News & Insights

Rob brings over 18 years of experience building and scaling technology businesses, most recently as founder and global lead for Business Development and Sales of the Aerospace & Satellite practice at Amazon Web Services, where he also led the global account relationship with Lockheed Martin across defense and national security, spanning classified and unclassified environments. He recently joined Loft Orbital as their VP of Commercial and Civil Space Sales for the Americas, where he leads revenue growth and go-to-market strategy for the company’s space infrastructure as a service business.

Earlier in his career, Rob was a Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he founded the firm’s corporate venturing group and led teams delivering both strategic consulting and mission-critical software solutions for federal government clients. Prior to that, he was at Booz & Company, supporting commercial IT strategy and cost reduction initiatives for Fortune 500 companies across verticals including Energy, Consumer/Media, Healthcare, and Telecommunications. He began his career as a software engineer at Sun Microsystems, where he designed and developed some of the first B2B e-commerce platforms and JavaSoft application server products, and holds a U.S. patent from that work.

Rob holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and a B.A. in Economics with a Computer Science minor from Georgetown University. He co-chairs the NVTC Space Community of Interest and is an advisor to Space at Smith at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. He is also the Founder of Space Insiders Media.

Mary Reding is a Partner with over 20 years of experience in government acquisitions, venture capital, and corporate leadership. She previously served as a Career Senior Executive Service (SES) member and an acquisition expert at the General Services Administration (GSA), Social Security Administration (SSA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT), where she led 

efforts to modernize federal procurement, financial management, and drive innovation through strategic technology investments. 

Mary played a key role in advancing the President’s Management Agenda, overseeing Cross-Agency Executive Councils for CIOs, CISOs, CFOs, CAOs, CHCOs, and Data Executives under the Obama and Trump Administrations to enhance government efficiency and performance. A licensed California corporate attorney, she specializes in SBIR/STTR programs, Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, and Small Business sole source/direct awards, helping emerging companies secure non-dilutive funding and scale within federal markets.  

Mary holds a Bachelor of Science from Santa Clara University and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego. 

Donna F. Dodson is a Partner at SineWave Ventures. Donna brings an extensive background in cybersecurity, privacy, standards, risk management, and applied cryptography to her role as a Partner at SineWave. Donna dedicated her entire 33-year career to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she served as Chief Cybersecurity Adviser and attained the rank of NIST Fellow, the agency’s highest technical distinction. She led the development of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, now used by thousands of organizations worldwide to reduce cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure, and founded and directed the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) from its establishment in 2012 through her retirement. As the Department of Commerce’s cybersecurity advisor, she counseled the Secretary and represented the department at strategic decision-making forums. Her foundational work in data encryption standards contributed to what NIST estimated as $250 billion in global economic impact over 20 years. In recognition of her career contributions, Donna received the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal in the Safety, Security and International Affairs category.  

After retiring from the government, Donna worked in the private sector, collaborating on advanced technologies and driving new innovations in security. Most recently, she acted as Senior Principal Scientist at Amazon Web Services, where her work focused on security and privacy capabilities, including cryptography, risk management, standards, and assessments. 

Donna holds a Masters of Science from Hood College and a B.S. from Virginia Tech. 

As an independent director and board member, government and commercial technical powerhouse leader, Dawn brings more than 40 years’ experience pioneering new products and services and leading transformation for iconic brands around the world, including CIA, AOL, and DoD. She is a recognized expert in delivering entrepreneurial technical capabilities and processes to international markets, leveraging unparalleled stakeholder acumen into strategy, development, integration, and operations.

Nikesh Kalra is a 25-year operator, strategy advisor, and investor in Silicon Valley. He works closely with management teams and investors at all stages to accelerate growth, navigate change, and create value. His current portfolio includes a dozen investments in AI, security, and infrastructure. He previously served in senior operating roles at Equinix (EQIX) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW). Nikesh is a grass-roots philanthropist, athlete, and parent. He earned an executive management certificate (MIT), M.B.A (Oxford), and B.S. (USC).

