Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2024) Plenary SPeaker

Lt. Col. Thomas “Tommy” Nix

United States Space Force, Space Nuclear Power Lead and Senior Military Advisor, Spacecraft Technology Division (RVS), Air Force Research Laboratory( AFRL)

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Nix, United States Space Force, Space Nuclear Power Lead and Senior Military Advisor, Spacecraft Technology Division (RVS), Air Force Research Laboratory( AFRL), Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. As Senior Military Advisor, Lieutenant Colonel Nix provides leadership and direction for over 120 personnel (24 Military, 100 Civilians) conducting world class research across multiple portfolios to advance spacecraft technologies and oversight of a $238M annual budget across 33 technology programs. As Space Nuclear Power lead, Lt Col Nix provides oversight for $103M program advancing multiple technical areas including heat dissipation, power conversion, and nuclear power systems.

Lt Col Nix graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and earned his commission in 2002. He began his career at Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) at Laughlin AFB, TX as a student pilot. Assignments following that include at Materials Directorate and Headquarters, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where he worked on advanced ceramics, polymers, and multiple aircraft material upgrades for F-22, JSF, C-17, RQ-4, and A-10. He also was the AFRL program lead for rapid runway expansion testing, USAF Body/Vehicle Armor Subject Matter Expert, X-51 Material Insertion, and the Executive Officer for the AFRL Commander during his tenure.

Following that assignment, Lt Col Nix transferred to Vandenberg AFB, CA where he worked on the initial Minotaur IV rocket launch along with 12 additional Minotaur I/IV launches to include Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) and Hypersonic Test Vehicle (HTV) 1 and 2, along with Group and Wing staff rotations. From there, he transferred to Los Angeles AFB, CA; where he was the Requirements Chief for the Global Positioning System (GPS) enterprise, balancing 4 ACAT- I program requirement changes and leading a $255M Systems Engineering support source selection and $32M/yr FFRDC support contract. Following that assignment, he was selected as technical lead for the Multi-Int Fusion Processing System and Sentient Operations Branch Chief at the National Reconnaissance Office in the Ground Enterprise Division. There he oversaw the development and execution of $238M/year budget and lead the transformation of Intelligence Community processing to the cloud and the adoption of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to enhance the National Overhead Systems Future Ground Architecture. Later, he transferred to Kirtland AFB, NM to lead the advanced analytics division at the Air Force Inspection Agency as well as deploying to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait as the Inspector General and Chief of External Oversight for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve before transferring to his current assignment in AFRL.

EDUCATION

2002 B.S, Aeronautical Engineering; United States Air Force Academy, CO

2002 B.S, Mechanical Engineering; United States Air Force Academy, CO

2003 Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, AL

2005 M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, Auburn University, AL

2008 M.S. Data Analytics, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA

2008 Undergraduate Space Training (UST), Vandenberg AFB, CA

2008 Undergraduate Missile Maintenance Training, Vandenberg AFB, CA

2009 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL

2011 Space 200, National Space Security Institute, Colorado Springs, CO

2013 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL (by correspondence)

2017 Space 300, National Space Security Institute, Colorado Springs, CO

2021 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, AL (by correspondence)

ASSIGNMENTS

May 2002-Nov 2002, Training/Scheduling Officer, 74^th Fighter Squadron, Pope AFB, NC
Nov 2002-Jul 2003, Student Pilot, 84^th Flying Training Squadron, 87^th Flying Training Squadron, Laughlin, AFB, TX
Jul 2003-Jul 2007, Material Research Scientist/AFRL Commander Exec, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
Jul 2007-May 2010 Missile Maintenance Flt/CC 1^st Air and Space Test Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, CA
May 2010-May 2011 30^th Launch Group/30^th Space Wing Stan/Eval Chief, Vandenberg AFB, CA
May 2011-Nov 2015 Global Positioning Systems System Program Office (SPO) Requirements Chief, Los Angeles AFB, CA
Dec 2015-Dec 2017 Multi-Int Fusion Processing Technical Lead, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, VA
Dec 2018-Dec 2019 Advanced Analytics Project Lead, Mission Integration Branch, Langley, VA
Jan 2019-Mar 2020 Sentient Operations Group Chief, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, VA
Mar 2020-Aug 2021 Enterprise Analytics Division Chief, Department of the Air Force Inspection Agency, Kirtland AFB, NM
Aug 2021-Mar 2022 Chief, External Oversight and Internal Reporting, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait; Baghdad Diplomatic Security Center, Iraq
Apr 2022-Present, JETSON Project Lead and Senior Military Advisor, Spacecraft Technology Division, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM