Meet Our Board

Mr. Scott Lewit, Chairman

Scott Lewit is President of Structural Composites, Inc. of West Melbourne, Florida. Structural Composites and its sister company Compsys provide a range of innovative composite structures for the marine and transportation industries as well as a variety of other industrial uses, including in the energy field. Scott holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology. Scott was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in entrepreneurship and business leadership in Florida’s technology sector by the Florida TechXpo, a statewide showcase of Florida’s advanced technology businesses.

Dr. Roger Manley, Vice Chair

Dr. Roger Manley is a Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizational Psychology in the College of Business at Florida Institute of Technology. He is the former Dean of the College of Business and Head of the Management Department at Florida Tech. Prior to joining Florida Tech, he served as Chair and tenured Professor of Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology College of Engineering in Dayton, Ohio. He has served and continues to serve on a number of corporate and institutional boards of directors, and is a member of the executive committee of the Center for Ethics and Leadership at Florida Tech. Professor Manley earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Joni Richards, Treasurer

Joni Richards is a seasoned technology transfer and project management expert with over three decades of experience driving innovative partnerships, negotiating international agreements, and delivering projects under budget and on schedule at NASA and beyond. From 1987 to 2021 at NASA Kennedy Space Center, she advanced through roles including SRB Electrical Systems Engineer, where she troubleshot subsystems and recommended solutions; Payload Mission Engineer for STS-65, negotiating 14 international pacts, training 20 engineers to slash anomaly reporting by 46%, and leading go/no-go polls; Assessment Engineer evaluating unmanned missions; SBIR/STTR Manager coordinating workshops and securing fair award shares; Program Manager interfacing with agencies for green tech demonstrations while overseeing 10 contractors; and Technology Transfer Expansion Manager launching a startup-focused initiative linking universities and small businesses to NASA-patented innovations. Since 2022, she has been with Tech Transfer and Partnerships Consultant for small businesses and organizations like SCI and RTI International, she crafts proposals for NASA, DoE, and DoD solicitations, connects technical experts, and communicates trade-offs to stakeholders. Holding a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida (1987), PMP certification (2007–present), and former TS/SCI clearance.