CEA recently hosted a webinar on the space industry with a panel of three leading experts. Rick Michaels, Jr., Chairman and CEO, moderated this exciting virtual event, Space is Open for Business; A Virtual Discussion, in collaboration with the Oxford Exchange on June 10, 2021. The panelists were Robert C. Jacobson, accomplished space industry advocate and author; Keevin Williams, Director of Business Development, Space Florida and Nicole Stott, former NASA astronaut, author and artist.
Some of the areas of interest discussed during this well-attended webinar focused on the global space economy, the growing renewed interest in the sector and an emphasis on how this industry is benefitting the State of Florida.
About the Panelists:
Robert Jacobson is an entrepreneur active in the space industry and recently published the book Space is Open for Business. Robert provided an overview of the space industry, particularly, the exciting frontier of commercial space which is growing geometrically.
As one of the first team members of Arch Mission Foundation, Robert notably worked to initiate the first Solar Library (the payload famously launched in Elon Musk’s Tesla in 2018), and the first Lunar Library (the archive contained in SpaceIL’s Beresheet, which crash-landed on the Moon in 2019).
Robert continues to build on a decade-long career advising private investors, founders and organizations in the potentials and benefits of space.
His background includes a degree from University of Southern California, where he studied business and music, earned a MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, completion of the International Space University's Space Studies Program, and a certificate of Real Estate Investments from UCLA Extension.
Keevin Williams, Director of Business Development with Space Florida, the development arm of the State of Florida for the space industry. Keevin addressed the industry's impact on the state’s economy and highlighted several of its programs to encourage and support investment in aerospace.
He joined Space Florida in 2009. Leveraging his past experiences, Keevin’s role has evolved to serving as the organization’s structured and project finance specialist. Prior to joining Space Florida, Keevin served as president of the Florida Black Business Investment Board, Inc., a statewide public-private capital program for small and minority-owned businesses; and Vice President of Government Relations and lead the Insurance Division of the Florida Bankers Association.
Keevin holds a Juris Doctorate from Florida State University’s College of Law, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of South Florida.
Nicole Stott, one of the most prominent former NASA astronauts, author, artist and a Tampa resident provided her very unique perspective of what the space program meant to her as one who had the privilege of traveling in space, including a sojourn on the International Space Station. Her forthcoming book, Back to Earth, will be published this fall.
She is a veteran NASA Astronaut with two spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space as a crewmember on both the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle. Nicole believes that the international model of peaceful and successful cooperation we have experienced in the extreme environments of space and sea holds the key to the same kind of peaceful and successful cooperation for all of humanity here on Earth. She is the founder of the Space for Art Foundation — uniting a planetary community of children through the inspiration of space exploration and the healing power of art.
Nicole earned a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Central Florida.
For those interested in space technology, infrastructure, policy, and financial opportunities this webinar maybe viewed at: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/jJdUaL2OtWgjnJHiaUvhE04YkV4AheArQZzheO7CrjS6FjCMWsAdrEyONTnnrwip.k73UssA7q0P4txGs
CEA Group, under its Senior Advisor for Space and Technology, Ed Horowitz, is currently working with clients in both the private and governmental sector. For further information on CEA’s space practice, please contact Todd Tindall, Vice President, CEA Group at 813-226-6103.
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