"[At Lockheed] I started as a Guidance, Navigation and Control engineer working on military space communications and navigation satellites," Jackson said, "but rapidly had the opportunity to take on a series of management roles that led to program manager positions in space-based missile warning and GPS satellites. Along the way, I kept my hand in the technology world, teaching graduate courses at Stanford, and starting a groundbreaking collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Stanford to train engineers."

At Lockheed Martin, Jackson is responsible for the corporation's advanced technology strategy and serves as a primary liaison with the US Government and international science and technology community. The biggest challenge to fulfilling his roles, he says, is the ability to "harness the incredible technology and engineering talent across our broad and diverse organization."

"As the pace of technology accelerates, we need to combine the deep domain experience of our existing team with new skills and new talent in fields ranging from data analytics and cybersecurity to advanced manufacturing, revolutionary materials, and next-generation electronics," he said. "This challenge is in reality our greatest opportunity--by combining the transformational R&D with deep mission understanding, we bring the greatest strengths from places like the Skunk Works, our space systems' Advanced Technology Center, our corporate Advanced Technology Labs, and our newly launched STELaRLab R&D Centre in Melbourne, Australia."

As one who has achieved the title of CTO at a leading, multinational organization, we asked Jackson to give advice to those striving to achieve the same one day. He said an individual's ability to grow comes from his or her desire to take on challenges and learn from them. He said three things are important: 1) "Take advantage of the incredible development opportunities around you," 2) "Take on the hardest challenges you can find," and 3) "Work with the best people you can find."

Meet Dr. Jackson at IRI's 2017 Annual Meeting, " R&D Beyond Four Walls," in Boston, MA, May 8 -11, where he'll deliver the opening keynote. Register to attend.