After leading the successful buyout of DFI Corporate Practice in 2007, Steve Irwin became president of The Avascent Group. Steve is principally responsible for overall strategy development and manages the firm’s operations. His work has helped shape, define and implement client growth strategies across the full breadth of Avascent’s portfolio.

With over 15 years experience in the defense and aerospace industries, Steve has worked on more than 100 client strategy and management consulting engagements on topics ranging from new product development to customer strategy implementation. Working with senior managers of leading aerospace, defense and homeland security firms, he has overseen teams tasked with analyzing and segmenting markets, determining customer requirements, assessing the competitive environment, and developing merger and acquisition strategies.

Prior to joining the firm, Steve worked in government and as an Associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, where he authored Technology Policy and America’s Future (St. Martin’s Press: New York, 1993). He holds degrees from the Johns Hopkins University SAIS and Stanford University.

Douglas Berenson leads teams assisting clients in the defense and aerospace industries and financial institutions with market surveys and forecasting, customer and program analyses, opportunity identification, and other analytical services.

Doug specializes in analyzing the U.S. defense budget and understanding changes in critical decision-making processes, including requirements validation, resource allocation, and acquisition oversight. He has published articles on defense acquisition issues in Defense News and Armed Forces Journal International.

Prior to joining The Avascent Group, Doug was a reporter with the weekly newsletter Inside the Pentagon. He holds an M.A. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Connecticut College.

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Royce manages The Avascent Group’s space engagements and provides advice and market analyses to aerospace companies and government clients, covering all aspects of military, civilian, and commercial space activities within the United States and abroad. With more than 18 years of experience in the aerospace field, he has conducted numerous competitive studies on launch systems, satellite remote sensing systems, communications systems, and global positioning technologies. He has also advised companies on market and financing strategies for new launch vehicles, and conducted due diligence of companies in support of merger and acquisition activities.

Prior to joining Avascent, Royce was a founder of BeGlobal Inc., where he led the company’s sales and marketing efforts. Previously he served as a senior associate at CSP Associates, directed Russian operations in Moscow for Analytical Services, Inc, (ANSER), and was the editor of Ad Astra, the magazine of the National Space Society.

Royce earned an M.A. in space policy at George Washington University, an associate’s degree in space studies from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and a B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Timothy R. Garnett directs engagements to provide adjacent market penetration strategies for defense technology leaders, Fortune 500 firms, and high-tech startups. During his tenure, Tim has utilized his international market experience, as well as a technological understanding of diverse industries, as a foundation for developing actionable expansion roadmaps for companies within the technology, aerospace and defense industries. Most recently, Tim has worked closely with non-traditional government suppliers in understanding the federal market space (DoD, DHS, and Civil) in order to craft appropriate and realistic market pursuit strategies.

Prior to joining The Avascent Group, Tim worked in the international institutional finance industry as Equity Research Editor for Regent European Securities in Moscow, Russia. While with Regent, he provided analysis and editing for daily market updates, company reports and sector overviews covering Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

Tim graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in Political Science.

Jay M. Korman specializes in customer, market, and competitive assessments for clients in the defense and aerospace sector. Jay’s recent work has focused on evaluating firms, programs, and budgets for Wall Street investment and securities houses and identifying new business opportunities for first- and second-tier defense and aerospace firms.

Jay has been published and quoted in an assortment of national and trade publications, including The Washington Post, Defense News, and Defense Daily, and has appeared on PBS Nightly Business Report and Reuter’s TV for comment on defense mergers & acquisitions.

Prior to joining The Avascent Group, Jay served as a defense industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan Market Intelligence Corp., and served as a Congressional Fellow on the personal staff of a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. He holds degrees from The American University, Washington, D.C., and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Mark Shields directs general management consulting assignments in the defense, transportation, and logistics sectors. He has extensive experience in strategic planning, market analysis, operations improvement, organizational restructuring, and e-commerce. His clients have included leading companies in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa.

Mark, a former partner at Mercer Management Consulting, has 15 years of general management consulting experience. He has also served as an executive at Capital One; a vice president and D.C. office head on the founding team of Military.com; and a Regular Army Infantry Officer. He holds an M.B.A. from the Darden School of the University of Virginia and a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Tim Wickham focuses on business strategy support and market analyses in the military, federal, and commercial electronics arenas. He advises defense and high technology firms on business issues, ranging from market positioning to mergers and acquisition strategies. Specializing in the military C4ISR market, Tim has worked closely with market players across the entire remote sensing and communications market spectrum.

Prior to joining The Avascent Group, Tim served as an imagery analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and as a tactical communications officer (Signal Corps) in the United States Army Reserves.

Tim holds degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the University of Notre Dame.

Jim Tinsley specializes in defense business development for commercially-focused firms. Jim has worked extensively with land systems including: tactical wheeled vehicles, mine protected vehicles, and armored vehicles.

Prior to joining The Avascent Group, Jim was a consultant with Jane’s Strategic Advisory Services, where he was also had been manager for new product development in publications. At Jane’s Jim served as Managing Editor of Jane’s Unconventional Weapons Response Handbook, and contributed to Jane’s World Insurgency and Terrorism, as well as several other publications on all hazard security planning and crisis response.

Jim holds an M.A. in Publication Design and Management from the University of Baltimore, and a B.A. in Speech Communication from James Madison University.