AARON R. DEWISPELARE, Ph.D., P.E., PMP, ACP, SSBBP
Consultant and Trainer
Ph.D. Systems Engineering, University of Virginia, 1980
M.B.A. (Economics), Xavier University, 1983
M.S. Systems Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, 1976
B.S. Electrical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, 1976
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska, 1971
Dr. DeWispelare’s professional career spans over 35 years and includes extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. His 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) included experience in the fields of engineering analysis and design, computer technology, project and resource management and academia. In the private sector at Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI), Dr. DeWispelare held positions ranging from principal investigator involved in technical research to director where he led a department of over 100 Computer Science and Computer/Electrical/Mechanical Engineering based staff that applied advanced technologies to develop complex state-of-the-art prototypes and information systems for customers in commercial industry and local, state and federal government.
In government service at assignments in the USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory, Electronic Warfare Simulator Branch, Information Warfare Center, and Joint Tactical Missile Signatures Program Office, Dr. DeWispelare functioned as staff engineer, chief scientist, project manager, and program director. Among the programs he managed include those with budgets in excess of $25 Million annually and those where he had supervisory responsibility for staff sizes of over 350 personnel. His program management responsibilities also included programs with maintenance and customer service for a 100,000 volume technical library with production of complex technical engineering parametric products, and operational responsibility for the execution of two national level computerized database programs.
At SwRI, Dr. DeWispelare served as principal investigator/project manager on several projects for both industry and the federal government including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Defense (DOD). As project manager, his projects involved the design and implementation of various hardware and software prototypes. Two notable projects that he functioned as project manager were the Theater Medical Information Program where he directed this $35Million program with a staff of over 70 personnel to successful fielding in record time, and then subsequently serving as the initial project manager of the $25Million Veterans Administration’s Enterprise Wide Scheduling Rehosting Project. He then moved to a position of director, and in this role had oversight of his department’s projects, which typically numbers over 20 simultaneous projects.
Dr. DeWispelare has taught engineering and project management courses over the last 30 years at the graduate and undergraduate levels academically, and he has presented short courses and training sessions for industry on a regular basis. Additionally, he is a regular instructor for the Alamo Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) in their education and PMP preparation training programs. He was an Associate Professor on the faculty of the Air Force Institute of Technology, and has held adjunct professor positions for Auburn University, Webster University, Park University, University of the Incarnate Word, and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He is currently teaching graduate courses in project management for two local universities, including UTSA. In addition, he is the 2010 Kemper Outstanding Faculty Award Winner and a past National Rist Award Winner for outstanding research from the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science. Moreover, Dr. DeWispelare has published 59 articles in scientific journals and made over 70 presentations at technical symposia and conferences. His dissertation topic was concerned with the application of vector optimization techniques to convex problems, and the automation of those techniques.
PROFESSIONAL CHRONOLOGY: United States Air Force, 1972-1992 (design engineer, associate professor, project manager, program manager, director; separated with rank of Lieutenant Colonel); Southwest Research Institute, 1992-2009 (principal engineer, staff engineer, manager, director, program director); Asentrene, Inc., 2009-2013 (Vice-President and Treasurer ― course designer, trainer and consultant); Dr. D's Leverage, LLC, 2014-Present (Present and CEO)
Professional Engineer: Registered Professional Engineer in Texas, Florida, Nebraska, and Ohio.
Professional Memberships: Institute of Operations Research and Management Science, and Military Operations Research Society.