Dr. F. Javier Diez got his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a Full Professor at Rutgers University in the Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Eng with a graduate faculty appointment in the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Over 100 students have done research under his guidance. His expertise includes UAV/UUV, propulsion, sensors, AI applied to drone autonomy and detection and has been funded by DARPA, ONR, DIU, AFOSR, FAA and NSF among others. He is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Engineering Faculty Award. He has given over 25 invited lectures, and authored over 100 journal articles, conference papers, and technical publications. Recipient of numerous patents and of the 2022 Edison Patent Award in Defense. He is the co-founder of two Rutgers startups, SubUAS LLC and XTT LLC. He is the CEO of SubUAS LLC, that it is commercializing the Naviator, the first unmanned vehicle that can swim down to 1000ft, and fly with seamless water to air transition. Recipient of the Tibbetts award from Small Business Administration in the US, award winner of Innovation Challenge at IMDEX Singapore 2023. Dr Diez is also as member of the council for Inclusive Innovation under USPTO.