Mr. David C. Campion
President/CEO
Mr. Campion leads Areté, as its President and CEO. Since becoming President and CEO, he has helped to unify the company behind a strategic plan that calls for innovation that rapidly transforms our ground‐breaking S&T advances into prototypes and finished solutions. Over his short tenure, we have seen the company revenue grow and he has worked to develop the staff and leadership across the company. Prior to this role, he served as Areté’s Chief Operating Officer where he was responsible for executing a diverse program portfolio delivering integrated hardware and software remote sensing solutions to a broad base of Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers.
Mr. Campion’s technical background includes remote sensing, image processing, and application development projects. He has extensive expertise in signal processing and detection analysis for passive optical IR and visible sensors. He has developed algorithms for detection, clutter reduction, false alarm mitigation and target tracking for use with numerous optical systems. Mr. Campion has developed techniques for extraction of ocean environmental conditions from passive optical data. He has been responsible for the collection and analysis of data from national systems for the purpose of METOC products and water mine detection. Mr. Campion has been directly responsible for developing deliverable software for operational users and working with operational personnel to identify requirements to enhance ease of use and effect smooth transition of the code.
Mr. Campion holds an M.S. in Optical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and has been with Areté since 1993.
Contribution to Areté Board Composition:
Mr. Campion has an extensive understanding of the Areté culture and program base. He has been engaged with customers across all the business areas. He has demonstrated his ability to lower the geographic and cultural barriers across the company and to unite the company as “One Areté”.
Dr. Gregg Lois
Senior Principal Scientist
An Areté employee for 16 years, Dr. Lois joined the company after completing a research fellowship at Yale University in the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences and the Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry. Throughout his tenure, he has benefited from the unique Areté culture that allows for continuous professional development while discovering, developing, and delivering high‐impact solutions to national and global security challenges.
Dr. Lois leads the Detection & Estimation Matrix group, overseeing a team of 35 employees, while also serving as Deputy Program Manager for the Algorithm Engineering effort in Special Programs and Deputy IPT lead for Algorithm Engineering and System Modeling in the Maritime Airborne Sector. Passionate about driving innovation across Areté, he is dedicated to fostering employee engagement, open communication, and technical excellence. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in every stage of product development – from initial proof‐of‐concept to fielding and enhancing operational capabilities in established programs.
Dr. Lois holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Puget Sound.
Contribution to Areté Board Composition:
Dr. Lois is a current employee with extensive experience who loves Areté and is dedicated to its continued success. He regularly interacts with employees from every geographical location and at every stage in their career. As a knowledgeable advocate for employee‐owners, he will work to ensure their interests are represented while strengthening connections across the company.
Lieutenant General Susan J. Helms, USAF (Ret)
Independent Consultant
Lt. Gen Helms was commissioned into the Air Force from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980, and served as fighter jet weapons separation engineer and a flight test engineer. A Distinguished Graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School, Flight Test Engineer Course, she has flown in 30 different types of military aircraft. After earning her Masters of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, Susan taught aeronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Selected as a NASA astronaut in 1990, she became the first U.S. military woman in space. She completed five spaceflights – four on the space shuttle, plus a fifth flight aboard the International Space Station for a duration of almost 6 months. Susan has logged 211 days in space, and on March 11, 2001, accomplished a spacewalk of nearly nine hours, still a world record.
She then transferred to Air Force Space Command in 2002 and served in numerous command and staff positions, before her eventual promotion to Lt. General. As the Joint Forces Command Commander for Space, she directed space forces for U.S. Strategic Command, providing tailored, responsive, local and global space effects in support of national and combatant commander objectives. Lt. Gen Helms retired from military service in 2014.
Lt. Gen Helms now does Board work, consulting and speeches. She serves on the Board of Directors for Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc. (VORB), the Board of Trustees for the Aerospace Corporation and the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. She operates her own consulting company, Orbital Visions, LLC, in Colorado Springs.
Ms. Tina Jonas
Independent Consultant
Ms. Jonas is an executive with a distinguished career. She has served at the highest levels in both the government and commercial sectors and is a recognized expert in military, defense, and aerospace issues. Ms. Jonas is currently an independent consultant and serves on several boards. She was a trustee of the Aerospace Corporation, the National Defense Industrial Association, and EADS, North America (Airbus Group). She is a board member of the National Military Family Association.
From 2008 to 2014, Ms. Jonas served as President of UnitedHealthcare, Military and Veterans, part of UnitedHealth Group, and held executive positions in the aerospace and defense industry. Prior to her corporate experience, she served more than two decades in government and national security positions. She was Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) for the Department of Defense from 2004 to 2008. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Director and Chief Financial Officer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for financial management, and as a senior analyst with the Office of Management and Budget and the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Her education includes executive studies at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Ms. Jonas holds an M.A. in liberal studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in political science from Arizona State University.
Contribution to Areté Board Composition:
Ms. Jonas brings a career of corporate and government financial expertise to the Board. As a former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), she has an invaluable understanding of the DoD budgeting systems. She provides strong corporate leadership experience for both government and commercial contracting companies including aerospace and the health sectors. Ms. Jonas has a strong connection to the Intelligence Community (IC) and still active in the defense and the aerospace industry.
