Dr. William “Bill” Snowden is a materials scientist and defense technologist currently working as a Technical Consultant. He has broad industrial (Corning, Inc., General Electric), national laboratory (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)), and government, Department of Defense (DoD), experience as a research scientist, technical program manager, and executive.
He has a long history of involvement in the armor/anti-armor community, including work as a research scientist at LLNL, as a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program manager for the agency’s Armor/Anti-Armor Research and Technology Program (1983–1985), as a member of the DoD Senior Executive Service (SES), and as a consultant supporting the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). As a Senior Executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he led OSD efforts to develop the Balanced Technology Initiative, a program established by Congress in the mid-1980s focused on the development of technologies of critical importance to U.S. conventional defense capabilities.
Dr. Snowden provided technical and programmatic support to DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, particularly focused on the development of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology for high-payoff applications in both military and non-military systems. He also led a study for the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Nano/Micro Technology Horizon 2040, intended to help define and prioritize NSF thrust areas within its Engineering Directorate over the next several decades.
Dr. Snowden has supported the Army Science Board as a member and consultant for many years on studies such as The Strategic Direction for Army Science and Technology; Future Armor/ Anti-Armor Competition, which he led; Multi-Domain Operations; and An Independent Assessment of the 2040 Battlefield and Its Implications for 5th Generation Combat Vehicle Technologies.
EDUCATION
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
University of California, Berkeley, M.S., Materials Science and Engineering
Alfred University, B.S., Ceramic Engineering