About Speaker

Matias Kennedy is currently serving as the branch chief leading all portfolio managers within the Operations & Requirements Analysis Division of the Office of Science & Engineering at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate. He overseas a team which directly engages with DHS components to operationalized technology and serve as the S&T undersecretary’s principal representatives to all components. They are responsible for all engagements between the components and S&T. The team advocates for S&T resources to address component research and development gaps and oversees the R&D life cycle from intake through transition of capabilities to meet component identified needs.

Kennedy formerly served as S&T’s portfolio manager for the United States Secret Service (USSS) before his promotion to branch chief. Prior to joining S&T, he served as a senior program manager within the Technical Security Division of USSS. He was responsible for long range planning to include R&D, integration, acquisitions, budget planning and execution of spend plans for the Countermeasures Sub-Division, which included technical security, explosives, chemical and biological systems.

Before joining DHS, Kennedy served in the Marine Corps for 26 years. He led integrated engineering teams during combat support operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired after achieving the rank of chief warrant officer 4 in July 2017.