Modeling and Simulation

Ben Barker is an experienced industry leader with over 16 years of success across the federal government contracting landscape. As Chief Strategy Officer, Ben helps guide Aptive’s corporate strategy and leads Aptive’s Growth Team, providing oversight, guidance and technical direction for Client Development Leads, Capture and Proposal Managers, Solution Architects and Writers. Ben assists Aptive in expanding its footprint in the federal government while focusing on innovative customer solutions.

Ben is an accomplished executive with expertise in technical program management, solutions engineering, leadership, and corporate strategy. Within these focus areas, he has led and managed initiatives for companies like GovCIO, Leidos and ManTech. Most recently, Ben was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Senior Vice President (SVP) of Growth & Solutions for GovCIO, resulting in private equity sale to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS).

• Certified Scrum Master
• Associate Certificate in Contract Management, The George Washington University
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

James Tessier is responsible for leading Aptive’s growing health informatics practice, working with government and commercial entities to apply data science, augmented intelligence and analytics to transform health care operations and improve patient outcomes. James is a trusted advisor who seamlessly uses health informatics principles to support the research and development of innovative customer solutions.

James is an informatics leader with broad health care experience. As a 25-year Veteran of the U.S. Navy, James has provided surgical nursing, informatics and leadership expertise in a variety of settings both inside and outside of the United States and at sea, providing combat medical support and surgical capability to combatant commanders. His last role in the Navy was as the Chief Health Informatics Officer for Navy Medicine. In his post Navy career, he held a variety of roles in support of informatics initiatives within the U.S. State Department, Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. Most recently, James was the Chief Digital Officer for XVIVO Services, a surgical practice focused on organ recovery for heart and lung transplantation.

• M.S., Medical Informatics, Northwestern University
• B.S., Nursing, University of Portland
• Registered Nurse
• Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems

Jeff Kappel is a highly skilled program management and systems acquisition professional with 20+ years of experience working with both major defense contractors and federal government professional services firms. He leads a team that provides business and operational support to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Health Services Corps (IHSC) medical mission, including strategic planning, management, administration, design, research, implementation, and dissemination.

Jeff is a hands-on collaborator with extensive experience providing direct, on-site support to DHS and Department of Defense clients, including the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and U.S. Navy. In previous roles, he provided DHS acquisition program management expertise, developed program acquisition strategies and artifacts, created cost estimates and integrated master schedules, and performed risk management and configuration management activities.

• DOD Top Secret Clearance
• DHS Public Trust/Prior CBP Background investigation
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
• MSE, Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan
• MSE, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, University of Michigan
• M.S., Industrial Engineering, Pennsylvania State University