Meet the Team
President
Dr. John Crassidis
Dr. John L. Crassidis is the President of XA, and also a SUNY Distinguished Professor and the Moog Endowed Chaired Professor of Innovation at the University at Buffalo (UB), State University of New York, and the Director of UB’s internationally renowned Center for Multisource Information Fusion (CMIF). He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo specializing in robust state estimation techniques and dynamics. During his Master’s work Dr. Crassidis developed robust navigation and control algorithms to enhance the performance of automatic carrier landing systems. Before joining UB in 2001, he previously held academic positions at the Catholic University of America (1996-1998) and Texas A&M University(1998-2001).
Founding Member
Dr. Moises Sudit
Moises Sudit is a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University at Buffalo (UB) and Executive Director of the Center for Multisource Information Fusion. He also serves as Associate Dean for Research for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Primary research interests are in the theory and applications of Discrete Optimization and Information Fusion. More specifically, he has been concerned with the design and analysis of methods to solve problems in the areas of Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimization. Dr. Sudit has been the Principal Investigator in numerous research projects. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, his Master of Science in Operations Research from Stanford University, and his Doctorate in Operations Research from Purdue University.
Founding Member
Dr. Chris Nebelecky
Chris is academically trained in estimation, and spent most of his career working in the field of astrodynamics and space domain awareness. A lifer from Buffalo, save for short stints in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Bremen, Germany, I have demonstrated resilience to hostile (summer) weather and a constant torment from failed sports teams. Immensely proud to have a real chalkboard in my office. Chris received his BS, MS and PhD from the University at Buffalo under the advisement of Dr. John Crassidis.
Founding Member
Pamela Crassidis
Pamela is a graduate of Fredonia State College and Cornell University, where she received her graduate certification in Personnel and Labor Management. She previously held positions at Corning Community College and Capitol Technology University as the Director of Professional Development. Pamela has been with XAnalytix Systems since its inception.
Senior Research Scientist
Dr. David Sudit
David Sudit has over 10 years of experience developing algorithms for a variety of defense projects. His focus has been on planning algorithms and data fusion to provide better situational awareness to actors (human or machine) in ISR missions with denied communication environments. He received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Northwestern University, and his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Pennsylvania State University.
Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Yang Cheng
Yang Cheng's research interests are in the theory and applications of detection, estimation, navigation, and tracking. He has over ten years of experience analyzing and developing algorithms for spacecraft attitude estimation and space situational awareness. He earned his B.Eng., M.Eng., and Ph.D in Aerospace Enginering from Harbin Institute of Technology (China). He began his American journey in 2003 as a postdoc of Dr. John L. Crassidis's at the University at Buffalo. Before joining XA in 2023, he was an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi State University.
Senior Software Engineer
Mr. Bob Ganger
Bob has worked in the US Defense industry for 25 years building software for the Intelligence Community and DoD Service Branches. His work focuses on systems architecture, integration, hardening of applications, and customizing components to meet the challenges facing DoD customers in their respective problem spaces. Areas where he spends the most time include decision aids, databases, service oriented architecture, microservices, and creating robust deployments. He has extensive experience in multiple software languages and software frameworks. Prior to that, Bob worked in the Environmental Chemistry field for 11 years performing analyses using wet chemistry, GC, and GC/MS instrumentation. He has a BS degree from SUNY Buffalo in Chemistry, and a BS degree from SUNY Empire State College in Computer Science.
Software Engineer
Mr. Bryan Gentz
Bryan Gentz has more than ten years in the defense industry, including eight years of active duty. He served as a Naval Flight Officer in the E-2C Hawkeye, supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Inherent Resolve, and as an Operational Test Director overseeing C4I & Space acquisitions. Since 2020 he has been working in the private sector on defense research projects relating to System of System integration and ISR. He received his B.S. in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and is currently working on his Master of Applied Data Science at the University of Michigan.
Software Engineer
Mr. Gabe Hribik
Gabe Hribik recently transitioned into the software industry leaving the US military with over 10 years of active duty service in the Space Force and Air Force. In the Space Force he served as a Systems Engineer on a space control platform that successfully achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) and worked with users to design and produce the follow-on block upgrade. While in the Air Force he served as a Test Engineer on the U-2, "Dragon Lady" and RQ-4, "Global Hawk" evaluating high-altitude C4ISR tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) as well as testing of hardware obsolescence solutions for continuous, worldwide operations and sustainment of both platforms. Currently holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from University of California, San Diego.
Software Engineer
Mr. Kyle Esquerra
Kyle Esquerra transitioned into the software engineer industry leaving the US military after 5 years of active duty service in the Marine Corps. In the Marine Corps, he served as a Geospatial Intelligence Specialist with a deployment as the sole geospatial specialist to Afghanistan. Since leaving the military, he has received his B.S. in Computer Science from Oregon State University, and his M.S. in Computer Science from Portland State University.
Research Scientist
Ms. Meredith Wilmer
Meredith Wilmer transitioned to the private space sector in 2022 after serving in the Air Force and Space Force for 8 years. She served as a developmental engineer and program manager for various national security space programs, after which she was certified as the responsible engineer and propulsion chief for the Atlas V launch vehicle. Her research interests are focused in astrodynamics and space mission design, the complex dynamical environment of cislunar space and beyond, as well as spacecraft trajectory optimization and numerical algorithm development. She received her B.S. in Astronautical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and her M.S. in the same from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Research Scientist
Mr. Eli Kravitz
Eli graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering before transitioning to a role in industry. After three years of working in the aerospace field, particularly on algorithm development for radar applications, he returned to school and recently graduated with an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. His general focus was on autonomous systems, with specific research interests related to decision making under uncertainty and probabilistic machine learning. He is especially enthused by applying these research interests to problems that are concerned with the physical world.
Software Engineer
Mr. Joshua Schechter
Joshua Schechter is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, equipped with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Computational Biology. He brings industry experience from his time as a data science intern at Healthy.io in Tel Aviv, Israel, and has also contributed to notable computational biology research within the Koes Drug Discovery Research Group at the University of Pittsburgh. Joshua's primary interest lies in software development, with a specific focus on data science and machine learning.
Research Scientist
Ms. Nora Quillman
Nora Quillman is a research engineer with a B.S. in Structural Engineering from UC San Diego and a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UI Urbana-Champaign. Her professional interests include modeling and simulation, composite materials, and machine learning. In her five years of experience working on DoD and DOE contracts, she has been involved in a wide variety of projects, with topics including geological carbon sequestration, solid rocket motors, and nuclear reactors.