Howard Levenson has over 30 years of experience in big data, high-performance computing, and information technology. He started the Databricks Federal business when the company was doing $1M in revenue and ultimately led the business as the General Manager and Regional Vice President of Databricks Federal, LLC. Howard helped establish Databricks Federal into one of the leading providers of big data and machine learning analytical solutions with over 50 Federal agencies leveraging the platform to find insights into their data.  

In the venture space, Howard previously worked with Institutional Venture Partners (“IVP”) in an advisory and investor capacity, where he advised numerous startups, including but not limited to AI Squared, Hidden Layer, Stardog, Instabase, Transcend.AI, Emissary, and DepthFirst.  

Earlier in his career, Howard held leadership roles at numerous technology companies, including IBM and Silicon Graphics/Cray, and has extensive experience leveraging open-source technology, cloud, and big data to solve the world’s most challenging problems.  

Howard has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University. 

Dave most recently served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Human Language Technology Center of Excellence (HLTCOE) at Johns Hopkins University, focused on frontier Artificial Intelligence technology. Prior to joining SineWave, Dave completed a 32-year career at the National Security Agency (NSA). He began his work at NSA as a Cryptologic Mathematician and was a trailblazer in applying data mining and machine learning techniques to speech and language processing. In 2004, he reached the Senior Executive Service level, as a Defense Intelligence Senior Leader, and from there, he oversaw various projects and organizations within the Research, Capabilities, Operations, and Workforce Support Directorates. Notably, he served as the first Director of the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, where he led a collaborative effort involving government, academic, and industry partners to develop and implement technology and methods to meet intelligence analysis needs. His distinguished career at NSA earned him numerous awards and commendations, with a notable highlight being the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award. This prestigious award recognized his sustained professional, technical, and scientific accomplishments on behalf of the U.S. Government.  

Dave holds a Masters of Science & Mathematics and a B.S. in Physics from the University of Oklahoma. 

Charlie is a Principal at SineWave Ventures. Previously, Charlie was an analyst at Syno Capital, supporting investment research, deal execution, and fund operations across early-stage healthcare and life sciences. He began his career at KPMG in their Economic and Valuation Services group conducting valuation analyses for venture-backed companies and investment funds. 

Charlie holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from Boston College, with a minor in Environmental Studies. 

Maggie Wells is Chief Operating Officer at SineWave Ventures, where she has worked since before the firm’s founding, joining as Executive Assistant to help the founding partner prepare for launch.  Thereafter, Maggie led the operations side of SineWave, having served as Director of Administration and Director of Operations before her current role. Over more than ten years, she has built and run the operating infrastructure behind three funds and numerous SPVs, representing over $300 million in committed capital and a portfolio of more than 30 active companies, including Databricks and SentinelOne. 

Maggie leads operations for SineWave’s management company and its funds, including deal execution, audit coordination, and compliance. She has managed the end-to-end execution of the firm’s major exit distributions, including SentinelOne, Evolv, Upskill, and Clarifai, overseeing more than $240 million in distributions returned to limited partners. 

Before SineWave, Maggie chaired the Religion Department at Elizabeth Seton High School, an all-girls school in Bladensburg, Maryland, where she also taught Ethics and coached Lacrosse. 

Maggie holds a Masters degree from Yale University, a Bachelors degree from Fordham University, and an M.B.A. from Longwood University. She mentors venture operations professionals through VIA, a network for the field’s top operators. 

Oliver B. Libby is Managing Director and Co-founder of Hatzimemos / Libby, an impact-focused strategy and venture based in New York City. H/L is dedicated to enhancing and accelerating companies in key growth industries that add value to society. Oliver is also Chair & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project, Inc., a non-profit that helps hundreds of undergraduate students launch new social ventures that help millions of people in nearly 70 countries and across America. Oliver serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Clinton Global Initiative, a Trustee of the Harvard Club of New York City Foundation, a Presidential Leadership Scholar, a Milken Young Leader, a Concordia Summit Advisor, a GLG Social Impact Fellow, and a NationSwell Councilmember. Mr. Libby graduated from Harvard College.

Brian Hibbeln brings three decades of experience in the U.S. Defense Department and Intelligence Community to his role as a Venture Partner at SineWave Ventures, where his track record of uniting people, funding, and advanced technologies to benefit warfighters informs SineWave’s investment thesis in defense and intelligence-relevant technology. 

