2022 Emerging Techniques Forum

Dr. Baruch Fischhoff is Howard Heinz University Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy and Institute for Politics and Strategy, Carnegie Mellon University.  A graduate of the Detroit Public Schools, he holds a BS (mathematics, psychology) from Wayne State University and a PhD (psychology) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.  He is past President of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and of the Society for Risk Analysis.  He has chaired the FDA Risk Communication Advisory Committee and been a member of the Eugene (Oregon) Commission on the Rights of Women, the DHS Science and Technology Advisory Committee and the EPA Scientific Advisory Board, where he chaired the Homeland Security Advisory Committee.  He has received the American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology, Carnegie Mellon’s Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching, a Doctorate of Humanities honoris causa from Lund University, an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, and Sigma Xi William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement.  He is a Fellow of APA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Psychological Science, Society of Experimental Psychologists, and Society for Risk Analysis. His books include Acceptable Risk (1981), A Two-State Solution in the Middle East (1993), Risk: A Very Short Introduction (2011), Communicating Risks and Benefits (2011) and Counting Civilian Casualties (2013).  He has served on many committees of the National Academies, including recent ones on science communication, intelligence analysis, cybersecurity, global change, and pandemic disease.

Kristen M. Kulinowski is the Director of IDA's Science and Technology Policy Institute, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center. In this capacity, she leads more than 40 researchers providing analysis of national and international science and technology issues for the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House, and other executive branch agencies including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NASA, and the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Kulinowski has spent much of her professional life addressing risks from emerging technologies, chemical manufacture and use, terrorism and natural disasters. During her time as a Senior Faculty Fellow in Chemistry at Rice University, she focused on bringing together diverse stakeholders to explore and communicate the potential environmental, health and safety risks of engineered nanomaterials. She subsequently served as a presidentially appointed and Senate confirmed Board Member and acting head of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent, nonregulatory Federal agency that investigates major chemical industrial accidents and makes recommendations for incident prevention. Dr. Kulinowski worked in the U.S. House of Representatives on legislation involving weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and domestic nuclear power security in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. She has volunteered with American Red Cross disaster services and is currently a member of the Montgomery County (MD) Community Emergency Response Team.

Dr. Kulinowski attained a B.S. with Honors in chemistry from Canisius College. She earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in chemistry from the University of Rochester. She is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Raj G. Iyer was selected for the Senior Executive Service in November 2020 and assumed the position as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Information Technology Reform in the Office of the Secretary of the Army.

As CIO, Dr. Iyer serves as the principal advisor to and directs all matters representing the Secretary of the Army relating to Information Management/ Information Technology (IM/IT). He sets the strategic direction and oversees the execution of policies and programs for IM/IT including managing an integrated IT architecture, enterprise data management, cybersecurity, and cloud management. He oversees the capital planning and execution of $18 billion portfolio for implementation of an enterprise IM/IT programs that deliver a responsive, effective, secure, collaborative and trusted environment of communication, information and technological superiority for the Army and its joint and allied nation partners.

Dr. Iyer previously served as the Managing Director for Government and Public Services and Senior Manager, Technology Strategy, Defense, and National Security for Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia. Prior to his role at Deloitte, Dr. Iyer served as the Senior Technology Advisor for the US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland; Director, Information Services Design and Development Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, Maryland; Chief Technology Officer and Acting Deputy CIO, Army Materiel Command, Huntsville, Alabama; Director for Data Management, US Army Tank and Automotive Armaments Command, Warren, Michigan; Program Manager for Product Lifecycle Management, US Army Tank Automotive R&D Center, Warren, Michigan; Chief Technology Officer and Vice President for Product Development, Imagecom Inc., Arlington, Texas; Research Associate, Automation and Robotics Research Institute, Ft. Worth, Texas; and Systems Engineer, FlightSafety International Inc., Hurst, Texas

Dr. Iyer holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from India’s National Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas, a MBA from the Ross School or Business, University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas. He is Acquisition Corps certified, a Project Management Professional (PMP), and Lean Six Sigma (Black Belt)

His top civilian awards and professional achievements include the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the International William Conroy Standards Professional Award. He has published dozens of peer reviewed papers and articles worldwide. Dr. Iyer also co-founded a venture capital funded startup company focused on developing web-based enterprise software products for design collaboration in the engineering supply chain.

Ryan Barrett is currently a Brookings Fellow assigned to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber. He collaborates with various stakeholders in government, non-governmental organizations, and academics on foreign policy issues, as well as developing policy options for the Subcommittee Chair, Congressman Bill Keating. Prior to his current assignment, he was a program analyst for security cooperation initiatives at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), focusing on security assistance to Eastern European partners.

Before entering the civil service at the Department of Defense, Ryan lived and worked in Belarus and Ukraine, learning Russian and conducting research on policy-making processes. He served on active duty as a Logistics Readiness Officer in the USAF, completing one tour in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. Ryan is a recipient of both the Pat Tillman Fellowship and the Boren Fellowship. He earned his B.A. in International Studies from the School of International Service at the American University, a M.A. in International Relations from Webster University, as well as a M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Missouri - Saint Louis.

Michael Ford, PPPL’s associate laboratory director for engineering, leads more than 200 staff members in PPPL’s Engineering Department. A veteran of the nuclear U.S. Navy, his most recent position was strategy development director for the Energy and Global Security (EGS) Directorate at Argonne National Laboratory. There he led Phase I of the National Demonstration Reactor Siting Study supporting the National Reactor Innovation Center. He previously was a researcher at the Harvard University Center for the Environment and at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and is currently collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on research focused on energy system alternatives and the development of microreactors. He earned his Ph.D. in engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.