Chairperson: Eric Toldi
Eric Toldi is the Director of the Young Professionals Committee. Eric attended Marlboro College in Vermont with a focus on History of Science, completing his first full-length work of history chronicling the development of manned spaceflight from Tsiolkovsky to present. After a year in Washington, DC, where he worked with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the Aerospace States Association, Eric moved to the Bay Area and joined AIAA – SF. He is currently writing a history of New Space and developing two other book projects.
Career & Workforce Development Committee Director: Steven Cerri
Since 1999, Steven has helped thousands of technical professionals enhance their communication, management, and leadership skills through innovative training programs, mentoring, published articles, an IEEE-published book, and a popular blog on his websites, www.stevencerri.com and www.acementoring.com. As a sought-after speaker in the United States and internationally, he has presented at numerous industry associations including AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics), ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), and IEEE. As an adjunct professor for the prestigious Technology Management Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he taught critical communication and business/entrepreneurship skills to graduate students. Some of his clients have included ViewSonic Corp, GeoGraphix (a division of Halliburton), Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Transzap, Inc., ARDEC (Army Armament University), Sandia National Laboratories (New Mexico), Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Genentech, and NSWC (Naval Surface Warfare Center).
Steven’s real world experience as an engineer, technical manager, organizational leader, and successful entrepreneur, coupled with his ability to understand and communicate with technical professionals, set him apart from other trainers and mentors. He began his career as an aeronautical engineer employed at Rockwell International Corporation working on Skylab, Shuttle, Shuttle Tug, and meteorological satellite programs. Throughout his career, he has managed individuals and teams in government and commercial organizations. He was part of a team that launched Infotec Development, a successful computer systems integration firm focused on Department of Defense programs. It was eventually bought by Pacer Systems; now part of the Titan Group. He has been a program manager, director of corporate training, vice president of engineering, chief operations officer, and divisional general manager.
In every position he has held, it became apparent that Steven had a knack for training and mentoring his direct reports to achieve extraordinary results. With this passion and expertise for teaching others, he eventually launched his own consulting and training organization to assist technical organizations that want their engineers and technical managers to be as effective with people as they are with technology. Steven’s training programs are represented through Avante Leadership Group.
- Master of Business Administration, Pepperdine University
- Master of Science, Geophysics, University of Southern California
- Bachelor of Science, Aeronautical Engineering, California Polytechnic University
- Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming
- Contributing Speaker, PBS Television Series “Taking the Lead: The Management 2000 Revolution”
- Outstanding Professor Award, Technology Management Program, Engineering, UC Santa Barbara
- Contributing author to the book: “The Balanced Engineer: Essential Ideas for Career Development”
- (Vol 1) published by IEEE
- International Who’s Who of Professional Management
College Outreach Committee Director: Maxfield Bern
Maxfield Bern attended the University of California at Davis until 2014 and holds Bachelor’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. While attending UC Davis, he was the founding treasurer for the AIAA student chapter’s revival in 2011, and continued on the board as vice-chairman and then chairman for the 2013-2014 term. At UC Davis, he was also active in SAE Aero Design competitions as part of the Aggie Micro-Aeronautics Team (AMAT), where he served as a group leader for the 2014 competition, where the team scored 1st place overall among more than 50 domestic and international teams. He was also co-founder of the Design for America studio at UC Davis, the 17th studio in that organization, which takes on projects of local and national significance and solves social, economic, and environmental problems using engineering and design.
He is currently working as a Manufacturing Engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Sunnyvale, California and is serving as the Director for College Outreach for the AIAA San Francisco professional chapter.
Membership Director & Website Manager: Sylvee Proehl
Determined and energetic leader with experience in support of various propulsion and mechanical systems. Big picture thinker, insightful and efficient at interpreting needs and getting the right results.
Sylvee speaks several languages, is personable, straight-forward, and excels in building effective relationships with colleagues and customers.
Her professional commitment extends beyond work and AIAA by participating in the Bay Area International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Model Based Systems Engineering Caucus, participating in engineering outreach programs at local grade schools, and volunteering at summer engineering outreach programs for youth.
Sylvee is a University of Illinois undergraduate alumna (Go Fighting Illini!), and a Santa Clara University graduate alumna. She enjoys skiing, trail running, traveling, and participating in local community events.