Board of Directors Douglas Loss / President Doug is originally from central Pennsylvania; he has worked in the IT field, principally in network administration and security, for the past 30 years. He organized and ran an international internet organization called SEUL/edu, which fostered and promoted the development and use of Open Source software in schools around the world. He handed operation of that organization off when its focus became less IT and more education (this change in focus was intended and encouraged from the beginning), as he wasn’t an educator. From 1977 until the early 2000s he attended and eventually organized The Asimov Seminar, a yearly, four-day-long retreat at a conference center in upstate New York. Isaac Asimov, the noted science fiction author, was the star of the Seminar and its main draw until his death in 1992. Each year the Seminar would explore a different topic, always with some (sometimes vague) connection to science fiction. The topics were always approached interactively, with the Seminar attendees assuming roles that would allow them to examine the questions associated with that year’s topic on a personal basis. Doug currently lives in Maryville, TN with his wife Ruby. Joseph E. Meany, Ph.D. / Secretary Although originally from Keene, NH, Joe started with TVIW in 2014 while still a graduate student at The University of Alabama. Since joining at TVIW 3, he has been active on the organizing committee for both TVIW 4 and 5. While at UA, his research focused on the development and manufacture of conductive carbon-based molecules in electrical circuits, a quickly developing field within nanotechnology. In addition to academic publications, he has written articles for Baen Books with particular focus for nanotechnological applications in space. Joe also travels to conferences and conventions as The Crimson Alkemist to inform and excite people about the promises and potential behind the latest discoveries in chemistry and material science. As he currently calls Atlanta, GA home, his favorite convention to present at is DragonCon over Labor Day weekend each year. James Moore / Treasurer Mr. Moore has 32 years’ experience in design and analysis of advanced aerospace hardware. Mr. Moore’s technical expertise covers many aspects of rocket and spacecraft engineering disciplines. He has served as Project Engineer and Principal Investigator on various hardware development contracts and analysis efforts supporting R&D programs. Mr. Moore’s technical areas of expertise include; optical design and analysis, large lightweight space structures, membrane mechanics, thermal analysis and mechanical design for cryogenic turbomachinery. Mr. Moore is active in several technical societies and has been selected for leadership roles. Specifically, he served as General Chair and Technical Chair for AIAA Spacecraft Structures Forum. Additionally, Mr. Moore has severed as the General Chair for SPIEs Polymer Optics Conference. He routinely serves these organizations in various technical leadership roles throughout the year. He has authored and co-authored 34 technical papers and a chapter in the AIAA Gossamer Spacecraft Design Textbook. Paul Gilster / Director at Large Paul Gilster is a full-time writer who focuses on space technology and its implications. He is one of the founders of the Tau Zero Foundation, an organization that grew out of work begun in NASA’s Breakthrough Propulsion Physics program and now supports research into advanced propulsion for interstellar missions. Gilster is the author of seven books, including Digital Literacy (John Wiley & Sons, 1997) and Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning for Interstellar Flight (Copernicus, 2004), a study of the technologies that may one day make it possible to send a probe to the nearest star. He tracks ongoing developments in interstellar research from propulsion to exoplanet studies on his Centauri Dreams Web site (www.centauri-dreams.org). In past years, Gilster has contributed to numerous technology and business magazines, and has published essays, feature stories, reviews and fiction in a wide range of publications both in and out of the space and technology arena. He is a graduate of Grinnell College (IA) who performed graduate work in medieval literature at UNC-Chapel Hill before going into commercial aviation (flight instructor specializing in instrument and commercial training). He turned to full-time technology writing in 1985. Marc Millis / Director at Large Marc G. Millis led NASA’s “Breakthrough Propulsion Physics” project (1996-2002) and compiled Frontiers of Propulsion Science (AIAA 2009) – examining the physics of space drives and faster-than-light flight. In 2010 Millis took a buyout from NASA to continue this work via the nonprofit Tau Zero Foundation (2006-2018). His short course “Interstellar Flight and Propulsion Physics” has been given at Purdue Univ, and the Tech. Univ. of Dresden, Germany. He is currently working on a NASA grant about propulsion options for interstellar flight. David Fields, Ph.D. / Director at Large David Fields (Ph.D., Physics, Univ. of Wisconsin) has rejoined the TVIW Board after a brief hiatus. He is the Director of the Tamke-Allan Observatory, the ORION founder/president and Senior Researcher at I4IS. He presented at the 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016 TVIW Symposia. In addition to a research career at ORNL, he has had visiting scientist appointments in Germany and Brazil, served as an IAEA “technical expert”, and was a Consulting Physicist at ISSI for NASA. In addition to being a past president of the Tennessee Academy of Science, he has taught at UW, RSCC, PSTCC, and UFMG. He holds two U.S. patents and his current interest is in RASDR, a computer-interfaced radio astronomy instrument. He lives in Knox County, TN. Stephen Fleming / Director at Large Stephen Fleming serves as Vice President, Strategic Business Initiatives, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he is focused on improving the university’s engagement with the private sector. Stephen is active in the “alternative space” industry; he is an investor in ten private aerospace companies and is a founding member of the Space Angels Network. He also maintains a consulting business at Boostphase. Mr. Fleming served on the boards of the Technology Association of Georgia and of Culture Connect, a not-for-profit fostering cultural fluency between immigrants and the community at large. He is a former board member of the Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta, and of Tech High School, a charter high school that emphasized science, math, and technology in urban Atlanta.
