About our Advisors

Fred Stein

Fred is a Distinguished Engineer for NetCentric Operations. He retired from the Army as a full Colonel, who commanded at every level from company through brigade. He also served as the J6 for Operation Support Hope in Rwanda and Operation Enduring Freedom in Bosnia. Fred was on the Joint Staff J6 as Deputy J6 and was part of the original team that initiated the NCW theory. After co-authoring the initial book on Network Centric Warfare, he joined MITRE and moved to Ft. Hood, Texas to be part of the team that fielded information technology to the first digital division. Since then, Fred has written and spoken worldwide on NCW providing classes to Japan, India, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Poland and several Middle East countries. He supported the OSD Office of Force Transformation and authored a case study on the AF / SOF team in Western Iraq; Currently he conducts after action reviews of returning Army and Marine units to better understand how IT impacts mission planning and execution and provides these results to the Army / AF and Naval Acquisition and Doctrinal commands.

Fred's newest interest is in trying to understanding the cultural shifts occurring in the Information Age and how they impact the current set of decision makers. He has presented presentations on this subject in India, Brussels ( NATO NC3A), Prague, Japan and Singapore. He is also being a Blog entitled "Confessions of a Digital Immigrate."

Fred is a Digital Immigrant trying to understand the new generation in the new age, while playing tennis and being a grandfather.

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Hugo Teufel

Hugo Teufel III was appointed as Chief Privacy Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by Secretary Michael Chertoff on 21 July 2006, after a ten-month vacancy that was filled by acting Chief Privacy Officer, Maureen C. Cooney. Hugo is the second chief privacy officer for the DHS. As DHS' associate general counsel (January 2004 to July 2006), He was responsible for the provision of legal advice on privacy and FOIA issues, employment and labor issues, government contracts matters, and oversaw the staff of the USCG Board for Correction of Military Records.

He left the Department on January 20, 2009, with the change of administrations. In April, 2009, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP announced that Teufel had joined the firm as a director in the firm's advisory practice. His focus at PwC will be on "helping organizations with issues involving the privacy and security of data, cyber crime and corruption." Matters include privacy compliance, security and identity theft assessment, privacy/security breach investigation and overall risk management strategies.

Hugo also serves in the Army National Guard, as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.

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Captain James Staples

Captain James Staples is a Master Mariner in the U.S. Merchant Marine and holds his seventh edition Unlimited Tonnage-Oceans Master License. Staples holds a BA in marine transportation from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy; and he has continued his training within the Maritime Industry and continues those educational opportunities as well. Staples has been at sea for 30 years with 17 years command experience, operating worldwide. He has been Master on Ro-Ro vessels, Break Bulk and Containerships, as well as working on Tankers, Cable ships and Drilling vessels. He has extensive time operating in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean area, Malacca Straits, South China Sea and the Gulf of Aden off Somalia and has carried cargo to and from the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Recently Staples has been carrying cargo for Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is certified as Company Security Officer, Ship Security Officer, hazardous material, and a small arms expert with tactical shipboard training, as well as contingency planning and Media response.

Staples has operated under time charter to the U.S. military and commercial interest such as NYK. His experience as Captain includes delivery of newly built vessels and living and working in Japan to see the final construction of a Ro/Ro vessel in shipyard. He is well-versed in trouble shooting and emergency procedures on board vessels associated with Maiden Voyage break in periods. Staples has written procedures for the ISM and ISPS code concerning operational and safety matters, including anti-piracy drills and procedures. In 1998 he was presented the American Merchant Marine Seamanship Trophy for the rescuing of four sailors in a sailboat while he was carrying a cargo of military ammunition and encountering severe weather conditions. This was the second incident he had been recognized for saving lives at sea.

Staples has given testimony concerning piracy and vessel security to the US Senate Committee for Transportation under the leadership of Senator Lautenberg (NJ) and has testified in congressional subcommittee hearings concerning Piracy with Chair Person Congressman William Delahunt (MA).

He has lectured and taught at the collegiate level on Ship Security and Piracy, and been interviewed concerning piracy and vessel security by major networks and newspapers to include CNN Headline News, CNN World News, Channel News Asia, FOX News, MSNBC, BBC World, NBC Nightly News, Associated Press, USA Today, People Magazine, Al- Jazerra and local Boston News stations, Radio stations and papers. He has also made guest appearances on the TODAY show with Matt Lauer and Amy Robach, CBS Morning Show with Harry Smith, The Rachel Maddow show, Countdown with Keith Oberman, Fox News "Weekend Edition" with Jeraldo Rivera with guest speakers Montel Williams and Ann Coulter.

Staples is associated with the Council of American Master Mariners, the Boston Marine Society, and is an associate member of the UDT-Seal Association.

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Megan Knapp

As General Manager, Institute of Defense & Government Advancement (IDGA), Megan Knapp is responsible for leading the creation, development and execution of over 60 business conferences & events annually. These efforts span multiple verticals within the military Search & government sectors, including communications, intelligence, homeland security, ground vehicles, aviation and logistics. Knapp held this role from 2003-2006 and resumed the role again in April 2009.

Prior to joining IDGA, Knapp was Director, Conferences & Events for MediaPost Communications, a marketing trade publication, from 2008-2009. At MediaPost, Knapp managed a successful series of trade shows, conferences, summits & events for the online marketing & media communities. From 2006 - 2008, Knapp was General Manager at Terrapinn Americas, where she launched & managed a successful portfolio of business conferences directed towards the financial services community.

From 2001-2006, Knapp held several roles within IQPC - the parent company of IDGA. These roles include Conference Director and Senior Conference Director (Pharmaceutical, Human Resources, Information Technology, Management, Customer Management, Marketing, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Government and Military divisions), as well as Executive Director, IDGA.

A native of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Knapp earned her Bachelors degree from Rutgers University.

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