Brenda Vandegrift Image

Brenda joined KAIROS as the Director of Engineering bringing more than 25 years of professional experience in engineering and technical leadership. Her extensive working knowledge of engineering practices includes traditional and Agile development lifecycles and methodologies, including new product development and rapid prototyping. Coupled with in-depth knowledge and experience in technical project management and systems engineering, Brenda provides successful leadership of award-winning teams with success measured in terms of cost, schedule, performance, quality, and morale. As a big picture thinker, Brenda works with customers to identify and deliver efficiency enhancement through the delivery of innovative solutions that align products and services with customer strategic initiatives. As an advocate of effectiveness and efficiency, Brenda has utilized her knowledge and skills in organizational change management to attain cost-saving initiatives (ISO, CMMI, PMO, EVM, Six Sigma, etc.) for varied customer organizations. Prior to joining Kairos Brenda most recently worked for Leonardo DRS as the Manager of Strategic Innovations. For the AIS MS Business Unit. Brenda has dual bachelor’s degree in Business Mgmt. /Computer Science and Industrial/Organizational Psychology as well as her Masters Degree in Software Engineering from the University of Maryland. In addition, Brenda completed all coursework, written exams and in-person exams for an Engineering Management PhD from the A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland.  Brenda has held a Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) credential continuously since 2006. In addition, Brenda has volunteered for the PMI Southern Maryland Chapter in Board of Director roles for over 14 years including Vice President, President/CEO, and Past President.