Keynote Speaker

Mr. Anderson co-founded Paragon in 1993. From the time of the company’s inception until fall 2014, he was the VP of Engineering and Chief Engineer. He was responsible for the design and implementation of not only many of Paragon’s technical achievements but also its processes of engineering innovation in a stepped approach of requirements, design, build, test, and delivery. This process has been cited by many customers as unique, disciplined, and highly productive. As his background includes not only technical but also financial and managerial training, he has held diverse positions at Paragon, including Treasurer/Secretary, CFO, Sr. VP of Operations, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Manufacturing.

A sought-after speaker, recognized as a leader in the field of life support in extreme environments, Mr. Anderson has led the systems and conceptual design of multiple spacecraft under contract to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corporation, SpaceX, NASA, Inspiration Mars Foundation, and others. Prior to launching Paragon, Mr. Anderson was the design lead at Lockheed Martin for the International Space Station Solar Array Panels.

Mr. Anderson holds two degrees from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.) and Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (M.S.) and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.

Mr. Anderson’s passion for excellence drives him to support the next generation of engineers and leaders through participation in educational work outside of Paragon. He is a former member of the Industry Advisory Board for the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona, former Treasurer of the Tucson Waldorf School, and is currently on the Board of the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce.

In his spare time, Mr. Anderson is an avid bicyclist, known to ride solo for hundreds of miles to clear his mind. Mr. Anderson is married and has three children.