Gary Davis welcomes 5 new leaders
to the JPSS team

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Gary Davis, Acting Director, Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), recently annouced the addition of five new leaders to the JPSS team.

Ajay Mehta, Deputy Director- Ajay Mehta is detailed to JPSS from his role as the Deputy Director of the Office of Satellite and Product Operations. Mr. Mehta will be the Acting Deputy Director of NOAA's JPSS Office. He brings broad operational and NOAA management experience to the program. His background includes international and interagency collaboration, ground systems management, and program planning and budgeting.

Andy Driesman, Technical Director (IPA) - Mr. Driesman has an extensive background in the systems engineering, technical management, development and architecting of complex space systems for both civilian and military use. At JHU/APL, Mr. Driesman led the technical development of the nearly identical STEREO spacecraft, from conceptual design, through a successful launch and prime mission. Since 2007, he led the System Engineering Group within the JHU/APL Space Department, overseeing significant growth in capability through aggressive recruitment and staff development. Mr. Driesman serves on several NASA, DoD and Academia review and advisory boards. He has published on a diverse set of topics, from System Engineering to Staff Development and Management.

Al Marron, Budget Officer - Alfred (AL) Marron has over twenty two years Federal service experience. He recently completed an appointment with the U.S. State Department as a Senior Budget Advisor and Strategic Planner for the Bureau of Eastern Affairs. Al has managed and directed multi-billion dollar budget and capital programs and acquisition strategies for DoD, Morgan Stanley NY, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He is a certified active member and advisor for the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), Lifetime Aviation service award recipient and advisor for the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) and in 2009 he was inducted into the Society of Industry Leaders (SIL). Al is also trained and certified as a Government Financial Management Comptroller, Program Management Instruction (PMI), Lean Six Sigma Executive Green Belt, and certified in Conflict Management from Emory University and Interest-Based Negotiation Skills from the Justice Center of Atlanta. He is married to Donna L. Marron and they have one daughter Ashley.

Mitch Goldberg, Senior Scientist- Dr. Mitchell D Goldberg has over 30 years of science algorithm development experience. He is on detail from NESDIS/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR). At STAR, Mitch is the Chief of the Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division, the Program Manager for the GOES-R Algorithm Working Group, Chair of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Space-based InterCalibration System (GSICS) Executive Panel, NASA Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) science team member, EUMETSAT Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) science team member, CrIS/ATMS Cal/Val member, NESDIS remote sensing science representative to the international Coordinated Group on Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Climate Societal Benefit Area (SBA) lead. Mitch brings to the JPSS program his outstanding scientific expertise in remote sensing and algorithm development, his experience working with the user community, his leadership in international science coordination activities, and his excellent team building experience. Mitch's recent success was the delivery of the Baseline Algorithms for GOES-R within budget and schedule. Mitch will continue his international commitments because of their importance to JPSS, NOAA and the international community.

Leigh Gatto, OSD/JASD Liaison - Mr. Leigh Gatto will be joining NOAA as the OSD/JASD Liaison, after spending 20 years with NASA, most recently serving as the IV&V Associate Program Director in Fairmont, WV. Prior to joining NASA, Mr. Gatto was an Air Force Officer and a C-130 Flight Navigator. Mr. Gatto received a BS in Computer Science from the University of Maryland and a MS in Business Management from the Johns Hopkins University. Finally, Mr. Gatto is currently a participant in the Dept. of Commerce Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program.