Management

Armen Papazian – Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Armen Papazian is the founding chairman and CEO of Keipr, a boutique financial modelling and consulting firm, and the founding CEO of the International Space Development HUB. After earning his PhD in financial economics at the University of Cambridge, UK, he embarked on a career path that led him to achieve capital market history in the Middle East. As a former Managing Director of Innovation and Development at the Dubai International Financial Exchange (Nasdaq Dubai), Dr. Papazian led the launch of the Middle East’s first Structured Products platform with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch. He has led the creation of the region’s first tradable bond and Sukuk indices with HSBC and the first fungible dual listing with a US exchange in the region. He then assumed the role of Head of Islamic Finance for UBS AG, with a global and cross business mandate, serving wealth management, asset management and the investment bank. He acted as a Judge for the FT Investment Banking Awards in 2011. Previously, he held the honorary position of Fellow at the Cambridge University Judge Business School, UK. He has numerous publications in a variety of outlets, he contributes regularly to policy debates in various media globally, and is a widely sought after speaker, economist, and consultant.

Geoffrey Buchanan – Chief Finance Officer

Geoffrey Buchanan is a senior banker and executive with extensive experience across a range of private sector organisations in the Financial Services, Retail and Manufacturing sectors. He has been on the boards of a number of operating subsidiaries of several international groups, including Standard Chartered Bank. After obtaining his Bachelor of Accounting Science degree from the University of South Africa he went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young. He left the profession to assume leadership roles in Finance and was subsequently appointed to broader governance and business development roles within Standard Chartered Bank. Geoffrey has developed and grown businesses both organically and inorganically in highly challenging environments. From setting up banking operations in liberated Iraq to financial management, he has built a track record in building high quality services and implementing high end transactions. His most notable success was in leading Standard Chartered Bank’s successful $1,2bn acquisition of Hsinchu Bank in Taiwan in 2006/2007. He has worked closely with regulators, government officials and other stakeholders to help influence policy and regulatory debate. Geoffrey is an Associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA). He has attended leadership development programmes at INSEAD and Said Business School and has advanced Project Management Skills accreditation. He chaired the Tax Committee of the Mauritius Association of Offshore Banks in 2005/06 and whilst in the Middle East he represented the bank as a member of the Arab Sustainability Leadership Group chaired by H.M. Queen Rania of Jordan.

Amalie Sinclair – Chief Development Officer

Amalie Sinclair has been the driving development force behind ISDHub since 2007. Her background is in the arts and humanities, from an early age she took up studies for the extant philosophies of Asia, with many significant teachers including the late Karmapa XVI. In the 70’s she was introduced to the deep semantic structures of Wittgenstein through the work of the Cambridge Language Research Unit. In 1984 she located to California. She was the director and producer of a large scale performing arts program for the Millennial celebrations which included participation from the Lakota Sioux and peoples of Taos Pueblo, together with artists from Mongolia, Japan, South India, Tibet, Cambodia and Indonesia. In 2004 she was invited to work for the formulation of an advanced US Space Policy with an opening program in Washington DC. Since 2004 her primary focus has been the development of international collaboration in space, giving various talks and authoring many publications. In 2007, she engaged for the Hangar One rehabilitation and re-use issue through Save Hangar One Committee and via community and congressional outreach. In 2008, she published articles on the ISST early proposal at SGAC and the “Space for Progress” website. She presented a paper on US Space Treaty Aspects at 10th ILEWG- ICEUM International Lunar Exploration Working Group – Cape Canaveral, addressing the special session on US space policy for global leadership. She has been a director of Leeward Space Foundation since 2011.

