Nathan Hughes, United Stated Air Force

Nathan Hughes is a coatings and overhaul expert for the United States Air Force (USAF) and  each year answers hundreds of requests for technical assistance dealing with aerospace  corrosion and coatings. Nathan received a bachelor’s degree in chemical and Fuels Engineering  from the University of Utah in 1997 and started working that same year at the USAF landing  gear electroplating and overhaul facility at Hill AFB in northern Utah. The USAF funded  Nathan’s graduate studies, and he received a masters of science degree in Chemical and Fuels  Engineering from the University of Utah in 2002. Nathan has spent his entire career focused  on electroplating, overhaul, and corrosion mitigation of high strength aerospace metals and has  worked extensively on environmentally friendly alternatives to cadmium plating and hexavalent  chromium. Nathan manages several Department of Defense R & D projects to evaluate  cadmium and hexavalent chromium alternatives and is the Chair of the AMS B Finishes  Processes and Fluids Committee. Nathan enjoys mountain biking, surfing, and spending time  outdoors with family.

Thomas Walstrum, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Thomas Walstrum is a principal business economist in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. His responsibilities include the Seventh District's contribution to the Beige Book, the Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions, and briefings for the Chicago Fed president on Seventh District economic conditions. He also is a contributing author to the Bank's Chicago Fed Insights article series. 

Walstrum holds a B.A. in economics from Wheaton College, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with concentrations in labor and urban and regional economics.