Over 30 years’ experience in the military and in the aerospace industry. His previous civilian duties included business development leader of the advanced projects division of the largest aerospace company in the nation. Recently responsible for R&D opportunities and emerging technology evaluation. Previously responsible for leading multi-disciplinary teams pursuing and winning aerospace opportunities ranging from $50,000 to $1.2B.
Internal venture capital analyst assessing new business ideas, written business plans, and pro-forma financials, then condensing them for executive leadership decision-making and action. Rod spent over 15 years in business innovation introducing new technology and new business models into the large corporate environment.
Rod retired as a Colonel from the Air National Guard where he served as a Vice Group Commander. He was directly responsible for leading over 500 personnel and teams in Air Operations Centers conducting combat operations, national capital air defense, and disaster response worldwide. Prior to this, he was a Navy F/A-18 Hornet pilot with over 1000 flight hours, 200+ carrier landings, and 28 combat missions.
Completed a Doctorate in Computer Science with coursework in big data, mobile programming, AR/VR, and artificial intelligence. Rod’s dissertation was on using AI to find natural gas wells that contain helium. The process is patent-pending, and his dissertation is being submitted to professional journals.
He is passionate about helping people everywhere come to understand and live the mantra: “100 is the new 60”.
Learn more about him here: Rod W. Lekey LinkedIn
