Leadership
Leadership
Steven Lee
Chief Executive Officer
Steven Lee is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GINIA Inc. As the CEO, Mr. Lee is responsible for overall strategy and vision of GINIA. Mr. Lee founded GINIA Inc  (….)
Steven Lee (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GINIA)
Steven Lee is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GINIA Inc. As the CEO, Mr. Lee is responsible for overall strategy and vision of GINIA. Mr. Lee founded GINIA Inc. in 2002 to provide information security consulting services to the Federal government after spending a number of years working for commercial startup companies. Initially, GINIA Inc. performed several risk assessments for Federal Government agencies, discovering security deficiencies and hacks from several foreign nations.
Today, under Mr. Lee’s guidance, GINIA Inc.’s services have evolved to incorporate the full spectrum of IT support services, including Management Technology Consulting, Information Assurance, Enterprise Engineering and Security, and System and Application Development with contracts extending into the DoD, DHS, and various civilian agencies.
Prior to starting GINIA Inc., Mr. Lee held various positions supporting commercial and Federal agencies including Army Test & Evaluation Command (ATEC), Department of Commerce, Department of Navy – Air Systems Command, and the DHS. Mr. Lee previously held positions as Chief Technology Officer at Critical IP – Subsidiary of STG, Security Consultant at Entegrity, Entrust, and Booz Allen & Hamilton where he led the Security Operations Center, Public Key Infrastructure design and integration, and FIPS 140-2 Cryptography consulting services to Cisco, Microsoft, and RSA.
Mr. Lee earned his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the John Hopkins University and Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech. In his spare time he is a fanatic Hokies fan.
Mary Lestsantear
Proposal Manager
Ms. Mary Lestsantear is the Proposal Manager at GINIA. She is responsible for organizing all responses to federal and commercial opportunities. She is adept in all phases of business (….)
Mary Lestantear - Proposa Manager
Ms. Mary Lestsantear is the Proposal Manager at GINIA. She is responsible for organizing all responses to federal and commercial opportunities. She is adept in all phases of business development, including opportunity research and assessment, capture management, proposal development, and quality management. As Proposal Manager, Ms. Lestsantear coordinates with the proposal team, management, and partners to deliver on-time, compliant, and compelling proposals. She leads the proposal team through color team reviews, from assessing solicitations and writing drafts, to editing and reviewing proposals for submission in a highly time-driven environment. Her involvement includes ensuring ISO 9001:2015 compliant proposal development methodology for a roadmap to success. During her tenure at GINIA, she has contributed to multiple successful proposals, including the DoD, DHS, and Civilian agencies to include USDA.
Ms. Lestsantear is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington with a degree in English Literature. In her spare time, you may find her reading, kayaking, and hiking with her dog.
Hakjae Kim, Ph.D
Chief Scientist
Dr. Hakjae Kim is the Chief Scientist at GINIA, Inc. As Chief Scientist, Dr. Kim leads the overall technology strategy and direction of GINIA. He works closely with the research  (….)
Dr. Hakjae Kim (Chief Technology Officer of GINIA, Inc)
Dr. Hakjae Kim is the Chief Scientist at GINIA, Inc. As Chief Scientist, Dr. Kim leads the overall technology strategy and direction of GINIA. He works closely with the research and development branches of Intel, DoD, and DHS to develop the next generation of technology disruption.
Previously, he worked at Uber’s Advanced Technology Group (ATG) where he led Operational Domain Characterization for Self-Driving Vehicles, which plays a critical role in the deployment and operation of the future of self-driving technology. He oversaw a team that was responsible for building scalable tools and infrastructure that allow the ATG to perform rich geospatial analysis and reporting to plan, predict, and refine the current and future operational area for the fleet of self-driving cars.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Kim has also worked in various capacities with the federal government. At IARPA (known as the DARPA of the intelligence agencies), he served as a senior program manager leading multiple high-payoff research programs and was the principal expert and senior advisor to the Director of IARPA on geospatial intelligence and machine learning applied to satellite data. In 2017, his team received the Intelligence Community’s Science Technology Team of the Year Award. He also worked as a lead researcher and team manager at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), where he was responsible for researching and developing mapping products to serve the Defense and Intelligence Communities. There, he was a recipient of the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) IGS Team of the Year and Ambassador awards in recognition of his dedication and contributions to the Imagery and Geospatial Science tradecraft.
In 2019, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to exceptional scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. His other distinctions include serving as an Intelligence Community postdoctoral fellow sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) at the University of Florida and receiving the Gator Innovator Award for his invention. Dr. Kim holds patents in systems and geo-location estimation.
He received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In his spare time, you will find him hiking with his family, mountain biking, skiing, and golfing.
Dr. William Neely
Technical Advisor
Dr. William Whipple Neely serves as a technical advisor to GINIA, combining his deep understanding of theoretical concepts with a practical approach honed through his expertise in data science.
