System Studies and Simulation, Inc.

CEO Bio:

Jan Smith is an Alabama native, educated at Jacksonville State University with a BS in Math and Secondary Education. She arrived in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1967 as an associate engineer in support of Boeing and "the man on the moon" missions, quite an exciting way to begin a software engineering career that has spanned 35 years. Ms. Smith was named the 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce and UAH Business Fellow of the Year - 2008.

Ms. Smith led simulation and modeling tasks at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) for 12 years on SAFEGUARD and subsequent Army R&D and acquisition programs managed by Space and Missile Defense Command. In 1978, she joined Nichols Research Corporation (NRC), managing programs for Army Aviation and Missile Command in the role of Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) support to program acquisition requirements. This opportunity provided the technical arena in which to marry software and hardware through system integration, develop project management skills, and develop teams focused at product delivery to our soldiers in the field. She had found her niche, and became Vice President for Computer Applications with NRC, during a time when the company grew from 30 to more than 1200 employees. In 1989, Ms. Smith decided to leave the world of big business, and follow her entrepreneurial spirit. She joined a start-up 8(a) certified small business, TecMasters, Inc., as Vice President and participated in the growth of that company until she founded S³ in 1993.

Today, Ms. Smith is President/CEO of S³ , a technical services company of 375 employees. The company operates with three core business units, Strategic Planning / Transformation, Program Acquisition/R&D/IT, and Log Operations/Training / Sustainment, in support of 30 Government locations.

The growth and diversification of S³ has continued along the path of the strategic plan. The company's 95% DoD business base supports several Army commands and USJFCOM. The remaining 5% supports NASA space programs. With technical support in CONUS (Alabama, Arizona, D.C., Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia), and OCONUS (Germany and Iraq), the future of the company is bright.

Ms. Smith continues to make time to participate in many activities supporting the local community. Her motto, "Destiny is a matter of choice, not a matter of chance," is demonstrated in her choices to serve with her personal time: Board member of Wachovia Bank, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) Scholarship Board, Space and Rocket Center, Von Braun Center for Space & Innovation, and a member of Huntsville Rotary.