In addition to his role at SineWave, Brian currently serves as a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a senior advisor for Blackstone Private Equity, Chief Innovation Officer for NineTwelve (an accelerator connecting innovators with certified demonstration labs in microelectronics, 5G, hypersonics, space, and sensors, where he also serves as vice chairman of the Hypersonics Ground Test Center at Purdue University), a board member of Whitehawk Ltd., a publicly traded global cybersecurity exchange, and co-founder of the United States Technology Leadership Council. He also advises the Entanglement Institute for quantum computing research. 

Prior to entering the private sector, Brian spent over three decades in the Defense Department and Intelligence Community, championing novel uses of commercial systems, sensors, and platforms. In his last decade of government service, he held senior roles including Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Special Capabilities, First Director of the Special Capabilities Office (overseeing $2 billion in resources for Joint Capability Technology Demonstrations), Director of the Remote Sensing Center-National Capital Region (managing $8 billion in government contracts), and Chief Scientist and Chief Systems Engineer of Measurement and Signature Intelligence Staff at the National Reconnaissance Office. 

Brian began his government career as an active-duty Air Force officer assigned to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and the NRO, and was recalled to active duty in 2001 to lead initiatives supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. His government honors include the Joint Meritorious Service Medal, a certificate of achievement from the Director of the CIA, and the NRO Silver Medal. Brian’s work has been featured in two books on defense innovation, Deep State (2013) and Riding the Monster (2021). 

Brian holds a Master’s in Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s in Physics from the United States Air Force Academy, where his research earned him an Air Force Invention Award and a U.S. patent for pulsed power semiconductor switches. 

Patricia Muoio is a Senior Advisor at SineWave Ventures, having served as a Venture Partner in Fund I and a Partner in Funds II and III, where she led and managed numerous portfolio companies and investments. In her role as Senior Advisor, Pat assesses emerging technologies across cyber security and data processing, contributes to the creation of SineWave’s investment thesis, and participates in fund strategy development and management processes. 

Pat is a former Senior Executive at the National Security Agency. In her last role at the Agency, she served as Chief of the Trusted Systems Research Group and led research efforts on a number of cyber security technologies such as cryptography, secure wireless, secure operating systems, and cyber analytics. She also served as ODNI Science and Technology Lead for Cyber and spearheaded the work on the Federal Cybersecurity Research Plan. Pat has led a variety of technical activities in data processing and computing. 

Pat holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University, both in Philosophy. 

Yanev has spent his career investing in dozens of early-stage investments both the private and public sectors. As the Founder and Managing Partner of SineWave Ventures, Yanev is at the forefront of helping entrepreneurs build exciting new technology solutions. Yanev has spent over a decade investing with some of the top venture firms in the industry to help commercial technologies navigate, partner, and implement their products across multiple industry sectors. He is a strong champion of an ecosystem-based path to success, bringing technology partners in the commercial and public sectors together to help accelerate the growth and success of early-stage companies. 

Prior to SineWave, Yanev was an investor at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the largest venture capital firm in the world, with over $18 billion in assets under management. At NEA, Yanev sourced, managed, and helped advise dozens of early-stage companies. He also helped the NEA portfolio navigate the public sector, resulting in millions of dollars of revenue. 

Before joining NEA, Yanev was a Senior Investment Officer under both the Bush and Obama Administrations, where he focused on investing in new cutting-edge technologies on the cusp of commercialization. He was the first employee hired to build the Federal Loan Program, which during his tenure, grew to become a ~$150 billion investment vehicle. 

Yanev was awarded both the Kauffman Fellowship (for venture) and the Presidential Management Fellowship (for public service), providing him with an extensive network of relationships across both the private and public sectors. He has also been a Heymann Fellow, Kennedy Fellow, Cravath Fellow, and Presidential Leadership Fellow. 

Yanev holds degrees from Yale University (Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude), Harvard Law School (Juris Doctor), Oxford Saïd School of Business (Master of Business Administration, Distinction, Christ Church), and Sydney Law School (Master’s degree, Distinction).