Dr. Ronald Pirich has over thirty nine years of experience in systems engineering, technical integration and associated research & development for enabling optical, electro-optical and photonic technologies including nanofabrication and characterization of nano and microstructures, novel coatings and materials, advanced fiber optics and computational electromagnetics. Since retiring, after thirty five years, from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in 2012, where he held the distinguished title of Technical Fellow and also served as a Mentor to several Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems College Interns and MIT and City University of New York graduate student Masters and PhD theses, Dr. Pirich was invited to become a Sr. Research Advisor at the Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT). LIFT’s mission is to be a premier resource for technology-driven industrial growth and the forging of strategic relationships. Dr. Pirich has also remained an active participant in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition program. Dr. Pirich continues to support the U.S. Navy Naval Air Systems Command and SAE International in the development of standards documents for advanced Fiber Optic Sensors for Aerospace Applications, including space applications. He is a holder of eleven patents / and several patents pending and author of over 200 technical papers and presentations. Dr. Pirich was recently awarded two patents, in 2013 and 2014. Dr. Pirich is also an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the Graduate School of the City University of New York (CUNY) and an Adjunct Professor of Physics at St. Joseph’s College of New York and SUNY Farmingdale State College. Dr. Pirich continues to serve as the Co-Chair of the SPIE Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture and Test of Space and Ground Systems, and since 2010 has chaired ten Sessions in 2009 – 2017, and has presented several presentations and invited presentations at SPIE Conferences since 1994.