Dr. William Neely (Technical Advisor)
Dr. William Whipple Neely serves as a technical advisor to GINIA, combining his deep understanding of theoretical concepts with a practical approach honed through his expertise in data science. His previous positions include Staff Data Scientist for Google’s Youtube Data Science Group, Staff Data Scientist for Uber’s Self-Driving Vehicle Unit, and Principal Data Scientist for Salesforce, tackling complex problems and delivering impactful solutions that fueled major advances in their fields.Â
Throughout his career, he has applied a broad range of modern statistical and machine learning techniques toward solving real world problems. His knowledge and experience in data science, software development, and project management provide the underlying competencies critical to pinpointing immediate, practical, and usable solutions for business needs.Â
Dr. Neely holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Washington. He received his BA in Biochemistry from Hampshire College. In addition to his work, he has also co-authored several research papers across various domains such as bioinformatics and sociological methods.Â
Meet Our Partners
Richard Linares, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Charles Stark Draper Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Warren Dixon, Ph.D.
University of Florida – Newton C. Ebaugh Professor
Rongjun Qin, Ph.D.
Ohio State University – Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Richard Linares, Ph.D
Richard Linares, Ph.D
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Charles Stark Draper Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Research Areas
- Astrodynamics,
- Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management,
- Satellite Guidance and Navigation,
- Estimation and Controls,
- Reinforcement Learning,
- Optimal Control.
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Awards & Recognition
- AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program Award, 2018
- Director’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2013
- Vela Fellowship, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2012
- Space Scholar, United States Air Force Research Laboratory, 2010 and 2011
- Nasa Space Grant Research Fellowship, 2010
Warren Dixon, Ph.D.
Warren Dixon, Ph.D.
University of Florida – Newton C. Ebaugh Professor
Research Areas
- Aerospace and Maritime Systems,
- Assured Autonomy,
- Bionics,
- Image Feedback,
- Network Systems,
- Robotics.
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Awards & Recognition
- IEEE Control Systems Technology Award, 2019
- University of Florida College of Engineering Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring Award, 2017-2018 & 2012-2013
- American Automatic Control Council (AACC) O. Hugo Schuck Award, 2015 & 2009
- Fred Ellersick Award for Best Overall MILCOM Paper, 2013
- ASME Dynamics Systems and Control Division Outstanding Young Investigator Award, 2011
- IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Early Academic Career Award, 2006
- NSF CAREER Award (2006-2011)
Rongjun Qin, Ph.D
Rongjun Qin, Ph.D
Ohio State University – Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Areas
- Smart Cities and Urban Sustainability,
- 3D/4D Modeling,
- Computer Vision and Image Processing,
- Data Acquisition,
- Remote Sensing.
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Bid Data for Good: Eye in the Sky
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Awards and Recognition
- Winner of IEEE Data Fusion Contest, 2019 and 2020
- Lumley Research Award, 2020
- International Conference on Geoinformatics Best Student Paper Award
- Planet Kaggle Deep Learning Challenge Bronze Medal (Supervising Master Students)
- Winner of IARPA 3D Mapping Challenge
Ashwin Dani, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Yasutaka Furukawa, Ph.D.
Simon Fraser University, Department of Computer Science
Kyung Ho Lee, Ph.D.
Korea University, Department of Information Security
Ashwin Dani, Ph.D.
Ashwin Dani, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Areas
- Human-Robot Collaboration,
- Unmanned Aerial System,
- Sensor Data Fusion,
- Estimation and Control.
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Awards and Recognition
- AAUP-UConn Teaching Innovation Award, 2018
- ISIF FUSION Conference Best Student Paper Award, 2016
- ASME Dynamic Systems and Controls Conference Best Student Paper Award
- Innovation Inventor’s Award University of Florida, 2013
Yasutaka Furukawa, Ph.D.
Yasutaka Furukawa, Ph.D.
Simon Fraser University, Department of Computer Science
Research Areas
- Computer Vision,
- Deep Learning,
- Computer Graphics,
- Computational Photography,
- 3D Reconstruction,
- Generative Adversarial Network for Urban Planning,
- Visual Navigation using Robust Neural Net.
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Awards & Recognition
- PAMI Longuet-Higgins Prize, 2020
- CS-CAN: Outstanding Young CS Researcher Award, 2018
- NSF CAREER Award, 2015
- Google Faculty Research Awards, 2016-2018
Kyung Ho Lee, Ph.D.
Kyung Ho Lee, Ph.D.
Korea University, Department of Information Security
Research Interest
- Risk Management
- Information Security
- Internet of Things
- Blockchain Technology
- Privacy Policy
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Awards and Certification
- Ministerial Citation from the Minister of Information and Communication
- Ministerial Citation from the Minister of the Interior and Safety
- CISA by ISACA
- BS7799LA, BS25999LAA
- MCSE