Mr. Atkinson has a passion for providing U.S. warfighters with the innovative technologies needed to ensure the United States remains ahead of our adversaries—a passion rooted in his 20-year Naval career. Today, Mr. Atkinson pursues that passion as a Vice President of the company’s Medical and Software Services division, a portfolio of programs that encompasses the health sciences, homeland security, electromagnetic spectrum technology, and public safety technology domains. Under Mr. Atkinson’s leadership, each program develops cutting-edge technologies that advance warfighter capabilities and enhance national security. The portfolio also includes the Global Alliance South Carolina, a private non-profit corporation created to stimulate education exchanges, research collaborations and business partnerships with stakeholders in South Carolina, Israel, and Estonia.
With more than a decade and a half of experience at ATI, Mr. Atkinson previously served as the Sea, Air and Space Division lead, where he oversaw the management of five Other Transaction (OT) consortia and a DARPA-funded consortium established for satellite standards development. He also served as the Program Manager for the formation of the National Spectrum Consortium (NSC), the Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium (UTIC) and the Information Warfare Research Project Consortium (IWRP).
As previously mentioned, Mr. Atkinson was a Master Chief with the United States Naval service. He served as a nuclear operator and senior department advisor on board fast-attack submarines and served as a senior instructor and class director for various Naval Nuclear training commands. Following his 21 years with the Navy, Mr. Atkinson was a health physicist with the government at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Charleston serving as the Engineering Manager for the NAVSEA RADIAC Calibration Certification Program. Mr. Atkinson received a Bachelor of Science (and Applied Science Technology) degree in Nuclear Engineering from Thomas Edison University in Trenton, New Jersey and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Mr. Atkinson has also received his Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute in 2005. More recently, he completed Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate in January 2016.