Mobilizing for the next generation of emerging technologies
New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) has appointed Stacey Clark as the Vice President of the Defense Division and Sam Gatley as Deputy Director. These changes come alongside the announcement of General William (Bill) Marshall’s transition from leading the division. He will remain as an Advisor for Special Projects.
Bill is a distinguished leader who has spent years serving the public good. Before joining NJII, Bill served more than 35 years in the New Jersey National Guard, where he achieved the rank of Brigadier General. Overlapping with most of this, he spent 29 years with the Montclair, NJ Police Department, where he retired as captain. His work on the Department of Defense (DOD) Advanced Development of Asset Protection Program (A.D.A.P.T.) has received national acclaim and was recently mentioned in the Army’s “Gold Book” recognizing significant contributions to the DOD.
According to NJII President, Michael Johnson, Ph.D., “General Bill Marshall has been the driving force behind our Defense division since NJII’s inception and can be credited with supporting dozens of faculty members, hundreds of students, and building the robust Defense division that we have today. We are thrilled to have him stay with us on special projects to ensure a smooth transition and the continued utilization of his expertise.”
NJII’s vision to double in size by exceeding $70M in revenue by 2030. Defense division initiatives play a key role in driving the diversification of revenue streams and launching new divisions and programs.
For the last 15 months, Stacey has been leading the Defense division at NJII as Deputy Director. Her oversight of the division as the Vice President will be crucial to the expansion of capabilities and government programs, utilizing her experience in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards development, materials science and systems engineering.
With over three decades of experience with the United States Army, Stacey is an innovative leader in the materials engineering field. She held the position as Deputy Division Chief, Materials and Manufacturing where she dedicated 27 years to the practical use of engineering to advance research and development of technology for the Army. Stacey holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Materials from Rutgers University and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Stevens Institute for Technology.
Sam Gatley moves from Director of Operations overseeing key initiatives to Deputy Director of the Defense division in recognition of his accomplishments. Sam launched the Collaborative Operationalized Manufacturing Engineering and Training (COMET) initiative in partnership with the United States Department of Defense. Today, COMET is a highly collaborative relationship with the United States Army that drives agile innovation for next generation problem solving while supporting workforce development.
Stacey adds, “I met Sam Gatley nearly a decade ago when he was one of the first NJIT staff working in the field of additive manufacturing. I am awed by his work to establish the COMET initiative at NJII’s Advanced Manufacturing Center, Landing 360. I look forward to working with Sam to enhance our capabilities, train a new set of summer interns and be a resource for New Jersey manufacturing and the defense sector.”
Learn more about Bill, Stacey, Sam and the rest of NJII’s leadership team here.
About Defense Division
At NJII, the Defense division has been developed to help identify, build, and implement innovative solutions that identify and operationalize advances in technology. The key outcomes are workforce development, improved protection of military personnel and critical assets, and improved efficiency of military operations. To achieve these outcomes, NJII aligns and advances emerging technologies to operationalize them, with a particular focus on advanced manufacturing, contested logistics, and AI/computer vision.
About NJII
The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) is a 501c3 organization wholly owned by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). As an independent corporation, NJII is uniquely positioned to be agile, entrepreneurial, and opportunistic. NJII is focused on accelerating technology and fostering innovation in order to have a positive economic impact in New Jersey. To date, NJII has generated over $330M in revenue during its ten years of operation across its divisions (AI/ML Defense, Entrepreneurship, Healthcare and Learning & Development) and today has a team of 120 staff.