Ms. Heidi Shyu
Former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Ms. Heidi Shyu was the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)). In this role, she served as the Chief Technology Officer for the Department of Defense (DoD), mandated with ensuring the technological superiority of the U.S. military, and was responsible for the research, development, and prototyping activities across the DoD enterprise. She also oversaw the activities of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the DoD Laboratory and Engineering Center enterprise, and the Under Secretariat staff focused on developing advanced technology and capability for the U.S. military.
Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA (ALT)), from September 2012 to January 2016. Prior to this, she was Acting ASA (ALT) beginning in June 2011 and appointed the Principal Deputy in November 2010. As the ASA (ALT), she served as the Army Acquisition Executive, the Senior Procurement Executive, the Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, and the Army’s Senior Research and Development official. She had principal responsibility for all Department of the Army matters related to logistics. Ms. Shyu also led the execution of the Army’s acquisition function and the acquisition management system. Her responsibilities included providing oversight for the life cycle management and sustainment of Army weapons systems and equipment from research and development through test and evaluation, acquisition, logistics, fielding, and disposition.
Prior to her government service, Ms. Shyu was the Vice President of Technology Strategy for Raytheon Company’s Space and Airborne Systems. Ms. Shyu holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Brunswick in Canada, a Master of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with a focus on System Sciences along with the Engineer’s Degree from UCLA. She received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of New Brunswick. She is also a graduate of the UCLA Executive Management Course Program.
A member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 2000 to 2010, she served as the Vice Chair from 2003 to 2005 and Chair from 2005 to 2008. Ms.Shyu is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Honorary Fellow.
Mr. Jeffrey M. Smith
Undersea Technologist, Defense Executive, Entrepreneur
Mr. Smith has over thirty years of experience working across numerous areas in product and technology development. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and an MBA from the Lally School of Management at RPI. From starting in a manufacturing support role for the Trident II Inertial Navigation System, he moved through numerous roles of increasing responsibility including hardware design and analysis, technical management, program management, advanced program development, and C‐level business management. Mr. Smith led the business growth strategy, capture management, partnering initiatives, and product expansion at Bluefin Robotics. He was an instrumental part of a major corporate turnaround in his first two years at Bluefin. He led the development of winning technical solutions and assembled viable large industry teams through his significant network.
Mr. Smith has chaired major industry‐wide market studies, supported various government agencies’ long term strategies, and been selected as a subject matter expert to participate in numerous war games and study panels focused on the future of undersea warfare. Mr. Smith also holds patents in unmanned undersea vehicles, robotics, electro‐optical systems, rapid prototyping, subsea battery safety systems, biomedical devices, and in a counter‐sniper system.
In 2015, Mr. Smith started Riptide Autonomous Solutions, an unmanned undersea vehicle provider. Riptide became a major market disruptor. Leading a dynamic development team, Riptide fielded a prototype vehicle in less than six months, delivered their first products in less than 12 months, and established a multi‐vehicle product line in less than 18 months. In that period Riptide also won multiple $1M+ DARPA development programs, including a Direct to Phase II SBIR. In 2019 Riptide was acquired by BAE and integrated within their Innovation Lab.
In 2015, Mr. Smith also became a senior advisor to Open Water Power, where he helped OWP bridge the gap between early R&D funding to obtain a larger ($3.2M) development contract with SOCOM that directly led to their technology maturation and acquisition in 2017 to L3 Technologies.
Contribution to Areté Board Composition:
Mr. Smith has over 30 years of experience working product development for the DoD from large companies down to small start‐up companies. He has a strong understanding of Areté from his interaction with several of the business area leads. He has extensive understanding of the undersea warfare environment and the use of autonomous vehicles, subsea sensor networks, and weapon systems within that environment. He has demonstrated the ability to stand up rapid prototype and production lines with delivery rates of several units per week.
Vice Admiral Jeffrey E. Trussler, US Navy (retired)
Independent Consultant
Vice Admiral Trussler is an independent consultant in national security affairs supporting organizations involved in defense, intelligence, and advanced technology.
He completed a 39-year career in the US Navy where he served as a submarine and nuclear power officer for most of his career before transitioning to intelligence, information warfare, and advanced technology development.
He commanded the ballistic missile submarine USS MARYLAND (SSBN 738), Task Force SIX NINE (CTF‐69) in Naples, Italy where he was in charge of US Navy and allied undersea operations in the European and African theaters, and the Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC), responsible for innovation, technological, and tactical development.
Vice Admiral Trussler’s final assignment in the Navy was as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare and as the 68th Director of Naval Intelligence. In this role, he managed a $9B overall budget for the Navy and National Intelligence Program that supported shipboard capabilities, weapons and sensor development, international intelligence sharing and capability development agreements, and support for over 60,000 military, civilian, and contractor personnel supporting Navy Information Warfare efforts.
A sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivor, Jeff and his wife Kirsten are passionate advocates for CPR/AED training and personal fitness. They are certified instructors and conduct training for groups and individuals in CPR/AED use and host fitness classes at their small gym.
Vice Admiral Trussler is a native of Oklahoma and member of the Cherokee Nation. He graduated from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College, Oklahoma State University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and the University of Oklahoma with an M.A. in Managerial Economics. He was also a fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Seminar XXI program in foreign politics, international relations, and the national interest.