ORI Distinguished Speaker Series on National Security: Fireside Chat With North Wind Executives

Artie Mabbett, Ph.D, is the CEO of North Wind, an independent leader in aerospace testing that integrates state-of-the-art physical infrastructure with advanced digital capabilities to accelerate innovation. From Concept to Flight, North Wind accelerates the development and deployment of mission-critical systems through efficient research, development, testing, and evaluation particularly focused on ground and flight testing of high speed and hypersonic systems. Prior to joining North Wind, Dr. Mabbett was the senior vice president and business area manager of the Leidos Innovations Center and the founding director of Advanced High Speed Weapons for Raytheon Missile Systems, where he was responsible for developing, growing, and delivering both offensive and defensive high speed and hypersonic systems to future product lines. Previoulsy, Mabbett spent 14 years in the Defense Department, most recently as the Director of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile Deployment Office at DARPA. Mabbett received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. 

Ryan Leo is the executive vice president for Design/Build at North Wind. Prior to joining North Wind, Leo held leadership roles in aerospace systems and hypersonics within Leidos and engineering and business development within CENTRA Technology. He has led systems engineering efforts across multiple organizations and teams to develop and integrate technologies, including hypersonics, satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, inflatable decelerators, missile defense, and human spaceflight. Leo’s extensive experience includes engineering and integrating a broad range of technologies for DARPA, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, U.S. Army, Missile Defense Agency, and NASA. Leo received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland and an M.S. in Systems Engineering from the George Washington University.

Tim Edwards is the executive vice president for Digital Engineering Systems at North Wind. He specializes in aligning technology, engineering, operations, and mission objectives to deliver enterprise-level results and has held leadership roles at Leidos, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. Over the course of his career, Edwards has developed and executed comprehensive strategies across Department of Defense programs, organizational transformations, and technology roadmaps. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the Georgia Institute for Technology. 

Shashank Priya, Ph.D., is the vice president for Research and Innovation at Michigan State University, where he provides visionary leadership for the institution’s research enterprise, advancing a bold strategic agenda that elevates discovery, accelerates innovation, and amplifies the university’s global impact. A distinguished materials engineer and accomplished scholar with more than two decades of research leadership, Priya has driven pioneering advances in piezoelectrics, magnetoelectrics, flexible photovoltaics, and thermoelectrics. His work has not only expanded the frontiers of science but has also been successfully translated into industry applications, exemplifying innovation with impact. Committed to excellence, collaboration, and integrity, Priya is advancing MSU’s research mission by strengthening infrastructure, expanding strategic partnerships, and accelerating the translation of innovative discoveries into real-world solutions that address society’s most pressing challenges.