Dr. George Kovatch - Security Technology
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Dr. Kovatch has over 40 years of experience in RD&E management, strategic planning and analysis.  He has contributed to many aspects of safety, security, mobility, and sustainability of our nation’s transit and transportation systems.  His areas of expertise include systems engineering and analysis, industry analysis, and technology assessment, innovation and commercialization.

Dr. Kovatch has served as an independent consultant since June 2000.  He has consulted with a number of agencies including the NAS/Transit IDEA Panel, ASCE Transportation Security Committee, and as an advisory member of the security team of the Palisades Consulting Group. He has also served as a Visitors Board Member, Industrial Programs Department, U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR). 

During his Federal career he has served as Division Chief, Advanced Vehicle Technologies Division, DOT/ Volpe Center, Cambridge, MA. He provided R&D management in support of multi-constituencies requirements including the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and DOT’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.  He has also supervised a staff of engineers involved in building railroad equipment for the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command (TACOM).  Prior to that he was Director, DOT Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.  He was awarded the National Tibbetts Award for outstanding management of a Federal SBIR Program.

He has also served as Chief, Transportation Industry Analysis Division, and Program Manager, Automotive Fuel Economy Research Program at DOT/TSC, and as Chief, Office of University Research and Technology Innovation providing science and technology advisory support to the DOT University Centers Program.

Dr. Kovatch has expertise in industry as an Electrical Engineer for the General Electric Company, and as a Senior Engineering Specialist for Martin Marietta and its Research Institute for Advanced Studies (RIAS).  He was Acting Chief, Control and Information Systems Laboratory and Deputy Director, Office of Control Theory and Application at NASA’s Electronics Research Center (ERC).

Dr. Kovatch has taught modern control engineering courses at Drexel Institute and Brown University.  He earned his PhD and MS degrees at Cornell University and his BSE in Electrical Engineering at Princeton University.  He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in New York State, and Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and received Tau Beta Pi honors at Princeton, and Society of Sigma Xi at Cornell.