Career Development Panel: How to Get a Clearance 

When: Wednesday, October 21 from 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm 

Where: https://wvu.zoom.us/j/98110643109 

Learn from WVU Statler graduates how they have navigated to work in careers which require a background clearance. Bring your questions and hear their recommendations, experiences, and advice for current students. This talk is open to any student, but is particularly relevant for students interested in careers working in national security. 

To add this event to your calendar, click here.

Panelists: 

  • Sarah Soliman (organizer)
  • Charlie Battleson
  • Mike Campanelli
  • Roshan Daniel 
  • Sean Frisbee
  • Jennifer Knipe

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Panelists' short bios:

Sarah Soliman is a 2007 WVU Biometric Systems and Computer Engineering graduate who is the first Millennial to sit on the Statler Advisory Board. Sarah works for the nonprofit public policy research institution, RAND, while also serving as a part-time member of the Air Force as a cyber officer in the Maryland Air National Guard. Sarah is a Martinsburg, WV, native that currently lives in the Washington, DC area. Sarah is passionate about the importance of having engineering talent in national security related roles after taking her first job out of college working as a defense contractor in Iraq. Sarah is on LinkedIn and also Twitter @BiometricsNerd.  

Charlie Battleson graduated from WVU in 2004 with degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and later Masters in Technical Management from John’s Hopkins University.  His first job was supporting Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in conducting risk assessments in major programs like the F-35 Lightening II and P-8 Poseidon. He later supported Textron with Unmanned Air System proposals and then returned to supporting NAVAIR programs as a contractor providing planning and risk analysis services. Currently Charlie is a project manager for Gryphon Technologies and can be reached via LinkedIn. 

Mike Campanelli is a sixteen-year veteran of the U.S. Intelligence Community and a Subject Matter Expert in Motion Intelligence. He has spent his career leading teams in the design and implementation of large-scale systems for the storage, analysis, and exploitation of geospatial data. A former Director on the Board of Directors for the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Michael is presently the Vice President of Federal at SpiderOak Mission Systems where he is responsible for pivoting and leading a thirteen-year commercial business into the federal market. Mr. Campanelli started his career with Lockheed Martin, serving in both operational support, mission planning, and systems engineering roles. Throughout his career Michael has had the honor and privilege to work both behind a desk and in the field, including the opportunity to spend time at sea on board the Aegis Guided Missile Destroyer, USS The Sullivans. Mr. Campanelli earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University, a M.S. in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University. Mike is on LinkedIn and also Twitter @MCampy28.

Roshan Daniel graduated from WVU in 2017 with degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. At WVU he was heavily involved in undergraduate research and Student Government Association. He turned an internship experience at Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting company located in McLean VA to a full time job, where he still works. He previously worked on projects supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs Telehealth Initiative. He currently is a Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) contractor at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), specifically supporting the OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) Program (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km0LWvnMrtE&t=2s), and the DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcPTrH41xaE&t=1s). In his free time, Roshan enjoys hiking and photography (https://www.instagram.com/roshaniel21/).

Sean Frisbee is a retired United States Air Force officer, entrepreneur, defense industry expert, and oil industry executive. He is the founder or co-founder of two Defense companies and currently serves as the President & CEO of the West Virginia University Alumni Association, Inc. and as the University’s Vice President of Alumni Relations. During his 22-year career in the U.S. Air Force, Sean served in a variety of joint, operational, acquisition and staff positions. He led propulsion programs, foreign threat analysis, aircraft maintenance organizations, and numerous aircraft, missile and bomb acquisition programs. He concluded his Air Force career as the F-22 Program Director, responsible for all aspects of the design, production, deployment, modernization, and  sustainment of the $66B F-22 stealth fighter weapon system. Sean holds a bachelor degree in Aerospace Engineering from West Virginia University and master degrees from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Air University. He is a graduate of the Air Force's prestigious School of Advanced Air and Space Studies and former National Defense Fellow. He is an elected member of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni at West Virginia University. Sean is on LinkedIn and also Twitter @SeanFrisbee.

Jennifer Knipe, a native of Martinsburg, WV, graduated from WVU in 2010 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. She then completed her PhD, also in Chemical Engineering, while developing biomaterials for drug delivery at The University of Texas at Austin. Jenny began working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California in 2015 to develop materials for carbon capture, carbon utilization, and sustainable energy applications. After completing a postdoc at LLNL she was converted to staff in 2018. Jenny is now a deputy group leader of the Materials for Energy and Climate Sustainability group, and she works on a variety of projects that impact the Global Security and Stockpile Stewardship missions. Jennifer is on LinkedIn and also Twitter @jmknipe.

Copyright 2010-2020 Matthew C. Valenti