Mr. Mark Powell received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1981. After graduation, he worked  for a number of years in private industry where he tested submarine  reactor systems, designed industrial test systems, and contributed to the
design and development of NASA network communication systems supporting satellite and space shuttle missions.

In 1988, Mr. Powell joined the Naval Research Laboratory in the Space Systems Development Department. While at NRL he was involved in the development of GPS-based transceiver technology, high-speed networking, software defined radios, mobile command posts, and phased array antenna technology. He also made significant contributions to the design, test, launch, and operation of numerous DoD and NASA satellite systems. During his employment at NRL, Mr. Powell furthered his  education receiving a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, a Masters of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law.

In 2002, Mr. Powell became the Chief Technology Officer for the Command, Control, Communications, and Computer Systems Directorate (J6) of the Joint Staff. There, he served as the senior technical advisor to the Director and Vice Director of J6 in the areas of C4ISR and space systems.

In 2005, Mr. Powell was appointed a Federal Executive as the Director, Information Technology Research and Development / Chief Technology Officer for the FAA. He was responsible for FAA information technology related research and development activities, information security research and development, enterprise architecture, information and data architecture, IT standards, interagency information sharing, web operations, and process improvement. Additionally, he played a key role in the Joint Planning Development Office (JPDO), a joint interagency office tasked to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

In 2008, Mr. Powell was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in the position of the Director, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Information Technology (C4IT) Service Center for the U.S. Coast Guard. Mr. Powell leads this 3,200 member geographically dispersed organization to provide  operational support for all C4IT equipment on Coast Guard ships, boats, aircraft, and shore installations. He is accountable for all C4IT hardware and software design, development, deployment, maintenance, and retirement activities as well as network management and cyber operations.

Mr. Powell is a registered professional engineer, a senior member of the IEEE and is Level III certified in Program Management. He received numerous awards for his contributions including the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civil Service Award, the Navy Unit Commendation Award, and the NRL Technology Transfer Award.