Description

This event is postponed.

Check-in & Networking 11:30AM-12:00PM
Program 12:00-1:00PM

Ready to LAUNCH! Aviation and Aerospace Engineering Initiatives in our Region

Our area is currently home to more than 100 aviation/aerospace related companies, and we have a wealth of opportunities from expansive land options to a diverse talent pool to attract more.SRQ will become the only airport in the nation with a “campus” that includes: an A-rated Team Success, industry-specific charter school; an airframe and powerplant (A&P) training program being developed by the Manatee School District; and aerospace engineering undergraduate and graduate programs in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of South Florida with components at USF Sarasota-Manatee. The panel will explore the opportunities for business development and workforce training in this unique, comprehensive plan.

Moderator

Dr. Karen Holbrook
Regional Chancellor
University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee

Karen A. Holbrook, PhD was appointed regional chancellor at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus on Jan. 2, 2018, after serving as executive vice president at USFSM and senior advisor to the president of the University of South Florida system since the summer of 2017.

Dr. Holbrook was the interim president at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for one year before returning to USF.  She previously served as USF’s senior vice president for global affairs and international research (2010-12), senior vice president for research, innovation and global affairs (2007-10) and as senior advisor to the USF system president (2013-16).

Dr. Holbrook initially came to USF after serving as the president at The Ohio State University (2002-07); the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia; vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Florida; and associate dean for research and professor of biological structure and medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

She has served on the boards of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), ACT, Inc., the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Council of Education (ACE), the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (now APLU), the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Washington Advisory Group (WAG), among others. Dr. Holbrook has also participated on advisory panels and councils for the National Institutes of Health (NIAMS) and was a member of the Advisory Committee to the immediate past Director of the NIH (Elias Zerhouni). She currently serves on the boards of the Institute of International Education (IIE), CRDF Global, Bio-Techne, Academic Assembly, Inc., INTO USF, and is the immediate past board chair for Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and until recently, served on the Board of Trustees for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Global Federation of Councils of Competitiveness (GFCC).

Dr. Holbrook was an active biomedical researcher and NIH MERIT Award investigator early in her career. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a doctorate in Biological Structure at the University of Washington School of Medicine where she served as a postdoctoral fellow in dermatology, faculty member and research administrator.

She is married to Jim Holbrook, a physical oceanographer who spent his career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle, Washington and in Washington, D.C. They have one married son, James who is the Senior Art Director and Producer for ABC World News in New York City.

Panelists

Paul Gansomer
Executive Director Adult, Career and Technical Education
Manatee County School District

Dr. Paul Gansemer has been in the education field for 35 years in the Tampa Bay Area. For the past four years, he has been serving as the Executive Director for Adult, Career and Technical Education here with the Manatee County School System. His department supports the teachers and programs in both middle and high schools as well as Manatee Technical College. 

In his previous county, Dr. Gansemer was a teacher for 15 years in elementary school, middle school and high school. He then moved into school administration by being an assistant principal at a high school and then at a dropout prevention school. After serving as the assistant director for career and technical education, he was a principal for a middle school and at then at the technical college level. He holds an educational doctorate in organizational management from Nova Southeastern University. He is happily married to his wife who was teacher in education for 43 years and they have four adult children.

Sharon Hillstrom
President & CEO
Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation

Sharon Hillstrom is president and CEO of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation, the lead economic development organization serving the nine communities that make up the Bradenton Area in Manatee County.

Ms. Hillstrom is responsible for developing and implementing economic development programs to recruit new high-impact businesses and to assist in the retention and growth of targeted existing businesses in the Bradenton Area. She leads a team of six and coordinates the EDC’s relationships with a complex network of business leaders and partner organizations in the public and private sectors.

Since assuming the chief executive role in 2011, Ms. Hillstrom has overseen more than 180 businesses with expansions and relocations. These companies are projected to deliver more than 8,000 jobs and over 2 billion dollars in wages from direct and indirect jobs. Equally important, they plan to invest more than $1.2 billion dollars in capital, in facilities and equipment at their Bradenton Area locations. Ms. Hillstrom serves on the executive committee of Career Source Suncoast, the board of directors of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, the Boys & Girls Club of Manatee County and the Advisory Commission for the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. She also participates in the Leadership Advisory Council for the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee and was a mentor for Take Stock in Children.

Under Ms. Hillstrom’s leadership, the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp. (EDC) in 2015 was named one of Florida’s best local economic development agencies by Southern Business & Development magazine, a respected journal covering economic development in the American South. In addition, Goodwill Manasota named Ms. Hillstrom Goodwill Ambassador of the Year in 2015 for her leadership role in enhancing the region’s quality of life through economic development.

Prior to joining the EDC, Ms. Hillstrom’s career focused in sales promotion and marketing in the retail, medical and service industries. She is a graduate of Arizona State University and Leadership Manatee.

Originally from the Chicago area, Ms. Hillstrom has lived in the Bradenton Area for more than 20 years.

Rick Piccolo
President & CEO
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport

Fredrick Piccolo has over forty-nine years’ experience in the aviation industry and has been President, Chief Executive Officer of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport since 1995. He began his career as a janitor at the Buffalo International Airport, and after earning a BS degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo, held several airport positions that include Building Superintendent, Property Manager, Assistant to Airport Manager, and Assistant Director of Operations. Locally, he worked in the Operations Department at Tampa International Airport and prior to his position at SRQ, he was the Assistant Airport Director at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

Mr. Piccolo has served as President of the Florida Airports Council. He has achieved executive accreditation to the American Association of Airport Executives, the largest professional airport managers association in the world. Mr. Piccolo served as the 2007 Chairman of the Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), an aviation organization that represents local, regional, state, and national governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States, Canada, and the Virgin Islands. From 2013 through 2015, he also served as Chairman on the Board of Directors of Airports Council International - World, which unites all the airports in the world into a single organization. With the departure of the ACI-World Past Chairman in January 2018, he has accepted that position at the request of the ACI World Board through 2021.

The Florida Department of Transportation selected Mr. Piccolo as the 2005 Aviation Professional of the Year. The Federal Aviation Administration also chose him as the 2005 Airport Manager of the Year. In October 2009, Airport Revenue News announced Mr. Piccolo as the winner of the “Small Airport CEO of the Year for 2009.” Members of the aviation industry nationwide vote on this award.

Mr. Piccolo is past Chair of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is a past recipient of the Premier Volunteer Award, an honor given for his significant leadership commitment to the Chamber and community. In November 2018, he was honored with the Rick Fawley Economic Development Award of Distinction presented by the Bradenton EDC. He is currently a member of the campus Board of Trustees, University of South Florida/Sarasota Manatee, serves on the Manatee Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and the Bradenton Economic Development Council Board of Directors. He was recently appointed to the Board of the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Association and served as Chair of the United Way Suncoast Campaign ending in the spring of 2020.

On a personal note, Mr. Piccolo is married with three sons, and two grandchildren.

Dr. Ahmad Vasel-Be-Hagh
Associate Professor College of Engineering
University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee

Dr. Ahmad Vasel-Be-Hagh joined the University of South Florida in 2024 as an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Prior to that, he was with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tennessee Tech University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Windsor, followed by a Postdoc position at the University of Delaware. His research on aerospace and energy has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), NASA, and private industry. He has authored 50+ peer-reviewed books, book chapters, and articles.