Board Members
Barbara Adams
Senior Director, U.S. Market Development, Australian Trade Commission (Austrade)
Barbara has more than 10 years experience working with Austrade, currently focusing on Security/Defence, Technology and Consumer Electronics industry sectors. Barbara also has experience working for IMED Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Rockwell Collins – Commercial Aviation Division, and Leiner Health Products. She has extensive experience in the fields of international business development, new product development, introduction, product management, project management and market research. Barbara has an MBA from National University, San Diego, California.
Dr. Bruce Appelgate
Associate Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego
As Associate Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. Appelgate directs the Scripps fleet of four research vessels, which conduct oceanographic research worldwide. A research geologist, Appelgate also directs the Scripps Shipboard Technical Support unit, which provides technical expertise on all aspects of scientific instrumentation aboard Scripps’ research vessels. Appelgate also oversees the Nimitz Marine Facility in Point Loma, a 6.5 acre facility that serves as home port to the Scripps fleet and its 150 mariners and staff, with an annual budget of $30M.
In 2010 Appelgate led a successful Scripps proposal over a nationwide field ofcompetitors to operate a new $88M research vessel that is being constructed for the U.S.Office of Naval Research. The new Ocean Class ship (AGOR 28) will incorporateinnovative technologies for reliability and efficiency, with many of the capabilities of much
larger Global Class vessels. Appelgate and his Scripps team are working closely with theNavy during the design and construction phases. Delivery of the ship to the Navy is
anticipated in early 2015, with regular scientific operations commencing by early 2016.Prior to joining Scripps, Dr. Appelgate worked as a research geologist at theUniversity of Hawai`i, where he served as Director of the Ocean Technology Group,Principal Investigator for the Pacific Island Benthic Habitat Mapping Program, andDirector of Field Operations for the Hawai`i Mapping Research Group. Dr. Appelgatealso served as Director of Technical Development at Seabed Mapping New ZealandLtd., where he applied geophysical exploration techniques toward understandingdeepwater fisheries in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone. Dr. Appelgate’sresearch interests include seafloor mapping and marine geology and geophysics,especially using bathymetric and imaging sonars to study the structure and tectonics ofplate boundaries.
Mitchell P. Brook
Partner, Luce Forward
Mitchell Brook is a Senior Partner of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, a major California based law firm. Mr. Brook specializes in intellectual property law, including securing and protecting patents and technology. Mr. Brook applied for and registered the trademarks for our organization, including trademarks on “The Security Network” and “Fostering Innovation Through Collaboration”. He has been involved in the maritime and aerospace industries for over 28 years, starting out his career as an engineer with Rockwell International’s Space Technology division. Presently he handles strategic branding and technology protection issues for major companies as well as emerging companies. Mr. Brook’s law firm has provided legal assistance to The Security Network since its founding.
Maria Fischer
President, BienTech International (WID [Women in Defense] representative to The Security Network Board).
Mrs. Fischer funded and leads, BienTech International , a firm that provides engineering, sciences and business services solutions to USA and international customers in government, academia, military and commercial sectors-to assist on difficult problems involving communications, Information technology, intelligence, logistics and homeland security. The firm has been recognized by the San Diego Business Journal the Multi-Cultural Heritage Technology firm nominee in 2007.
Mrs. Fischer has received various business and community leadership awards from national and international engineering and community organizations including society of women engineers, International organization of women in Sciences. Mr. Fischer is a member of the Defense Industry Association‘s –National Small Business committee in DC, and the chair of the legislative committee for women in Defense WID in San Diego. Mrs. Fischer currently serve on various Boards including, San Diego State University school of engineering Advisory Board. Prior to funding BienTech, she has been active in the application of engineering and business practices to link and connect people and technology since 1980 - She gives back to the community volunteering her efforts to work on projects with international content promoting the impact of international cooperation for a better understanding and advancement . Maria holds a Bachelor degree in Industrial /Systems Engineering and MBA and is a Certified Wireless Engineer.
Michael B. Jones
President, ProFinance Associates, Inc. and The Security Network
Michael is President of The Security Network and the affiliated The Maritime Alliance. Michael is also President of ProFinance® Associates, Inc., an investment banking firm (Broker-Dealer firm – member of the N.A.S.D./S.I.P.C.) headquartered in San Diego that has focused on the security industry since its inception in 1985. ProFinance was the originator and Michael was Chair of the Securing New Ground™ conference (www.securingnewground.com), which is focused on the “Business of Security” and takes place in NYC each Fall.
Michael has sat on a number of corporate Boards of Directors nationwide. In San Diego, Michael also sits on the Advisory Board of the Entrepreneurial Management Center (EMC) and the Advisory Board for the College of Engineering, and lectures periodically in the Business School at San Diego State University (the largest university in San Diego), and sits on the Board of the San Diego chapter of the Marine Technology Society (MTS).
Michael was born in Germany and grew up in Arizona. He earned a Masters Degree from the Johns Hopkins University “School of Advanced International Studies” (SAIS). His graduate studies included a year in Bologna, Italy; a year at the Catholic University in Lima, Peru; and internships at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and at the European Community headquarters in Brussels. He speaks five languages. He is a graduate of the FBI Citizens’ Academy and a member of the FBI InfraGard program.
William J. Riedy
Executive Director, The Maritime Alliance
Bill has been with The Maritime Alliance since 2007. He has an extensive management background in restaurants and catering, having worked as a chef in San Francisco for nearly 18 years, that has been a key factor in the successful organization of our multiple periodic and annual events. He has planned and managed events for heads of state and celebrities for as many as 15,000 guests. He began his career as a journalist at the Raleigh, NC News & Observer, experience that came in useful later working as a technical writer and consultant providing marketing and administrative services to a variety of small businesses and management firms in the Bay Area.
Bill currently serves on the Workforce Advancement Committee of the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the regional agency for the Workforce Investment Board. He was a founding member of Securing Our eCity and chaired the Policy Working Group for two years. Bill has served on several boards of directors, including Slow Food Urban San Diego, a local chapter of Slow Food USA, where he helped to develop a strategic plan for this start-up non-profit. Previously, he served as the pro-bono administrator of an Adult Basic Education and GED Program for prison inmates in the Central Valley and as Outreach Coordinator for the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco.
After studying English and economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bill later earned a BS in computer science from San Francisco State University. He holds two master’s degrees from San Diego State University – an MBA and an MA in Latin American studies. He speaks four languages, lived in Europe for 5 years and conducted extensive field research in Mexico for his master’s degrees.