Giorgio Garivaghi – Chief Designer

Giorgio Gaviraghi – Chief Designer

Giorgio Gaviraghi received his Architectural degree in 1968 at the Milan Polytechnic in Italy. He has since taken part in a number of graduate courses in management, marketing , and design at several major universities. At first as a project architect, then as Project Manager, responsible for international projects, he has built a distinguished career across the globe. He has acted as CEO for international companies operating in the design , construction, real estate and touristic resort development, he has been a Director General of multinational companies operating in Europe, U.S., Latin America and the Middle East in the field of design and construction, touristic resorts and real estate. He is responsible for major initiatives, some worth more than $ 5000M $ U.S., as the design and construction management agent. Some project examples are the reconstruction of Friuli after the 1976 earthquake; in aerospace, the Aeritalia Boeing facilities, the HAI in Greece and the electromagnetic gun for SDI. Project designer and general manager of major resorts and hotels in the Red Sea, Sardinia, Bahamas and other major tourist sites in the world. Winner of international competitions in innovative products and systems for industrial design, Giorgio has specialized in Space architecture for advanced projects and proposals for major space agencies. In the last five years he has founded Exponential Design Lab, a design and project management company that operates from Latin America with customers all around the world.

Charles Radley – Chief Technology Officer

Charles Radley is a spacecraft systems engineer who has worked on manned and unmanned spacecraft development and operations. Professional background includes B.S. Physics, M.S. Systems Engineering, 20+ years aerospace experience. He is an EIT Engineer in Training registered in the State of California, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 1981 he started work on communications satellite systems integration, launch campaigns and range safety. Later he was instrumental in developing proposals for lunar space missions for the 1990 Space Exploration Initiative. He was a member of the subcontractor teams for the Galileo and Magellan space probes, the International Space Station, experiments for Spacelab-MSL-1 and several communications satellite projects (e.g. Intelsat-6, Olympus, HS-601, HS-376, Inmarsat-2, Marecs). He worked on the Mobile Transporter, and the power system for NASA Space Station Freedom which became ISS. He is an inter-disciplinary engineer, specializing in systems safety and hazards analysis as well as mission operations. He was principal author of the NASA Guidebook for Safety Critical Software. He joined the original L-5 Society in 1979. In 2008 he managed a project by the Moon Society to build a one watt desktop microwave power beaming device and obtained the first ever FCC license for operation of a power beaming device in a public place. He has written extensively on space based solar power.

Keith L. Rodgers – Chief Property Manager

Keith L. Rodgers has managed large building projects involving heavy renovations and high technology. With VVKR Inc (Alex. VA) and AEGIS, he managed construction for university and hospital complexes including medical, physics, electrical and communications labs in Baltimore, Washington and Saudi Arabia. As President of Strehlke Development (Natick, MA) he managed new construction and “gut” renovations for 3 office buildings, a technology center, and a medical center. As VP of Continental Wingate (Needham, MA), he evaluated projects nation-wide for syndicated equity and debt financing; he developed projects for Wingate Healthcare; and he initiated the re-development of the 2 million SF USM Plant as an incubator for dozens of high technology firms and labs. As Dir. Development for Cord Meyer (New York, NY) he developed the structured shopping-theater-restaurant-office-parking complex at Bayside Terrace and put together the turnkey development of the $400 million New York Regional HQ and Lab of the FDA. As principal of The Commitment Group, he has managed projects including a 160-key hotel in Kitty Hawk, NC; a 116-key conference center hotel in Bridgeport, WV; a 180-unit apartment building in Baltimore, MD; and assisted living facility in Sterling, VA. He has performed plan reviews, site-managed the addition of a floor to an operating 120,000 SF mission critical computer center, and overseen construction of projects for lenders and investors including a regional shopping mall, a $400 million downtown office building and over a dozen high-rise mixed-use projects. Keith earned his degree in Architecture from the University of Maryland, an MBA and MS in Real Estate from The American University, and a Certificate from the Graduate Engineering program in Construction Management at George Washington University.

Tara Cornish – Chief PR Officer

Tara Cornish is a Research Associate at Cambridge University, UK. She has a PhD in Anthropology from Kings College, Cambridge, UK, with a specialization in cultural change and assimilation. She has undertaken extensive fieldwork, investigating the role of ideas of ‘truth’ in the production of new cultural identities and by extension the new social structure. Widely traveled in Russia and India, her studies incorporate diverse philosophical and cultural perspectives. Currently Tara is writing a book about motivational values and innovation in the post-industrial context. Further interests include topics such as technology for social development, and the development of trans-political dialog. Tara considers the anthropology of space development as a unique opportunity for insight into the human condition. Tara is an excellent communicator and a highly skilled coordinator with extensive experience and background in public relations and communications. She is the spokesperson and the official PR representative of ISDHub.

