced magnetic materials. Francesca was PI and PM for numerous SBIR DoD programs that resulted in Phase IIE and Phase III contracts, publications, patents and tech transfer to programs of record. In addition to her industry experience, Francesca was Tenure Professor of EE at University of Catania in Italy. During her 20 years’ experience in high-tech Francesca established a strong professional network both internationally and nationally in academia, start-ups, and SBIR/STTR government communities. Leveraging her local network she initiated external technology sourcing activities with local accelerators and incubators such as Techstars, MassChallenge, FedTech, MassRobotics, MassVentures, and MIT The Engine. Francesca holds a Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich; a master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and bachelors and master’s degrees Summa cum Laude in Electrical Engineering from University of Catania in Italy. Dr. Scire-Scappuzzo was post-graduate at European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC) in the Netherlands. Dr. Scire-Scappuzzo has been serving as Chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Boston Section for GRSS (Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society) 2014-2021 and is now Chair of the IEEE AESS (Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society). In 2022 she served as advisor for the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Defense.