"Colonel (Retired) Stephen P. Luxion is the Executive Director of ASSURE (Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence) led by Mississippi State University. Steve is responsible for leading the alliance of 27 of the world’s leading research universities and its industry partners. ASSURE is the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). ASSURE provides the FAA with a wide-ranging UAS research portfolio and conducts specific research funded by the FAA to help inform and address the key challenges to safely and efficiently integrating UAS into the National Airspace System. ASSURE also leverages its expertise, experience, and knowledge to serve others outside the FAA including current research for NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Lux is a 34-year US Air Force veteran with over 2,500 hours of flying time in the F-111 Aardvark, MQ-1B Predator UAV; and the F-14A Tomcat and EA-6B Prowler while on exchange with the US Navy; including 700 hours combat time in operations over Iraq, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. For his combat efforts, Colonel Luxion was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for Valor, 4 Air Medals, and 7 Aerial Achievement Medals.