Sam Gibbs – Education and Outreach Coordinator

Sam Gibbs is a senior manager with many skills and experience in a wide range of fields. A marine engineer, a pilot, a ship master, a science educator, author, and leading organizer and coordinator of space education initiatives, Sam is an exceptionally talented leader. As a special Millennium project, he developed and inaugurated one of the world’s first interactive mobile planetariums and celestial observatories that was used extensively in the Alps Maritimes area of France, Astrodome France 2000. Since then he has been responsible for developing aerospace and science education programs and exhibitions in Malaysia. Some projects that have been initiated by him are the Mars Close Approach and the Centenary of Aviation Exhibitions held at the National Science Centre Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Aeromodelling Carnival I & II, the Faulkes Telescope Robotic Astronomy Project, the International Space Settlement Design Competition in conjunction with NASA, the redevelopment of the TUDM Air Force Museum, content and exhibit development for the National Planetarium Kuala Lumpur and the new built Melaka Planetarium and ongoing development of Aerospace education programs for young adults and children. More recently he worked with a team of scientists and engineers from NASA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as organizer of the NASA @ Melaka Planetarium international visit. A native of Australia but also educated in the UK and the US, he was awarded the Rotary Club of Australia “Pride of Workmanship” shield and the Australian Bi-Centennial Medal of Achievement.

Jacqueline Dudman – Project Coordinator

Jacqueline Dudman fast-tracked her career through promotion through a series of increasingly responsible management positions under the U.S. Department of Defense, with the International Coalition Forces and NATO. Jacqueline has 19 years strategic management experience in planning the technology and logistics for land based field construction operations worldwide. She has administered up to 150 million USD in annual budgets to support US military airfield operations while stationed in Iraq, covering runway improvements, hangar upgrades, and aircraft refueling depots. With her expertise in Technical Air and Ground Operations, emergency repairs and upgrades, she has planned and directed cooperative operations between the US, Germany, Middle East and the United Kingdom, through direct leadership of multinational teams. Jacqueline is also fluent in German, and is very passionate in all what has to do with flight and astronomy and is currently working on her FAA Flight Ground School, essential aerodynamics and aviation.

Pier Marzocca – Chief Engineer

Pier Marzocca received the Ph.D. degree in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering in 2001 from Politecnico di Torino in Italy. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Clarkson University, USA. Prior joining Clarkson he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Visiting Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. He is also affiliated with the Center for Advanced Material Processing, Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, Center for Air Resources Engineering & Science at Clarkson University, and the Institute for Sustainable Environment, and is also the Director of the Advanced Applied Aeroelastic Laboratory and of the Reliability Evaluation and Assessment Laboratory. Pier Marzocca is senior member of SAE, AIAA, ASME, ASEE, IEEE, and the Chair of the SAE Unmanned Aircraft System Committee, and the Clarkson University advisor for NASA Revolutionary Aerospace System Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) students program. He is also the recipient of a number of awards including the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineering. He is also a Deputy Editor in Chief of International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Science, Associate Editor of Journal of Thermal Stresses and Journal of Aerospace Engineering. Pier Marzocca is the author and/or co-author of over 200 papers on nonlinear aeroelasticity, structural dynamics, controls and testing on fixed wings and rotary blades. His research interests include unsteady aerodynamics, flow and aeroelastic control, aircraft, spacecraft and unmanned aerial vehicle technologies, space architecture, structural health monitoring, wind turbine technologies, solar cells and other energy systems reliability. Professor Marzocca’s research is funded by several government agencies, including NASA, AFOSR, ARMY, NSF, and NYSERDA, and private foundations and industries, including Intertek, GE, and Pratt & Whitney.