Dr. Gary Richardson earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana Tech, an AFIT post-graduate program in Meteorology at the University of Texas, an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Alaska, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of North Texas. Before his retirement, Dr. Richardson was a Project Management Institute (PMI) Houston Endowed Professor at the University of Houston in the College of Technology's graduate project management program in Texas, USA. His distinguished career spanned military service as a U.S. Air Force officer, academic positions at multiple universities, author of thirteen professional texts and numerous articles on general project management and information technology, and extensive industry experience including roles as Managing Director of IT at a Texaco/Aramco joint venture and at Service Corporation International. Dr. Richardson held professional certifications as a PE, PMP, and in EVM, taught project management internationally across five countries, and was recognized as a finalist for Outstanding IT Executive in the South Texas Region in 1991. Dr. Deborah Sater Carstens, PMP, is a Professor of Aviation Human Factors and Graduate Program Chair at the Florida Institute of Technology, College of Aeronautics in Florida, USA. She is the Director of the Human Factors: Aeronautics, Safety, Sociability, Interfaces, Sustainability, & Training (HF ASSIST) Lab, and the Site Director for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility, and Sustainability (PEGASAS) Center of Excellence. From 1992 to 2003, Dr Carstens was a civil servant at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), researching and managing Space Shuttle program studies, and returned during her Fall 2024 sabbatical for MARS-related human factors research. Throughout her career, Dr. Carstens has been principal investigator or team member on funded research for numerous organizations including NASA, SBA, Florida DOE, DHHS, DARPA, and ORAU, focusing on project management and human factors. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida, plus an MBA from Florida Tech, has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications including four project management books, and has advised several award-winning teams in the ACRP TRB National Competition since 2018
